.                      (˚<

        Proper Gander look

        in quack mirror see

         dumb down duck

                      (˚>

.                 Lancing


  Bleeding was an old method

  of treating ailments, a bit like

inking though a nib on to paper

is how poets and authors do it.

Coveting         Colour

.           Pretence


The sad reality of a mixed

cultural marriage is that 1

or both parties are always

predestined to be unhappy.


Location location location

continuously the problem,

geographical contentment

is fake ****** of pretence.

When sap recedes,

        depriving leaves

       nutrients of envy,


         foliage famines,

   green turns jaundiced

     denuding branches,


                while

          Autumnising

             Anaemia.

.    Providence

At the crossroads,

dauntless free will

followed the sign

which pointed to

  predestination

    ending up in

            a

     cul de sac.

.                    Winter


      When night goes on shift

    work, dark days bother me.


       Aurora borealis occurs

  above stratospheric mantles.


   There's no milky way when

   udder cows leave the fields.


       Snow cover quilts, the

    green patchwork pasture.

.                  Doing
           Geographical’s


My biggest fear is homelessness,

yet, I have sold 20 houses in 40

years, what’s wrong with me and

now at age 72, I am in a camper.


I have tempted fate & destination.

Choice has caused my downfall

& running away from demons in

the head, but they always follow.


Well, they did in the past pursue

me, but now at least they won’t

need to take the usual 6 months

to find me, the van was their idea.






Ryan 27/11/2022

Normandy

.                     Echo Tolerated


            Repetitious behaviour in any

           form becomes a monotonous

           metronome, a mundane menu,

          a morose memory which keeps

                on returning to haunt us.


         Imagine being a pendulum is the

        best analogy, because a clock has

        no means of punctuating itself, it's

        a constant and why hypnotists use

        suspended watches to stymie time.


        The state of mesmerisation is no

          different to being transfixed or

          spellbound, sleep induction is a

        means of moment-ing the *****,

    consistence of an unchanging condition.


        The future is flawed, full of falacy

        a flat earth society concept with a

         precipice overlooking the depths

       of demise, the final flounder where

      the inevitability of anticipation ceases.


        On awakening from the illusion of

      the temporal there is but one option,

standing on the know ledge of awareness

overcoming vertigo, accepting that now is

a gift and this is why it is called the present.

Homeless
in Windsor.

Voices, footsteps, rain,
intermittent shadows

alley cats, rats, stray
dogs

brown paper bag
blind tasting - sleep
                
        dreAM

woken-sirens
(((shiver)))

bean-can-blown,
wind

bestir, same laces
to boot

patent leather
polished accents

Churchills Pond




It was cold as a dogs nose and stiff with rheumatism of nights Inactivity, beneath this frosted stratosphere,

***************­********








~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~­~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                                           a liquid silence

I think, therefore

  I ameliorate.

No Internet

Problem stems from core,

no pip on screen of apple,

refer to Pears Cyclopaedia.
              <>
No Internet

Live box is dead

Internet crashed

web cam being

consulted to view

final moments.
             <>
    No Internet

         ___                    
         || ######## ||
         ||#########||

The World Cup commences

Today. Imagine if FIFA, last

Minute decide not to bother

With nets behind the goals?
            <>
No Internet



Because we're out in the

Wops by the sea

A place, I never wanted

To be

It's where the old come

To die

Set adrift just like

Bligh

I’ve been trapped here,  

But soon I’ll be free.

             <>

        No Internet

And yet another blank

page, but, unfold-able.


Can’t even make a jet.

              /|\
             / | \
            /  |  \
           /   |   \

I managed the runway.
                <>
        No Internet              

             [      ]

   A blank screen is

     no different to

   Count Dracula's

  mirror even when

   he’s looking at it.

Glacial Discrimination


When I was a wee lad there

existed a chocolate box at

Christmas, it was called

Quality Street, a selection.


Instead of having a leafy

  tree lined urban classic

     scene on the cover,

it could have had a terrace

of a coal mining community

known as Quantity Street.


