I  still  love  my  Catherine  dearly.
Her  beauty  unsurpassed.
Long  golden  hair  and  pale  blue  eyes.
I  still  think  of  her  like  that.

But  that  was  four  decades  ago.
The  time  has  just  elapsed.
But  time  stands  still  in  the  memory.
Just  like  a  photograph.

We  were  to  marry  one  March  day.
But  circumstances  took  me  away.
When  I  returned  from  foreign  climes.
Life  had  moved  on  with  the  times.

I  never  saw  her  ever  again.
Odd  letters  I  did  get.
She  was  swallowed  up  in  city  life.
And  I  often  have  regrets.

Has  she  grown  old  gracefully.
Or  in  youthful  beauty  died.
Many  times  I've  thought  of  her.
And  many  times  I've  cried.

But  in  my  mind's  eye  clearly.
Running  swiftly  down  the  hill.
A  vision  of  loveliness.
Within  my  memory  still.

Keith  Wilson.  Windermere.  UK. 2016.

feeling sorry for myself again,
surprise surprise, I think a lot
they say don't it's bad for you,
surprise surprise, I wonder still
feeling sorry for myself again,
like some crack-addled *****
frustration at every turn, as I see
the corridors of my mind; a dead end
every time, and maybe the migraines
are a true sign of recent times
pain for days, a complete sense of contempt
seeing myself so low, I must mount my eyes
high up in the trees, stitched into leaves
to look down on everything so

feeling sorry for myself again,
surprise surprise, I think a lot
they said don't it's bad for me,
surprise surprise, I wonder still
feeling sorry for myself again,
like some lonesome lowlife
I understand the kettle's whistle,
tormented and brought to boiling point,
tortured by the very talents that give it purpose
am I a kettle or a joke to you?
pain for days, a complete sense of contempt
seeing myself so low, I must mount my eyes
high up in the trees, stitched into leaves
to look down on everything so

There's slaughter in the fields

                              Men
                             Women
                         Children
                      Frozen
                    No fight
                   No flight
                      (Frozen)

Thunder
Everywhere
though
There are no clouds in the skies

                                             ******
                                            My daughter
                                              ******
                                             My mother
                                               ******
                                                    Me
         ­                                 
                       Running for water
                      Through the rubble
                         All homes destroyed
                        ****** taking aim -
                          The bullet
                         Does it have my name

War
War
What's it good for
                                    Numbness
                                            Is
                 ­                  The only game I know

The dogs
Are eating corpses
In the streets

                                              Just another day
                                                In World War
                                                        III

It'­ll end one day
Peace will return
to a quiet Earth.

I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.
I say it in my head again.
Again.
Out loud.
But just above a whisper.
Repeat it again in the shower.
It gets  lost in the melody.
Mixing in the steam in the background.
Back to the head for shaving and teeth.
Master of using the mirror,
without ever quite looking at myself.
By now I'm remembering you again.
It comes and it goes.
Like a cough like a sneeze like a seizure.
Like a moth to a flame.
                                         Or a maybe an addict.
A bit louder because somewhere,
something lights across my synapses
A face, a laugh, a kiss, a memory.
I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.
Faster.
Both because I'm late.
And because I'm fearfully close.
Close to that razor fine edge of
put together and hot mess.
I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.
Keys and gone into the day.
I'll wander the streets.
Because I hope if I listen.
I will hear you too
I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine.