I watch them come and go
All pretend love and fake smiles
With the odd little genuine moment
As their tears flow for miles

Prison camp The Willows nursing home
As to us its affectionately known
The place for useless old sloths
Who watch a screen and sit all alone

Lunch time then regular medication
Sometimes an afternoon nap
I try not to do that myself though
I’m still to young for that crap

Then again who am I kidding
With my legs like jelly in a bowl
And a double chin hiding cobwebs
I’m as stiff as a telegraph pole

A young nurse reminds me of me
Vivacious and full of life
The only difference being of course
Is I had a husband while she has a wife

David is coming in soon
My son and my little solider
Everytime I see him these days
He looks that little bit older

Mackerel on toast for dinner
Not really my cup of tea
Jam stuffed in a large bulbous doughnut
Now that would do for me

Just having a sip of tea
The last thing I can just about do
Thinking of the pleasant thought
That you’ll be here one day to

One step, one shot, one final breath.
I walk through war, I talk to death.
He never speaks, but I still know
Not yet, not yet. There's more to go.

When the hot heat burns into your soul, imagine that you  are standing in a river with cool water running over your feet

It is soothing to the touch
It is calming

Imagine a cool breeze gently blowing across your face like butterfly kisses
Your skin feels cool

Imagine the scent of pine trees in the air

You are in another place
It is magic

I am not the morning star—
though I have walked alone
with light on my back
and silence in my mouth.

I never asked to rise,
only to know.
And knowing,
was cast out
with my hands still open.

I am not the winged sentinel—
though I have stood guard
over names I no longer say aloud,
drawn lines no one thanked me for.

I have held my ground
not for heaven,
but for the hope
that something still matters
enough to bleed for.

I carry no banner.
Only scars shaped like truths
I could not unsee.

Lucifer lit the match.
Michael held the line.
And I—
I became the smoke between them.
A blade
without allegiance,
cutting only
what must fall away.

The Great Pretender

     I can be sitting right next to you
And I can be in my darkest place
You’d never know where my thoughts are
I’ve got an unreadable poker face

Go ahead and ask me how I’m doing
And even if I’m going through Hell
I’ll lift my head up high and smile
And say I’m doing well

Though I’ve been damaged
There’s still love in this heart of mine
There’s a light refusing to die
As it fights every moment to shine

When I wake up everyday
And the world hits me with its best shot
It may knock me to the ground
And I’ll smile and say is that all you got

You will never know the battle I’m
Fighting and I will never surrender
I can play the role better than the best
I’m The Great Pretender

Written By:Charles Kean
05/28/2025

After flooded land came drought.
Green leaves is what white dove brought.
Still, wars loud from silent despair.
Once again world went mute for mankind.
Women praying one more time.
For peace on earth and dove to fly.


Shell✨🐚

In the night of shade
Dance of love, ballerina
In a balance of light

I will not be
subdued.
Cages don't suit me.
I have to be free.
Fly
run
sing
dance in the
open fields, swim
in the river with
the fish and water snakes.
My soul can't be
taken without my permission.
The access is denied.
My heart isn't yours to
mock and ****.
I will rise like
the phoenix from
the ashes and sail on against
the azure sky, free and
untethered.
Resurrected
I'm back from the dead.

Velvet echoes in these faded places,
Plastic smiles on porcelain faces.
Whiskey tears in crystal glasses,
Dead-eyed queens and faded masses.
And it’s eerie, but oh, it’s sweet;
My dying dreams feel most complete.
Masking my hurt behind the glamour,
No more dawn and no forever.
Hard to voice, too numb to break,
I'm dancing in circles putting the F in ache…

Carrying my truth.
I stand by my views,
watching through
my weakening gaze.

After a raging storm,
making peace with myself,
I vanish into the air,
my convictions fold with me.

Without simple answers,
wearing the new lens,
I see another world:
not clearer,
not wiser,
not safer,
…
just slightly shifted.