She’s leaving home.

*I look at you my beautiful daughter
In your hand a small suitcase.
The college is in the west coast.
We are glued to this eastern town.
How did it get to here so quickly?
You could not hide the excitement
Of your new found independence
From  your eyes.
I try to hide the
wistful sadness from mine.

I remember when I held onto
The seat of your bicycle
as a child.
How hard it was to let go.
My heart in my mouth
as you sped along
the asphalt path.
The uncertain wobbles
giving way to breakneck speed.

I felt this moment way back then
As your hair flowed back
Like a horses mane
shouting
look at me
but
Waving goodbye.

A Little Bloom of Moonlight
By
Jude Kyrie

Within the pristine stillness
Lies the soft velvet of night.
A sad moon peers down
Knowing all that has been.

A night bird sings his song
Softly with the pathos
Of a thousand years

Trees silhouette
in the moonlight
Reaching to the night sky
From their rooted life.

In the hedgerow
a white abundance
of tangled clematis
shine under its light.

The night world blooms
As the dust of sleep falls
into children's eyes.

The Single Prince------  a fairy tale for adults ---By Jude Kyrie

He was handsome to the extreme.
Definite movie star looks
if movies had been invented
back all those centuries ago.

She was the most beautiful princess
in all the kingdom.
He could not think of anything
but to make her his bride.
So he set forth on his quest of the heart.

But when he rode up to her castle
through the haunted forest of whispers.
across the river of doom
and the desert of the dragons.
he arrived at her door
and proposed marriage to her

she said
No way!Apparently, she hated men
and in fact, had a strong penchant
for girls herself.

Not one to dwell on the mysteries
of a woman's heart, the prince said
fucketh her.
And turned to a life of bachelorhood.
He bought a Harley Chopper
Dated pretty cheerleaders
and slim models with full bosoms.

and never once caught his wife
in bed with  some guy
when he got home unexpectedly

He took up hunting and fishing with his buddies.
raced sports cars at high speed.
spending lonely nights at ***** bars
drinking double malt whiskey
and the finest flagons of ale.

he never heard of *******
or a ******* honey-do list.
Nor did he ever get hit for
child support or alimony.
He kept his castle
and his beloved gun collection

and lived on a diet of fried food
bacon and eggs with sausages and beans
snacking on potato chips.
a diet that caused him to
blow enormous loud farts
which made him a legend
amongst his cronies.
who all thought he was as cool as hell.

He had loads of money in the bank
And not once in his life
did he ever put the toilet seat down.

And he lived
happily ever after
The End

New York rainbow

*As a little girl he sat next to me at school.
I always liked him,  no, much more than that.
Later we walked home together.
He would carry my books.
At graduation he was my date.
We even went to college together.
We broke the chains of friendship and he became my lover.
My first and only love.
We married young it was no surprise
to our parents they were expecting it.
Before I knew it we had three kids, two girls and a boy.
Our son looks just like him.
It was just like any other day.
He came home from work.
Cooked burgers on the barbeque.
We got the kids to bed.
drank a glass of wine then went to bed at ten.
He wanted to make love but I was exhausted.
The kids had been terrors all day.
The next day he kissed me goodbye with a see you later honey.
I got a call from my friend she said put on the TV.
I saw the towers fall turning to ashes.
Like my life did that moment.
All I could think was I wish I had made love to him last night.

September 11 2015

The children are all grown up now
He would be so proud of them.
I look at my strong handsome son.
He looks like him exactly
We stand at ground zero and say a prayer.
I whisper it was always you honey.
Only you.
As if by magic he answered me
A giant beautiful rainbow
circled over New York
and I know it was for me.

And the band played waltzing Matilda
by
jude kyrie

First of all y ou have to know me.
I am not wild or adventurous girl.
I read, and go to small get togethers.
so grounded so conservative.
A girl from new New England.
A schoolteacher I get lost
in the shadows at parties.

I was nothing  like him at all
Not like the tall strong rugby playing
adventure seeking Aussie man
with the wild Aussie accent.

We met when he visited Boston
I am on walkabouts
he said to me in the book store.
I asked him if he Did not have a car.
He laughed
No darlin I mean I am travelling
The world I got restless in OZ
and they call it walkabout.

He took me for coffee
I had never seen such a big
Beautiful man as he.
Every other word
Was right mate
or no worries love..
But for some reason that
I shall never understand.
He liked me

and he would not take no
for an answer.
I felt like a little girl in his arms.
He could pick me up like a feather
Lifting me over his head
Your a bit of alright Darlin.
.he would say.
Or ****** love
you are a *******..
Whatever that meant

I got used to him being around.
He made me laugh.
He always cheered me up
Why I married
him I will never know.

I worried about his giant
frame towering over me..
But. I should not have.
He was the sweetest kindest man
I have ever known.
He treated me like gold.
Always, So gentle so loving.
He made me so happy.

I know he missed his Australian home.
But he never complained.
He said I love you Darlin.
We will get back home one day.
I don't think I have ever been as happy
as that time with him.

I thought giants lived forever.
But they don't.
They are just as frail
as us small people.
When he became sick.
He made little off it.

******,
I will shake it off in a fortnight.
No worries love.
Give us a kiss.
But I did worry.
...I knew ...I knew..I knew.

Finally at the end he said
I got a last request honey.
Honey ..his only American word.
I kissed him.
Anything Anything my love.

Spread my ashes on Australian soil
It don't matter much.where.
Just  Anywhere.
but have them sing
Waltzing Matilda for me love.
When I lost him
My world was not as bright.
But I kept my promise.
I took his ashes back to OZ.

