The Ocean

The ocean's deep and wide my son
The ocean's deep and wide
And you have far to go my son
to reach the other side
To reach the other side my son
with only stars to guide
The ocean's deep and wide my son
with only stars to guide

The ocean's wild and free my son
the ocean's wild and free
and all you have is you my son
to guard you on this sea
To guard you on this sea my son
the strength must come from thee
The ocean's wild and free my son
the strength must come from thee

The ocean is your life my son
the ocean is your life
But life alone is lonely son
and solitude's a knife
And solitude's a knife my son
so find yourself a wife
The ocean is your life my son
so find yourself a wife

A loving wife's a rock my son
a loving wife's a rock
A bulwark 'gainst the tides my son
a ward against all shock
A ward against all shock my son
that in your heart you'll lock
A loving wife's a rock my son
that in your heart you'll lock

Evergreen

When Autumn comes the leaves will fall
then Winter will complete the scene
And all will freeze 'neath season's shawl
except for me the Evergreen

Winter comes

Winter comes
the high ground is covered with snow
Winter comes
everything moves so slow
Winter comes
once tall trees bend and creak in the cold
Winter comes
and changes the young to old

Coriolis

According to the greatest minds
when looking down the drain one finds
that water swirls this way or that
depending on just where you're sat
If the equator northward lies
then water swirls around clockwise
but if the opposite is true
then the equator's south of you

But when I asked these minds so great
for explanation of this trait
they could not quote a single source
or scientist who could endorse
this view and so I'm forced to think
that this idea just comes from drink
and so I now get to the nub...
don't ask these questions in the pub

The King

Bow down before me all you men
and leave the tribute that you bring
you'll never feel freedom again
o'er all you men I am the king

Bow down you nations of this world
bow down and render everything
forget the lords whose flags are furled
o'er all your lands I am the king

Bow down you masters of the air
you'll ask before you take to wing
and hope that I will hear your prayer
o'er all the skies I am the king

Bow down you sailors on the sea
you're tied to me by silver string
where'er you land there will I be
o'er all the seas I am the king

Bow down, Bow down, Bow down I say
while from this world my due I'll wring
and deep asleep I hope I'll stay
o'er all these dreams I am the king

Kite

Hopes and wishes like a paper kite
soar and swoop for your delight
but often are as weak and frail
as that paper kite in a summer gale
So hold on tight to your wishes' string
if you want to achieve anything
and see your kite come safely through
to where hopes and wishes all come true

Four winds

Warm Notus brought the smell of foreign lands
that fired your wanderlust and made you stray
Unlucky Eurus took you from my hands
and left me brokenhearted on that day

Chill Boreas then turned my heart to stone
as stone I stand and gaze across the sea
until that day when from the great unknown
sweet Zephyrus will blow you back to me



*In ancient greek mythology Notus is the south wind, Eurus is the east wind, Boreas is the north wind and Zephyrus is the west wind.

Spring is coming

Spring is coming
A change so small it hardly seems
that anything has changed at all
but warmth sneaks in to icy dreams
and breaks them free of Winter's thrall
The skies are limned with hazy beams
and rain not snow from clouds will fall
as life returns to frozen streams
beneath the season's snowy shawl

Spring is coming
and faster now and faster still
the snow is melting day by day
and water rushes down each hill
to fill the streams and run away
and streams join streams and streams until
a river runs and people say
"Today's the day that Winter's will
was broke and Spring is on its way"

Spring is coming
The sun climbs in the sky and shines
down where for months no light has shone
as Spring confirms with many signs
that seasons change and Winter's gone
Bright blooms in thousands of designs
come forth for bees to light upon
while hibernation's snug confines
release all sleepers to the sun

Spring is coming
The last steps of this great design
returning life to every clump
The season's heart must beat in time
a billion tons of sap to pump
And powered only by sunshine
a single great systolic thump
resounds through every stem and vine
and new life springs from last year's stump


