The owl was looking at the man with a noose
Disturbed by the noise as he cooked his goose
But before he leapt the owl did say
Do you really want them to remember you this way?

The pain is real but will go away
The wise old owl was heard to say
The man with the noose, stopped and thought
He’s right, a lesson in patience I’ve just been taught

So he walked through the woods stood on a track to ease his pain
Then was killed by the 10.42 south bound train

The owl was watching in the branches so high
He is the only one who knew he did not want to die
So the moral of his death is like sand in a cup
When your time is up, your time is up

The smell of the oil as it's rubbed on your shoulder
The passion of the coach , we must be much bolder
The hatred of a player on the opposite side
The knowing when you'er out there there's nowhere to hide
The whistle has blow your anxiety drop
The firsts tackle made is a 19 stone prop
The taste of your blood makes it all worth while
The prop gets up and gives that I'll **** you next time smile
The old man on the score board sets our team to win
The small crowd on the side making all the din
The referees whistle calls the game to end
The prop who tried to **** you is now your friend
The hot water finds your wounds without any tear
The thought of some grub and a pint of beer
The game you so love has come to its end
The club house the banter a chat with a friend
The talk of the game the rights and the wrongs
The choir master arises and we blast out our songs

See you training

The air is still in this deep dark black night
Not a light flickers or a noise disturbs the silence
A wrong turn, alone in this city of sin

A foot step echo's in the distance as I slide into a door way
Senses alight and neck tingling hairs awaken
My eyes come to terms with the dark and shows me a way

Then a match strikes and I see the whites of his eyes staring
Smoke covers his face as he reaches deep into his black coat pocket
And lights up my face with a bright police torch beam

The wind whispered to the trees
Who sent messages in fallen leaves

The bluebell rang out the alarm
And the rabbits burrowed out of harm

The birds carried the message on a wing
Then the forest fell asleep until the spring

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

If we make our mark
and are remembered fondly

There are no goodbyes

For I
will always be

As you
will always be

I was only loved a little
But I was loved
and that is all I needed

The cold wind swirls and blows
                                       on the now deserted farmers field
A snow flake falls from the deep dark grey clouds
                                     that now covers the once blue golden sky
On the nose of the white winter hare
                                     as he sits watching
His noise twitches the snow flake to the ground

A blanket of white winter snow now fills the field
                              
A Robin darts from tree to tree
                                    foraging for the last red winter berries
Which colour the ruby red Robins’ breast

A sly white winter fox stirs in the undergrowth
                                    Looking
Then disappears into the white winter field

A tear falls from the white winter hare
                                  that melts a hole the white winter snow
As he retreats into his winter sleep

As the tide turned
history was re-written
the victors wrote their name in the sand
and the losers washed out to sea
all was calm or so it seemed
the wind whipped up
white horses charged in a line
at the sand, full of castles, standards flying
children pointing
nothing was spared by the seventh wave

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

A cat stalks
A bird sings its last song
A tear falls from the sky
A cat with a bell stalks
A bird sings its songs
A life is saved

Have you seen the faces in the queues so long
Like the world has stopped until the next loud gong
Have we become immune to the system is the system wrong
There's no life left in the faces of the queues so long

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

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

We lay in a field of barley
you smoothed my hair as the wind played
I told you my deepest dreams

You held them in your soft silken hands
and smiled
Then crushed them into sand

I lay in a field of barley, alone
dreaming

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wrapped in a feather blanket

Gliding between the rushes

I scan the emptiness

Alive with life

Liquid covers me like an invisible cloak

As I glide between the rushes

Wrapped in my white feather blanket

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

The whippet stoops low with snow on its snout
He sniffs the air, is Christmas about?

Red robin sits perched singing rousing Christmas carols
Of reindeer's, snowmen and mulled wine in oak barrels

A squirrel stands alert guarding a great Christmas sack
Full of presents for Christmas that he had to pack

And the cat can be found baking a rich Christmas cake
Waiting for Christmas to arrive, when the children awake

Then they all settle down in their warm Christmas house
And sleep until spring like a tired dormouse

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

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

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

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

The room is full of the smell of freshly baked bread
my nose holds the smell and my eyes close around it

As I break the seal the aroma heightens and my mouth moistens
I pick the sharpest knife to crunch my way through to the soft warm centre
The salted butter is soft in the warm summer day
As it spreads thickly over my crusty fresh bread

I stare for a moment
Then heaven

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

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

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??