There was a huge
Australian football match
With half of  Sydney there.
As a hundred thousand people
singing his beloved
Waltzing Matilda.
At the football match.

I Let his ashes loose and free
into a cool breeze that seemed
To know he was back home.
He flew away far into
the wide open Australian sky.
Where I knew he was happiest.

And I whispered
Goodbye my sweet
Australian gentle giant.

And the band
Were playing waltzing matilda.

Nightflight to Venus

I am told
Man is from Mars
And
Woman is from Venus.

So perhaps that is why
We are different you and I.
You with your plans and dreams
That fly through space
Like a blazing comet.

Me fastened to the earth
Perhaps too rooted
In its safe soil.
But my heart has fallen
In love with you

And so
I must follow it
on its journey
To your planet.
For without you
the color and light
fade from
my home here.

So tonight
My heart and I
Will catch the next
Space ship to Venus
And as I learn
To exist in its strange
atmosphere.
I will know
It was you
Who brought me there.

Even before I came here
I was part of the ancient sea.
The primordial mix
Salty and teaming with existence

Now after countless eons
I walk outside of its boundaries.
My feet feel it's strong presence
Pulling me to it depths
As I step into the edges
of wet sand.
I hear it's whisper
in salted winds.

Come back to me
Come back
to your mother.
You are mine
and I am yours

I belong to the sea
She is my blood.
The wavelets
are my heartbeat.
The seagrass my veins.

Nothing ever ends
the gulls cry from above.
Only new beginnings
Only new life.

You belong to me
She pulses
from her mighty depths.
I am your eternal mother.

Breathe your air
Sing in the sunlight of earth.
But return to me.
You belong to the sea.

Us

We share the same
wounds you and I.
Our blood is flowing
from our hearts.
But our hearts are in love
bleeding for each other.

We share the same scars you and I
Lasting memories of wounds passed.
They were made from forgiveness
And in forgiving one is forgiven.

We share the same love you and I
Unbreakable and everlasting
Rising as a phoenix each new day.

The doves are all dying
No peace left to own.
In the wars guns are firing
No sweetness or song

So call to your gods
They all turn away
Death falls from the blue sky
Kills children at play

So weep in the night
Hide your tears in the rain
There's a hole in the heavens
To let out the pain

Let the bells toll forever
As the wars cease to still
Children drown in the oceans
In an absent gods will.

My heart died in poems
It had never written.
It poured romance
Into the chasms of loneliness.
It basked in the light
It thought came from heaven.
But it was just the desert sun.
I gave her my soul.
But all she wanted
Was my body.

Just The Two of Us
a Poem
ByJude Kyrie

We share the same wounds you and me.
Our blood is flowing from our hearts
But the hearts are in love
bleeding only for each other.

We share the same scars you and Me.
Lasting memories of wounds long passed.
They were made from forgiveness
and acceptance.
And in forgiving, we both are forgiven.

We share the same love you and Me.
Unbreakable dedicated and everlasting.
Surmounting all adversities
Rising as a phoenix each new day.

Your Secret Love

Like the quiet that takes the prayers
up beyond these golden stairs.
Like the glowing heat of loves desire
that burns silently inside like a fire.
like the silence of a child in sleep
without a sound its dreams it  keeps.
like the silent breath of a summer night
stirring softly sweet and light.
like the knowing glance in a lovers eyes
filled with silent need and sighs.
Like the silent stillness of the lake
waiting for the dark to break.

*is how I give myself to you

Letter to heaven

I remember when mom died grandpa.
I was so small and frightened.
You took me to your home to live with you.
I remember your unshaven face and big
brown hard working hands Grandpa.
You fixed everything with your hands.
But you fixed me with your love.

you gave me mom's old room.
You told me it was her safe place
and she would visit me there
when she was settled in heaven.

I told you I did not
believe in heaven Grandpa.
You said it's alright I will one day.
Heaven was a different
place for everyone.

When I got hurt
you always picked me up
in your huge arms Grandpa.
it was always so safe with you.

I never told you Grandpa
I lied when I said
I don't believe in heaven.
You and grandma were my heaven.

I know you have gone
now to your heaven.
Sat somewhere in a kitchen up there
eating food from the old country.
Grandma at the stove
mom on your knee listening
to stories of Europe
before the war.

My heaven was
with you all grandpa.
I think I will
change my heaven
to yours after all.
That's all I want Grandpa
just our heaven.

I only wish
there was a post office
in our heaven
and I could send
this letter to you .

All My Love
Jude

By the light of the Moon
--Au Claire De Lune
By
Jude Kyrie

*Soft with the fragrant breath of flowers
And the dampness of passing showers.
Moon-bright sparkles begin to quiver
on the rivers waves that splash and shiver

Resting beneath a leafy bower
Lost in time beyond all hour.
Dark nights mantle becomes older
Her gentle shadow becomes bolder

Against a waking yawning sky
The new morning fiery embers
Turn June’s dear dreams  into golden September's
And no one else remembers
Except the moon and I.

She found him waiting outside her small flat
he was in the bloom of the old lamplight.
She noticed the grey flecks in his beautiful eyes.
That had caused her to undress for him a thousand times.
Hi!
he whispered softly like honey falling from a spoon.
She flashed her prettiest smile at him.
And tossed her hair back like she used to.
You look as beautiful as I remember.
She looked at him
for some small signal of remorse
but she could not see it.
He wanted her it was palpable.
She felt his need even in the cold night air.
There’s a hole in my existence he said.
His mouth almost smiling.
The smile that had melted her heart so often.
Why me? she asked him almost in a whisper.
I was never enough before she retorted.
Wanting to hurt him
as badly as he had hurt her.
I did not know I loved you
until you were not there he said.
A sadness glowed in his eyes.
And if you remember
it was you that left me.
Why did you leave? He asked
Because you never asked me to stay
she said quietly.
I am asking now he  answered.
She let him into her flat
They undressed and made love.
When she awoke she heard
the click of her door as he left her.
She knew her heart would ache
Just as it had before.
And she knew he would be back again.
And she would let him in once more.

