Let Go

He was full of anger and his friends told him to let it go He was full of regret and his teacher told him to let it go He was full of guilt and his brother told him to let it go He was full of fear and his guide told him to let it…

Thank You

A poem in which a friend offers to comfort a friend they feel they want to “give back” to     In your coldest of winters I will bring you warmed-white stones for your pillow In your shivering space I offer you toasted smiles and gently simmering cuddles wrapped around your freezing soul I bring…

The Tailors’ Ball

This is a poem about love, spontaneity and playfulness. Somehow our current spontaneity is actually rooted in the past, springing from seeds we planted then.   The drama above the table At Mrs Minsky’s Had been played out before And was all smoked salmon And Cream Cheese There was a Cabernet Sauvignon And a vast…

Dogs and Cats

This is a fairly strange poem on  first reading. Someone who claimed to be clairvoyant once told me that, when a wild animal dies, it dissolves back into the “animal group soul”. But an animal tamed by humans develops a soul that survives death in a more individual form. So, I wrote this poem to…

Again

This is one of the darkest poems I’ve ever written. It’s about how we can be entirely unaware of the darker feelings of other people, especially if they are dressed in the disguise of warmth and smiles. Again I saw you kiss a hand, A hand that belonged to a head; A head that gave…

The Phalanx of Cruelty

A poem about the attacking self Clever words Cradled with evil The cult of projection The bitterness of a lifetime Of addiction to empty lovelessness And abuse dressed as strength and calm The use and abuse of language to hide shame The worshipping of those who threaten The love of those who laugh at pain…

The Trumpet

This is a poem about playing out your private life on social media We do not need to trumpet our lives, Like desperate Hollywood husbands and wives; We have no need to share our secret names Online, to fan these decaying, lovelorn flames. We do not need to talk down the walk of tears To…

Trenches

This is a poem about a grandfather I wish I’d taken the time as a child to ask more questions.   We met in the trenches Of the Somme of your memory; I loved your shrapnel voice, and Your disinterest in my battles of Plastic infantry upon the carpet Of childhood. Now you walk the…

Rain Poem

This is a poem about digital addiction. When we finally return to “nature”, nature simply throws up the problem we had fled into the digital realm to solve and had, instead, covered over.   The cold, insistent electronic beat (Though it taps my feet) Is not the same As a cooling summer rain. Swaying to…

The Man in the Red Suit

For many people, Christmas has become an almost meaningless repetition. Present giving is about “getting things” for other people, often from high street stores or from online retailers. The act of generosity in the giving of a present can vary from being a well chosen gift that lights up another, to the same bath salts…

Bouncing Poem

Nightly, my spirit  Bounces on the heads of atheists. Those crowns are the springiest of all, Hardened, like walnuts inside, but  Their soul-fleshy exteriors are so springy, So unlike their puppy dogmas. Each night, we step across the river-crossing And leap with laughter upon the stepping stones of Silly Cynicism. I know we shouldn’t, But…

Hear My Whisper

We whisper to you a lot, but mostly you do not hear us. I whispered to you yesterday and, for a moment, it seemed you looked at my voice through a washing-up bubble, but perhaps it was just the sunlight you saw, reflecting your own questions back into your lovely deep orange and blue and…