One Word

I have been searching all my life,
For one beautiful word;
Just one, through the corners of my mind,
Through the paperback acres,
To hardback libraries and now
That I’ve found it…
I realise it was there all along,
Simple and unassuming,
You.

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

Came here by car,
Rode in the fast lane, past,
Concrete avenues all lined,
With suburban memorabilia.
Seen the sunrise cross the asphalt
Trundled down country lanes,
cattle tamed.

Across war torn highways,
Miles stretch out, as
The highway passes by
Feel I’ve been chasing
Down shadows,
Across endless plains
Have seen the broken hearts,
Through cracked windscreens.
Watched teardrops spatter,
Cross a dusty windshield
As a rainbow glistens
In the corner of my eye.
There’s a reason these express ways,
Reach towards the horizon.

Have travelled here,
Came by car,
But
Don’t know where
Here is.

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

Sticky, plastered paint peels,
From sun dusted walls,
As shadows creep backwards,
Towards the point of the day,
Where,
Heat blasts its volcanic breath,
To bake those
Who dare.

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

Tis my town
Am not proud of it;
But it is my home
Made it my own

Have found
Many memories,
Of things gone by
In this town
I call my own.

Born of iron and steel
Upon the river goes
This town of mine
I have made own

Stumbled upon things
I never owned
Down in
This town
I call my own

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

This is my November Rain,
When tears splatter the paper.
Laid my heart on the floor,
Then walked out the door.

Don’t think it will ever recover,
From the mess within.
This my November Rain,
Sealed by love with pain.

Said without thought or consequence,
Through November Rain.
No time to take stock,
Hearts now on the chopping block.

This is my November Rain.

©  Nick Strong 2014

Crooning, he sang lullabys,
She reached for the ear plugs.

Aching twisted limbs, gnarled and torn,
Wind battered, weathering and worn.
What stories can it tell?
Through generations of sunshine,
Through decades of rain,
Storm battered, weathered in pain.
What stories can it tell?

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

Simple heart beats, tap out
The rhythm of one’s time.

One star for each person,
Long gone, but not forgotten.
A gentle reminder that,
Each stars a soul,
Woven and sewn
With silvery threads
Stretching for the moon,
Blinking, flashing, calling,
Cascaded memories
From each star
A Soul

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

Don't........

Don't break the hold,
Or I may fold,
And fall into an
endless vault of
Vaulted faults
Down tunnels of time
So don't
Break the hold,
Or I may fold......

©  Nick Strong 2014

When the world smiles,
The Sun shines,
When the world cries,
The rain falls.
When the world hiccups,
A volcano erupts.
When the world feels alone,
The snow blankets.

Do we ever listen?

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

Tell me who do I see?
When I look in the mirror.
Cos I don’t know,
Feels like the boy I was,
Is looking at the man,
I swore I’d never be.

©  Nick Strong 2014

Speaking silently,
Through gentle whispers.
A hushed voice telling tales,
Brushes across the grass.
I hear it calling my name
Softly, achingly whispering
From a time long since gone.

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

Two Words

For all the laughter
For all the images
For all the music
For all the days
For all the nights
There are two words

For the sunshine
For the flowers
For the rainbow
For the smiles
For the frowns
There are two words

For the inspiration
To carry on
For the support
To tackle everything
For you
There are two words

Thank you!

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

This blank page was given to me,
To do with whatever I please.
All I do is sit and stare.
Ponder and mull is all I do,
What to write?
What to draw?
Where will my imagination go?

This blank page was given to me.
I am driven to fill it, to make it mine.
Fill it with the world around me,
Show it as it’s meant to be.
Maybe I’ll just doodle,
Or scribe a piece of prose.
Then again,
Maybe I should leave it.
Nothing but perfection,
Pristine, like snow.
Fresh frosty clean and ready …

© Nick Strong 2014

She said.
He said.
It doesn't matter,
What they said.

She touched.
He touched.
It doesn't matter,
What they touched.

She heard.
He heard.
It doesn't matter,
What they heard.

She felt.
He felt.
It doesn't matter,
What they felt.

It doesn't matter,
It was theirs
In that moment.

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

Timothy looks away
Slightly disgusted
By those around
Flashing images
streak by
Gardens, yards
Car park
His breathing
Frosts the window
Sarah carefully
Places one ear pod
Into her ear
To listen to Handel’s 5th
Cameron looks
Shiftily down the aisle
For signs of
The trolley cart
That’s never on its way
Signs of passing stations
Shuttle by
Side streets
High streets
Cobbled streets
Timothy sighs
Opens a book
Pretends to be
Invisible
To fellow passengers
The train manager
Formally known as The Conductor
Announces
A delay due to points
Failure
Victoria
Wishes she hadn’t
Left Geoffrey
Last Tuesday
By the gas works wall
Lamp posts,
Telegraph poles
Fence posts
Flash by
A trainee
Train hygiene
Operative
Rustles a bin bag
And asks for *******
Thomas smiles
At the lady across the aisle
Who quickly looks
To the floor
Hedgerows
Sheep
Green grass
A tractor lazily ploughing a furrow
Sandra,
A mother looks embarrassed
Shushes, tries to smother the cries
Of her screaming child
Trampolines
Swings
Slides
Paddling pools
Rush on by
An old lady *****
Vigorously on a mint humbug
Whilst knitting in rhythm
With the motion
Of the train
Factories
Smoking chimneys
Industrial waste
Barren landscapes
Fly by
Terry
Anxious,
Gets up and shakily
Makes his way to check
That his case is
Still in the luggage storage
For the fourth time
Since The last station
Garages with rickety wooden doors
allotment sheds
Lock ups
Pigeon lofts
Pass by
The tannoy crackles
The announcement
That the train will soon
Reach the next station
And  
That
All passengers
Alighting Here
Be careful to take all belongings
And mind the gap
Over grown weeds
Wild rampant Budleahs
Self seeded trees
Glide past
The 3:58 from

A picture of you smiling,
Fading in black and white,
Torn and gone.
I smile back,
Tears.
Oh, where did those,
Years go?
You were so,
Vibrant and bright.
Shining like a beacon,
Against the darkness.
Now all that remains.
Is this picture of you.

(for my mother)

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

Broken heart on shattered stone,
Frozen feelings on cracked ice.
Like the leaves falling from the trees,
The winter returns once more.

    ©  Nick Strong 2014

W h y   d o   t h i s  ?  
C h a n g e   m y   p o i n t   o f   v i e w ,
T a k e   m y   w o r l d  
A n d   t u r n,
T w i s t   i t   u p s i d e   d o w n .

S h o u l d n' t   h a v e   t a k e n   i t
S h o u l d   h a v e   l e f t   i t  
i n   t h e   b o x
L o c k e d   u p,  
k e y   t h r o w n   a w a y ,
B u t   n o,  

Y o u ‘v e   t a k e n   m y   w o r l d
A n d   t h r o w n   i t   u p s i d e   d o w n
S h a k e n   a n d   s t i r r e d
A l l   t h a t' s   i n   t h i s   s o u l

S h o u l d n' t   h a v e   t a k e n   i t
S h o u l d   h a v e   l e f t   i t   i n   t h e   b o x
T h r o w n   t h e   k e y   a w a y
B u t   n o   y o u   d i d n' t ,

D i d   Y o u?

    ©  Nick Strong 2014