The darkness falls gentle from a pallet sky
A look of longing rest in my eye
The church bells sing the holiest blues
Are we to pass like yesterday's news?

I see dark endings oh so crystal clear.
I can hear your goodbye its almost here
Our past is dancing loves last waltz
It's mournful music sways and halts

Truth calls the moment to ignite the light
It's voice whispers between all wrong and right
Whispers are memories than hang on my breath.
Our loves tired and broken now ready for death

Touch lightly this moment with tears in our eyes.
Drown sorrows with music and play our goodbyes.
For hearts have a room where old loves are parked
And the future holds secrets in the darkest of dark.

Dance me forever

Dance me through love warm and tender
With glitter ball lights in your eyes
Dance me through all I’ll remember
in the glow of a million soft sighs

Dance  me through children and laughter
in  a place where true love never dies.
Dance me before and then after
as I drown in the pools of your eyes.

Dance with me every day of our lifetime.
Dance away all heartaches and pain.
When I am old and my eyes lose  their bright shine.
Dance me until they shine once again.

This shore is where we walked
between the whistling
sands of the dunes
The cry of seabirds
and the thunder of the sea
as it broke its waves upon our feet.
I thought of you as I walked
the spray filling my eyes
like salty tears.
and I know
my days will turn past deaths shadows
and time will freeze the mountains
before you hear
these sounds again with me.

The moonlight spills
it's silvered milk
In pools outside my window.
I play the piano in its ambiance
It is her favorite piece
Chopins moonlight sonata.
She promised me
a house full of forevers.
But the jelous gods only smiled.
She has gone now to an illuminated
Place where darkness and pain
do not exist.
I touch the keys as softly
as I once touched her skin
The beautiful melody
floats upwards.
She is behind me now
touching my hair
As I play for her
just like always.
I cannot stop playing
or she will melt
Into the velvet night.
The hours pass unnoticed
and the night is broken
by streams if a golden dawn.
The. Last notes of the melody
Rise above the clouds.
And I know in some far off
world her fingers are spread
on a window
and my music
Is playing in her heart.

There’s a famous town that does not exist
It’s in new York state in the Catskills.
It is name Agloe.
It’s a paper town.
Put on the map in an insignificant place.
To protect the mapmakers in 1925
from copyright infringement
By unauthorized reproduction of the map.
I followed a map once all the way to
a place that did not exist.
I travelled slowly to it
Mile by mile.
I loved the thought of living there.
I even fell in love with it.
But it turned out to be a paper heart.
Filling a space where the real heart
Should be it had no feelings or love
It was paper just to look like a heart
to outsiders like me.
So after all the tiring journey
to find it.
I found out It never existed.
Just like Agloe
On the old paper map.
But Agloe never
broke anyone’s real heart.

When she threw me out
It was my fault I know.
The drinking had started again.
I slept in the car for days.
Locked out at night.
Yet still I drank
my job was lost.
but not as lost as me.
I remember waking
in the drunk tank.
I was ***** unshaven.
And my eyes were hollow.
She paid my bail.
I saw her through the bars
of the cell.
She was so beautiful.
And so clean and lovely.
She whispered quietly
"I always loved you."
"I still do."
I felt so ***** I needed
a shower and shave.
But living rough is hard.
I quietly said thank you
I love you too.
She touched my cheek
with her finger tips.
Like she used
to touch my skin
when we made love
In our clean bed.
She had tears in her eyes.
As she saw what I had become.
She said softly
You know I lost our son as well.
But tears filled my eyes
as I stumbled away
to that signpost
for the town of oblivion

Over treetops over flowers
Over gardens, over bowers
Through the brambles and the hedgerow
Over rivers over lakes I go
You may find me anywhere
Quicker than lightning in the night air
My mistress is the Fairy Queen
I place her dewdrops on all that’s green
The wildflowers are her sentries tall
I must place crystal spheres upon them all
Every flower in this fair land
Must adorn her orbs placed by my hand
Aster cornflower bluebell scented stock
Figwort goatsbeard horsetail and flock
All catch the sunlight from my queen’s dewdrops

I remember the first time she said it.
I was fixing a bike for the kid upstairs.
It was soft almost a whisper.
She said I love you honey.
I was dumbfounded
getting oil from the bike chain
all over my shirt.
Say it again
I whispered please
say it again.
I love you
she uttered quietly.
I looked at her
so unsure of herself
almost quivering with
my unknown response.
But there was something
about her that grasped my heart
and I knew I would want
to hear her say it forever.
Then she got braver
I Love You. I Love You, I Love you
she shouted at full voice.
Like the words had been
on her tongue for a long time.
waiting to be said.
waiting to be heard.

I was nineteen, almost twenty
back then. In the fifties.
The small after war mill town
in Lancashire
held dark hope for the future.
Smoke stacks and coal stained
buildings left from the remnants
of the industrial revolution.

Now all I felt in my heart was anger.
No jobs poor wages if you could get one.
But I had my looks and burning passion
to get somewhere in this ****** World.

My dad got me a job in the offices
At the coal mine where he was a miner.
it was on the
bottom rung of the ladder
I hated it, but it was a job.
That's where I met her, my boss.
The eldest daughter of the mine owner.

