Grey Wolf pounding
Across the hard packed snow
Fierce heart pumping
Hot against the cold
Breeze like blades
Cutting headache pulse
Scent of blood
Fires instinct deep
Frost hangs shimmering
On the shaggy pelt
Grey Wolf coming
Endings will be dealt
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Patience stretched as tight
As a humming steel wire
Wails at just touch
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Rivers break their banks
Fields awash, people panic
I love the wide wash
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Standing on a high hill
Green fields rolling away beneath my feet
Off into the hazy horizon.
Strong breeze blowing through my hair
It exhilarates me – makes me feel
I could step forward and fly
Yet
It is nothing to the way you make me feel
Laying in the sun
In the lush deep grass
Sparkles dancing on the water
Blue skies in great expanse arching high
Warms me – happiness safe in my heart
Yet
Cold compared to the warmth you bring
A word of praise from peers
Or reward for long hard work
A beer after a trying day
Shoring up my worth
Yet
Nothing makes me better – more the man I should be
Than having you by my side forever
My love
My wife
My Rachel
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
The rich man on Thames has a sunken garden
Water so deep the duck house has floated
Away
So now
Money is no object for their relief
And the satirists
Whet their knives
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
With melted heart she went down
Gutted, drowned, futile fighting
But fighting
Carrying out her crafted purposes
What more can we ask
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Heaven’s holy light
Roving bright light a searchlight
Burning upturned eyes
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Bobbing in the dark
Tossed on hell’s furious waves
Seeking safer shores
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Slash of black on white
Ink scar scored in pain
Indicting words inflame
Passions in the hurt
The pen defeats the sword
Words echo strong down time
But numbers drown the words
Blur and blot the ink
The echo fades
Singers sing
TV lulls the wise
There is
No more
Surprise
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Jiggly was a little worm
A cheery sort of fellow
But whenever somebody brushed his skin
He would yowl and howl and bellow
For you see poor old jiggly
Was a ticklish kind of chap
The slightest touch had him laughing so much
That his head was all of a flap
So he asked all his friends to help him
Get over his terrible curse
Before he drove them all mad with laughter
Could they his affliction reverse
The sheep all got together
And knitted a long woollen coat
The wool was too itchy for his tender skin
And the fur got stuck in his throat
The spiders spun him a shirt
Of the finest silken web
But he ended up sliding all over the place
And his spirits lower did ebb
The mice they wrapped him up tightly
In leathery leaves from the ground
But they bound him so tight that he took a fright
And rolled all around and around
The parrots extracted some rubber
From the heart of the rubber tree
Then coated him with a thin smooth layer
Which fitted as well as could be
Now the young worm was happy
He could play with his friends at last
But as he wriggled among them quite happy
Their faces all looked so downcast
For they missed the wonderful laughter
Of the wriggly giggly worm
That filled their glum days in magical ways
Like a good but infectious germ
So he cast of his new rubber skin
Baring his own to the air
And everyone tickled the giggly worm
And jiggled and laughed without care
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
The insane and the dim
The slow and steady
The clever and obnoxious
The bigot and the playwright
The whiner and the wino
The liar and the gambler
The killer, the explorer
The saint and the giver
The healer and the cook
The listener and the teller
The buyer and the seller
The ruler and the subject
The freeman and the slave
The lover and the loner
We need them all
Each a danger, a potential bomb
But given the right time
The right place
The right circumstance
Each can be the one to save us all
To shine
To save
So do not be so hasty
To wipe them out
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Gone
From me
Innocence
But always close
Always in my heart that innocence lost
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Nothing you can do
To ease his pain, then you feel
Like you let him down
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
He is cool
And brave
Respectful
and respected
Men follow
Women swoon
Bright words from
His tongue bloom
Visionary thoughts
Mould the world
Strong and graceful
Effortless with grace
Steadfast, trustworthy
True, through and through
Yet
Where is he?
