+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

My love it breaks my heart to see you cry
But love the time has come when I must fly
This world holds many wondrous things to do
And so my love I cannot stay with you
I hope you can forgive me in good time
Someday I will return to make you mine
    The future yet unknown will be our past
    And fate alone decides a lover's path

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

a river flowing tears unto the sea
away away to never trouble me
such tiny things, each worthless on its own
how weak one seems when one is all alone
yet in good time the weak will cease to be
alone without true love for company
    the future yet unknown will be our past
    and fate alone decides a lover's path

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

My love it breaks my heart to see you cry

        a river flowing tears unto the sea

But love the time has come when I must fly

        away away to never trouble me

This world holds many wondrous things to do

         such tiny things, each worthless on its own

And so my love I cannot stay with you

         how weak one seems when one is all alone

I hope you can forgive me in good time

         yet in good time the weak will cease to be

Someday I will return to make you mine

         alone without true love for company

    The future yet unknown will be our past
    And fate alone decides a lover's path

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Five and forty hands
Crucified democracy
In these harrowed lands

Look not unto the vast and empty skies
To seek to find the love that e'er has flown
For in such grief such love may yet demise
And lost in grief may cease to e'er be known
Stout hearts may keep a candle vigil bright
A homely beacon tremulous and warm
And sheltered by its dancing flickered light
May weather yet the dark unending storm
Yet hope is oft an unforgiving friend
And hope for love when love has flown may lead
One down a lonely road that has no end
So hope for love is oft a thankless deed
Till hope has gone our eyes will ever roam
The oceans wide till love returns to home

Beneath the window, shadows paint the hill
And rooftop solar panels feel the chill
Blue eyes are drawn down to the river's flow
The Derwent sweeps majestically below

Across the water, shadows stretch and climb
The twilights of the city start to shine
Above, the mountain cloaked in cloudy stripes
That race along above the ***** pipes

The setting sun now sets the clouds on fire
A fiery orange blazing funeral pyre
It lights the heavens with a mystic glow
As nature plays her perfect picture show

The colors shift and swiftly turn to red
As bloodstained cloudy fingers start to spread
Then in an instant, beauty is undone
As darkness falls above the setting sun

In pressing times truth oft' lies so oppressed
And falsehoods rouse to speak in joyed debate
That burdens brought to bear upon the breast
Might anchor nought but will of one testate

What courage leant upon a graven guest
Not thrift of fear in bearing of his fate
But silent as all untruths so expressed,
Except to cry with cursed tongue, "More weight!"

Autumn leaves a-fluttering free,
To shroud the land around us; a
Day enshrined in history,
To hold us strong and bind us; a

Nation grieves tranquility
That used to help define us; a
World looks on so helplessly,
But hope and faith remind us, a

Roiling mass of turgid sea
May try so hard to break us; a
Foreign hand may raise in glee,
But it will never shake us; a

Place of magic sanctity
Against the foes that tried us; a
Land for heroes, brave and free,
Is where you'll always find us.

Amen.

It's that time of year
When the holiday comes around
And I've trawled every shop in town
For trousers that fit me,
And suddenly it hits me
As I'm waiting to board the plane
That all the stress, the going insane
To get away is the only reason
I need a holiday this season

So I'm sat at the gate,
Six hours early because I'd hate to be late,
Despite living fifteen minutes away
And I'm passing the time reading a book
But my wife is giving me that look
That says she's bored, won't be ignored,
She expects me to entertain her
And I'm going insane (again)

Roll forward past an eternity
Of clock watching,
Of people watching,
Of checking the departures board,
And finally we're boarding
And finding our neat little seats
Specially designed with pixies in mind,
With storage space for a mushroom
And no noticeable legroom that I can find

The stewardesses trundle their trolleys
With offerings of lukewarm tea,
Bitter strong coffee,
A small selection of dusty dainties
And days old sandwiches
(Credit card or cash, Sir?)
You expect me to pay more
For what used to be free?
No thanks, just the lukewarm tea