I remember that morning
as if it was yesterday
I took the empty buckets
to carry water

He looked sad but smiled at me
and my day brightened
He looked as a great burden had
fallen from his shoulders

As I retraced my steps

I hear crying and saw tears
from smiling face
And sat on the bolder at the
entrance of the cave to watch

I still do not know the significance
of that day
But I felt happier for it

To ease the pain of your anti depression
Let me walk you through your first park lesson

Accustom your eyes to autumn’s wonderful display
Leaves of orange, yellow and some even grey

The branches alive with birds dancing around
And the collectors of nuts scurrying about on the ground

The jogger the biker and one man on a ski
The people out walking, the cafe, the hot tea

Winter flower's start to blossom in the sun cold day
A coloured relief from the winter of grey

The bridges, the river, the afternoon tide
The secret garden with their doors open wide

The carvings of seals, beetles and one giant frog
Walkers, walking Lurchers, pugs, and a fast whippet dog

So throw away your anti depressants of glom and pain
Get out doors walking, in the sun, cold, and rain

Let the wind blow through you wash your problems away
A walk in the park will always turn, a grey day

Isn't it good to be alive
and read the great things people do
Just walking down the street they nod
and say, how do you do

You smile at the headline paper
YES, we will save the whales
Heading to the high street
to see what's in the sales

Then cwtched upon the settee
with a cup of your favourite tea  
You settle down for the night
and search for the remote for your tv

Dark clouds gather
as the light fades to a hue
I study all the face
and ponder what to do
I'm far away from nowhere
and time is getting late
Empty promises lay broken
do I accept what is my fate
Then I hear a voice calling
it brought me to your door
I look inside at the faces
I think, we've walked this road before
So, I thank you for your pity
as I turn to face my fate
I walk towards the darkened clouds
back to the land of greed and hate

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

It was sunrise on that date
etched on my gravestone

If only I knew

What a day yesterday
might have been

You slipped though my fingers
I held you so tight
Searched all our haunts
In that cold winter night

You were carried away
His eyes bluish green
That smile on your face
The brightest I’d ever seen

So I packed my V4
Mind destroyed, feelings skinned
I sailed down that highway
Trying to catch the wind

In the parks cold outdoor winter cafe
Huddled to my cardboard cup
Of hot Americano coffee
I sit and just watch

The dogs bark
The people walk
The joggers jog, grim faced
And a man skis, on wheels

The wind blows through the trees
Void of leaves
With the views of castle and city
Grey and sleeping

A squirrel
Sifts through the blanket of leaves
Watched by the lone Magpie
I salute him

I take another sip

There was a moment in my life I just smiled, just because
And the moment of my life I was happy at who I was

Then the moment in my life that we all get if we live that long
The saddest moment of my life, I lived and sang that old sad song

I remember the moment in my life the clouds broke and drifted away
Was the moment of my life I looked back and heard you say

Don’t look back upon your life with sadness and despaired
Walk the paths you have to walk if you need me, I will be there

Scraping life from off the sea bed
So curiosity’s kitchens can be feed

Dragged from the ocean left gasping on deck
Pleading for mercy as a knife meets its neck

Gutter and iced, packed ready to serve
Who has the power to stop this, who has the nerve?

Now oceans are empty no life can be found
We now set our sights on the food above ground.

Who will we eat next?

Just a simple text
with a simple note
we lost him last night
A brother had fallen
while asleep in his bed
waiting
The memories began
with a smile
and a tear
A cult hero some say
A captain to show us the way
A tourist at play
A lifetime friend lost today
So, now we wait to say our goodbyes
on a cold December day
we will sing your songs
and toast to your life
but most of all
we will remember you

From my window I watched them, strutting
acting the fool, being cool

They dressed like rouges with a price on their heads
or have I been watching to much Netflix?
Then it happened he was on his knees pleading for his life
she stood over him with tears in her eyes
I could barley look as I pictured the blood
seeping in the gutter

He got up, she said yes, they kissed

From my window I watched them
It was me acting like a fool, I have to get out more.