Don't be left, don't be right
Be between
the dark and light
                   Between
the demons of heaven and hell
Be like the pea, under the shell
Be between
the grains of sand
          as they're falling  
                 through your hand
Between
the bubbles as they burst
Sharing all the air on earth

When the weather's too fine
we whine
When the weather's bad
we're mad
When is too dry
we cry
When is too wet
we fret
In the hail
we wall
If it changes
we complain
If it doesn't
we go insane
We don't like
a lightning strike
Hearing thunder
make us wonder
what we've done
In the sleet
we crave some heat
and when it cools down
we frown
When it heats up
we've had enough
In the fog
we curl up with the dog
When it's too breezy
we're sneezy
Come the frost
we're lost
When there's ice
it's not nice
and in the snow
we don't go
anywhere

Two Moths

Two moths are flying around the same fire
being burned by the same flame
both are trying to get close to the light
but  no one is winning this game

Both of them looking for the same thing
in the very same place
and they arrive at the same time
in the very same space

It’s so hard to fly with you’re wings on fire
because they’re fanning the flame
then we’re surprised by what we see
with all our open eyes

Maggie has fans
in Afghanistan
far away
in another land

Sunday afternoon special
should have been
the daily destination
floating in space
an unfamiliar place
'sacred union' newly found
turned us upside down
We didn't know what to do
This was too new
for me
and for you

She gave her wisdom
from days of yore
She could have given her more

She gave her a heart
the size of a small bird
to feel and heal the world

She gave her a vision
free from fear
It could have been more clear

She gave her a smile
but still she cried
The smile could have been wider

Red rose petals fall
like flakes of snow
and the water in the creek
is very low

I thought I live in England
where we almost drown
when hope of summer
comes around

Today if we want rain
we must run off
believe it or not
to the plains in Spain

When you get to the bottom of it all
inside of the tiniest egg
When the last layer of onion is gone
and all of your dreams are dead
When there’s nowhere to go, no one to see
no air left to breathe, and no one to be  
then you’re free
free from the game, free from your pain
free from the dangers of the sea
free as a bird, from this world,
from all the laws of gravity
free from sermons about the burning
from silly schools full of fools
forever vows and furrowed brows
free from regret and free from death
free from tinsel trinkets and tokens
free from promises made then broken  
When there’s nowhere to go, no one to see,
no air left to breathe, and no one to be
Then you’re free

Night and day
Don climbed high
all the while
but one day
he was
Stymied by a stile

Actual Refuge is
a Realization
that helps you see
and shows you how to be

Actual Refuge is not
walking through a 'Pearly Gate'
calling on a man in heaven
or dialing 911

I don’t want to go to heaven
it’s ‘somewhere up there’
and they all say that
‘God lives there’

The place I want to to go
doesn’t have a name
and everyone you meet
looks the same

You lose your eyes
but everybody sees
everyone is special
no hierarchy

There’s nothing to judge
no right and no wrong
no throne to climb up
and sit down on

I don’t want to go to heaven
‘cause it’s up in the air
the place I want to go is
everywhere

My house and my life
have been Tracified
Now the frames on the wall
which once were all black
now have a trace of blue
and the ambience is
utterly new
Just like Christ on the cross
who was crucified and died
I say goodbye to the world
that I once knew
and embrace the tinges of blue
and the wonderful newness
of Tracey’s brew
She says “Hush”
as she hands me the cup

Unfortunately

Aural torture is often found
when one sits down to take a tea or coffee

White noise is in the air
bouncing around everywhere

from merry go rounds at county fairs
to elevators and dentist's chairs

Silence is sweet when it finally comes
and makes a break in the surround sound

Flames and moths never stay
they come and they go
with the winds
and the light of day
Flames and moths
like bell chimes
are coming and going
at the same time
like syllables
in a  rhyme
Try to find them
outside
the mind

Do you want to lose your self in the labyrinth of life
The door has been open day and night

You can be red or you can be blue
and you can decide everything that you do

The world you saw wasn’t really here
your black magic made it appear

Undo that dream, the one you don’t like
this world is not watertight

Though it seems like a circle going nowhere
in the end you will travel from here to there

Leave your car and your cases behind
they won’t fit into your new mind

Bring your umbrella and your chapeau
the one that looks like a rainbow

Bon voyage your journey now must start
as you descend down to your heart

Yesterday and tomorrow
are strangers to me
like the things that I think
I see in a dream
Like plans that I made
when I was young
they're somewhere now
on the tip of my tongue
Like who I would be
when I grew up
someone worthy
of the world's
undying love
Ambitious methinks
the plan of mankind
to steer this world
to make it rhyme