Summer

Autumn

Winter

Rest

Lay Down Your Sweet and Weary Head
my love, go to your final rest
laid gentle in that earthen bed
with flowers crushed upon your breast
Though many things remained unsaid
your love so true and oft expressed
will see me through till I am dead
and joined with you in heaven bless'd

Walk Away

I love you dear with all my heart
yet cannot my true love display
as you are to another sworn
so I must turn and walk away

You love me too and tell me so
a sister till my dying day
a love that breaks my heart in two
so I must turn and walk away

Some day I'll find someone to love
whose passion turns my night to day
but now I'm blinded by your light
so I must turn and walk away

and as I walk part of me dies
The world is dark to my poor eyes
but I can see stars in the skies...

It's Winter now

It's Winter now
The sickly sun is slow to rise
and then bare overtops my head
Though at its height in leaden skies
the heat that's giv'n is quickly shed
and any light it brings to eyes
from where all hope of spring has fled
is lost, as quickly daylight dies
and sun goes early to its bed.

It's winter now
The snow is deep on field and fen
the land is iron hard and cold
Fell creatures stalk the lands of men
like those from ancient stories told
And autumn's bounty laid down then
by prudent folk in hidden hold
grows less and less in lair and den
and rich men learn they can't eat gold

It's winter now
As hard it was, it's harder now
and young and old are first to go
The babes just fade and old allow
themselves one last walk in the snow
The few survivors wonder how
they will get by when all they know
is gone and darkness does endow
the frozen night with fears that grow

It's winter now
It's winter now and silence reigns
Nobody lived to tell this tale
The people died, all that remains
is fallen stone and broken rail
But what was lost another gains
as wolves run fat in this lost vale
and never roam the frozen plains
so other villages prevail

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Zombie

The holidays are over now
the tourists left, the bars all closed
The tents and caravans are gone
the pitches all bare and exposed.
Yet in the distance something moves
and I am gripped with mortal fright
something is lurching up the path
and I'm the last human on site.
A clumsy gait, a vacant stare
though little human thought remains
dead yet undead and coming near
a zombie come to eat my brains.

Actually it's a German party animal with a hangover
who has missed the last bus.

Watching

I like to watch the people
come to town to do their shopping
all the trying and the buying
all the starting and the stopping
and I wonder where they're going
and just who they will be meeting
as they're milling round like sheep and
I am deafened by their bleating.

Then I wonder does it matter
does it really make a difference
all the motion and the chatter
is it all just interference
just a random side effect of
commerce powering our nation
like the humming in the background
coming from the power station.

But the scientists have told us
that the act of observation
affects changes in the target
that are in direct relation
to the effort that's expended
by the watcher in the shadows
so the people in the high street
are affected by the echoes
of me watching through the window
and I wonder if they realise
that they're altered by me looking
as I'm changed a bit by their eyes
and my head hurts from this thinking
so I think that I will stop now
and then concentrate on drinking
before my coffee gets too cold.

Write a Review

Read the comments, read the feedback, read a review
That's how the modern world knows what do to
For the opinions of the masses
of the previous lads and lasses
who did these things are there on line for you

But just because this person is all set
to use a PC and the Internet
doesn't mean they're qualified
to judge the thing they tried
how do you rate someone you've never met?

So maybe there should be another guide
with comments on the commenters inside
so you can get a proper rating
on the guys whose words you're taking
before putting it all on red and letting it ride

Then if you want to do something that's new
advice adviser can advise on what to do
but if it all goes wrong
don't let your face grow long
Make a comment, leave some feedback, write a review.

Sad Happy

If you should leave me now
if you should go away
my heart would not allow
me to survive the day.
We'd made a fateful vow
and nothing you could say
would justify quite how
you turned my life to grey.

But if you take my hand
my heart would skip a beat
and everything we planned
would end up twice as sweet.
We'd walk along the sand
we'd run down every street
flow'rs blooming where we stand
in Us we'd be complete.