Lurching to a stop after a bumpy drop,
I whisper a prayer of thanks
To the gods of pilots and engineers,
Resist the urge to shout three cheers,
Just the scrummage in the aisle
And a fight for the overhead space
To retrieve the frilly lace
Handkerchief that somehow exceeded
The airlines stringent weight limits
For my hand luggage permits,
Incurring an additional fee as a penalty

The airport signs indicate the way
To an endless corridor of rotating
Carousels, a new kind of hell
Where strangers stand shoulder to shoulder,
Giving no quarter as they wait and wait
For the baggage handlers, who went on a break
The minute the plane arrived,
And until they've checked inside
Every likely looking bag
For cameras, iPhones and valuable swag
They'll keep us waiting and anticipating

This time we got lucky,
All the bags arrived, most of them survived
Intact, though one was so bashed
It looked like a giant had smashed
A heavy boot down, just to make us pay
For going away on holiday
A quick run past the customs men
With their sidearms and sideways glances
And we're free and clear in the outside air

We join a rank queue of sweaty fliers
At the rank queue of sweaty cab drivers
And wait our turn to learn our fate,
Which cab will we get to hate?
We've taken a second mortgage on our home,
Lived six months without a phone
Or electricity just to save enough cash
For this last mad dash,
A quick hop to the hotel,
A quick prayer that the linen won't smell,
And one final night of broken sleep
Before the going is complete
And we have officially "Arrived".

Though autumn runs swift, I recall summer bygones
When thin hours were thrift; when the golden horizons
Of sunrise and sunset rose quick to their meeting,
And the night wore regret of a day ever fleeting.

O! To drink one last draught of the schemes youth had made!
The toil of our graft now lays hidden in shade;
The sunrise comes calling, and the sunset declines,
But the autumn is waning, and the winter confines

The march of a heartbeat, the pace of its drummer,
As boot-weary feet bear the blisters of summer;
The aching-back bends ‘neath the weight of horizons
That bookmark the ends of our gold summer bygones.

In passing fancy,
I netted a man
Long departed

Such honours bestowed
On this artist,
Born here
Died there

His greatness
Told in few words

Quick to anger?
Passionate?
Unkempt?

I know of him
And know him not,
And never shall

And what stranger
Could know me
From my epitaph?

Young man
Grab thy *****
Grab thy pick
And follow me

In this lush meadow
Green as green
Amongst the cherry
Blossom hills

Strike thy pick
Unto the ground
Take thy *****
And dig deep

Here then
Lies thy future
Look upon it
And weep

Now leave
Never to return
Until your
Appointed hour

And never forget
Life must end
And never forget
To live

Arise!  Arise!
Oh wingless serpent
Oh jousting knight
Gleaming in sunlight
Arise like Samurai
Mounted on a steed
Of deadly sins
Arise and greet the morn
As wives grieve and mourn
As children grieve and mourn
As husbands grieve and mourn
Oh world, grieve and mourn
Our fallen knight
Our fell serpent
Our seven Samurai.

In life’s Fairytale,
Happily Ever After
Always hides Dragons

If cold I awake from the depths of Dark Hollow,
Where Faeries dance gaily around pole-lanterns blazing,
To bathe in the gloom of a Bright-Star lain shadow
That flits through the room like an eye steadfast gazing,
I’d suffer no comfort, till the fanfare of morning,
And my shivering spine, and my blue-blazoned skin
Would abide uncomplaining, till the Dawn light swept in.

And the Morrow would find me still gripped in Night’s pale,
And the Sun fail to warm me, and the Air would not move me,
And the feast laid for breakfast would wither and stale,
And my eyes transfixed open would gaze around blindly —
And the Sunset would follow, and Twilight would find me
Awash in the gloom of a Bright-Star lain shadow,
And thence to Lone Splendour of the depths of Dark Hollow.

