One little stick at a time, you feed the fire
One little stick at a time, it grows higher
One little stick at a time, against yourself you conspire

Carrying a bundle of sticks you cry, "everyone else is to blame"
The relentless winds of time did fan the flame
Now in control the fire takes the reins

With scorching fury it devours all that's within
Till only molten ambers remain  under the skin
Can you remember how this story even begins

One little stick at a time, against yourself you conspire
One little stick at a time, it grows higher
One little stick at a time, you fed that fire

©Pauline Russell

When I was a young man
A heedless headlong consumer of life, was I
Above and beyond the norm or necessity
I wore paths deep and wide
To the pleasure centres of my brain
And I rode my soul like an easy *****
Oh happy daze of hedonism
How sweet life tasted then

If there was drink to drink
We drank it
If there were songs to sing
We sang them
If there were fights to fight
We fought them
We had fast feet and faster wits
If there was hell to raise
We raised it
Excess and adventure in equal parts
How fast, how high we flew back then

And then the magic playground
Became a bleak and dangerous place
Peopled by predators and prey
In an ever changing food chain
And I was only one step away
From the totally oblivious
One brain cell ahead of
The permanent reality challenged
Then friends began casually dying
Barely noticed in the rush to join them
Now the race is on
And I have grown old and slow

                                              By Phil Roberts

I know i'll never get over you...
And neither will you
.....but some things are best left unfinished
There's a certain bit of charm to it
You try and complete it and it loses its charm

Wherever I walk
always there is an absence
walking beside me..