If words could kill

If words could kill then this might be
a quieter world than we have known
and manners, they may be the key
when there is no way to atone
for careless word or utterance
or ending any argument
in fatal fashion with no chance
to take back anything ill meant

But wicked men with wicked hearts
may take advantage of this curse
to wreak revenge with verbal darts
and wreck society, or worse
reduce the count of sweeter souls
'til equilibrium is lost
and good men hide in hidey holes
while evil kills like sudden frost

But this dystopian refrain
is not a world that I have known
It's just a spasm in my brain
dark thoughts at night when all alone.
Though not so far from here maybe,
in places that right thinking shuns
it's just the consequence I see
from men exchanging words for guns.

Childhood's gone

Skateboards, bikes and bubblegum.
Winter snow and summer sun.
Memories, now that childhood's gone.

Various Mornings

The Sun rises fast and then hangs looking down,
on the various mornings of one little town.

On school-children dragged unwilling from bed,
by mothers all rushing to get their kids fed,
before chasing them off to the school down the road,
or filling the car with it's chattering load
and driving in packs to the distant high school,
for today it's their turn to drive the car pool
and then, as they wave goodbye to the nippers,
they find that they've come all this way in their slippers.
   On the late office worker who runs for the bus
if he doesn't make it there'll be a big fuss
who gets to the office all wringing with sweat
and finds that his boss hasn't made it in yet.
   On the stay at home shirker who's pulling a sickie
while fit as a fiddle, just taking the mickey,
and staying in bed to watch daytime telly,
with Trisha and Gabby and that Lorraine Kelly.
   On the home coming worker, from nocturnal toil
who sits down and waits for the kettle to boil,
for a relaxing mug that is sweetened and brown,
that ushers in sleep through the noise of the town.
   On ancient and elderly, silver haired seniors,
babes and their minders and toddlers and juniors,
unemployed fathers and stay at home mothers,
cleaners and plumbers and gardeners and others.
And over all this, the sun looking down
on the various mornings of one little town

Ashes or Dust

I would rather be ashes than dust
I would much rather wear out than rust
I'll burn out in glory and my whole life's story
will be that "you can" means "you must".

Can't

The sky is ripped by scarlet flames of sound
and purple shadows puddle on the ground
Alone I'm lost inside a darkling dream
I block my ears but can't block out the scream

The Scream by Edvard Munch.

Is the subject screaming or trying to block out the scream...

White Chocolate Paradox

you are so awfully pretty
with eyes like a new moon shining
and we are alone together
with our single hearts combining
we both brighten up the dark clouds
with our solid silver lining
and white chocolate is the taste that
is this paradox defining

T-Shirt

I was puzzling out the slogan
that was printed on her T-shirt
half concealed by hair and handbag
when so suddenly my head hurt
for my girlfriend had just hit me
as a punishment for staring
although I was only looking
at the words the girl was wearing
which were more than slightly cryptic
and were causing me confusion
but my harmless concentration
had just earned me a contusion
so my lesson for today is
that a message on a T-shirt
should be glanced at really quickly
and that staring makes your head hurt

A Hundred years

We've sat here for a hundred years
a hundred years all turned to stone
together hand in hand my dears
We've sat here for a hundred years
A century has come and gone
but love it never disappears
We've sat here for a hundred years
a hundred years all turned to stone

Ask me for a demo

He's got 'ask me for a demo' on his T-shirt
and he has a little script he has to say
But he's getting very tired and his feet hurt
from hanging round the shopping mall all day

He will try to catch your eye for just a moment
and a moment's all he's got to set his hook
for he knows that all his arguments most cogent
won't mean a thing if you don't stop and look

So the trick to be successful in your shopping
is to ignore the very presence of that man
for if you and he connect you'll end up stopping
and your shopping schedule will go down the pan

