Hey gun lobbyists
Another load of children
Just surrendered

You will not halt the rushing wind
restless seas will turn their tides no matter what you do
rain will fall & wet the land to make it green
leaves will drop at turn of year
you can stop a ticking clock
but you cannot stop time

Home for the holidays
smooth brown hills
set in a falling landscape
farms and fields of winter wheat
out west beyond the windmill
arms spread wide, dancing hands
that bow to grace a fertile gentle land
what new and subtle changes lie
beneath the wide wind blistered sky
that same familiar patchwork view
perhaps the change is me not you

Willow hair
sky reflected
Narcissus introspected
floats lissom in the pool

Darling clever Oscar Wilde
that Enfant terrible
a rebellious child
he was pretty
and very witty
and yes he was gay
it's a shame we couldn't accept him that way

Sea-Flower
you were never one of us
not really
I think you drifted
perhaps we cut you loose
I cannot remember
anyway we meant no harm
we had the shallow callow charm of youth
a cruel chant
which slays the slayer in the end
how could we comprehend your need
or the way that it would end
one cold October day among the ****
pale as apple blossom
Sea-Flower indeed

Turnstone
Tumbled by the tide, over and over
Washed by rolling waves
Polished by the shifting sand
Dried out by the winter sun
That shiny pebble in your hand

Sumptuous morning
still unbroken
not a single word is spoken
untouched by feet or passing paws
yawning breeze gives soft applause
and combs the bed head tangles
from grasses newly woken

A thousand scarlet kisses
leaves that fell between our lips
each one sweeter than the last
and longer and deeper
I would swap them all
each plump hanging cherry
just out of reach
to bring you home again

A yellow leaf
caught in the wind
it flutters
as it leaves the tree
try as you might
it won't be caught
I think that's called
ennui

Lyric ribbon
dancing with words

star above the trench
hanging in a cleaner place
that this endless war

My cathartic heart
threw away the finished leaves of bitter autumn's burning
I brewed myself a loving cup, made sweeter by my learning
tansy, bay with chamomile, bright meadow flowers to sip
tastes better far than poison found upon your lips

Press your ear against the bowl
can you hear it ringing
I think the earth is singing

The lighted candle
burns for just we two
making nonsense of reason
it brings such happy madness
a joyous moonstruck affliction
from which we hope to never be recovered
love makes fools of us all
and we would ever have it so
for a world without it
is true insanity

Blend me a colour
In waterproof mascara
Shades of missing you

crushed inside a rock
it took me a million years
just to see the light

Lift the lid of life
plunge in
enjoy it
embrace it
because you can't replace it

His headphones fit in ears
that haven’t listened for years
I spend most of my time
looking down at my phone
which is marginally better
than feeling alone
mass communication
has fulled our isolation
once love was a rocket
now we only connect
at the USB socket

Fields of white crosses
to mark out the losses
of harvested poppies

Faces are our covers
They show the world what we want it to see and to believe

A replacement cover can make a tired old book look new

But hands tell a different story

On the ends of your arms are two gossiping wagging tongues

They always tell the truth!

Take all the stars to string a necklace
thread on a burning sun of molten gold
it could not please me more my love
than when I have your hand to hold

Winters bite

has teeth of ice and steel

polished sharp when chill winds blow

burnished white by gently drifting snow

A 3am wind
disturbs the fallen leaves
which once lay dull and flat upon the pavement of your day,
those might have beens and maybe yets
which dance and fly with skipped regrets,
they only blow on you it seems
to taunt your mind and seed your dreams

On days like these

Winter sunrise low on the trees

Bruised dawn of crimson pinks and yellows

silhouettes the waving branches

sharp relief against a cloth of birds

A bedraggled army of tattered hungry souls

clinging to straws in an empty field

feathers moving in the early light

as tinted day takes on the shift from frosted winter night

I have a face in the mirror
I know I am there
because I checked
so why do I cut myself
to feel less invisible

Little storm lover
sitting on a windowsill
while others snore and dream their midnight dreams
cold feet a ticket to watch the lightning
thunder has electric bones
a drum roll giant coming ever nearer
she will catch it if they find her
well worth the risk
to watch the show

Mayfly
all snowy white wings
delicate fragile things
that dance and skim the summer air
hardly there
a second of modernity
to experience eternity
what if a penultimate day in May
to play and love & live
was all you had to give?

I don't want to follow your footsteps

with my two left feet in my two wrong shoes

If I take a path it's the one I will choose

my steps are my own

and I'll walk for a bit

maybe I'll find some shoes that will fit!

How many pebbles does the jar contain?
Count them one by one, put them back again.

How many pebbles on the beach?
Can never count them all, they are out of reach.

How many pebbles in your hand?
My heart a singing stone, you rescued from the sand.

To be a hero
is not just about the action
but when the day is done
to quietly get on with your life
and show them that they never won

You cannot waste a word
it is made from breath
released as an airy nothing
an elusive shy and singing bird
that only lands
once it is seen or heard

Walk with me a while
give me one last kiss on parting
good friends and lovers
secretly and silently entwined
yet I am ever thought as old
and you a young and pretty thing
winter sighs a final breath
and bends to kiss the hand of spring

Early morning rain
washes any weekend traces
from coffee scented Monday faces

We are all seeds
tiny grains of sand
lost on a desert wind
or so I understand,
on a hot afternoon
under a clear african sky
we blew into existence
God alone knows why

Winter's song
is high and sharp
a razor cutting deep
everything it touches sleeps
yet out of reach and far below
beneath the wind and rain and snow
tiny plants begin to grow
he may be cruel but here's the thing
winter's soul is the breath of spring

All things bright and beautiful
all creatures great and small
all things wise and wonderful
we have defiled them all
a heap of broken butterflies
dodos & tigers too
it tells us all we need to know
about wonderful me and you!

Crows on wind-blown corn
citizens of winter

Compassionate wind
blow soft upon my face
caress my skin
from brow to nose to chin
linger with your fingers
comb my tangled hair
strong but light as air
let me know that you are there
and that you care

A shiny halo can work loose
and when it slips
it becomes a noose
your sainthood lasts until the day
the rest of us see your boots of clay!

Music the folder
and holder of sound

Rhythm the binder
that winds it around

Lyrics are papers
where meaning is found

Poem
a drink of words
sometimes shaken
stirred with thought
the cocktail
is you

Oil on the water

Gentle spilling colours

Tumbled greens and inky blues

Fade to yellow and pinky hues

Filling the puddle

A requiem for rainbows

Come rain
fall smooth across my face
embrace my cheek
stroke soft
as if a lovers hand
do not sting
I am no flower
and you no honey bee
sweet gentle rain
come fall on me

Winter sleeps both cold and deep,
while spring is a madcap scramble,
summer sings and jogs along,
but fall is a definite amble,
dropping hints of cooler times
with every leaf and bramble

Ducks are the quacking sunshine of a noisy day

geese are moonlight in flight

silent graceful sailors of the clouds

they go where the wind takes them,

free spirits of the air.

Unborn plans to which we aspire
broken daydreams piled ever higher
one day when we finally expire
they end up on our funeral pyre
a few lost hopes to fuel the fire!

A walk
to ponder the nature of it all
sea and sky,
the tumbling waves which fall
gulls that call on outstretched wings
none of these are separate things