She was pretty and spoiled.
Well educated
at rich daddy's expense I guessed.
But used to her own way.
Nepotism was rife in those days.
She was thirty four but she kept
looking at me almost inspecting me.
Like her next toy I thought

But I was nineteen.  
I had never been with a woman
And she was well built and pretty.
She spoke to me gently and respectfully.
Like a teacher does to a pupil.

And as I listened all I could notice
Were her beautiful breast
and the impressive cleavage
In her blouse.

Every morning is he smiled at me
and wished me  good day.
What she did not know she had starred
In my ******  dream last night and in it
Her expensive clothes lay carelessly
On the  floor next to the bed,
That we were sharing.

She spent time with me
and taught.me a lot
about the business.
Her family owned half the town.

I had to work the weekend
the auditors were coming in
on monday morning early.
At seven o'clock on Saturday evening
we finished our preparations.

Thank you so much she said softly.
You must be famished I am.
She took me into town
in her MG sports car.
We ate at nice pub I had
three glasses of red wine.
I liked it I had never drank wine before.

She said do you have a girl.
I blushed no miss.
Why not, you are very nice looking.
Have you not found one lady
that you would like to ask out.

Yes miss I.mumbled there's one.
She looked at me I thought
I saw a tiny bit of jealousy.
But it could be the wine.
Who is she?
tell me about her it was half an order.

I called upon the glow
of my new found wine friend and said.
She's beautiful miss.
Very very stylish.
Lovely figure
and perfect gray eyes.
I don't think I have ever seen
a woman as lovely as her.

She sounds lovely she said.
But I noticed she was a bit miffed.
Why don't you ask her out.?
Because I don't think
she would accept miss.
Look she said out of the office
You may call me Elisabeth all right.
I said yes miss….er... Elizabeth.
Who is this lady you talk of anyway?

It's …..its you miss.
She went silent.
Looking at me intently.
Have I lost my job miss I asked.
No you haven't its alright.
I am much older than you.
It would not be appropriate.

Men go with ladies
much younger than they are miss.
Yes I know they do.

She took me back to the small
flat she kept in the city.
For nights that
she may be out on the town.
It was cosy and comfortable.
She poured more wine.

Why have you never married? I asked.
She smiled.
Because all those
that asked I didn't love,
all those I loved did not ask
she quipped.

I took my jacket off
it was warm with the wine.
And  the closeness to her.
My small pocket novel sided girlie
magazine fell out of the inside pocket.
I grabbed it quickly.

but she saw it.
Let me see it she said.
I passed it to her blushing.
She looked at the pictures
of the large breasted naked ladies.
They are lovely she said.

They are not as lovely as you are miss.
Have you ever been with a lady.
She asked.
I blushed no not yet,.
She said its time you did.

Taking my hand
she led me to her bedroom.
I am not sure what to do I whispered.
Hush hush now come to me,
She took me slowly and patiently.

I felt my childhood leave my body
Irrevocably rushing into her as my
manhood appeared in its place.

I slept in her arms and
when  I woke in the night.
she took me again
and held my head
onto her beautiful breast
as I slept like a child.

After that she took me to her place
after work almost every day,
She took me to her bed
and we made love.

After  few months I came into work
she called me into her office.
She looked troubled.
I thought I was getting fired.

But she said I'm pregnant.
In those days abortions
were illegal and dangerous.
And out of  wedlock babies poured
shame on lady and family.

She said I want this baby.
I told my mother
She broke it to daddy.
He's furious he wants to see you
in his office now.

I nearly collapsed
with fear and. confusion.
But I made my way to the
managing director's office.
He was a big man with a
moustache and silver hair.
Noted for his temper.

He said I make no bones about it.
You are not suitable
to a member of my family.
I had my lawyer draw up an agreement.
and termination package.

He brought out his checkbook.
He wrote a cheque payable to me
for thirty thousand pounds.
An enormous sum in those days.
Move on leave town
and never bother Elisabeth again.
He said strictly.

I do not know where
I got the courage from.
I looked at the cheque.
And thought of my
hundred and five pounds net worth.
And I tore it half.

Sir, You can fire me,
blacklist my name
in the north of England .
Make my life a living hell.
you have this power I know.
.
But I shall not leave Elisabeth
unless she tells me to go.
And even then
I do not want your money.

He stopped silently.
He always got his way,
No one ever talked back at him.
But.
There was something about this boy
that reminded him of himself so long ago
when he had not two penny's
to rub together.
and truth be known,
he married his wife Maud
because she was pregnant.

Very well
we will call my errant daughter.
and she can tell you to go herself.

Elizabeth came in the room
Her pretty eyes.
Red from crying.
Tell him to go daughter
he commanded.

I offered him thirty
thousand pounds to go away.
But he tore up the cheque.
He wants to hear you
to tell him to leave.
And he will leave
without a penny.

She looked up into my face
She saw the love
in my eyes that I had for her.

Do you want me she asked.
I answered
yes I do

Do you want this baby
she asked firmly
Yes I do.

Do you want to marry me
she asked?
Yes I do .

Old Abel her father knew defeat
when it was inevitable.
Alright against my blessing
you get married next week in white.
No bride of my family
Will go to altar great with child.

Ten years later

Abel had retired
And became the doting grandfather
To  our four children.
After the twins were born
then a year later his granddaughter
a year later his grandson.
he realised that his daughter
was the happiest women
in the north.of England.

.And his son in law
was  good husband and father.

I ran the mine
and expanded his interest
into electronics manufacturing.

We sit together on the river bank
sometimes Elizabeth and me.
I say l love you honey.
You are still the most beautiful woman
i have ever been with.

She laughs
i am the only woman
you have been with
I corrupted you as a youth.

