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on reflection
Within towersConstructed fromconcrete, steel and glassEyes focused on screensTracking digitalised dataEars plugged into headsetsAircon’s constant humWater coolers, coffee, carpetsElevators, escalatorsArtificial lightingMoney in the bank OutsideBlue skySun as high as it getsGentle breezeAlong the ThamesAir to breatheGoldfinches sing You choose. ~ CLP 21/06/2024 →
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on memory
lone sentry at easeevery church goer must passson of the village ~ n.b. At Itteringham, Norfolk, lies 30035 Serjeant LWW Gotts, Royal Garrison Artillery, 26th July 1916. Not for him a place tucked away amongst the accumulated masses of the parish, but a place where he cannot be over-looked, nor forgotten. Age 25 at the →
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on Ukraine
as if Gaza wasn’t bad enoughand the perpetual terrorismof Moscow’s henchmenthe eyes of Europe and the USAare now distractedby tennis, cricket, football, ice hockey, the Stanley Cup, baseball and Olympicsgames to replace conflictwith civilising pastimesnow acting as smokescreens~n.b. In previous wartimes, games were suspended, but now having loaned Ukraine $50 billion, plus interest, the ‘free’ →
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on time
Eighty years ago, tonightSuffolk fields heard the roarOf engines fired upAs the 446th took off for FranceFor libertyThey led the lineInto Fortress Europe n.b. This memorial stands at the site of the disused airbase, near Flixton, Suffolk. No names given, just the numbers: 66 aircraft lost, 456 men killed in action. ‘Remember them’ we’re told. →
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on housing
and they huffedand they puffedand had fourteen years in powerbut like everything elsethey touchedit brokethere is nothing they can sayto convince usthat they deserve another chancelook!here by the rivera tentis this a tourist camping cheapor the start of an encampment?under the bridgean old battered boat is tiedwhere no mooring fees applywashing hanging on wiresthe jumble →
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on Ukraine
There is a game calledDiplomacy in which theBiggest army wins ~ n.b. Piece by piece, village by village, it seems that Ukraine cannot cover all its bases alone. Into the third year of conflict, where will a line be drawn? Where is the wall that stops Russia? CLP 12/05/2024 →
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On The Beach
Plenty of fresh airTo blow away the cobwebsSign says, “VACANCIES” ~ n.b. NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 7 prompt :Postcard. I dug this card out of the archives. CLP 07/04/2024 →
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Wish You Were Here
It’s April. Birdsong can be heard during air-raids. Bright flowers sprout through debris. Oh that the spring sunshine would revive the cold skin of our sons and daughters. ~ n.b. Conscription age has just been lowered in Ukraine to 25 years and disability waivers are under review. CLP 07/04/2024 →
Journey of Words 