He held himself with a somber sadness
His massive shoulders sagged to the floor
As if something at his center had just given up
Perhaps life dealt him a bad deck of cards
or perhaps he had just got some very bad news
That is when I noticed the picture at the table
Sitting at his right in his favorite corner booth
was an old picture of a very lovely woman
Come to find out later this was his beloved wife
They were married for 55 wonderful years
She passed away in 2009 but that did not stop him
He still dines with her every day
and kisses her picture every night
He talks to this picture like she is right there with him
Now that is true love my friends  <3   <3

we didn't
know we wrote
          our names
   into snow,
scrolled
our
         soul into
soil,
our toil invisible
on
         maps but
held
as heavy as
breath
         in cold air,
our love, death
birth, despair
        who we
were written
indelibly
into this
               earth

its good to be written off  
of being of not much use
not a threat to any ego

-to be able to weave your invisible self
all along your invisible road
the gentle steps of a liberated spirit

World Peace!
Are you an idealist’s dream
Never to be achieved?
Were the Beatles’ Loving words
In vain?

Or can we get there?
Can we build a world
Where no-one Hates?

For that’s the first step:
Stop Hating!

Abandon your lust for land
Wealth and Power.
Learn to love those different from
Yourself.

We need a new approach.
We maybe need a Government of The World,
Democratically elected.
I’ve no idea who might set this up.
But we need it badly.

We need someone to share the world’s resources
So that no-one has to fight
Just to get a drink or bite to eat.

I search my soul,
To find that I myself am wanting.
Old hates still burn my brain.
I recall some people I would hurt
For what they did to me
In days gone by.

So I meditate,
Seeking to soothe my troubled soul.
For, if I can find some peace within myself,
Well, that’s a start.

Paul Butters

thought i could move you by handfuls
could sweep into you somehow
this mountain i despise
to share could slip you into
a feeling like mine air thin
weaker at height

safe for me is to defer
i sit statue and deny
what nobody knows should feel
like inhale
mintmouth—
curves time in a way

once we talked romance
told how to do it wrong
i took that on board
crave a kiss to thorn my tongue
any touch to burn
deeper than i can heal