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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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on gratitude
After the eulogyNo music, thank youLet silence fill the roomIts clamour echo from the raftersIts cacophony fill our headsIts weight press on our earsLet us hear the beating of hearts~n.b. NaPoWriMo 2025 Day 28 The picture is from St Peter’s, Hoveton, Norfolk, built in 1624. CLP 28/04/2025 →
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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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the painter
this picture the family keptbut light no longer shinesin eyes cataracts had dulledno captivating smilenot in virile poseor grandiose settingno finery in the clothesa few strands of hairswept back across a weathered crownwith timelines etched deep into face and browsteel rim round glassessit comfortably on the nosea well-worn cream cotton coatheavy upon age-rounded shoulderswith life’s →
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on Primrose Corner
hedgerow’s crumpled gaproses tied to the hazelbouquet of sadness~n.b. Without which this would be just another pretty spot on a country lane. CLP 16/02/2025 →
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on the breeze
I hear talk of springIt’s coming! the door-step hopesnowdrops, primrosesfull throated trillingof robins, blackbirds scuffledunnock atop crownbusy rookeriesjackdaws soften their chattercrows lift up in pairstumble of loose twigsbelow doves’ poor nest site choicecatkins jangle loosepollen disappateson spiteful easterly blowtraffic lights on redthree car cortege passes~ CLP 10/02/2025 →
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on Ukraine
it’s still a dreamof some young men to followto fight in a waron the side of rightto leave their homesetting off in hopethat they’ll add weightto counter evil’s mightI met one such young manseeking purposeful lifealthough he had a childwith his teenage wifeold England’s dulland work’s a borethere’s nothing on TVand the winter’s coldlong dark →
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on 80 years
My mother was not yet tenWhen she first heard the words “Never again”She’d heard them then and sinceAgain and againI went to Krakow to visit a friendSaw the Katyn memorial to 22,000 murdered menBut chose not to visit AuschwitzWhere tourists go to see the truthTo see the place where a million and more were slainAfter →
Journey of Words 