Wish you were here
and easy to find
on the tip of my tongue
inside my mind

Wish you were here
all of the time
and I wish that the weather
would always be fine

I wish you were here
and nowhere else
ringing someone
else’s bells

I wish you were here
and you never left
tied to my stake
a slave to my ***

I wish you were here
like the midnight sun
warming my night
though the day is done

Who does she see
when she doesn’t see me
and who do I see
who can this be
Ghosts and Phantoms
creeping about
underworld demons
causing confusion and doubt
Matrix monkeys
with hands full of spanners
going berserk
jamming the works
We don’t see with eyes
we see with our mind
and believe all the lies
of psychotic mankind

When this world became too heavy for you
and you thought there was nothing you could do
to lighten your load
pay the debts that you owed
you called it quits
You said “That's the end of it”

Though beaten by the waves
for a moment you became brave
strong enough to seem tough
You abandoned your body and your mind
You left it all behind

You went off on your own to a world unknown
Turned off the lights and you closed your eyes

You were washed by the waves
thrown up on the shore
and freed from the sea
where you'll swim no more
You left it all behind
You left your body and your mind

You went off on your own to a world unknown
turned off the lights and you closed your eyes

Goodbye my friend, we wish you well on your way
from here to there, from darkness to day

Myopic gunmen spouting out
silliness:
“Four guns to one”, say some
and the deal will be done
“Evil villain children
will be bullet ridden
falling to the ground
before they can fire a round
Before their guns can make a sound
they will be taken down”

There are none so blind
as those who will not see
in the land of the brave
and the home of the free

Katie *****
is feeling out of sorts
Her world is turning
upside down
She's staying in
another town
where doctors
and nurses
are running around
testing her blood
every day
giving her apples
so she can say
"Doctors please go away"

We miss her here
in Windermere
and hope she turns
a corner soon
and comes back to
'The Land Of The Lakes'
where friends and family
await

Relationships are challenging
for everyone
some are meant to be
for someone
Some are not meant to be
for anyone

Pretty pink petal flakes
Falling slowly
In spring
Like snow

It seems to be her theme
a war against patriarchy
makes those men bleed
the ones that will not see

Apply a little pain
over here and over there
catching their attention
she has them in a stare

But she never blinks
until she’s heard and seen
until they open both their eyes
until they bend their knee

It’s such a big mistake we make
every single day
in many many ways
With every word we say

We’re inside out
We’re running ‘round and ‘round
like drunken turtles looking for
the end of a circle

Not knowing where we are
or where we want to go
making stories up about
things we don’t know

Desperate to explain
the source of all our pain
we play the ancient game
of finger-pointing blame

Seeing floating hairs
inside our own eyes
believing everyone is blind
and nobody is wise

Imprints of idiocy
behind  every move
and our needle never ever
leaves this groove

One day we’ll wake up
when we settle down
beyond the clouds we will find
an empty sky behind

She’s been here, she’s been there
Seems she’s been everywhere
Never early, always late
she rides the winds of fate

She met a man named Carlos
he took her for a ride
ever since he came and went
she’s been by my side

She loves me and she hates me
just like day and night
one depends on the other
and everything’s alright

I am a man like Carlos
and all the other guys
so sometimes I must pay
a price for my prize

I am a magician
casting my spells
I travel to heaven
I travel to hell
with trunks  full of hats
rabbits and horses
and an assistant
to cut you in half
of course

I try  to remember
not to believe
the lines that I read
the things that I see
the drama unfolding
under my spell
all of  the bliss
and the misery as well

Moment to moment
I rein in my mind
from following trails
I find that wind
away from the path
I want to follow
away from this world
so empty so hollow

Just try the secret code
to separate the coin from the gold
Just try
to separate your scream from the familiar theme
of your night time dream
Just try
to separate the parts from the car
you won’t get very far
If you try
to separate the legs from the table
you’ll find you won’t be able
Just try
to separate the reader of this rhyme
from the person that survives
death time
Just try

It may inspire some ire
be burned in a fire
or placed in a gilded frame
to be read again and again

But where is my poem
before I write it down
I can look all around
It cannot be found

When written and read
by someone new
do they read the poem
read by me or you?

