Oh, my brother, I have said goodbye Once my little playmate, you must die Your voice is very weak as there you rest I wish that life were not a cruel test
I told you of the see saw and the swings I will not argue, this is what life brings Remembered fireworks and the blazing fire The Catherine wheel, the longing, the desire
How can a boy so strong soon turn to dust? Where has gone the liveliness, the lust? Weak but uncomplaining you lie there On my face I feel a film of tears
You’ll never die, you’ll live on in my mind I forgive your acts, for you were blind
My front hedge is so thick, wrens made a nest I saw a small bird flying low and swift With my garden I feel human, blessed
The bonsai beech has grown till almost dense It has no trunk, the leaves are tiny gifts My front hedge is so full, wrens made a nest
My clematis has flowered beyond all sense When I looked I felt my soft heart lift In my garden, know that I am blessed
In a deep green wood the eye can rest Open eyed, a look must not be fast My front hedge welcomes wrens ,oh,love,a nest!
Deep happiness connects us to what’s best The dark blue sky, the sunset flaming, brief. With my garden I feel love, I ‘m blessed
Be alive, don’t dwell on thoughts too sweet The natural world brings virtue and deceit My front hedge is so thick, wrens made a nest These tiny creatures filled with love and zest
A husband died at half past two What has that to do with you? The past is like a candle blown The heart a grave beneath a stone Grief is very close to fear Shaking legs and frozen tears It’s closing time
The poppy fields , the linseed blue The cottage where I loved with you Noone else will know it all The Suffolk Rose, the paint all worn The rented car, the yellow corn
The cottage windows seemed to yawn Closing time
But I dream and I see you Smiling widely as you do Ask me where the car keys are Ask me if I’ll take you where? Whitby,Staithes. all understood All gone now,god sweated blood Closing time
Uunstable winds and clouds that veer and swerve The sun appears and vanishes again Trees adapt to nature, life’s a verb
The birds have sung but no-one here has heard Their mates and nestlings in their home have lain Evading winds and clouds that veer and swerve
From this chaos, what can humans learn? Life can swiftly change and cause us pain Yet trees swing round, clouds swim life is verb
Virtue,honour,love have no rewards Evil men have faces quite unstained Despite the winds and clouds that veer and swerve
Gazing at the storm clouds,long I stared In the end, our roots are what remain We must adapt to nature, life’s verb
All desires,all wishes will be slain We lose ourselves in evil then are shamed Uunstable winds and clouds that veer and swerve Life flows like the stormy Thames unnerved
I wish that I could be inside a tree To put my entire body in its form To feel the sun and wind and hear the bees
I’d like my hands to dance as flexibly As birds move through the air, as rises dawn I wish that I could feel myself a tree
I’d love my garden sweetly, ardently. I’d love each single daisy on the lawn I’d feel the sun and wind and hear the bees
But would a holly want to be just me? Oh, poor tree that walks about forlorn I wish that I could turn into a tree.
Perhaps a cat that sat upon my knee Would mioaw inside my home by dust deformed She would love the sun and wind and hear the bees
When I change,I’ll keep you all informed You may hear me singing in the Storms I wish that I could dwell within a tree Feel the loving sun and kiss the bees
Small rain in summer
Pools on large green leaves,
Makes all birds dumber
Silently they weave.
Wrens fly to and fro
Nesting near the house.
They know where to go
With nestlings and spouse.
Simple life of green
Hiding in lush leaves.
A space to be unseen
Humans only grieve.
Where is our safe space?
Where can we live well?
As anguish veils the face
In green thoughts I dwell.
