Alone I sit
looking at the moon

Even the moon has dark days
That time heals
Again and again
and again

Alone I wait
for time to heal me

I step on fallen leaves
The battle rages
As I climb out of the death
Barb grips me tight
For the marksman's bullet
I fall, a fallen leaf

In the beginning
The end was so far away
In the end
It was just around the corner

The voices in my head
Are silent
I must decide

Your eyes could not meet mine
My life drained

Cats on the sofa

Barking up the
Wrong tree

Bird feeding frenzy

The field mouse
Take the spoils.

The moment
is caught
in the
poet’s mind’s eye                                  

Crafted
into words
with guile
humour and passion

Loved
by so few
so many
untouched

On a cold winters eve
the smoke from the chimneys
twist and turn
as they float slowly and mingle with
the thick dark snow clouds of the north
floating down in their tens of thousands
covering the roofs
of those smoking chimneys
the children run out to play
wrapped in colourful winter woolly's
noses red as the carrot they place
on their new neighbours face
with one motherly call the field lays empty
as the snow covers the ground
all that's left is the smiling face
of the snowman
waiting

Twist the knot and tie me tight
My arms are limp I cannot fight
Teach me lord to see the light
Of peoples sorrow of peoples plight

But left alone my eyes are blind
To see the sorrow that greed leaves behind
So I pledge from now to keep them from harm
I’ll drop a penny in their palm

This world we live is full of shame
Once treasured life now driven insane
But I wonder still, who’s to blame

Alone, eyes tightly closed
My pulse trying to break free of my body

I **** the cold crisp air filling my body
And hold the life giving breath

Realising gently
Three times

Only then am I ready to face the day

Eyes wide open
A determination fills me

I’m back

High in my canopy
Vulnerable

My last leaf is caught in a gust from the north
Ripped from my grasp
It twists and turns
As I watch, it sails downward

The deep leaved forest floor shudders
The crush is deafening  
But, no one will hear

Alone I stand to battle the winter
As an urge of peace flows through me
I slip into a deep deep winters sleep

Above the canvas a stuttered quill
A mind sits thinking not overflowing just full

So many thoughts so much to write
So many emotions I have to fight

I'll take a breath and think awhile
My aim will be happiness to make you smile

I'll write my poems both far and wide
I'll open my heart for you to peek inside

Then when my quill lays at last to rest
My peers will be my final test

Never is the night so dark and devoid of stars

When death knock your door

Never are friends so close

When death knocks your door

Never is life so real

*When death knocks your door

Under the oak tree
At the bottom of the garden
My three year old child sat looking deep into the
Tangle of green fern and moss

Attracted by an image I could not see
From the kitchen window

She claps her hands and smiles
She tilts her head and talks

Points her finger into the green mass
That lights up and dances on the leaves

Her smile glowed as she turned, looked at me
and ran excitedly

I’m old
I didn’t believe!
She is too young to understand

As I sat deep in the safety of my fern home
An infant human attracted my attention
By her infectious smile
She could sense my presents
Her young mine had not been tainted, yet.
She touched me with her finger
And I showed her a glimpse of
Her wonderful life ahead
She smiled brightly and ran
To her Mother

Who is tainted!
And will not believe
She does not understand!

What about you??

A lady knocked my door
                                    do you have a black and white cat

Her word sank deep in my soul
                                       she was wearing a rainbow hat

I do we've had him for 9 years
                                            I said trying to hide the sorrow

He's asleep on the kitchen chair
                                   someone else has sad news tomorrow  

Relief and sadness filled the room
                                             as I relayed the news to my wife

Crossing roads is a dangerous game
                                 and has claimed another poor things life

Happiness is
The warmth of your body as it brushes mine as you sleep
The peace I find as I face you and wonder at how much I love you

Trepidation is
When your eyes open and look at me as I wonder if you love me

Elation is
When you engulf me in your arms and hold me and whisper I love you

By a tree in a wood
Where a soldier just stood

Is the emblem of suffering and pain

They all died for the good
In Mametz wood

To bring peace thou their comrades were slain

We should cherish this land if we could
For the blood that was spilt for the good

We should cherish the land where they stood

And bless them one day at their shrine

As you journey ends and your spirit floats out to the sea
                                                                  Remember me

As the sun casts a beam of light to guide you as the sea calms
                                                                           Remember me

When your maker pulls in his net and cradles you to the shore
                                                                             Remember me

When your eyes opened and you see paradise for the first time
                                                                             Remember me

I will always think of your loving eyes and the warmth of your smile
                                                                                         I will always
                                                                                      Remember you

Feldspar, Quartz, calcium and granite
                   slip slowly through my hand
Crushed by time
                           into small grains of sand
A Millennia of time
           shaping the ground where I stand
Stretching for miles
                               under sea and over land
Time held together
                           by this last fragile strand
As the beginnings of life
                     slip slowly through my hand

Tall yellow and white daisy’s sway
Around my American post box

The dust moves from town to town
As the desert wind blows in

I hear the unmistakable engine sound
As he comes into view

All I crave is he carries a letter
From you

I throw a stone
and watch the ripples flow

Like our love
on the ebbing tide

it slowly drifts away

But I remember
why I love you

And our love returns
On the flowing tide

And lasts another day

*You throw a stone
And watch the ripples flow?