He sits alone and in silence
Atop the silver birch
High above the forest floor

Watching with attentive eyes
As moonlight flirts playfully,
Shadow dancing among the many
Silver branches

At the heart of the forest,
The brook chatters endlessly
Of adventures through mountains
So high their peaks are lost in
****** clouds, of underground
Rivers raging unseen beneath
Valleys filled with first
Spring lilies

The weary critters gather
To lap at cool waters,
Ignoring the incessant babble
As they keep a wary eye
On lurking shadows

High above, his sharp eyes
Glimpse outlines in the darkness,
Hidden shapes imitating bush
And fern, almost motionless
Yet moving

He utters a single sound,
A whisper barely audible
Above the ceaseless chatter
Of the brook

The hunters arrive and
Sniff the air, traces of
Prey still lingering,
But the trail grows cold

The brook continues to regale
The night air with tales

Seemingly unaware
They are no longer listening

Seemingly unaware
They never were

I cannot speak for thee, but here I lay
Ensconced inside my home, not struck with fear,
But purposed to entrench within this sphere
Until this growing gloom has passed away —
I dine on steak, with wine; I quaff my scotch,
And pick at nibbles from a fancy plate;
I click to find a comedy to watch,
Averting eyes from news I’ve come to hate —
Was it thus so when plague swept through the land?
When Spanish flu ran rampant and unchained?
Did children sneak to parties parents banned?
Were beaches full of tourists unrestrained?
        I think, compared to them, we have it best,
        And time shall ease our sorrows with her zest.

I chanced upon old standing stones
Bedecked in lichen green
Arrayed in banks of marble rows
With walk-ways in-between
Each bore the scars of craftsman’s graft
Recording time and toll
One fading remnant epitaph
For each immortal soul

And earthward bound the sun polite
With mountain cap in hand
Fell silent as the hearse of night
Rode forth across the land
The distant city lights awoke
Like lanterns on a lake
A bubbled haze of smog and smoke
Above the city scape
 
Large crowds of late-night shoppers milled
Around the late-night stores
And roars of drunken laughter spilled
From dingy nightclub doors
The squealing cries of lorries lade
With goods to stock and stack
Were echoed by the cramped stockade
Of dwellings back-to-back

As one by one the lights went out
In windows dark and dim
Arrayed in banks of brick and grout
Old dwellings grey and grim
Stood sentinel to souls entombed
In plots devoid of green
The living mass of those inhumed
With walk-ways in-between

A sheet of paper and a pencil:

    Einstein would amaze the world with mathematics
    
        Picasso would astound the world with art
    
            Dickens would enthrall the world with fiction

                What would you do with yours?

If “content” is the narrative,
Wee daubed lines on a page —
A book without superlative
Would fill the content gauge

And if “content” is bits and bobs
Left in your grandpa’s trunk —
A pair of broken door knobs
Would serve as content junk

But if “content” is happiness,
The peace of being whole —
One errant daub, or bob the less
Denies a content soul.

If love was meant to be,
What fool would carry flowers?
Or moonlit stroll beside the sea,
To pine away their hours?

If love was in the stars,
A birthright freely given,
What Venus would be wooed by Mars
To forge a path to Heaven?

If truth divine be all I sing,
My love for thee would surely ring
Tall bells aloft cathedral spires,
Inspiring poets with their lyres,
Melting snow to drip and bleed
The lifeblood of all earth and seed
To call the spring to rise to rouse
New fruitlings on the greener boughs!
O! All the truth my heart desires
Would kindle sun to blaze her fires!

"I'd like to rent a ****** please!", little Johnny cried,
"A good sized filly, plenty of zest, and a great big *** to ride!
I'll take her up the paddock, and I'll slap her big behind,
Then I'll ride her till she's raw, when another ****** I'll find!"

The monsters in this world
Look just like you and me;
They walk free on the earth
Despising all they see,
And if you could look deep,
Look deep within their soul,
Then you would find they keep
The goodness that they stole

What will happen when
The monsters in your head
Are featured on the news
And laying in your bed?

The newspapers report
And glorify their game,
A beast no one has caught
With some god awful name,
And if you could but feel
And feel the way they do,
Where nothing seems quite real,
They're empty thru and thru

What will happen when
The monsters in your head
Are featured on the news
And laying in your bed?