.I am so happy you never
asked me to leave
that day in his office.
She smiled.
No,
I proposed to you instead,my  love.

Why did you not accept the huge sum
of money he offered and run.

Because
Of something you once said
about not being married
What's that then she questioned
All the ones you loved
did not ask you.
And
You were the one I loved
and you did ask me

No One Dies In Lilydale

Lilydale

Driving through a misty autumn night
I lost my way with no one in sight
A ghostly town in the gloom appeared
Eerie visions in a haunting light
Old gingerbread houses on a silent street
The night wind it starts to wail
Not a soul about here to meet
A signpost foretells of a strange tale
Reading “no one dies in Lilydale”
Each home had a strange shingle
Reading them my spine did tingle
Talk you lost love step this way
We speak with the dead every day
Over forty signs on every picket gate
Lilydale is the center of the spirit talkers
My soul was troubled I had lost my love
If only I could speak with her from up above
How I would say what had been missed
Her perfect loving and her sweet kiss
Trembling as I knocked on the door
An aged wrinkled woman I saw
Come here my son come in from the rain
Your love shall speak to you once again
We sat on her sofa she took my hand
She said your love is here
Beside you she does stand
You two will meet again
When your time on earth is done
Now you must take care of your young son
Do everything that you can
To bring him up to be a good man
I could feel her, she is close to me
My terror is gone I lose my fears
My eyes are streaming loving tears
I say I love you honey please don’t go
Please stay with me how I need you so
The old lady said your love has gone
I drive away out of the misty place
Tears still streaming down my face
My task is now renewed
My son I will never fail
You know that no one dies in Lillydale

He stopped dancing today
I read the letter again
it was from my friend.
She says it was his heart.
His beautiful heart.
I shall miss him terribly.
He taught me all I am
I was Just an apprentice
he was Premier Danseur
at the company.
I was just a girl he said come
I shall make you famous
and you will glide across
the stages  of the universe.
It occurred to me we were
Becoming best friends.
What I did not know was
I was falling in love with him.
He was so gentle so kind.
I cannot imagine this company.
Without him.
For years we danced together
in all the cities of the world.
He would hold me afterwards
in the small hotel room.
Always calling me
his Prima Ballerina.
He aged as I grew famous
I saw his bleeding feet.
His broken bones.
His suffering for his instrument.
I could smell the musky sweat
He could no longer hide
And I knew his time was over.
When I visit Paris again
I will visit his grave
on a sunny day.
Touch his lovely name
on the granite.
I shall say
I always loved you
my champion.
It was always you.
And the spring sunshine
will light the gold filigree
of his chiseled name
on the granite headstone.
As though he knows
I am there for him.
As always.

The hat maker

It was so very long ago.
The world was full of hats.
In the spring the hat maker came.
She pinned her felts and silk
to my mother’s head.
Added feathers and flowers.
My mother would be beautiful
for the Easter parade.
I tried them on when she was out.
Until my head became too big.
One hat in each box
Representing one more Easter.
Then when the chemo took her hair
We sat outside of her bedroom
The hat lady came for the last time.
She left solemn and quiet
Her eyes cast to the floor.
We all went in to see her last creation
On her head a beautiful
hat with flowers
and ostrich feathers.
Her head perfectly covered
Not a sign of her lost hair.
And that was the last time
I saw her smile

THE Lady on the  Train.... A Romantic Love Story

1945 in postwar England.

The endless war was over.
We were all returning to the new normal.
That is if anything could ever be normal again.
The train trundled along the British countryside
The towns, the counties, passing slowly by.
Rows of houses, country farms, peace and tranquility once more.
The edge of Scotland ahhh! Scotland.

We Passed the cities into the Highlands
where pristine lochs sparkled in the rare northern sunshine.
She got onto the train at Inverness.
A change of vehicle descending south.
To a London, I did not want ever to see again.

I was reading my book on the armies of Rome in England.
She took a sandwich out of her oversized purse.
would you like one she asked softly.?
I was famished normal protocol a polite no.
But my hunger screamed even louder than my reticence
yes, that would be lovely.
Thank you so much.

The food trolley arrived I ordered two cups of watery after war coffee
and two custard tarts.
I showed her Hadrians wall
as we passed it.
The city of York which had been the center of the British civil war
Cavaliers and roundheads and all that.
I guess by now she knew I was a terminal bore.
But she did not seem to mind.

She smiled and laughed dutifully at my jokes.
What she did not know
By the time we reached Crewe
I was in love with her.
Obviously a woman as beautiful as her.
Would have no interest in such a stogie
old Bachelor schoolmaster like me.

I had no skills in alluring the fairer ***.
Only Shakespeare Plato Descartes.
But as the train pulled into Euston
dust from the coal-fired engines entered
a piece of soot into my eye
From the open window of the carriage

She came to my aid taking the dust from my eye with the rolled corner of her handkerchief. The pain immediately subsided. And then she kissed my lips softly yet firmly.
I have never kissed a man unintroduced she whispered.
But I do not want to wait for you
you are very shy.

2006
The snow fell on Greyfriars school early that winter
We had retired to the headmaster's quarters which would be ours for the rest of our days.
I remember the train, my love.
She whispered
her beautiful gray eyes still as young as the springtime.
You gave me half your ham sandwich
my love I answered weakly.
Then at Euston, you kissed me first.
Like this, she said her familiar sweet.lips reached mine.
That's because I found the man that I wanted for my life partner she purred.
My last vision in this world was her beautiful face.
The light faded in my eyes for the last time.
She melted into oblivion.