Is the title the poem
or word number nine?
If you check you will see
it's not in a line

The poem's not a verse
nor is it a word
and it's not a salad
of sounds that are heard

Try to point at this poem
It will dis appear
into thin air
and not be found anywhere

A poem is a magic act
and that's a fact

It’s tightrope time, tightrope time
Nobody says what they think, these days
Every word’s got to be weighed
Our mouths stay shut most of the time
It’s too easy to commit a crime
It’s tightrope time, tightrope time

Candid camera has your back
and has your front too
You have no secrets anywhere
Someone’s watching you
It’s tightrope time, tightrope time

Paper trails track you down
from town to town
Your mobile phone knows where you go
where you run around
It’s tightrope time, tightrope time

Your Facebook trail tells the tale
of you and all your friends
who you know, where you go
the beginning and the end
It’s tightrope time, tightrope time

If you take a lady for a ride
and your car’s a little fast
make sure that all your windows
have some tinted glass
It’s tightrope time, tightrope time

Every iris is different
like a bullet from a gun
Soon an eye in the sky will be
watching everyone
It’s tightrope time, tightrope time

When the stones of time are turned
When our eyes are open wide
Will we see more horror
or will the tears have dried

Though the days will fly
They will seem so slow
Time won’t stay still
It comes and then it goes

In the coming year, we wonder what will be
When we look around the corner what it is we’ll see

If we hold lightly and
we don’t grasp
Time will slide by gracefully
Dissolving in the past

If we let the days flow
Like a river or a stream
We’ll hum the song that angels sing
During their dreams

My mind is a window onto a world
that nobody sees but me
a moment to moment panorama
of people things and trees
(projected onto a screen that only I can see)

Lucid solid like a stone
I think it's really real
although I've known it's not
now for many many years

I must marvel at this magic show
as my world pops out of my hat
and learn to change the theme
of each and every act

Yesterday the rapids
were very very wild
Today I will try to ride
a river that is mild

If I tell you
the truth of time
and of nursery rhymes
will you believe
what I say?

If I tell you
the truth of the lie
the one we all buy
will you believe
what I say

When I tell you
the truth of the void
you may be annoyed
will you believe
what I say

When I tell you
the truth of Saint Nick
and you say I’m a cynic
will you believe
what I say

There are more truths than one
under our sun
There’s yours, there’s mine
but there isn’t a line
They are all the same
in this game that we play
and the books of rules
are written by fools

Most days
I make myself so small
I almost disappear
into space 
Not quite!
Its such a waste

I'll try again
‎and again
‎Then,  one day
when‎ the motherless rabbit
‎stays in the hat
‎that’ll be that

When someone’s pain just stays
it just won’t go away
and everyone is waiting
with baited breath
for the coming of the dawn of
the day of death

Technicians with machines
fill the blood with morphine
So they can **** the pain
for the people by the bed
and the one who’s nearly dead

In silence now remembering
all of the bad and the glad
many years and months
many days and minutes
all falling through
one funnel

I never saw a sadder scene
where laughter was against the law
small ranges of expressions
funneled through a narrow place
of few permitted faces


Sean Hunt Jan 16 2017

Where is 'New Year'
Now?
Where was it then,
When in happened
It went so fast
It didn't last long
And we can't
Remember it now
Anyhow

It didn't last
Long enough
For a song
Or a sigh
Or to say hello
Or goodbye

What's it all about
A burp and a shout
A wonderland
******* wish
For all to be wonderful
and well
forevermore

It didn't last
Long enough
For a song
Or a sigh
Or to say hello
Or goodbye

Day two
and there's still
a lingering scent of you
sparking
memories
of your presence
You could come
every second day
and like a cat
rub your back
against
everything
in my flat
Or tell me the name
of the perfume you wear
I could buy some
and sprinkle a little
here there
and everywhere

From the ether-like home
of every thing
come ideas and plans
schemes and dreams
in the mind of man
Ephemeral origins
of war and peace
Tormented by
invisible causes
of things that are seen
by horrified eyes
The birthing on earth
of villains and heroes
saints and sinners
losers and winners
A circular journey
from death to birth
from here to hell
and back again
cursed and blessed
by amnesia
not knowing the game
Playing and losing
again and again
The same old refrain

Essence of Grace
stayed in the air
all through the day
Though her star
is now far away
No need for incense
anymore
Boudoir perfumed
by ‘Shooting Star’
She goes while she comes
like a breeze in the air
her scent evidence
that she was there
Her smell lingered
through the day
The place was quiet
but it was okay
Living proof
of the truth
that we don’t want to know
Everyone
who comes
will go

It’s water under the bridge, the one we’re standing on
Didn’t last long, stopped like a song
Now we’re moving on
The water’s long gone
and we’re moving on

Perpetual motion, every thing,
the people we see, the queen and the king
the rooks and the knights, the blacks and the whites
When we try to stop time, we find out it’s a crime

