Tag Archives: Life

Train of Thought

At last I have a moment

As I wait on the platform

My chance to make a few points

About my direction of travel

On a journey that seems to still have some miles to go

I pray

But I cannot be too confident of that

Bearing in mind that there has been disruption to schedules

Delays, diversions and cancellations

Signal failures

Even trespassers on the line

Where am I?

I am on a one-way ticket

Although this has been described by some

As an open return that will inevitably bring me back

To where I begun

If this is the case

Despite travelling light

I may seem destined for the buffers

But I am never alone

The company of fellow passengers

Not all good company

Some first class

We travel together

Most have their own itineraries

Their own baggage

Places to go, people to see

And our passing is a wave and a cheer

I can save time by taking an instant dislike to others

Who one must take care to avoid

When signals are set at danger

Although for a rare few

I discover a destination shared

Who, when a conversation begins

Continue it on the line

And it seems we have always known each other

Although just recently crossed paths

This journey continues

Without undue haste, but not undue speed

Onward travel in hope

Side by side.

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n.b. NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 15 prompt: Write a dramatic monologue.

CLP  15th April, 2019

Oh, Where Have You Come From, My Blue-Eyed Boy?

I come from Malmo

Its low gentle farmland

Mudflats by the Øresund

I come from beneath the cavernous sky

Of the Lincolnshire fens

I come from the tops of Cork’s raging cliffs

And sea-carved bays

I come from coal-stained valleys that cut

Through Merthyr’s coal-drained hills

To Cardiff’s terraced streets

I come from the Blitzed houses of Portsmouth

And its wartime volunteer committees

I come from the smog of The Smoke

And Maidenhead’s Thames

I come from a dormitory town laid out

South of the Downs

 

I come from so many places

Across such a long time

Can I still trust my sources?

I don’t know anymore

 

So, where have I come from

This blue-eyed boy?

 

n.b. NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 11 prompt is origins. As ever I owe Bob Dylan credit and an apology for twisting his lyrics from “Hard Rain”

CLP 11thApril 2019

On Friendship

Lovers to begin

Then joined in marriage

Friends after? Maybe

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n. b. The paths we travel follow uncertain routes and sometimes diverge.

CLP 31/03/2019

On the March

Where has this month gone?

I’ve not got used to writing

Twenty Nineteen yet!

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p.s. What is this cruel trick? I have so many things still to do and this is my 60th year. Time to catch my breath, learn to breathe and slow things down. If I do, will my remaining days pass more slowly? I promise to take more care of each one.

CLP 22/03/2019

On the Floor

At last, the last dance

Fumbled requests, mute replies

Music slow, hearts frantic

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n.b. Remember the youth club, or school disco? Nightmare scenario. Boys on one side of the hall, girls dancing around handbags. Then, with just a few minutes before the lights would go up, the DJ would put on something like “Nights in White Satin” by The Moody Blues and the excitement or embarrassment of asking for a dance, being asked to dance and possibly having a slow dance would begin, leaving the wallflowers and perpetually tongue-tied watching on in a confusion of emotions ranging from relief to frustration.

CLP 17/03/2019

On Oxygen

Solo traveller

Smiles with stranger in the queue

Alone no longer

.

CLP 16/03/2019

On the Money

Coin found in the mouth

Ferry man gets his fare dues

No one goes Scot free.

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n.b. You pay your money and take your choice. No going back. Time travels in one direction.

CLP 13/03/2019

On Fear

Something unusual

Slowly pulses within unseen

Does The End start here?

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CLP 05/03/2019

On Holiday

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Away in the warm

Break from life’s realities

Ends, as all things must

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n.b. Where ever you have been, welcome back. We missed you x

CLP 03/03/2019

On Pelsall Common

Carnival venue

Happy family outings

Place where some lives end

.

27/02/2019

n.b. This land is a beautiful piece of ancient turf that is owned in common by the people of the area. Bordered by roads now, there are long established paths across it, including this elegant avenue. The Pelsall carnival sets out from the common each year.

On my walk to work this morning I saw three trees marked by memorials to lost lives and a further placement of flowers near some bushes. One card I saw read”…my darling husband, you meant everything to me.”

Everyone has a story, but some personal stories seem to have reached a lonely conclusion at this place.

Sometimes the world can seem like a cavernous void, but it can be helpful to talk to someone, even an unknown person on the other end of a phone call.

The Samaritans in the United Kingdom is a good starting point https://www.samaritans.org if you are losing perspective on life. There are similar organisations in other countries.

Peace and love to you sisters and brothers, peace and love.

CLP 26/02/2019