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Postcard From Kyiv
Just a quick line thanking youfor not forgetting us.We have no choice but to stay.This is our home.Until the day comes when you can visit again!In peace, with love xxx ~ CLP 07/04/2024 →
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On Ukraine
It’s not over yetCitizens of Kharkiv runMachines need not sleep ~ n.b. Six killed by Iranian manufactured drones overnight we are told. Funny, we are not told who makes the drones that kill women, children and aid workers in Gaza. CLP 06/04/2024 →
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Forget All That’s Gone Before
All players are gatheredFor the initial briefingInside some are cheering As others are grievingThe old king is deadLong live the kingWhen the old one is shotA new gaffer walks inDon’t imagine it is trueBecause of course it’s notThere’s no fresh startNo slates wiped cleanIts not a new dawn whenMonarchs still rule ~ n.b. NaPoWriMo 2024 →
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Go With Our Blessing
Accidents of birthBorn beneath the lightsNot quite the Bow BellsWe can all agreeSpecial all the sameIslanders all threeNorthward the first wentAs far as you can goBeside the German SeaAs that sea was in fact once knownHe played a lot in red and whiteFor Sunderland AFCThe second went to the EastA Viking port of oldHe became →
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Deeply, Madly, Platonically
In truth, at firstYou were not the main attractionAlthough your bright green dressWith those sharp white seamsWas and always is immaculateRegardless of the time of dayOr eveningOr cast of weatherIt was that part of you that initially caught my eyeAnd breathIn wonder at the prospect of such magicYou might conjure upFrom that simple piece of →
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But There’s A Catch
From SwedenA postcard arrivesThere’s only oneWho makes it out aliveAnd an old manLiving in a Sicilian brothelWho cannot loseWhile all the rest are lostAlong that runway madness liesAnd so it ends as it beginsHelp him! Help who?Yossarian. I’m Yossarian.Who finally comes to understandThe answer lies in his own hands ~ n.b. NaPoWriMo 2024: Day 1 →
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on time
Gentlemen, we meet againI know the chill of that long wallWhere your names are cut in stoneBeside the Haileybury chapelNinety years from your leavingI repaired the cricket squaresWhere you had playedRolled the pitches where you ranFrom wicket to wicket in your whitesResponding to the call of “Yes”As you had been coachedYou set off promptlyWith all →
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Unholy water
Dolphins, porpoises and a whaleFrom time to timeExplore the riverUpstream to Canary WharfWould you go furtherKnowing how filthyOld Father Thames has become?Pity the sealsWho went further and made itAs far as RichmondWhere they liveHappy as pigs in our shit ~ n.b. Another fine mess brought to you as part of Thatcher’s Legacy, profit pursuing private →
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About Turn
you know how an old fox runs?a trot-trot-trotnose forward, tail out behindtrot-trot-trotwell, watch it stopdrop its tail-brush to the floorswing round and disappearwhen it’s seen someoneof whom it’s not suretrot-trot-trotnose forward, tail out behindit panics not a jotand off the old fox goestrot-trot-trot ~ CLP 25/03/2024 →
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blossom
the ornamental garden heavy with bloomsperfume strong enough to holda presence in the easterlybumble bees’ wings silentthey drink from deep cherry wellsnubs of pollen caught on their thighspetals brighten, whiten in sunlightflashing through the broken cloudyou crane your neck nestle your nosein a garland of petalsfresh enough to hold firmto buds from whence they sproutedwe →
Journey of Words 