Paul M Chafer

Paul M Chafer Oct 2010

To hear the child,
through outpourings
of tears, is to hear
a child in need.
To help the lost,
to search within
themselves, is to help
them to succeed.
To recognise sadness,
concealed in brave
composure, is to know
how far we fall.
To sense one’s love,
through layers of
deep emotion, is to
know, love conquers all.
To believe in oneself,
despite latent natural
desires, is to accept
the Karma inside.
To rise above mortality,
slipping free of safe
shores, is to sail on
the spiritual tide.
To forgive the listener,
who cannot hear the
word, is to mourn one
who’ll never be free.
To touch one’s heart,
so breathing life into
life, is to reveal
what it is, just to be.

Paul M Chafer Oct 2010

Boy Soldiers

We stalked hawthorn hedgerows,
Backyards our battlefields,
Wielding wooden swords,
Dustbin-lids, for our shields.

We scouted railway cuttings,
Long abandoned and disused,
Where friendship’s blended alloys,
Were cast, forged and fused.

We patrolled village streets,
Marched along muddied lanes,
Proudly defending ‘our land’,
From raiding, heathen, Danes’.

We boldly challenged Vikings’,
Beneath a Sixties-summer-sun,
Bonding loyalty, faith and trust,
That will never, come undone.

Those days will not return,
Memories-mismatched-truth,
Recalling the fallen heroes,
Fighting follies of our youth.

Protecting imagined Kingdoms,
Lost in time, for evermore,
Boy soldiers standing guard,
In Castles built from straw.

written for boyhood friends, Graham and Michael Tune.© copyright with Author

Paul M Chafer Sep 2010

Brave Voices

Be brave,
You have no choice;
When trying to change the world.
People cannot, or simply refuse to see,
New ways forward, promoting harmony.

Inevitably, others will always ridicule,
Their ignorance blocking your path,
So solidly entrenched, unchangeable,
Pouring scorn over radical ideas.

Beneath their mockery, they sense,
The Border fences are breaking,
Chains of Religion are snapping,
Unshackling, Political manacles.

Revolutionary meeting of minds,
Sowing seeds of the unknown,
Voices unleashing subtle energies,
Diminishing established power.

Reveal to those, now choosing to see,
New ways forward, promoting harmony.
When trying to change the world.
You have no choice:
Be brave.

Inspired by and written for, D, Gary La Buda, and Irwin. © copyright with Author

Paul M Chafer Sep 2010

Do You Hear?

Do you hear the deep silent oceans?
Heed the unending silence of space?
Listen to the multitude chattering.
Voices competing in our human race.

We yearn for the silence of serenity.
Peaceful oasis within the shrill clamour.
Seeking harmony, calmness, tranquillity.
Amongst the glitz, the greed and the glamour.

Inside my temple, forever under siege.
The persecuted and downtrodden plead.
Never accusing or begging: simply asking.
Do you hear? Do you weep for their need?

The lonely, the destitute and homeless.
The cold and the hungry, calling for aid.
Are their cries lost? Or do you hear them?
Does the tragedy hurt? Do their pleas ever fade?

Imagine one quiet moment: one still minute.
And for that minute, hear the suffering and pain.
The distress echoed through deafening silence.
Misery of innocents heard, again and again.

Silent white clouds drift majestically by.
A noiseless dew-drop, sparkles and glistens.
Eternally hushed, the faintest of whispers.
Do you hear? No one hears: unless someone listens.

© Paul Chafer 2014

Commisioned and written for The Right Honourable Mo Mowlam.

Paul M Chafer Sep 2010

Doddering On

It is strange, sad, but true,
I now have a disordered mind,
Reasoned coherent thought,
All replaced and left behind.

Things I have to do: or not;
Run away as if to escape,
The day’s events rerunning,
On a deceptive loop of tape.

Mismatched memories amass,
Flickering coloured thought,
Unfocused faded imagery,
So stressed and overwrought.

‘Because of age’, so I’m told,
Golden years such a silly sham,
Knowing then what I do now,
I might even know who I am!

Alas I don’t: not anymore
Neither do I really care,
When not myself I’m someone else
Together, we do make a pair.

I am content, nothing matters,
As I reach life’s setting sun,
Basking in the happy memories
Of things, I’ve never done.

Just an exercise casting my mind forward: or it it? © copyright with Author

Paul M Chafer Sep 2010

Wise Dolphin

Antonia is such a good swimmer,
She often swims in the sea,
Where she met a friendly dolphin,
Who she invited back for tea.

There were plates of jam sandwiches,
Ice-cream, with jelly in a fancy dish,
Vanilla slices and chocolate cake,
Oh, and of course, lots of fish.

Then the dolphin shared a story,
Of a far off-distant land,
Even though his voice was very squeaky,
Antonia could easily understand.

The story told of mermaids,
Magic songs upon their lips,
Their singing enticing sailors,
From the rigging and decks of ships.

Though, the sailors were not harmed,
Only enchanted in a drowsy sleep,
Dreaming in the mermaid kingdom,
Beneath the ocean cool and deep.

The mermaids made a prophecy,
Of the sailors promised release,
When mankind stopped all wars,
And had learned to live in peace.

Antonia thought, ‘how very wise’,
Watching waves upon the sea,
From the beach, she waved goodbye,
To the dolphin who came for tea.

Paul M Chafer Sep 2010

Loving Jess

Walking along this path, all alone,
Beneath the shadows of tall trees,
Her sweet face lingers in my mind,
Her name whispers on the breeze.

She awaits me, by the old pond,
Where we spent many, happy hours,
Basking in early morning sunshine,
Amidst, a few, late summer flowers.

Without any greeting, I simply sit,
We exchange a glance, nothing more,
My tears speak a thousand words,
For that, which has gone before.

She suddenly vanishes, and I accept,
The time has come to let her go,
I love her, and yes, I do miss her,
In truth, I needed to let her know.

It is a year, since I lost my Jess,
But seeing her, my pain is eased,
I am replacing her with a puppy,
I imagine, she’ll be well pleased.

Jess was such a good dog: faithful,
One of the best that I have known,
But tomorrow, I will no longer be,
Walking along this path, all alone.