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on humanity
Is it possibleTo love you allFor a momentWhen the connection sparksRegardless of pastOr future?Of courseFor a momentOf connectionNo promises~ CLP 18/01/2026 →
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on memory
you can’t hold everything in your headbit by bit it fadesleaving flint-like fragmentssharp, shiny, hardwhich are sparked by placessongs, photographs, othersa cricket ground by a churcha roadsignthe name of a villagea street namea pub now turned to flatsa make of cara turn of phrasea nicknamea make of cheesea punk band formed by a pair of →
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on time
we’re saying good-bye todaya friend made through cricketknown for how he bowledbent back, arm whipped roundlike a butterfly swimming strokethick mop of black hairswinging across his faceduring the unusual nature of his deliveryoff the wrong foot, it’s saidface looking down at the pitchas the ball left his handfrom his flurry of arms and legsall too →
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on loss
we burble onfrom day to dayuntil the momentwhen nothing more is heardso suddenlyan innings endsa surprise to allnot least the departed batsmanno calling him backhis innings has been concludedscored by a double chevron in the bookhow out stated bluntlywhether caught, stumped, bowledrun out, hit wicketwe are all timed outeventuallythe sequence of runs marked downsketches out →
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on Ukraine
24th August, 1991Tearing a strip off the Iron CurtainThe Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic broke awayNo one said it would be easyKyiv wasn’t built in a dayOut of the maelstromThe stirring of the potThe plot and counter-plotA nation finding its feetAfter decades of decayWith grey painted over the cracksUkraine turned toward the light pouring through the →
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on peace
what in Hell is going on in the Unholy Land?Who The Devil is in charge?The Demonocracy has Trumped democracyHistories are being spunLies are being spunMy head is spinningI’m getting dizzyThe Earth spins on~n.b. The attack on Iran is by extrapolation an attack on the peace-loving citizens of Israel who must now be prepared to take →
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What Brought Us Here
We sit hereOn a memorial benchBeneath the line of ancient beechThat stands strong along the ridgeWhat brought us hereChoices? Fate?Buzzards spiral high aboveFinding lift upon a thermalOne, then two, a third appearsTheir cries pierce April’s shocking blueWhile they scour the farm belowFor rabbit, toad, mouse, small fowlWe sit and watchWithout a wordKnowing nothingOf the life →
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rock, paper
friendshipcan come from many placesa teacher’s seating plana workplacea regular bus queuea space on a football terraceit outlaststhe jobeducationthe commutethe matchthe seasonnothing will lastso longas friendshipdo not ever confuseyour friendshipwith other thingslike businessor lustor alcoholnothing will lastso wellas friendship~n.b. NaPoWriMo 2025 Day 17 prompt: friendship CLP 17/04/2025 →
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on reconciliation
to wipe the slate cleanopen your eyes to their painwash their wounds with your tears~n.b. Coventry cathedral, blitzed and rebuilt with this sculpture ‘Reconciliation’ (Reunion), by Josefinaq de Vasconcellos (1977). It imagines a couple embracing over a line of barbed wire. CLP 11/04/2024 →
Journey of Words 