Being a mum is hard, mum

Am I doing this right Mum, am I doing this right
a dozen times a day I ask, am I doing this right
I don't know how you did it mum
but I turned out all right
Being a mum is hard mum, am I doing this right

My neighbour's kids are clean mum, my neighbour's kids are clean
whatever time of day it is their kids are always clean
but mine are always grubby
and their shoes will never gleam
Being a mum is hard mum, when your neighbour's kids are clean

My home is never neat mum, my home is never neat
I tidy up and I put away but this stuff has got me beat
we've got more stuff than storage space
and it's piled up on the seat
Being a mum is hard mum, when your home is never neat

I don't know why I ask mum, I don't know why I ask
It may be 'cause I worry that I'm not up to this task
and I know the dead can't answer
but you're still the one I ask
Being a mum is hard mum, when you've got no-one to ask

Silver Linings

All idylls fail, all arches fall
all human effort comes to nought
For every winner you must call
a loser in each battle fought
Each silver lining has a cloud
Each bright side shows the other dark
and ev'ry optimism avowed
reminds us that life can be stark
And yet through all this doom and gloom
we raise our heads and carry on
For tho' it's dark now in this room
at other times the sun has shone
And sure the sun is shining now
in other rooms, on other men
and all we have to do is go
to where the sun will shine again.

Not Here

Last night like every night before
I dreamed of sea and sky and shore
of walking barefoot on the sand
of holding your hand in my hand
as gentle breezes stir your hair
while I my true love do declare.

You always answer yes my dear
then I wake up and you're not here.

Without

I want but cannot have
I see but cannot touch
the joy I find in friendship hurts my heart so much

My world cannot be whole
without you by my side
but half a world is better than no world, I know, I've tried.

American Gothic

Grant Wood - "American Gothic" - 1930


Decently darkly dressed
With his Sunday go to meetin' coat over weekday workin' pants
Got the land in his blood and dirt in his nails
But his boots are clean
Clean as his conscience in this Bible bound land
Clean as the tools that he holds in his hand

Not old but he looks it
Time's plough marks his face like his plough marks the land
And the honest sun tans his skin like hide
But his eyes are bright
And they look on the world through steel rims and glass
They look on the world and watch the years pass

And the years pass
And his still beautiful, dutiful, stand by him for life, wife
Who lives in the here and the now and the real
Occasionally looks away
And she can't help but wonder what might have been
'cause she never saw this in her little girl dream

Hurt grows in my heart

I felt the pain of love's first sting
when I was shot by cupid's dart.
I would have given everything
but it was hopeless from the start.
For you were wearing that man's ring
which tore my bloody soul apart.
So now the death of love I sing
and grievous hurt grows in my heart.

Snippets

Who am I
Where am I
Why am I
Lost am I


All days start off well
then get shot to hell.
I'm grumpy, can you tell?


All the names
of all the people
that I have ever loved.
Are inscribed upon the palimpsest of my heart.


I sweep up the leaves.
The wind blows the leaves away.
I sweep up the leaves.


Skateboards, bikes and bubble gum.
Winter snow and summer sun.
Memories, now that boyhood's gone.


I dream once more of seagulls and the sea
A dream, a metaphor for being free


Infinity, the biggest thing.
What should we keep Infinity in?

An Origami Crane

I sort through his belongings
for the charity to claim
and at the bottom of his bag
an Origami Crane.

Conversation failed him
due to damage in his brain.
But communication happened through
an Origami Crane.

He couldn't say he loved me
but I knew it just the same.
His love was in the making of
an Origami Crane.

The child himself is gone now
but the memories remain.
Triggered every time I see
an Origami Crane.

I Write

I write, (I never knew that I could write)
with form and structure, rhyme and rhythm too.
I take these words, black ink on paper white
and post them here for everyone to view.
And not just words that fit and rhyme and scan
but hopes and fears wrung from the heart of me
The truths that are the measure of this man
appear upon this page for all to see.