I was on a train alone again like so long ago.
The British rail trolley came
I bought two weak watery coffees and two custard tarts.
Keep riding, sir be patient
the tea lady's voice said kindly.
She will be with us soon, at Inverness

I remember you when mom died grandpa.
I was so small and frightened.
You took me to your home.
I remember your unshaven face and
brown hard working hands Grandpa.
you fixed everything with your hands.
But you fixed me with your love.

you gave me mom's old room.
You told me it was her safe place
and she would visit me there.
When she was settled in heaven.

I told you I did not
believe in heaven Grandpa.
You said it's alright I will one day.
Heaven was a different
place for everyone.

When I got hurt
you always picked me up
in your huge arms Grandpa.
it was always so safe.

I never told you Grandpa
I lied when I said
I don't believe in heaven.
You and grandma were my heaven.

I know you have gone
now to your heaven.
Sat in a kitchen up there
eating food from the old country.
Grandma at the stove
mom on your knee listening
to stories of Europe
before the war.

My heaven was
with you all grandpa.
I think I will
change my heaven
to yours after all.
That's all I want Grandpa
just our heaven.

I only wish
there was a post office
in our heaven
and I could send
this letter to you .

All My Love
Jude

I feel like I am walking in a shower of love.
The tapping of rain playing my heartbeat.
The light of the moon a beacon
Illuminating all my senses.
Pulling me close to you
she said.

We walked along the tree lined pathways
together in the park, arm in arm.
In the shining wetness of the night rain.
Where our love glows in the dark

Its rhythm is playing on the strings of my heart.
Making me sing love songs,
all for you.
Only for you.
I am so in love with you
So in love.
she sighed.

We walked slowly in the rain
I turned to look at her
so beautiful radiant
in the moons light.
So new and innocent.
So much what I needed.

I feel your fingers inside my heart.
Tapping your heartbeat on mine.
Allowing me to breath to feel to live.
Keeping my heart safe and loved.
she said*

And there in the park,
in the night rain.
I entered her sweet heart,
through the door
She left open for me.
And I found my home.
where I would never leave.

I remember when we met Ted
You always made things so right.
We used to always sleep together
So I was not scared at night.

We used to travel everywhere
Nobody ever knew.
You were always there for me
And I was there for you.

I used to tell you all my troubles.
You would listen all the day.
And when I got a tummy ache
You took the pain the away.

Once I had the measles
I was six days  lay in my bed
You never ever left me Ted.
You slept right by my head.

When the thunderstorm scared me
And the lightning’s flashing light
You snuggled up and held me
So safe all through the night.

The passing years they rolled along
And Ted we got older too.
I was not frightened anymore.
Oh! what could I do with you?

My little sons  in the next room.
There is a bear next to his head
With  one eye missing,
and it has a patch or two.
It is his favorite little bear
Its you Ted it is you.

Hello midnight my old friend
I have not been with you for a while.
The stardust from your speckled canopy
feels so good again on my skin.
I want to wear you on my shoulders
like a shawl of comfort.
I know I have ignored your quiet beauty.
I know I sought comfort from another love.
one of my own kind
and forgot about you my  friend.
please forgive me.
I sit on the bench alone
Comforted by your light.
Seeking your infinity.
Yet even that has changed.
Another shooting star
dies in the heavens
leaving a space in you midnight.
Just like he left a space in me.
Are you looking in wonderment
at me midnight?
Like the way I am looking at you.
Hoping for things to be the same.
Yet knowing changes are inevitable.
I watch the spaces in you
when another star dies.
You see the space in me
When another love dies.
But here I am again
Under your mantle
Of countless fading stars
Your light on my shoulders
Your tears in the rain.
Sitting together in friendship
Waiting for another of our
beloved stars to fade.

The Glass Menagerie

*She was ethereal in her beauty.
I always loved her of course.
But only from a respectful distance.
She collected glass animal's.
I always gave her one for birthdays.
She would kiss my cheek in thanks.
Not the kiss I craved but a kiss.
Her perfect French braids
Framing her lovely face.
I fantasized unfastening them
Slowly so her hair flowed
Like the soft spring rain
washing my bare skin.
She would show me the
intricate color mix
in her glass menagerie.
But I only saw the colors
of her hair her eyes her lips.
When the sickness came.
Her skin became
taught and translucent like glass.
The weight loss showing her frame
She looked more and more
Like one of her beloved
glass collection.
Then when we lost her
She left her collection to me.
But the one
I wanted and treasured
Was on a high shelf
Beyond the clouds
Far beyond my reach.

She stood facing
the fading sunlight.
High on a windy hill
so beautiful and serene.
She told me
she was a fallen angel.
And her wings
had been taken away.
She said she would
teach me how to fly one day.
high over the thermals
with mountain tops below.
It was a sad
yet beautiful untruth.
She held out her arms
and enfolded me in them.
The beautiful fallen angel
with the sunlit hair
and eyes as blue
as a summer sky.
the only one
who can make
my lonely heart sing.