But no, because inferority

  lowers the value of any

product it seems and that

not only applies in human

terms, but also to animals.


Today, our first frost I noticed

a horse that had been fitted

with an all weather Winter coat.


Whereas, a herd of Charolais in

the neighbouring field, were not.

Internet respite

housefly@centre.web

  spider goes online

No Internet, is a new Christmas game

Where each player must find out who's to blame

                Some say Steve Jobs

            Or with those he hob nobs

   All anonymous, so impossible to name

Still Life

Out in the hills of Connemara

Long before the Electric City
                               /
Came to Cliften, Poitin stillers

Made Uisce Beatha from a mix

Of potatoes barley and wheat.

Kiev Gnat Sees In Dark

                 Dedicated Followers

Of Fascism - Rule

Uni'verse


A poem about this living

Organism we call world

Should not be devoid of

Feelings because earth

As we know it, has pain.


Thunder lightening rain

Typhoons tsunami’s are

Protestations but without

Exception the greatest

Pathos of all is darkness.


Day, with all its nascent

Enthusiasm eventually

Looses lustre, as sun

slowly progresses into

depths of desperation.

.                   If

       art is pain on paper

                  then

          poetry is pathos

                  and

thought is tethered torment.

Overstayers


      There are 144 poems

   on remand in my outbox.

  many are pejorative, some

  in need of censorship and

  punctuation, but all should

spend time at a correctional

facility before being released.

Abashed


Can we ever really imagine

what it feels like to be in

somebody else’s shoes?


Yes, is the answer to that.


Something happened to me

when I was a young boy.


It was the era when every

house had a last and hand-

me-downs were common,

often between relations

nephews even nieces.


On one such exchange I

was forced to wear a pair

of girls sandals with those

leather straps which had

a silver buckle that was

large enough for a belt.


Dancing shoes, in black

patent leather shiny as

saddles on postmen’s

bicycles and that is why

I wouldn’t go to Lucey’s

field to play football.


Because I thought they

would all be laughing.

Dr. Ink

    Black, as you can imagine,

    no, not the Doctor, the ink.

     He specialises in Genius,

      the abbreviated title for

   Ireland's national beverage.


Apparently those addicted say,  

  "We don’t give a ***** about

killing thousands of brain cells

every time we get scuttered,

we can afford to lose them”.

Snap Out Of It.


In the old days before

Smart phones there

Existed camera’s with

A view finder and also

An optical attraction

For the sitters benefit

To observe prior to

The photographers

Customary request

To watch the birdie

Before going to the

"Saying Of Cheese”.


Smiling seems to be

An imperative for

Everyone and no

Doubt the etymology

Of Snap Out Of It

For the long faced

People who are

Lactose intolerant,

Depressed and not

Able to articulate lip

Gestures just to

Look happy as it

Is the expected

Norm despite how

One is feeling.


That is what we

Have photo shop.







Ps


What is interesting is that

The worlds two most famous

Paintings are Mona Lisa

And The Scream, neither

Smiling.

No Internet


       Imagine what it was like

     back then, when the *ESB

      was cut off. No Wireless.
    

     There was but one power

     socket in the entire house.

    radio’s took pride of place.


     We had no electric kettle,

    washing machine, toaster,

   cooker, it was fairly austere.

    
  All our food was prepared on

the coal burning Rayburn and

on hot days, a paraffin Primus.


    I recall the time a man from

   the *Electricity Supply Board

  came to disconnect our meter.


  My poor mother pleaded.The

  shame of it. Candles in every

room and no Mrs Dale’s Diary.




Mrs Dale's Diary 60s radio BBC

A carnivorous regimen

was as close to wildlife

as I ever wished to get.

Recycling


  Nothing was ever written

    on crunched up pages

     of a paper chase trail.


Such an excess, I detested

  to see blank sheets go to

waste without a dual usage.


Before toilet rolls, we had

   to use our daily journal,

The Evening Eco was best.


ps.

