Come here and listen to me
There are ugly deep shadows
Where things could be leering
Snarling and hungry
Heavy and threatening
****** in the wriggling damp
The age dripping damp
Where dead leaves rot and fatten the earth
Come close and listen to me

Don't go down there
No, don't go down there
They're doing strange things in the dark
You shouldn't have come to the park
On your own
Don't go walking alone

This is no place for one so young
And soft
Delicately tremblingly white
And soft
Run home with your soul gripped tight
Before someone
Some muddied gritty  someone
Touches
In the shadows and shrubs
And the night

                             By Phil Roberts

The gloom was thick
Everywhere I turned
I could not see the path in front of me
Who is it now?
Where are you?
I call out your name
Into the darkness
The thick grey smoke
You seem to appear
I am taken into daydreams
I think it's clearing
Then I find it's not even true
If you're not the one here
I don't want to open my eyes
I don't want to know who
I don't want anyone
If it isn't you
Then I see you on my screen again
Out of the blue
The smoke clears
My mind feels giddy
Like it's all brand new
Until you leave me alone for days
And I can feel the gloom
Approach me
I crawl into my feelings
And lock everyone out

from what we have heard she is senile
she will smile and the sun will rise.
take her out to pink pasture, do not heed her caveat,
from what we have heard she is senile and
it is all for naught.
the war did her in, she still bathes there,
in the clouds,
in the tepid spring of father's rigorwater
the dewdrops are full of gas, they must have made her this way
(or, retrospectively, the bombs)
the old war did her in
the sun is risen over pink pasture and i can hear her seizure scream
the clear air fills with smoke and the curtain closes.

Once
there was a sea
And a sun set
But
we forgot to count
the waves.
Now,
The sea has grabbed
Everything away

welcome, welcome
to the poets parade
please join us now
and never be afraid
we welcome you
to march your words
across the screens of hundreds
to make your thoughts heard
we will stand with you
through thick and thin
and we promise to make sure
you don't feel alone again
we will be with you
through the good and the bad
and help you create art
out of the experiences you've had
yes welcome, welcome
to the poets parade
please join us now
and never be afraid

s.s.

As evening comes
we drink tea
& all watch
as a blind man
approaches slowly
along the beach,

feeling his way
amongst us
to ask
for the same
as the tape-deck
plays the song
"Helpless ... helpless ... helpless."