Not on our screens
Not in our books
Not anywhere that
The lost boy looks
There is a void
for our boys
So they fill it
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Shameful behaviour
Disgusting is the message
Relentless at men
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Education grows
Crime statistics are falling
Just saying, that’s all
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Changing times and names
War and scandal and divorce
Mother reigns again
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Debauchery swells
Lazy Princes and mad Kings
Produced and Empress
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
A renaissance across the land
Throwing off the far-flung shackles
For new ones closer to home
A new white dawn
Grabbing the holy riches
Gold crosses forged to swords
War in all directions
An empire to rebuild
Tall ships grew and multiplied
New lands found and won
The power of word proliferates
Especially the words of one
All the globe within the globe
Sounds echo down to now
Expose the hearts of Kings and Queens
Commoner, thief and maid
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
The invaders became the natives
And the empire grew and grew
Still one tongue ruled, another served
Ambitious chances were few
Once King extended the lands
Far across the sea
A golden time of riches
For those who were still free
In wars the riches squandered
By the lion and the snake
Rebellion loomed open the crown
As liberty crawled awake
So some power leaked away
Through the reluctant pen
That signed the future of the land
Hope was found again
For many years this house ruled
Until the roses clashed
From golden empire this dynasty
To war and bloodshed crashed
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Rising up and crashing down
On the cold, dark northern sea
Through hail and thunder, rain and show
The dark behind we flee
Filled with fear and hunger
From their lands bereft
They gorged their souls on anger
Till nothing else was left
They crashed upon the naked shores
Like children of the thunder
And every wall they came across
The smashed and tore asunder
The burnt the words of holy men
Carved scars into the nation
But also left their words and ways
While singing their elation
Some stayed in the conquered lands
Creating yet more divides
Their echoes ring across the years
In our veins their blood resides
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
The end of dynasties across the land
The removal of a class
The subjugation of a race
Custom smashed like glass
Upon the barest thread of claim
They came to take the crown
Rewrote the laws that bind us still
And all was written down
Here began the deep divide
Between rulers and the ruled
They claimed the justice of the lord
But very few were ruled
So across the short sea gap they came
With sword and shield and horse
Built castles high and mighty
Changing this fair island’s course
Adding new language to our tongues
Enriching and splitting too
Some words reserved for nobility
And some would never do
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Lines upon lines
Red and gold
Standing against
The wild blue bold
A stamps of order
And authority
Here is born
Conformity
Silk and steel
Rules the land
Gifts and death
In this hand
Shapes indelible
Left on the land
Words both spoken
And written in sand
Strength and order
The order of the day
The eagles left
Their order will stay
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Hard, cold and grey
Dull and unreflective
Sharpened for weapons of war
Blunted for tools of toil
Yet there is more
Glowing in the forge
Twisted into marble patterns
Delicate chains and swirls
Mounts for jewels
Brooches for queens
Pins and forks and hooks
A myriad of ideas were born
Flowing from use to form
New forms growing fast
The sword fights, the lock defends
The cauldron holds the feast
Times of war and growth of lore
Times of great halls a roaring
Look past the iron-grey mist of time
To see the colours flower
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
They left a legacy written in stone
Plain for all to see
Yet there are less lucid signs
Discovered carefully
Lines that lay across the land
Tales of times gone by
Showing us in hidden ways
To be read by those who try
The tracks we walked long ago
The boundaries of old
A story laid on every hill
And every vale and fold.