1945
The endless war was over.
We were all returning to the new normal.
That is if anything could ever be normal again..
The train trundled along the british countryside
The towns the counties passing slowly by.
Rows of houses country farms
The edge of Scotland  ahhh Scotland.
We Passed the cities into the Highland where pristine lochs sparkled in the rare sunshine.
She got onto the train at Inverness
A change of vehicle descending south.
To a London I did not want ever to see again.
I was reading my book on the armies of Rome in England.she took a sandwich out of her oversized purse. would you like one she asked softly.?
I was famished normal protocol apolite no.
But my hunger screamed even louder than my reticence
yes that would be lovely.
Thank you so much.
The food  trolley arrived I ordered two cups of watery after war coffee
And two custard tarts.
I showed her Hadrians wall
As we passed it.
The city of York which had been the centre of the British civil war
Cavaliers and roundness and all that.
I guess by now she knew I was a terminal bore.
But she did not seem to mind
She smiled and laughed dutifully at my jokes.
What she did not know
By the time we reached Crewe
I was in love with her.
It was obvious  a woman as beautiful as her.
Would have no interest in such a stogie old Bachelor  schoolmaster like me.
I had no skills in alluring the fairer ***.
Only Shakespeare Plato descartes.
But as the train pulled into Euston
dust from the coal fired engines entered
  a piece of soot into my eye
From the open window of the carriage

She came to my aid taking the dust from my eye with the rolled corner of her handkerchief. The pain immediately subsided. And she kissed my lips softly yet firmly.
I have never kissed a man unintroduced she whispered.
But I do not want to wait for you
you are very shy.

2000
The snow fell on Greyfairs school early that winter
We had retired into the headmaster's quarters which would be ours for the rest of of our days.
I remember the train my love.
She whispered her beautiful grey eyes as young as the springtime.
You gave me half your ham sandwich my love I answered weakly.
Then at Easton you kissed me first.
Like this she said her familiar sweet.lips reached mine.
That's because I found the man that I wanted for my life partner she purred.
The light faded in my eyes
She melted into oblivion.

I was on a train alone again like so long ago.
The British rail trolley came
I bought two weak watery coffees and two custard tarts.
Keep riding sir
the lady's voice said kindly.
she will be with soon at Inverness.

Agnostic's prayer
By
Jude Kyrie

Let there be orchards
In summer ripe days

Let there be Christmas
And first of Mays

Let there be children singing
In heavenly choirs.

Let there be snowfall
With warm cozy fires

Let there be hopscotch
And childish games

Let there be holidays
With different names

Let there be family
With comforting beds

Let there be mother's
To kiss children's heads

Let there be peaceful
long summer nights

Let there be moonlight
So clear and so bright

Let there be dark skies
With a billion bright stars

Let there be love
As each new day starts.

To be read aloud
To any God you believe in
Jude

The good girl
Short story with a twist
By
Jude Kyrie

*Randy Evans was the ultimate family man at least in his own mind.
He had married Eva 18 years ago. He consumated their marriage on the wedding night.
This was the decent and proper way he mused.
He loved his daughter Janie now 16 with all his heart.
He brought her up to be the kind of woman he regarded as proper no friends without his approval of them and their parents.
Certainly no boy friends allowed at all.
She kept an A average at school and never gave them an ounce of trouble.
He hardly ever had to use his belt on her these days just a look would be enough to keep her in line.
Although the odd strapping did her no harm at all
It never hurt him in the long run when he father used it on him.
Yes he was the complete family man.and good father.

Janie came home and asked her father if she could sign up for the school trip to Washington it was three nights away from home.
Randy immediately said no those kids drink and smoke dope no way you can go.
You are a decent girl.
Yes Daddy said Janie not a inch f disagreement in her manner.
She had no intention of getting her bottom belted again.
Now help your mother prepare dinner Janie
She stood in front of the kitchen window looking into the  back yard edged by a wooded area.
Randy had moved them to the country away from the filthy inner city full of drugs and violence.
She was sobbing at the sink
What's up asked Randy is it because you can't go on the school trip?
No daddy I don't care about the trip he's back out there again I thought he was in the mental home.
He was four weeks ago well he's out there again daddy
Just staring at me like before.
Randy looked at the boy he was mentally challenged and had taken to stalking Janie.
Randy took his hunting rifle and went to the boy
Get away he yelled go home
and never come back or I will **** you with this ******* rifle you hear.
He was shouting a the top of his voice.the neighbors lights went on faces at the window.
He repeated I will I'll you get it?
But I love her sir she is my soulmate
the young disturbed boy whispered softly.
She loves me and I am going to marry her.
Randy fired a warning shot into the air.
The boy ran away into the woods.
Randy persuade him.
He lost him in the woodlands

He called Sheriff Black a  big man
Told him of the stalking it's back he cried.
Yep they said he was not dangerous the shrinks.
He said listen no more guns you hear that's my job.
I don't want to arrest you for criminal violence.

The next day Randy got home the women were crying
What's happening he shouted.
Someone broke in and ransacked Janie's bedroom
My ******* are missing and my bras.
Randy was beside himself
He went to the boys house his parents opened the door he just past them
Where is he that ******* ***** of a son of yours.
He's out the place was a disaster *****  washing and dishes all over the kitchen
Maids day off said Randy
Where's his ******* room.
Oh don't go there he will get mad with us please don't.
He pushed past her and saw his bedroom draw
It was locked Randy booted it open in contrast to the house it was organised spotlessly cleaned and neat.
A hospital made bed and neat closet all over the walls were pictures of Janie
She was naked in her bedroom her breast Photoshopped and enlarged
On the bed was was her bra and ******* laid out with a picture of her naked next to them
Alongside the bed the garbage pail was full of tissues he knew exactly what he had done
He's bashing the bishop watching her picture and undergarments.
Randy yelled I will  **** him I will  **** the ******* perv.
Rushing through the door he screamed threats all the way to his truck.
Then knocking the gatepost over and spilling the garbage cans he tore off leaving rubber marks on the tarmac.

He could not find him and returned home at midnight.
Sheriff Black was waiting
Where you been he said I was after that ******* kid
Did you get to him.
No I couldn't find him
He's dead beaten to death with a baseball bat with your name on it.
But I didn't do it.
The cuffs slipped on Randy's wrist.
The court case lasted two days
The jury was out in fifteen minutes.
Guilty of first degree ******
The witnesses telling of the threats to **** the boy the rifle discharge
The broken door of his bedroom the raging outburst leaving his home.
He go life without parole.

