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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 →
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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 →
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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. →
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on May
it is a long monthwe have enjoyed warmer daysbut now pray for rainto Europe’s east warWe need human resourcesnot just munitionsnowhere is safe nowKyiv is attacked day and nightonly the dead restin the Holy Landa new testament writtenin blood of childrenthe wringing of handsringing of cash registersversus body-countnow The Genocideassumes a new currencycafé talk topictelevision →
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on absence
nature fills space fastfurious competitionto share resources~n.b. Diversity enables many plants and creatures to thrive alongside each other, why does modern man feel the need to dominate? CLP 13/05/2025 →
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on volunteering
that is to say choosingto participate freelywithout coercionnot without food or waterwhile in mortal fearnot while being terrorisedby dronesor aircraft attacksthis ‘voluntary transfer programme for Gaza residents’is a rounding upit is a deportationwithout railwaysit is a death marchin Paris, Lyon, Avignonsome schools have plaquesnaming the childrenfrom Jewish familiestaken from their classestheir playgroundstheir friendstheir teachersby naziswill →
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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 →
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Misunderstanding Blues
The mortician stood by the slabRed-eyed from working lateThe mortician looked so wearyShe had been called up from her bedIt was the witching hourWhen she was called out by the sergeant on the caseI drove until first light in my VolkswagenI’d had a call from the local policeThrough icy fog I drove that vehicleWithout stopping →
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Music of The Christmas Tree Monoculture
There is no birdsong hereThe only light comesIn the precious minutesAt dawn and again at duskWhen the planet’s rotationBrings the Sun to the horizonAnd its beams splay outBeneath the dense conifer spreadWhere the wind orchestratesAn arrhythmic swish and hissOf Norwegian Spruce needlesBroken only by swathes of silenceThis mournful brushingIs relentless as the wavesOn the eastern →
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on Ukraine
Palm Sunday, SumyHoly Week preparationThe Devil rides in~n.b. Moscow moves from supposed ‘military operation’ to full-blown terrorism. Churchgoers and a full public bus, guilty of getting in the way of a double missile strike on an ordinary street in Sumy, this very morning. CLP 13/04/2025 →
Journey of Words 