Three children found today,
Too gruesome to describe,
They went outside to play,
They used to be alive,
And someone somewhere knows
The shoe-prints in the mud,
And somewhere someone throws
The weapon caked in blood

What will happen when
The monsters in your head
Are featured on the news
And laying in your bed?

The light my eyes receive
Reflecting of your face
That aids me to perceive
Each imperfected grace

Has had to wend and weave,
Though at tremendous pace,
Through airs that interleave
Our intervening space

And so I sometimes grieve
That I can but retrace
The beauty I believe
No time would dare efface.

Forgive the sins of those we would condemn?
Apologise and send them on their way
And in the aftermath of our dismay
Seek not for retribution on these men?

Cast down our stones, cast off our thoughts of when
They stained the walls in vengeance on a day
Now fast enshrined in minds of those who pray,
Pretend the world is just as it was then

Before these wretched shadows had the ken
To shatter glass and unmold living clay,
Think not of how their evil to repay
But offer them a prayer and say "Amen"?

Dear lord, our strength of will is plainly weak
For we can't simply turn the other cheek.

In the jingle jangle jungle
When the jumping jackals jive,
All the leopards like a-leaping
And the lions look alive;

Watch the wary warthogs writhing
As they waggle and a-wiggle
To the drumming disco dancing
Of the jingle jangle jiggle!

Dashing hither, dashing thither,
Dashing in the winter weather,
John the dashing haberdasher
Dashed a hat upon his head

Not some lace cap fit for ladies,
Nor a bonnet stitched for babies,
John the dashing haberdasher
Dashed a top hat there instead!

Never had a hat so fine,
So tall and silken, so refined,
Regaled upon the daily grind
Of prince or pauper in the Strand

Ladies stalled to see it's lustre,
Swooned and swayed before it's bluster,
Fell and fainted in a fluster,
Startled by a hat so grand!

Children screamed in dreadful fright
And yelping dogs began to bite
As crowds began to brawl and fight
And riots claimed the London street

In the chaos thus ensuing,
Folks began to run, pursuing
John the dashing haberdasher
Chasing him from Strand to Fleet!

John was taken to the prison,
Chided by the crowds derision,
There to wait the Mayor's decision
On his wanton heinous crime

Charged with breaching lawful peace,
He paid a fine for his release
And ordered to desist and cease,
He left his top hat well behind

Thus is told the tale of John
Who dared to bravely dash and don
A silken top hat high upon
His noble head in London town

Heed his tale and take this warning,
When you wake one winter morning
With desire to be less boring,
Careful how you dress that crown!

In the morning when you're thinking
Of the chores that lay ahead,
When the shower water's freezing,
When there's numbness in your head;
And the telephone is ringing
And there's someone at the door,
And the neighbour's dog is singing
And there's toys strewn on the floor;
When the kids are all a-squabbling,
When their music is too loud;
When the car has trouble starting
And it makes a knocking sound;
When you breathe a heavy sigh
And wish this day would pass you by

When the office phone is ringing
In the middle of your Zoom,
And the coffee tastes disgusting
And your client's a buffoon;
And your secretary is waving
As she tries to catch your eye,
And she's holding the receiver
With a teardrop in her eye;
And her frantic face is straining
As she passes you the phone,
And you hear the desperation
In the voice that calls you home;
When you breathe a heavy sigh
And wish this day would pass you by

At the school gate is a circus
And you think that you're the clown,
And your feet feel far too heavy
As they scrape along the ground;
And the sirens are a-wailing
As the uniforms go by,
And you feel your nerves are failing
And you dare not catch an eye;
And the headteacher is waiting
With his head bowed to his chest,
And he beckons you to join him
And he leads you from the rest;
And you breathe a heavy sigh
And wish this day would pass you by

And his words impart a sadness
That you cannot understand,
And you're staring at your fingers
As he's holding tight your hand;
And you see a policeman crying
Huddled on the stony ground,
With his colleagues standing by him
And they never make a sound;
And you walk across the carpark
And you walk towards the spot
Where the ambulance is waiting
And your stomach's in a knot;
And you breathe a heavy sigh
And wish this day had passed you by