I write words I could never say out loud
they flow in freedom down this pristine page
though I take care to keep hid from the crowd
the name of her for whom my feelings rage.

Yet still she knows, she read the message here
and needs no verse to make her feelings clear.

Hate

Hate burns
Hate scars
Hate beauty mars

Hate causes pain but brings no gain
How do I know what hate can do?
I know all this 'cause I hate you!

Biker Boys

The biker boys are all out today
on their Hogs and scoots on this sunny day
They go all the way to Whitley Bay
but they don't dip a toe in the water

Their leathers are black and their helmets too
They're sweaty and oily and in need of a brew
but their days of drinking and fighting are through
and you don't need to fret for your daughter

'cos the biker boys are all granddads now
and only ride out when grandma will allow
and everyone's safe cos they can't 'member how
to do all those things they didn't oughter

Writer's Block

Writer's block or poet's palsy
hems him in like concrete walls he
cannot find a passage through
cannot chase the thoughts that flew
so high so far so out of reach
to hide like sand grains on a beach
with each thought kept from his purview
by walls that he just can't see through.

He must reboot his writer's brain
must turn it off and on again
must sleep, must rest, must turn away
from any more attempts to play
with words assembled into lines
with perfect or imperfect rhymes
to realise it's for the best
for his creative mind to rest.

Until that brighter future day
when poetry comes back to stay.

A Bigger One

When I heard the woman in the next booth say
  Make mine a large one with some cream on top
  A chocca-mocha-latte with some cream on top
  Cream on top
  Just don't stop
  Make mine a large one with some cream on top
My skinny latte turned to vinegar in my mouth.

When I heard the woman in the next booth say
  Can I get a burger and some onion rings
  A quarter-pounder-burger with some onion rings
  Onion rings
  Lovely things
  Can I get a burger and some onion rings
All the enjoyment drained out of my chicken salad sandwich.

When I heard the woman in the next booth say
  That'll never fit me, bring a bigger one
  Still really pretty, just a bigger one
  Bigger one
  Pretty one
  That'll never fit me, bring a bigger one
I looked at myself, and she was right, so I went for the large as well.

Life without TV

To find peace I suggest
(to my children's derision)
that life should be lived
without television

Comp'ny Blues

My daddy he is gone now
just gave up his last breath
Yeah my daddy is gone now
gave up his last deep breath
Then took that final step
along the road to dusty death.

He never was the same
since momma went away
Was never quite the same
since my momma went away
Turned his face round to the wall
never had a word to say.

So family's all gone now
got no-one to lean upon
All my family is gone now
not a soul to lean upon.
I am so alone
even my dog is gone.

That's why I'm sitting here
a drinking on my own
That's the reason I am here
jus' drinking on my own
even the company of strangers
is better than being alone.

Back to Thee

I do not fear the storm I see
nor wind nor rain nor tempest roar
no clinging bog nor falling tree
not since that fateful vow I swore
for golden light envelopes me
and guides me 'cross this blasted moor
and brings me safely back to thee
whom I will love for evermore.

Though twice a thousand miles may be
the distance 'twixt me and your door
my safe return is guaranteed
through bloody strife or civil war
For love will shield and armour me
'gainst any odds and tip the score
and bring me safely back to thee
whom I will love for evermore.

Perfection

A paragon is what you are
my mind's ideal in all you do
but I've no evidence at all,
so how can I get over you

I don't know if you snore in bed
or slurp your coffee from the cup,
re-use yesterday's plate instead
of getting on with washing up.

And are you all that you appear
you look the best a girl could be
How much of that is artifice
or haute couture and corsetry

For all I know is what I see
An angel sitting on a cloud
You are the perfect one for me
I think, but never say out loud.

So all the questions will remain
and all the boxes stay unticked
Reality will never stain
my perfect bubble left unpricked.

