The edge of reason And beyond Where all understanding Of hatred and brutality Of evil and of murder Is challenged yet again. A crash of cymbals Circles our world Where our disbelief In such depths of evil Leaves us spellbound Helpless and appalled. Overbalancing, falling Beyond the edge of reason. (On […]
I had a dream the other night It gave me such a bloody fright I saw a figure foaming blood Lunging and spewing all it could And then the creature spotted me Twisting, belching sin instantly It leapt toward me blazing hate And as I threw myself too late I knew the fiend would kill […]
Ah, Giant! How terrible, how your life Has ceased to be. So awkward So broken and defeated there Lying shocked. Uprooted, hurt How crashed and tilted Smashed about. Your former might Like a Majesty upended Roots blink at sky. Will your buds In Spring spring forth again Hoping, sighing? Will […]
Hush! I’m on at last to Adolph Putin I’m quizzing him about all that shootin’ Believe his eyes and mouth are spraying blood He froths and spits his bile and says he would Kill us all and then return to lootin’.
The foolish fool who jumped off the cliff Intending to be back in a jiff Announced he was testing self levitation To star on the telly and thrill the whole nation Now becoming the silliest stiff
Confiding he had lost his socks T’was just before the equinox. The socks were green and flecked with gold Amongst the most expensive sold. Such beauty in a sock is rare The sort adorning Fred Astaire. Bedazzling some rotten thief Such meanness is beyond belief. Insurance people laughed out loud And […]
[On arrival at The Pearly Gates!] ‘Ah, Johnson’, The floating attendant beamed, ‘You’re here at last! Now let me see Let me peruse my chart To find Whether you have matched Those hopes when you were hatched’. I watched and scrutinised The peering and the poring The snorting and the sighing And once, […]
I just had to write about Jim and Leslie O’Brien in relation to WW1. The O’Brien family was from Huddersfield and can stand representative of hundreds of thousands of British families impacted by this most terrible of wars. Only the comradeship of the boys and the millions of heroic actions performed throughout the War can […]
There’s fuel to spare and fine drinks aboard Rushed take off time greets our furtive Lord. He’s given his speech on climate change Late for his jaunt at the Stock Exchange. He leaps aboard and raw engines roar The craft jerks up and begins to soar. Perhaps his people far down below […]
I was filming in New Brighton A couple of weeks ago To capture the many murals And put them all on show. The gable ends delightful The images quite sublime When I was snapping merrily I found I was just in time. Above my head and studying me I saw this beautiful cat […]
Could I ask you to pause right there? Asked the man of the grizzly bear You’re such a huge creature with slavering jaws Be careful you keep the applause for your claws And don’t separate me from my hair!
I knew I should’ve written songs Instead of being a poet For this is where the cash belongs You’d think I’d always know it. For example, the latest Bond I could’ve joined the racket I could’ve waved my lyrics wand Sat back and made a packet. It’s too late now but what the […]
[ BACKGROUND NOTES FOR A CONTRIBUTION ] THE VARIETY OF LANGUAGE WITHIN YOU THAT WILL FUEL YOUR WRITING Ability and motivation lie within you, the rhythms and rhymes of your inner […]
I am a strangely fashioned tree Against the witching sky With splintered fingers delicate A slant and darkened me. My lacey shapes unerringly Caught in this frozen form See how the wind persuades us all Who fiercely beckoned me. Sparse and frail my embroidery Pinned up against the sky I catch the […]
400TH ANNIVERSARY OF SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTH EXHIBITION My contribution to the 1964 Exhibition celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s Birth, in the ‘Elizabethan Sports and Pastimes’ Section. The Exhibition was held in Liverpool at the Bluecoat Chambers.
I am a glorious tree I am I am a glorious tree A hundred footer I’ll be bound A hundred footer me. I am a Copper Beech my friends And copper is all you’ll see I am admired for miles around A giant of a tree. A handsome beech I do believe To last […]
SHAKESPEARE, CHAPLIN, PRESSLEY and MONROE Spotted on an alley wall in Knaresborough
BABYLON AND THE LOST BABIES The ongoing tragedy of lost babies isn’t the preserve of any one society but is distressingly common. However, this set of three poems is a reflection on what happened in the Republic of Ireland during part of the 20th Century, as described in the recent Report into the running […]
YES, I’VE RETURNED FROM BABYLON Yes, I’ve returned from Babylon Across a clutching sea From Babylon, from Babylon But nothing can I see. I sense a sense that I’ve come home I sense that I am me I sense a hurt in my spirit’s roam That’s in my history. And something says […]
AND I TOO AM FROM BABYLON And I too am from Babylon Another voice was heard to say But Babylon is close at hand And this is Judgment Day. And now awake I think I see Other souls are crying, calling Searching out my Mother’s love I know my soul is mourning. […]
This loved corner of the Kingdom So personal to me Burnished bright by a fiery sun With hints of mystery, my dears Which thrill me happily. This special place, a fragrant haunt So burning hot thought he Brings quick, bright chatter all around As hearts absorb the garden, dears This world so pleases me. […]
Oil sketch for portrait of Gruoch
The 97th line is for Andrew Devine. He joins the 96 who were unlawfully killed but for whom there is no justice because apparently no one is to blame. Here are four alternatives. Each is a powerful line which could stand in memory of Andrew – The last of the line is dear […]
The Bishop was ever looked after Indulging himself in pure laughter When a friendly fine lady leapt quick up the stairs For the Bishop’s cloak needed some running repairs Taking a risk with the life hereafter.