And the doctor grabs your shoulder
As you stand outside the room
Where your broken child is laying
In the dimness and the gloom;
And the vest they wore this morning
Is ******* up and on the bed,
And there's tubes still in their nostrils
And their sheets are stained with red;
And he's talking and he's talking
But you don't hear what he said,
Just the faintest understanding
That perhaps someone is dead;
And you breathe a heavy sigh
And wish this day had passed you by

Just this morning you were thinking
Of the chores that lay ahead,
With the shower water freezing,
And a numbness in your head;
And the telephone was ringing
There was someone at the door,
And the neighbour's dog was singing
There were toys strewn on the floor;
And the kids were all a-squabbling,
How you miss that happy sound;
And the music they were playing,
You would love to hear it loud;
And the car had trouble starting
And it made a knocking sound;

Can you breathe one heavy sigh,
And have this day just pass you by?

LADY, born for Heaven's gate,
Thy nation to inspire —
Alas that thou did immolate
Atop thy self-same pyre

LADY, borne from ashen grate,
Thy nation shall aspire
To gift to thee thy heavenly trait
And raise thee ever higher

Betwixt rock and sea,
Three Hundred haunting poems
And one melody.

"Come, thou clear-voiced Muse, Erato, begin thy song, voicing to the tune of thy lovely lyre the strain of the children of Samos." (Stesikhoros, C7th-6th B.C.)*

Upon a dim and distant telling,
Fared a maid of noble dwelling;
Rhadine was so beautiful,
Her suitors fought to claim her hand.

Unbeknownst, her father sold her
To a vile old tyrant soldier;
Rhadine sobbed, but dutiful
She boarded ship to foreign land.

Leontichus, her secret lover,
Swore an oath that he'd recover
Rhadine from the tyrant's grip;
He took the task of a deck-hand.

Many moons would find him weeping,
Ever watchful, never sleeping,
Till the day his mighty ship
Reached distant shore of foreign land.

Leontichus planned and conspired;
Cunning schemes would see him hired,
In the palace of the tyrant,
Where he could be close at hand.

There he watched, and there he waited,
As the nobles congregated
For the wedding, where defiant
Rhadine stood on foreign land.

Songs were sung and vows were spoken,
Then the tyrant brought a token,
Glinting in the bright sunlight
He offered it to Rhadine's hand.

Leontichus was gripped in sadness,
Taken by a sudden madness,
Running forth to save her plight,
He held Rhadine on foreign land.

Anger swept the tyrant's features,
Ridiculed by worthless creatures!
Taking sword, its sharp edge keen
He ran them through with his own hand.

As they lay there, deathly dying,
Midst the nobles, wailing, crying,
Leontichus held his Rhadine
And there they passed on foreign land.

The tyrant ordered their remains
Should scatter over hills and plains,
He placed them on a chariot,
And sent it with no guiding hand.

Late that night when all were sleeping,
Still the tyrant's eyes were weeping,
Knowing he could tarry not,
He ordered search of foreign land.

Days had passed when news arrived,
The chariot had still survived;
A soldier brought it to his door,
And placed the reigns into his hand.

The two were buried side by side,
Their hands were clasped, their arms entwined,
And there they rest forever more,
Two lovers lost on foreign land.

Leontichus and his Rhadine,
The greatest love the world has seen,
True lovers laying hand in hand,
Forever lost on foreign land.

Oh,

We forgot.

Again.

"Well Mr Holmes, this is a nasty business!
The victim, Ivor Biggun, has been stabbed!
There was of course no one around to witness
Although a few good suspects have been nabbed!

Miss Sally Forth was reading ancient history
Mike Hindle claims he too was all alone
Miss Daisy Chain was reading a new mystery
And Mr. Terry Bull was on the phone!"

"My dear Lestrade, your blindness is your failing!
Must I point out that awful ****** mess?
The victim clearly crawled, his blood was trailing
And then it seems he played a game of chess!

Look closely at the moves, see what I mean?
The strangest game of chess I've ever seen!"