I studied numbers,sequences and rhymes Connections,patterns in between the lines It seemed a good idea at the time
Unfortunately, with study, we use mime We see beneath the surface to the crimes I studied numbers,sequences and rhymes
Whenever I was found, I took the blame The clock gave more than twenty thousand chimes Life seemed a good idea all the time
Humiliation, sadism,torture,fame We share the blasphemy that God will smile Life seemed a good idea at the time
How the world is full of rebuffs yet beguiles Enough,I’ll give it one more finite trial I studied numbers,sequences and lies I joined the Secret Service,I’m a spy
I apologise for loving you too much We never learned to balance the see-saw In modern times the lovers should go Dutch
Two lonely lovers with a single crutch Each one having many curious flaws I apologise for loving you too much
What ever did I do to merit touch? Then I was too careless with the salt In modern times the lovers should go Dutch
We should measure what we speak at lunch Then we weigh the sentences that spilt I apologise for loving you too much
Maths and stats are useful in the lurch
Equality of signs and numbers,bills
In modern times the lovers should go Dutch
,
Let the mouth be silent, keep quite still Love is rarely used when writing Wills I apologise for loving you so much In modern times we lovers cannot touch
We can cast our body like a cloak Around the loved one when they cannot speak Hold them like an infant when at rest Sleeping softly on a mother’s breast
Touching them and keeping them at peace Until they can accept death and its release They seem to concentrate on unknown tasks Till their minds are happy and they pass
They come first but afterwards we fall Into an abyss where we just crawl Seeing shapes and visions, feeling sore Aching for the one we see no more
A paradox , we give and nothing gain The suffering of the heart, the searing pains
I see a friend who follows my old path The downward slope, the tunnel through the dark Helping partners ease their way through death
The hesitance, the disbelief, the wrath The sharpness like a knife that cuts our heart I see a friend who follows my old path
So many lovely friends, ny husband said Just before he lost the vital spark Helping him to float from out his bed
I did not realise that he was dead Until his pallor faded, blood departs I see a friend who follows on this path
We miss them where they used to lie in bed We miss them taking photos of the park We help them ease their way to their good death
We need love to help us with this work Who will help the carer when they hurt? I see a friend who follows my old path We each bear the pain of our own Cross
The gap between experience and words- Should any person be reduced to signs? A hint, a sigh, a flight, a little bird
Who ought express in lines what has occurred ? Does the bloodied heart weep words benign- The gap between experience and words
A line distinct, a line that is too blurred What impact can this have on a design? Which hint, which sight, which flight, will kill the bird?
The sentence well constructed has its flair Yet to the void much feeling is consigned That gulf between experience and words
Who tore apart the meaning we hoped shared? So now to nothingness we are resigned No hint, no sigh, no flight, no little bird
With whose filters may we be refined? Who shelters souls that others have declined? The gap between experience and words- A hint, a sigh, a flight, the shining bird
Tomorrow I shall eat a big icecream
Brought to me by courier when I choose
If I cannot get one I shall scream
Rather pointless, how about more booze?
I shall drink more tea and read a book
I read Ted Hughes letters late at night
I finished Sylvia’s journals, I was hooked
Brilliant, sad, pathetic, what outsight
I read her letters, how she worked too hard
Even as a tiny child she strove
How she longed for greatness and rewards
Starting on the tapestry, don’t go!
Harder still and harder,masochist
Will and nature cannot co-exist
Flowers open when the bees swing past
Birds build nests but never build too fast
We need to be in tune with our own world
Harmonise our breathing with the waves
See the little leaves as they uncurl
Forget advice, enjoy life till the grave
Any moment is epiphany
Jesus passes by but we are blind
Though now and then we catch a burning tree
When we are in rhythm with the Mind
Up the waves run on the risen shore
Bringing wild signs from the ocean floor
Grit and pearls and love we won’t ignore
Wise the whale and wise the open door
Dwell inside your heart and breathe just so From there your spirit body can outflow Spread this round your loved one like a shawl No need to make a sound for love will call
Two are one like lovers in their bed But now one has to leave , love cuts the thread In full silence , welcomed by God’s eye They concentrate on this before they die
In your gracious warmth they’re feeling safe As a child is in a mother’s gaze Time no longer matters. we’re elsewhere Walking humbly ,softly i to God’s stare
At last the work is done and they are free Who can understand such mystery?