The TV in the prison was set to the news
He sat in the waiting room Janie was being interviewed by a lipstick covered reporter.
You have been through a terrible ordeal Janie
Yes but it's over now I am OK
What are your plans honey
Well I am going to Washington next week with my boyfriend and school friends for four days.
I am going shopping for new underwear mine was stolen.

He got it
He ******* well got it
It was Janie the little *****
He would tell her mother to get the ******* strap to work on her bare ***.
The penny dropped
She had given the slow boy her ******* and bra herself.
He thought she loved him.
The photos were hers she had taken them.
she had given them to him
The boy was a pawn
He was in love with her
He was just acting like any infatuated teenager.
And he was a ******* Patsy.

Janie fastened her new lacy bra it showed her beautiful breast off
Particularly with the **** low cut clinging shirt
Her boyfriend was going to love it.

Snowflakes are softly falling, on the old town
Christmas Carols, are playing all around
The old lady shakes her tambourine
Making a lovely winter scene
An old fashioned uniform looks so sweet
A Christmas vision we always greet
As she stands by her collection drum
Silently waiting for your gift to come
As each person drops a few dollars in
“God bless you sir, be saved from sin”
The Salvation Army is always there
When no one else does give a care
Clothing the children of the poor
Filling the bellies of the lost people
They don’t need a huge church steeple
They go to the places,  where lie the needy
Not feed the coffers of the greedy
The god above knows what this means
Kindness to others, is one of his dreams
No question asked of creed or race
Just a kindly helping face
I have seen the riches abundant in Rome
But my heart goes out to those nearer to home
Who save the children,  from hunger and want
Lifting them up, when the system wont
There’s no better helpers of their fellow man
Than the good hearted people of the Sally Ann
So I contribute and help them out
It will be well used, you can have no doubt.

The Ruins
When you left me
The ruins of all that was us.
Collapsed inside my chest.
For a very long time
I stood in those ruins
Still thinking I would find you there.
But it was only the wailing of old ghost
Looking for a home.
Once I  thought my ruins
were all that is left of me.
But even ruins take on a new life.
Wildflowers are now growing
Between the rubble and bricks
Colours are appearing
as she sun rises above
the broken buildings.
Ivy has grown over the broken towers.
Sunlight is falling
warming the new life.
Sure I miss your laugh
The sparkle in your eyes
I do not think of your kisses though
That would surely break my heart in two.
But I  am expelling your ghost
To find another abode
In someone else’s broken heart.
My ruins are slowly being restored
Brick by brick.
The gardens bloom with new life.
A life that does not include you.
Because life has gone on
without you in my ruins.
And now I must go on as well.

I love you man
A Story From Nam

We were seventeen or eighteen in Nam
we became friends forever.
No more than friends.
Soldiers get closer than wives.
We went to sleep saying
I love you man.
We switched letters
For our girlfriends.
In case… well just in case.

The bullets rained
in the clearing that night.
I can still see the tracer lights.
Guys fell down all around me.
Crying everywhere.
Air power cleared them away.

I looked for Joe he was lay there.
I held him close
like a baby as he left us.
His last words
I love you man.
I whispered to him
Not as much
as I love you Man
.
I did not notice I had been hit.
After six months I returned home.
In West Virginia his beautiful girl
Opened the door of a small trailer.
She had a baby boy in her arms.
Her blue eyes welled with tears.
I passed the unopened letter to her.
I lied and said the blood
on it was mine.

She passed the baby
to me to hold
As she read the letter.
I kissed his tiny forehead.
And said see buddy
You’re not dead at all
I love you Man

These Olympics are lame.
Full of untruthfulness.
They say Usain Bolt
Is the fastest man alive.
Thats total fantasy.
Everyone in England knows
it was my uncle Willie.
A coal miner in northern England
In 1958.
He did the mile in One minute
Fifty two seconds in his pit boots no less.
When he fell down a mineshaft.
Jude

I am a lone wolf.
I hunt in the wilds
of the city.
Always watching.
Always seeking.
But alone.
I travel without a mate
I sleep alone.
Take care of myself.
Share nothing.
Answer to nobody.
Silence is my companion.
But there are cold winter nights.
When I howl at the full moon.
It’s fading glow blooms
on the frost filled air.
The coldness of it
touches my heart.
I use my sensitive nose
To seek the fragrance
of a single companion.
To last me a lifetime
and release me from
my solitary prison.

In The Night Garden

Tonight a slight breath of summer wind
sways gently the hanging branches
of the willow tree she loved.
On such nights as this
my heart aches for you.
Loss is so permanent so lonely.
A wisp of a breeze passes by my face.
It touches the flowers
blooming in our garden
first azalea honeysuckle
fragrant jasmine
and yes gardenia
your favorite.
In the magic of nature’s alchemy
it melts them together,
I breathe your perfume once more
it is filling all of my senses.
Mixed in the breeze
yet remembered in my soul.
I know you are here
with me in the night garden.
a shaft of moonlight
falls onto the blue
forget-me-not’s at my feet.
a speckle of rain
Kisses my cheek softly.
I whisper quietly to you.
“welcome home my love”

Like the old house of my birth?
I know you will be back to me.
My smile awaits for you.
Through sunlit windows.
Creaks of joy on the stairs.
Cracks in the night.
The smell of bread in the oven.
The warmth of a winter fire.
The love that lives in its rafters.
I will wait for you
Like your old house
I know
You will be back to me.
I will wait forever my love.
Until then the rain will pour
From my windows like tears.