                    H5-D5
                    C8-C2
    ­                E3-E4
                    F8-C1
                 ­   D8-D1   MATE!


*Who killed Ivor Biggun?

Love is like a rose —
It hastens hearts a-tingling,
Tickles all your toes!

Friendships fade to throes
As hearts begin a-mingling —
Love is like a rose,

And each day it grows
It sets your nerves a-jingling,
Tickles all your toes!

Your skin brightly shows,
With blushing blood a-sizzling,
Love is like a rose!

It tweaks on your nose!
And sets the stars a-twinkling,
Tickles all your toes!

Do not fear for woes
Of love that ends a-dwindling —
Love is like a rose,
Tickles all your toes!

Stars tell white lies each night, they wink and lie
And promise us our dreams, the dreams they steal
Away into a sunrise, to conceal
In leaded pots where rainbows go to die;
And when the careless night comes by the by
And shouts: "look up, look up!" the stars reveal
Your hopes, dreams, thoughts, a future so unreal
That even hapless lovers dare not fly;
And still they wink and whisper every night
As if to tell your secrets, tell your dreams,
The very things they promised not to share,
And left bereft you wonder how it seems
You ever trusted to that distant light
Long whence the stars that lived and died were there.

Whether thou art true as

        ((to be) or (not to be)),

Or false as

        ((a summer's day) compared to (thee)),

My love for thee is a tautology.

I'm just a lonely little leaf
So small, so insignificant
But in my dreams, I hold belief
That I could be magnificent

My skin would gleam of emerald green
To ward off snow and beckon spring
My fettered branch would welcome teems
Of chorus birds to dance and sing

My life would know such happy times
As wild winds lift me up for laughs
To flutter onto railway lines
And halt the trains upon their tracks

Yet in the morning, when I wake
From slumbered dreams, I find relief
In knowing god made no mistake
With me, his lonely little leaf

He sat on the porch, a tired straw hat

Firmly lodged on grey locks, favourite pipe

Nestled between parched lips, watching

The sun go down behind the trees



Ah those trees, a familiar flash flood
Burst it’s banks, his mind awash
With a cascade of memories,
Fond recollections of earlier times

Instinctively, he gripped his aged back,
Rubbing soothingly whilst images of
Furrowed fields with freshly planted
Seedlings drifted lazily through his thoughts

How quickly they grew tall and strong,
Soon sprouting shoots of their own,
Nurturing them to grow and bear fruit
That filled the air with sweet aromas

The visions twisted as the seasons
Ebbed and flowed, and he caught
Glimpses of things long forgotten,
And something stirred within him

How had he forgotten about them?
Distant images of them beneath the trees
Appeared and vanished like lightning,
An agonizing slow moving picture show

He remembered feeling something
Akin to pride, and yet something else
Lurked in the darkness, some sadness
That refused to reveal itself

As the last light of the sun faded
Behind the trees, he stood up and
Muttered “There’s a storm moving in”,
And walking inside, he closed the door.

Sounding out the truth of all the lies I've ever known
Looking for the answers in the fields where doubts were sown
Sifting through my memories to lay my ghosts to rest
Days we shared will always be the best

Look for me when summer brings the pounding of the rain
Think of me when autumn leaves are falling round again
Know that I'll be with you when the winter comes to pass
Seasons go but love will ever last

Walking in the meadow when the sun was in the sky
Watching all the strangers as they watched us passing by
Holding our forevers captured in a single day
Knowing that our love would ever stay

Look for me when summer brings the pounding of the rain
Think of me when autumn leaves are falling round again
Know that I'll be with you when the winter comes to pass
Seasons go but love will ever last

Feelings are forever and the one's you don't forget
Linger like a shadow on a vacant silhouette
Living isn't easy when the life you thought you'd known
Was never meant to be there for your own

Look for me when summer brings the pounding of the rain
Think of me when autumn leaves are falling round again
Know that I'll be with you when the winter comes to pass
Seasons go but love will ever last
Seasons go but love will ever last
Seasons go but love will ever last