Material wealth can come in many ways Inheritance, good luck, good work and pay But with the spirit, will power cannot win Only those who’re humble,admit sin
Pain and grief , companions of our life Married to the losses as a wife Grace may come as small as grains of sand Or like the wren that hovers near our hands
In imagination breathe as then Slow, protective, patient and human See in your mind’s eye the perfect wood The trees sing out as sun warms sap, their blood
We can research the wealth in figures, charts Envy not the rich who have no heart
Listen with your ears and with your skin Feel the other gently in your mind Felt sensations show where to begin
The senses are connected, interlinked In subtle ways we do not understand Listen with your ears and with your skin
In conversation neither one can win We keep a balance as on deck inclined Felt sensations show where to begin
The evidence is subtle even thin On the sea of life we leave dry land The boat is tossed about like mortal sin
Neglect not now the affections of the heart Love can be ignored or never taught Listen with your ears and with your skin Sensations, feelings ,hearing, vision
After all the fighting, the enemies bad words Brexit is forgotten; people. friends to keep They get prescriptions, offer all they have This the time that Love lit up our street
They pay for others’ parcels, they’re discreet They fill an old man’s freezer with new meals They encourage our own nurses working on They acknowledge this world is both good and real
I can’t go out, my hair is like sea fronds My trousers are too big, will they fall down? My eyes are brimming,full of happy tears My teeth are broken but I cannot frown
Will this love and kindness last for long? We’ll cultivate our Gardens, work as one
The sky at dusk, my camisole , love’s grace Blending blue and mauve in skilled embrace God the painter ,God the X unknown Send us light to see where our our love goes
Drop by drop the spirit ebbs away Now the sky is dark in stark blue-grey In the mind the dreams rehearse and scheme Take away the terror and the screams
Hold us in your Hand as we let go Trust the Unknown,trust the inner flow Who but you can show us what we need As we crawl to bed in fraught unease?
Now the air is black I see a star I feel the void yet love dwells even there
My brother kindly set my hair on fire He stole my food from off the plate or floor So for a man I had repessed desire
He took me fishing in a pond close by I loved him very much,indeed adored My brother madly set my hair on fire
We went in disused brick kilns, we were spies. Of his company I never tired Yet for new men I feel not much desire
Now his time has come and soon he’ll die I forgave him everything last year His voice is weak, he thanked me and I cried
I did not plan forgiveness nor to lie “God ” filled me with love , our lives restored Yet for new brothers I feel some desire
Who left Daddy’s matchsticks near my boy? He could not know he would destroy my hair My brother hurt me, set my hair on fire We choose to love until we both expire
The sky is yellow ochre tinged with grey The sun is gone and we felt stark dismay We can’t meet friends in person any more Only shout as we stand by the door
I think the source of Covid is just cash Money laundered less, the notes unwashed The coins are black as coal in devil’s claws Don’t leave the tip that kills , nor money gnaw
I used to suck a shilling while I worked I tapped my fingers where it would not hurt But now the sight of pounds makes me feel sick Never use old notes nor lovers lick
Throw your money into a black hole You may starve but this will save your soul
He was on his bike and they ran him down He had dared to go outside The law is the law and the law is a clown The punishment can beat down the crime
They thought they’d go out, they were getting bored The police felt the same so they claimed Maybe a fine wth some warning words Ths is the day that they died
One was a singer and one was a fraud Which one was which I don’t know The police came down like the wolf on the fold The eyes were open, still I saw.
Women must bear the young men beget
But what does our society affirm?
The policemen have guns and they owe us a debt
But will they ever,ever learn?
The Tower of Babel fell down in the night The people spoke but noone could reply We cried out but noone listened then Nor did we salvage much from wrecked Big Ben
Boris Johnson raised up from the dead His pleasures once , pre- flu, lay in the bed He spread his seed about so it’s no boast To bear his child nor feed him Sunday roast
He will lead the country out of sin His brilliant way: to stop us logging in No more one click books or toys for sex No more screws and curtain rails to fix.
