The day is done

And no one is immune,

It’s true.



That sense of a voyage

Slips seamlessly past,

For there is a finite beginning

And end to everything.



And yet a sense of connection,

A bejewelled purpose too,

Like the child

Whose way ahead

You’ve already lit,

Or the lover you’ve yet to meet.



Many such moments

Come and go, as they must,

Melting away

Into the space we are given.



But what endures for me

Is a persistent resonance,

Some heady wish

For access again

To a sense of wonder

In the stream of things,

That, this time round,

It might just be possible

To keep in my heart

A little longer.



So tarry with me awhile

And we will see

What we can do

To tenderly explore

Beneath the frail shell

Of all we’ve since become.



Trusting that, maybe within

Such smoothly sculpted casing,

And still delicately enclosed,

Might just lie the silky lustre

Of some lavish

And joyful communion,

Waiting for its chance

To grip and catch the light again.

Lost puppies

We are no longer,

That’s for sure…

Since all that’s been and gone

And the very essence of you,

Left behind in so many hearts,

Is never forgotten.



And, on a day such as this,

When your world is calm,

Full of warm smiles,

And your soul is at last

Let off its string,

One cannot help but sense,

For certain,

That all the love inside you

Comes from the best of those

You’ve known and loved

And those who came

And went before you too…



Sweet darlings! Sweet youth!

All our hope and dreams

Derive from just that.



So, show me the wonder

Of all you’ve seen so far,

Stretch the day to its limit,

And let us have no guilt

Left to waste for dreaming still.

Graced with the chance to be here,

Even if only fleetingly,

Embrace whatever comes your way

And, in so doing,

However enchanting

Any treasures you uncover

Might be,

Their loss should never be your concern.



In this matter

Make your heart your queen

And follow her as faithfully

And bravely as you are able,

Just as swelling fruit

Hurries towards its own sweetness,

Shine whilst you can,

Without fear,

For nothing is as inevitable

As it seems here.

No, not even the fissures

Of loss and decay

We are oft led to expect

In this temporal world.



For whilst we fuss and fudge

The lines we are given,

Above, below and all around us,

Lingers the energy of countless others

Who already know for sure

That, just as it was long, long ago,

When they first found themselves

Enraptured,

So it is for them, again and again…

And now with only a dark empty hollow,

A feeble space of earth left in between.



Such is true joy’s absolute certainty,

Its slow lit fuse that burns holes

In the shabby shroud of death forever.

Every new day our childrens' joy is as fresh as roses,      

Even the birds chatter at dawn.



Tomorrow will be sharp and noisy,

Like the bright spotted splash of wild flowers

That freckle the shaded tawny look of ancient meadows.



How stubborn life is,

It clings like silver in our souls.

Splendour sleeps

In the thick still grey skies

Of a season's bleakness.



The steady muted glow of the sun,

Its sorry circle of gold

Highlighting the snow covered,

White-edged portrait

Of a winter's afternoon.



Inside the ashes of the fire

Burn red raw.

We talk

And your eyes dance

In patterns of pleasure before me.

To kiss the fruit
And caress the flower,
To taste without tarnishing
Humble nature's natural dower,
In this sweet pursuit
I shall place my frail body
Till death's timely hour,
And do so
With only breath remaining
To wish that
Amidst the winds of the world,
It will not shake nor cower
In the face of quiet eternity.

To dream as Picasso did.
To seize upon the astounding fact
Of being alive
And make it significant,
Over and over again.

To love and live like a demon,
Without any shame or inhibition,
Till you unlock the fiercest of truths
That, once ignited,
Cling to you like *** in the night,
Like ******…