Grey days require colourful thinking
Bouncing energy is felt
as usual with most people's faces drawn in wonder
Why do we speak out of turn?
When those that know nothing are hungry for love

How many times do we waste our actions
We never think of where we are going
And if we might care for those that suffer
Though the lack of comfort is undisclosed
We should know what this leads to
Not pretty but to a crescent of shame
Not liking definite lessons of our pathetic existence.
Singeing ones hair on a dancing candle can mean only one thing
The flaying arms of outrageous and careless action
Spells veritable acquiescence in the days events

Notice your body
Watch the curves on the numbers on the weighing machine
Scales are for dragons, lizards and fish, not you
Don't be sure that tomorrow your heart won't be aching
For the fresh winds that drag you sideways into
A superfluous distant horizon and grateful solitude
In my life I've had stirring moments but
I realise that every time I wake
My greatest achievement is still to come
Nonetheless I am delighted that I have made it
Perhaps from which eventually all my life will be judged
No word remembered, no action recalled
But the marks I've made on my canvases will tell all

Spiralling expectations are often dashed
Nothing is usually clear at the start
An opportunity is flagged but often
It's not really the case
Use our Company and make your name
Use our gallery, service, mailer, contacts
It's great
Oh but just one thing we're new to this
Yet our hopes are high and someone has promised
To put you on their list...we'll only charge you
If we sell something, OK?

Fraught yet tender the day begins
Unexpected effort is surprising
Time is the ruler
As simple goals are thwarted
In the end winning through
And seems a greater achievement
Muzzy head makes the effort
More difficult, strenuous lethargy
A careful check of the time indicates
Not everyone made the mark
Not everyone gave the same
Or achieved what this poor soul
Was even too weak to decree
Continue is a trait
'Keep going' a phrase that
Could be emblazoned on the carved
Headstone of my tomb
But going where at that point?
No medal required, no shout
Of appreciation
Just an understanding that when
All is lost or seems just too hard
My natural instinct is to continue
No deviation or side swipes
Solid unity of mind and body
Not even clever but just how it is

Remembering that day
The first sight of your little face
Rounded cheeks and beautiful mouth
Eyes tightly shut.
How proud I was to have
a daughter
Since then I have continued
to be proud and thankful
How many Dads have such beauty
****** into their lives that lasts?
Not just beauty of a visual nature
But one that is from the core
Throughout body and soul.
You have never given a second
of disappointment or sadness
No anger, no worry nor concern
Just happiness and joy
Perfection is an over used hyperbole
In this case not
Thank you for giving me and everyone
the love and steadfast care
We may or may not deserve.
So on this special day
From my heart and from
every fibre of my being
I want to tell you that
There is no-one like you
You have a special place inside me
My love goes with you always
May you feel the energy of the cosmos
Caring for you and the life blood
Of our earth supporting
Helping and keeping you safe
Amongst the trials of this mortal life
And as the winter solstice approaches
When the sun is reborn into our world
May you have health and love always

For my special daughter Vicky

Dad ***

Keeping me here in your heart
Is all I ever wanted
No special fanfare
No mission or announcement
Journeying together is everything
No looking sideways but forwards
Don;t turn around to see, focus on the horizon
Greater love is hard to see from the vision
We created when we met.
How terrible when the peace is broken
And our day is shaken
Not under the spell of you but in,
in pure love as ever anyone can be
Can you imagine the day without this?
The day without our silly games and our
rhetoric of simple living
Hands touching even now is electric
Anything else is like a firework
Shooting into the inky sky and lifting
Everything in it;s path
Incredibly we are grounded now
Even dreams
Following and holding us
I know my life has meaning
The only true meaning is us.

For my lovely Jan ***

Fear of the next day
Content at the thought of being inside
The world and the people you know
May be there but do they care
Really care and pass their day in the
Mirror of your life
Hankering after a peaceful finale
A strange edifice of warming thoughts
Surrounding my heart and my simple body
Do not keep a vigil on me
Don't pretend you care
When you quite simply aren't even
In the wreck of the days proceedings
I cannot tell you the things you need to hear
My voice is silent as the moon
I feel sorry for you but then
You feel the same way for yourslf
Isn't that how it gets when time
Just ticks away at the clockface of immobility
My love is still here as ever it was
I always think poor man
I can't justify this message as it manifests
A lump within my throat and I can hear
My heart beating out an untimely rhythm
Afraid of the future, don't be
Your resolve is impressive
Continue your day to day survival
You will surprise yourself as weeks
turn into months then years
There is a life, just believe it
For each must bear the hard cross of lost
Passion and of pleasant encounters
It seems that these count for nothing in the
Short term of soul searching and nostalgia
Nothing is now beyond you
Your best period may be just about to arrive.

For my friend Ken

Dear ancestors hear my voice
On this Samhain eve I have a
Message for you
Be sure I have found my love
A love that releases me
The version of me you may not know
The one that I have became
It is true that this love has grown
Grown into a perfect and lasting covenant
Love that is rare and true
She is the embodiment of me in a
Special and all seeing person
She has given me sight to see the world in its glory
The Vision of which I have never known
She has given me heart to carry on when all seems lost
Courage to face each day
The tenacity to make the most of my life and of hers
The soul that we share is complete in the extreme
It is extreme as it is perfect and as one
She gives me more than this more than I could ever
Ever ever say.
I found her just six years ago
She came to me in a rush of circumstance
Something unexpected and yet hoped for
I can say much of this but all I need to say
Is that I love her so dearly it hurts
It hurts because life itself is so fragile.
I hold this love in my hand and cherish it
Cherish this day as we walk together into our
Seventh year through the mist and veil
Of Samhain, oh Samhain,
This is our time  

Max Hale
Dedicted to my Jan on the anniversary of our meeting six years ago.