Evening Echo is a news paper

in Cork City Ireland

Another Cold Coffee


      Can you imagine what it

      feels like to wake up after

     a long uninterrupted sleep,

yet, it seems as though you had

         not been to bed at all.


     Thus the beginning of my

                 every day.


       Then I take breakfast,

      which is punctuated with

  with periods of pause, when I

   find myself on a frozen oasis

staring through a mental mirage.


   I don't see or hear anything.


This is where the well within me

rises up like a Bialetti Moka® ***  

  past the pressure relief valve

to eye level, diffusing an already

   blurred vision, even further.


Meanwhile, the aroma dissipates.


        Another Cold Coffee.

.              Egg Timed Talk

                         ()

      So, you don’t like what I've

          written, yet read, now

             you can’t get it out

                 of your head

             it just goes to show

        that what you don’t know

is because you don’t listen to TED.

My blue eyes

         reflect the sky

my lids mimic

              the clouds

but rain's no

match for my tears.

. I’m in a prison, a voluntary

    inmate, yet, trapped by an

    invisible fence, no guards.


    Occasional spotlights peer

    through cloud, delineating

   night, from yet another day.


  Autumn leaves fall and crown

my still head, in profound ponder,

i'm in my asylum, my poetic refuge.


This is where tormented thought is

filtered, paroled, then liberated to

parade with periodical parables.

.            Tanks Giving


Pariah Mohammad Bin Salman

is given diplomatic immunity by

Joe Biden, for killing Khashoggi.


Meanwhile Assange wastes

away not too far from where

the British make meantime.


  Pluck the turkey this year

    Mr Precedent, consider

  pardoning a human being,

If a blind person is

Gifted a boomerang

For Christmas and

Ends up being hit in

The back of the head

After throwing it, then,

It is only logical that

Australian Aborigines

Are to be blamed.

Ps.

This is like Blaming
Russia for missile
strike in Poland.

We have mirages

optical illusions

camouflage, we

have deception,

chameleons, we

have wise-dumb

people making

decisions on our

behalf because we

elected them, so

tell me what does

that make us ?

Only those holding an empathy

glass have swallowed the pain

Proper Gander Speaks

To Dumbed Down Duck


( ˚< ((((

President Zelensky'n of the

Kiev NATO ****’s is loosing

The battle and tried to create

A diversionary bombing tactic

In Poland, but it backfired on

His regime. If Liz Truss was in

Power, she would have already

Pressed the red nuclear button.


   ( I agree)

     O

   o

  ˚
(˚>

If

  To be or not to be is an

           uncertainty

               And

   Cogito Ergo Sum is a

  theoretical supposition

              Then

    Surely, 22/7 must

        be Pi in the sky.

But for pawns all

chess pieces are

capable of retreat.


Ukraine is a board

where NATO have

challenged Russia.


Kiev ****’s were

gifted Kherson a

trojan horse city.


Perception is the

deception, it’ll be

their just nugatory.


The knee deeper

is a natural river

moat for Russia.


While west bank

is akin to a hull's

sacrificial anode.

.                      Question


         What does it take to be a

         great poet he was asked?



     The one word response was,

                    “ PAIN "


Seamus Heaney


                         <>

                

    "Only those holding an empathy

    glass, have swallowed the pain"


Ryan O'Leary

Psychologists tell me that

    I should shave every day.


   Face my fears and they all

    say look at the evidence.


      Don’t try to be perfect

    try to imagine the worst.


   Talk to someone about it

    visualise a happy place.


Reflect not on imperfections.

   "But my mirror is cracked"

Fog


Halogen bulbs begin to dim,

Mist diffused vision impaired.


Apparently amber lights on

Old Citroen’s saw through it.


Cats eyes looked jaundiced,

As did the Deux Chevaux’s.

K'now


I know how to find darkness

Without switching off the light

I know where to find noise

Without turning up the sound

I know where to find pain

Without incurring an injury

I know how to experience

Loneliness with it being alone.