Sad Happy

This morning I awoke to find you gone
and only silence answering my call
A letter on the dresser starts 'Dear John'
and ends up screwed up in a little ball.
Your closet is as empty as my heart
your car is gone, a lonely space remains
The things we planned to do we'll never start
there is no 'We' no 'Us' no rings no chains.

No chains, no plans you made to be my wife
No fitting in with what you want me to
I'll live the way I want to live my life
and you can live yours as you want to, too.

This is the best gift you have given me
a way to live my life and to be free.
 

Travelling Man

I'm a long time,slow time, travellin' man
Getting 'long the road just as best as I can
Singing my life and the life that I've known
Singing and walking on my own.


I once had a job but I didn't like it
doin' the same thing every day
had to move on just to save my life. It
was just movin' on not runnin' away.

I once had a house in western wherever
Just can't remember the name of the town
Everything sweet 'till I couldn't make the payments
Each life has an arc and mine's pointing down.

I'm a long time,slow time, travellin' man
Getting 'long the road just as best as I can
Singing my life and the life that I've known
Singing and walking on my own.


I once had a wife, to be with forever
Sweet as a cane stalk and fresh as the dew
She left me behind because she was too clever
to live the life that I brought her to.

I once had a daughter to hug me and love me
My daughter has gone now, much to my shame.
My wife took her with her when she up and left me
and now I can't even remember her name.

I'm a long time,slow time, travellin' man
Getting 'long the road just as best as I can
Singing my life and the life that I've known
Singing and walking on my own.

Four Seasons

I loved you in the spring
and in the summer too.
But autumn brought a chill
By winter we were through.

But we planted in the spring
and what we planted grew
Our children are our crop
the best of me and you.

A Metaphor

At night, deep in the arms of Morpheus
I dream once more of seagulls and the sea
I dream that I might soar, victorious
My dream a metaphor for being free.
I dream my arms are wings of purest white
that stretch to feel the currents of the air
I soar, a paragon of purest flight,
a physical embodiment of prayer.
A prayer I make for every waking day
I spend imprisoned in this broken shell.
I pray for angels to take me away
My broken body my personal hell.

I dream once more of seagulls and the sea
A dream, a metaphor for being free

A Virus

My eyes are red and sore
My nose don't work no more
My throat is rough and raw
I got a virus.

I'm sore, my body aches
My legs have got the shakes
A bug is all it takes
I got a virus

With aching in my head
I'm going back to bed.
I wish that I was dead
I got a virus

I Dream

I dream once more of seagulls and the sea
A dream, a metaphor for being free

Daylight Saving

In Spring the clocks spring forward just one hour
and two o'clock is three o'clock in fact
But you won't feel the cost
of sixty minutes lost
unless you're late for work and you get sacked.

In Autumn clocks go back as time goes on
Two in the morning turns back into one
An extra hour in bed
but not inside my head
and so I wake before I should have done.

Cannot

You will not change so I will have to leave
The way things are I have no other choice
I cannot trust you, nor can I believe
a word you say, I really hate your voice.
That tone you take each time you tell a lie
I hear it and I know that what comes next
will shame the devil, make the angels cry
dishonesty that leaves me quite perplexed.
They say a Leopard cannot change its spots,
or will not, which I think applies to you.
But all your lies have tied your life in knots
incapable of knowing what is true.

You say you love me, just another lie.
You hate me that's why I must say goodbye.

A Vision, Out of Reach

Last night you were a goddess of
guitar and microphone
On show, on stage, untouchable
fine pitch and perfect tone
You sang your soulful songs as if
you sang to me alone
An angel singing songs of life unknown.

On stage you are ethereal
a vision, out of reach
In town you are invisible
a sand grain on the beach
And though we mortal men may dream
of reaching for a star
We'll never realise how near you are.

For all you want is normal from
a normal sort of chap
You sing your songs in heaven but
you know that it's a trap
A lovely cage is still a cage
and all you want to be
is free,
and all you want to be is free.