In a dream you came, in a dream you went
I wanted to make up, and I tried not to wake up
but the morning insisted, I open my eyes
so I did, and I cried

We saw something float by, with all of our eyes
We disagreed,  a branch or a tree
something dreamlike, a flash of moonlight
No matter now,  it gone anyhow
The jury is out, everyone’s gone
and it’s time to move on

Sean Hunt    Dec 5th 2017

I listened to her heart
beating away
for two hundred and seventy days
twenty eight million
thumps from her drum
No wonder I was
attached to her
for a while
when I was a child

Mister Mac
Get back
You're giving me
A panic attack

Squeezing tight
With all your might
It's just not right

Picking my pocket
Here and there
Taking more money
Everywhere
                                         Sean Hunt Nov 2017

Write a song, and make it long
Tell us all what’s right and wrong
Talk about the game
who it is we have to blame

What’s it all about my friend
that saber-rattling
the whys and the wherefores
and the wars to end all wars

Was there a beginning?  Will it end
We all wonder what lays ahead

Who did what and where
and when did it all start
in the deep darkness
of the human heart

We need some surgeons skilled enough
to open us all up
take out the tumors one by one
and fill us up with love

Was there a beginning?  Will it end
We all wonder what lays ahead


Sean Hunt   Nov 17 2017

Beware of the wisdom
that comes out of my mouth
Because it comes out
doesn't mean it went in

A porpoise may stay
near the surface for air
without diving deep
to find what's down there?

It's easy to say words
if they have been learned
Knowledge of the meaning
this must be earned

Now it’s nearly midnight
the day is almost done
we had our share of happiness
we had our share of fun
Some days were so dark
we couldn’t walk or run
Felt like we were living in
the land of the midnight sun


The early days are over
merely memories
that can’t be traced anyways
to things that can be seen
Those people that I thought I saw
when my eyes were young
those songs that now come to mind
were they ever sung

Those memories of dreams
that haunt my autumn mind
if I tried to look for them
they’d be hard to find

My diary is somewhere here
I never threw it out
If I really wanted to
I’d find it no doubt
I guess I just don’t have the wish
There isn’t much to say
Nothing new has happened here
for a few days

Those memories of dreams
that haunt my autumn mind
if I tried to look for them
they’d be hard to find

If the things we do never change
expecting something different
is a dangerous game
We may as well tell the sun to come out every day
or tell the rain and snow
to go and stay away

You plus me is never three
it’s always two
but we want the sum to be
something new
We may as well tell the sun to come every day
or tell the rain and snow
to go and stay away

Strange ideas that we have
a stranglehold on the old
wishing for something new
to somehow come true
We may as well tell the sun to come every day
or tell the rain and snow
to go and stay away

‘Cause everything that comes our way
is OK
Wishing and hoping
for things to stay the same
is a fool’s game
a losing game
because every thing will change

Ulverston Nov 2017

Paul is not a Pope  

     (or...’A Tricky Trump Trooper’)
          (….aka Paul Manafort)

We only know a little now
how he broke commandments
the higher-ups say today
they were of god and the USA

Seems allegiance was displaced
to some other countries
on another continent
way across the sea

He gave to himself generously
doesn’t appear to be a dope
he washed a lot of money
dressed and traveled like a pope

                        Sean Hunt Oct 31

I see a man standing, on a wave
Such a strange thing, he never falls in
And a candle flame, still in the wind
While the wind blows, and the trees sing
The clouds are white the sky is blue
The sky stays still while clouds move through
I see a man on a mountain, he’s so wise
He stopped seeing every thing with his eyes
He told everybody what he’d seen
Said if you can see nothing, something will be seen
The clouds are white the sky is blue
The sky stays still while clouds move through

       Sean Hunt   Dec 4 2016

The other side of happiness
is not so hard to find
every day it comes to you
flickering in your mind

Sometimes when the sun is gone
and rain is pouring down
it’s up to you what you do
If you smile or frown

Don’t let your self be seduced
by ‘good’ or by ‘bad’
The truth is that you will choose
to be glad or sad

Our happiness depends on this
it may stay for evermore
if we keep an even keel
in every single storm

While I stare into the air
with an expressionless face
at the empty place
where my next poem will come from
I delight in my not knowing
Not knowing the name
Not knowing the fame
Knowing neither the meaning
nor the theme
Knowing neither the event
nor the intent
Not knowing the length

There is a well
that I never find dry
And now though I know
I was determined
to leave the door closed
I did not tease it out
or chase any bait
and was happy to wait
but it walked through the wall
anyways
and stares at me