And on our tongues and in our tales
Echoes of the past
Holy places beyond the cross
Beyond a gulf so vast
Shapes and forms from ancient times
Still glimpsed within the heart
Of dance and song and tales that burn
And every blessed art
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
So they gathered through all the seasons
No plan, no goal, no reason
Anyone would have thought they had agoraphobia
Reality, they imagined, could be held back forever
Socially seeking some satisfying Saturdays
Never needing new nighttime neon
All agreeing an admirable agenda
Rich raw results really render
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
The story lingers
on. History casts its shadow
Misty Times ahead
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
I have been put in so many boxes
No wonder I have lost my head
My left hand has lost the right
My heart is by the brown bread
My eyes are somewhere dark and grim
Can’t tell where or when
My feet are tied to a tired path
They wander again and again
But it doesn’t matter
My imagination can fly
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Brushed by crowded, swaying ferns
The scent of warm loam arises
Silence reigns, no birdsong rings
Signs missed by the men approaching
With their plunder they blunder along
Beneath the high arched canopy
And a new scent mingles with forest smells
fear and anticipation
Smooth and straight and true the shaft
Hard the piercing point
Today the plunder will be reclaimed
The price repaid in blood
Together, in silence, we draw our bows
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
A pillow, a rock,
A wage slave and a lover
Is this all I am
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
The lord of darkness cometh
draped in shades of grey
So many tastes of opium
are available today
Opium is not the only drug
to while away the hours
So much poison sugar
before which reason cowers
For every palette there’s a taste
for every twisted dream
On endless shelves in endless dens
the merchandise does gleam
So the sellers sell us
down the river deep
To dream our dreams of sweet success
though we do not sleep
And while we dream on endlessly
the future will never bring
The day we rise up and in hand
to solve
anything
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
My head is twirling
And whirling like winter winds
Against solid stone
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Ho. Ah.
So, lah
Row far
LowGo shah
in kar
sar rah
sea
Hic ar tee, sec ar tee, el ar tee, ho
Billowing, willowing echoing deep
Dark shadows from afar
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Sunlight streams through clouds
Warm, cascading waterfalls
Dispelled by a breeze
The cold reaches deep
Frozen icicles of time
Teeth in red-hot jaws
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
So we draw to the close of another year
An arbitrary space of time
And to me only one thing is clear
That out of the minutes does climb
Despite all the doom and the pressure
Despite all my weakness and fails
No matter my railing at life
No matter my aches and my wails
I am loved by the people around me
My wife and my smiling son
If life is a human race
Then I concede I have won.
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
What good is a day
against infinity?
What good are muscles
against rock?
What good is a fence
against the flood?
What good is will
within a lock?
Somewhere there’s a key
the will open
The prison that holds fast
the will
The waters will part
The mountain will fall
Infinity will be
just a spark
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Angels falling forever
Angels lost from the sky
Angels hearing truth
From those devils that lie
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
What can we say then
That will make a difference
In a noisy world
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Deaf to me the world
My voice lost in the clamour
Will my life follow?
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
For one small heart
Put aside the pride
The bruised ego
For another day
And be better
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Choices, where are mine?
They seem to have slipped away
Somewhere down river
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Helping hands
Supporting
Cradling
Shoring up
Pat on the back
Giving
Strong
Holding
Controlling
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
One light out
A film of grime
Kicked up from the road
Travelled on
Switches broken
Things won’t turn on
Or off
Squeals and grinds
And groans
Deflation
Thirsty
Dim
My car
And me
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Rock
Roll
Hard
Place
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Silver spar pierces the heart
Quivering
Threatening to break
Silver slit steals into the dark
Thrumming
The peace and the feel
Silver streak mars the black
Revealing
The years and the pain
Like rain
In a dark forest
Always silver, never gold.
Never warm, always cold
No longer young but old
Never saved always sold
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Green grass allures
On the other side
Reflects in green
In my eyes longing
But the green is not the grass
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Blood soaked steel
The sword of a knight
Held up proud
Aloft and bright
He hums to himself
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government
shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace”
With banshee scream
He storms on down
To hammer home peace.
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Black wings
Rushing, beating, clouding all
Death
The all-consuming
Undeniable
Descends, swoops
Threatens and laughs
Yet
Dismissed with a thought
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
Mercury sang to his mother
A plea for help against a world
That loved his every word and deed
But hated his most secret thoughts
They would not accept what he was
In the deepest part of his soul
When will the world catch up
With the genius and the lover
When can the Mercury Mothers
Love their sons’ very hearts
Originally published in A Spring of Dreams