I'm a shadow in the corner of your eye
Waiting for you to look my way

Release me from my chains

Your gaze is distracted by a flash of light
That will keep me in the shadows forever

I fought against the bottle
And the bottles doing fine

It looks better when it’s empty
But I have to walk the line

My words become much freer
But sometimes causes pain

Remembering in the morning
Always drives me slowly insane

In my secret life
I talk to strangers
Through words and poems

Some answer with kind thoughts
Some answer with silent thoughts

The therapy is exhilarating
In my secret life

My new friends
Give me a reason
And that reason is

*My secret life

In my head the ponies are stampeding
I reign back but they are wild
Run, run I call you are free
Heal the word with words of hope and love

Her bright white face shines out
in the frosted winter air
She smiles as I
observe her beauty

To brighten up my winters day
I wrap warm to greet her
and thank her for helping heal
my winter blues

Next morning my gratitude is rewarded,
new white bright faces shine out
in the now not so glum winters day,
reminding me spring will soon be on us.

As the tears
slip down my face
I realise
I have lost you

In dreams
I hear my
mother words

How true they were

Don’t give up
somewhere
there’s a place
you belong

Even now she’s gone
Her words still guide me

I look through the window
As the garden lies sleeping

The rain has stopped
And the dark clouds break

A flash of blue sky raises my spirits
As the birds dance on their feeding table

A lazy cat sits on the wall but
Too tired to move

That’s how long it takes for a kettle to boil

We kissed

I melted

Global warming
She said

Climate change
I gargled

As I dissolved

I fight my way through the
cold cold wind
snow
and freezing rain
the cold on my face
burns
my faith
is leaving me
my expectation
is low
should I stop
and fall
by the wayside
or fight on

I force my eyes
open
to see a bright light
shining
beckoning me
on on with
hope in my
heart
I reach the light
and the
warmth within
as I thaw
I awaken
close the door
and leave
the past
and life's winter gloom
behind me
Peace is with me

In a wood thick with wild flowers and fern
I first saw you

Hidden inside a caterpillar skin
wriggling to get out
I watched as you twisted free
from your pupa

unfolding your wonderfully coloured cape
as the wind picked you up
and carries you
from flower to flower
nectar still dripping from you tongue

The wind rose again
as you perched on the branch
of an Alder tree

I watched as you slipped out of your cape
slid down the trunk to dance
on a fairy ring

I’m sure you smiled
at me
as you ran home down your fairy path

I've been back many times
**I do believe in fairies

The image that was planted
has never faded
Your beauty was too much
to behold
How could I, a mere mortal, imagine
I could tempt you

Everybody cries

Sometimes

Not sat on the window sill where he normally resides
I look in the garden to see where he hides

Conspicuous by his absence I have a feeling of woe
All ready for work should I stay or go

Cats are not slaves to tables of time
When I get home tonight everything will be fine

I hurry home from work slave to the cause
Hoping to hear the patter of tiny cat paws

My window sill empty I now wonder why
My heart missed a beat and I wanted to cry

We'll not think of maybes if buts or sorrow
*I'm sure he'll be home for breakfast tomorrow

As the bright sunlight closes my eyes
I smell the scent
of my favourite flower
As I touch
the velvet smooth petals
While relaxing on my
soft garden chair

I feel the warmth
of my best friend
as he lays his head on my lap
while waiting
for our daily walk

and the sound of silence
is only interrupted
by the coo of doves
as a deep breath of satisfaction
covers me
and life is good

Like a light house I will guide you
Help you choose the paths to take

Like a teacher I will tutor you
In the decisions that you make

Like a rock I will be steady
To build a foundation that will last

Like a friend I will care for you
From the haunting of your past

Like a preach I will comfort you
When life's sorrow Knocks your door

Like a lover I will mourn you
When our friendship is no more

A Fairy in the garden
Is a sight that will inspire

As she dances in the fish pond
And dries close to the fire

She talks and whispers to the weary plants
Then casts a spell on those hungry ants

The flowers bloom, some bow and weep
As she sends those nasty weeds to sleep

So we can sit out in the sun
And enjoy the fairy work she’s done