-
on Ukraine
It was a week after the Bataclan battleYoung people from Paris in EvreuxEscaping the shock waves of griefTalking of the end of the worldRealising the conversation was about the end of humanityIdentifying that nature will persistKeeping faith that this Blue Planet will keep spinningUnderstanding that it is us who will passLeaving our stainIn fossilised citiesRailway →
-
on Ukraine
in the alcove of an abandoned shoplaid out in dishevelled dreamson top of improvised beddingdesperate for sleepclutched by each otherdesperate for sleeptattered, battered, torndesperate for sleepas the upright peopleturn out from the last trainfrom theatres, barsthe queues for clubsanother police siren cuts into the drunken chatteringdesperate for sleepa gaggle of othersliving closeto the lip of →
-
on Ukraine
“…too many people.”is there a number that’s acceptable?what are the limits forcollateral damage?not just thembut your people too?have the sirens deafened you to the cries of the mourning mothers?how high must the river of tears risebefore the dam breaksand you are swept away by the flood?~n.b. The USA President is cross that his friend in →
-
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 →
-
Ghosts
It takes years for them to take formFrom memories confused with memoriesA head-scarf, the style of hairA coat, a manner of talkingA snatch of laughterThe balance when walkingThrough the market stallsOn the air, a scentA melodyWhen night takes hold its betterWhere they inhabit is not so clearIn shadows casts by street lightIn restaurant cornersAnd closed →
-
on Ukraine
In 1948, Steinbeck in A Russian Journal wrote of the Ukrainian people:They spoke anxiously of war, they had so much of it.Our towns are destroyed alreadywhat more can it do?We will defend ourselvesin the snowand in the forestsand in the fieldsWhat was a moment in historyis now a way of lifeWhat is the prizethese invaders →
-
on Ukraine
Punch, counter-punchStab, thrust, bombAll the mothers knowLottery of life and deathHolds them at knife-pointIs this the final dice rollOr just another false dawnA fake news dayEdging then along until they hearThe boy’s key in the lockOr the postie’s fateful knock~ n.b. And so it goes on, more vicious by the day, more so by night. →
-
On the Pitch
Serious stuff doneJust one more for charityFor the love of life~ n.b. 6,012 people came to support Alan Knight’s call for funds for three Portsmouth charities supporting cancer patients. ‘Knightsie’ played 801 matches for Pompey and is being treated for Stage 4 prostate cancer. It’s so sad to see him so ill, but uplifting to →
-
Prayer
Oh perpetually pugnacious people of this planetPrepare to make the supposedly impossible possiblePurge all pandering to past prejudicesPurge all previously held political positionsSimply place your person in the predicament of your purported opponentPrepare for peace~n.b. To dream the impossible might just make it possible. This poem is prompted by NaPoWriMo 2025 Day 15 CLP 15/04/2025 →
-
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 