Ah now enjoy the peace of empty space Yet we grieve for lack of an embrace
In the Jewish ghettos and Death Camps Did Jews complain they had no holidays? They could not wear bikinis on hot sands Nor did they ask for somewhere they could pray
We can’t go to Spain nor Singapore We must stay near home,oh such dismay I ache so for the poor in tower blocks Where violence and harsh words erupt each day
We can get our food if we have friends We can read or write or even pray Why complain, the poor bear heavier loads Will we be sympathetic on such dreadful days
Our sadly narrow views don’t serve us well When other people in confinement dwell
The symbols, signs, the words are not the world Yet scholars confuse laymen with their terms “How to love your children” is advice Hiding in the syntax is no life
I knew Latin grammar and her forms I dwelled inside ellipses,I was torn I could not live two lives so I chose rules Then I found success like many fools
Grammar and its logic cracked my mind I stole the key,I left the door behind I found the prizes on my shelf arrayed The golden prayer book shredded and decayed
The simple may be better fit to live Those words were darts, yet love can’t but forgive
Oh,mother was it my fault I was born? You conceived me in a country waging war So once for sure you did not sleep alone
I was too thin, the doctor was alarmed My sin of prematurity was scored Oh,mother was it my fault I was born?
Thank you for your milk, your breast, my home In sadness wish you’d loved me or adored Dad once said you did not sleep alone
I could not be an infant, was forlorn While you weaned me in my rage I bawled Oh,mother, why the judgement of love scorned?
I frightened you by reading minds and bones Evoked death sentences while still unborn I’m glad you did not always sleep alone
Why keep knocking on the oven door? Sylvia Plath used gas ,that Nazi porn Oh,mother reason can’t prove I was born But you helped the human race and kept some warm
Daddy where were you when I was sad I bought you Woodbines in the corner shop I carried your boiled egg with salt on plate You lay in bed adorned with wreaths of smoke
Uncle Herbert died when I was five Not many of Dad’s brothers left alive But Bert was old and all his children grown He lay inert, the coffin dark, the stone
I saw yours and Grandad’s too, false oak The Cemetery filled with men and broken jokes So baffled by affection we would seek And for her mother’s grave, we often looked
We too will be broken, wordless earth Worms will do their work. the lungs, the breath
The year will rise as sap does in the trees Bringing life back,giving us new heart As Bees wll hover, humming on the breeze
In February frost, the sap may freeze But soon the higher sun makes life restart The year will rise as sap breaks gravity
But in hypnotic worlds who should believe The utterance of the leaders, graphs and charts? Still Bees will hover, humming under trees
By summer we hope viruses will leave And leaders false should quickly be pushed out The year will rise as sap does in the trees
Let us hope no Fascists more deceive Do we believe the voters are not smart? Though Bees shall hover, humming mysteries
In the sky we see the swallows dart Possessions tie us down, our souls cry out Oh, year rise now as sap does in the trees As Bees will hover, humming symphonies
Beware the delivery pass they sell For I ,so foolish, for one fell It says I can order every day But guess what folks, they make me pay I tried to do one this weekend But in 6 days I have sinned I bought 2 loaves just for the ghosts Foetuses, and heavenly hosts Though my babies never grew I have shawls both pink and blue O mother, mother, come here now I need your arm ,these thoughts hurt me My linen closets ready yet I know my babies can’t come back Now I’m old,I’d like to see Their eyes so gentle smile their plea Tantrums, shrieks and other noise I would welcome any voice And one might look like my dear love Why did God take them above? Mysterious are his ends and days How can humans know his ways? The Lord may give, the Lord may take Blessed be his wounded Face For God himself does suffer too His eyes wet diamonds , polished dew
Why would wealthy Europe world wars fight While Popes in cloth of gold writhed as they sinned? Few resist the diamonds for the Light
Ambivalent love split, what sight could be found When we spend too much time with our own kin Missed experience shapes our eyes and minds
Those who cannot see, the wholly blind Feel their deep emotion and may win Love was offered then returned as Strikes
Yet in cultured Europe God has died We waged war with ardour, this was sin Desire overwhelms our eyes , oh god, oh plight
Fell three Empires,states unplanned designed Christians fought each other with new guns So love was never offered, simply feigned
In the eyes of infants light is dim Wars are made by pschopaths at whim Why would proud, glad Europe world wars fight? Few resist tempation , black the Light