I know that now is where one

Find's everything we don’t want.

Provenance et Le Destin
                                  ||
                                  ||
There is an endless movement
                                  ||
Of universal forces ||
                                  ||
Then, there is migration, voluntary
                                  ||
Immigration, and forced expatriation
                                  ||
                                  ||
When it rains, snails take off on a
                                  ||
Huge adventure across the road, worms
                                  ||
Likewise, well not quite, one would
                                  ||
Hardly equate that with sagacity.
                                  ||
                                  ||
Some creatures are more adventurous
                                  ||
Than others or are they simply curious,
                                  ||
I always air lift L’escarg@ts off the tar-seal
                                  ||
And drop them off where they were headed.

                                  ||
                                  ||
                                  ||
_____@                            >. Other side of road.
                                  ||
                                  ||
                                 //
                                //
                               //
                              //
                            //
                            ||
                            ||
                            ||
=========== (o)================
                            //
                           //
                          //
                        //
                       //
                      //
                     //
==========

.                      Counsel


       Counsel is a worn pathway

             Through the forest


      Counsel is the shadow cast

         By a one armed sundial


          Counsel is the direction

        Smoke receives from wind


        Counsel is advance notice

        Lightning gives to thunder


          Counsel is when leafless

      Trees tell water buds to weep


Counsel is the inner voice, with which,

  STRONG WORDS, spoke, to softly.

SHADOW                                     shadow


AND WHY IS IT THAT ON THE        and why is that on the

BRIGHTEST OF DAYS, I  AM           brightest of days, i am

AT MY DARKEST YET WHEN         at my darkest yet when

CLOUDS DIFFUSE THE SUN.         clouds diffuse the sun

I AM CAST IN LOWER CASE          i am cast in lower case

Tidal Reflection


When I was a wee lad I was

perplexed by the sea, there

were never days without vain

clouds looking at their froth-

surfed waves with rip-curls

in rollers and corrugations of

frizzy undulations upsurging a

turbulent imitation of the sky

and looking absolutely swell.

General Winter.


When the ground freezes

all Hell will break loose

stalagtithes are going to be

rocked from their anchors.


Driven snow will be banked

up in deluged drifts, lifeless

trees will silhouette skeletal

reflections on the tundra.


Tank tracks will bar code

their way westward, black

exhaust fumes will pollute

blue skies, stymieing the sun.

Bellowed Be Thy Flame.



When I have nothing better

to do or nowhere new to go,

wordsmiths forge is where

you’ll find me.


Honing, moulding, fashioning,

musing, foraging for passion  

and feelings to fuse together

In the ashen braze.


Tete-a-tete between hammer

and anvil brokers an accord,

fiery phoenix tongs dipped in

icy chill, tempers.

Good Grief


After a dark night

Came a sad mourning.


Woe desolation despondency,

There is no good grief.


Grever:  To Burden

I had a heaviness of heart.


Remorse regret pining

Bereavement took its toll.


A knell lamented and sorrow

Cast an even darker shadow

On the blues of my tormented soul.





ps


I am fully convinced that what I

Have gone through this last year

Was a grieving process for an

Array of life’s occurrences all of

Which came upon me at the

Same time. Retiring, moving

From France to Ireland to look

After my mother, my mother dying

Selling the house, immigrating at

71, moving back to Europe but

This time homeless, Developing

A malfunctioning Thyroid added

To a Prostate problem. It was

A recipe for disaster and all during

The confinement of Covid. Plus

The sensitivities of the alcoholic mind.

Sometimes

when         the      demons

Are                               me
             chasing

                   I

Fetch         an              A4


          And         set

A.       B.        O.     U.     T


C.     R.    E.    T.  I . N.  G  
                     ^
                     a

M     /.   |   Z.   E.    A  n d

w

h

I

l

E           I am.   d. O. I. N. g

     I
     t

T
   H.

       e

           y
                            N  e  v. E r

          F I n d

                    
































         ­                     __
                            [me]