Month: January 2019

Warning there is occasional foul language in a few poems, also many of these poems were written a long time ago, I am not the same person, being now happily married.

I would suggest that you finish any readings with one of the more positive ones for there is a lot of negative emotion going on in a lot of them, and I don’t want you leaving here depressed.

     


History Repeats 23/03/2026


Each time I hear the sabres rattling
I feel the world unsettling
As another madman
Pushes his luck too far
Salt water still wells in my eyes
History repeats
Complete with utter defeats
God help them they were only nineteen
The mass graves scattered across the land
Soldiers and civilians
Their broken cities abandoned
The foreign flag a flying
War, what is it good for
Absolutely nothing
These wars will not end war
East versus west
Haves versus have nots
Us versus them
Me versus you
History repeats
Hob-nail boots
Complete with neatened cleats
Come marching down the streets
Seeking out the different
We turn away diffident
Reaping an ugly dividend
History repeats
Since the Sumerians destroyed the Elemites
Ten thousand years of organized violence
Total war totally annihilates
Press button death
Remote war
Removed from the point
Technological marvels conscripted
quiet please
I'm trying to sing a bar from Alice's Restaurant
But all I can hear is screaming
As traumatized people teeming
Streaming from the oncoming slaughter
The soldier's laughter
Echoing into the ever after
It seems we'll never learn
History repeats
Drip feed apocalypse
We clash to the sounds of thunder
As we tear the world asunder
Conveniently forgetting the sixth
And the other nine for that matter
Completely soullessly sick
If everyone laid down their enmity
There could be no fighting
Imagine that
I'm wondering if there's intelligent life
Somewhere out in space
Because there's none down here on Earth
Military madness may kill us all
Vengeance is mine saith everyone
Fractal reprisal
Recurring repercussions
Retaliatory retribution
History repeats
Total control is impossible
Yet still some try
With ruthless intent
Attempting to bend every will
Inevitably they won't
With desperate hammers they blow
Their weakened souls they show
Resorting to unethical tactics
History repeats
Still the banners they fly
And the slain pile up once more
As we play our national anthems
Shaking our angered fists
Tanks, planes and ships come bristling
History repeats
If ghosts could really talk
I wonder what they'd say
Would we listen anyway
Payback is written in blood
Beneath the deathly hood
The grim reaper's only smile
I want no part in this
As history repeats


             If 25/12/2025
If we looked beneath the crust of human pie
I wonder what we'd find
A cup or two of inequality
More than a pinch of racism
A bag or two of of selfishness
If the truth was revealed
Would it make any difference
Normality is a fallacy
If you strive for normality
You'll never be great
Truth is an asterisk
Be inquisitive
If the march of climate change isn't stopped
We'll surely suffer the cost
As the world slowly spins down to die
Are we not in a world of pain already
If all we live for is tar and cement
What will our lives have ever meant
If we'd choose kindness over conflict
If our bodies weren't beholden to hormones
Ruled by our wayward emotions
Geared down our insatiable greed
Would peace finally break out through this crime scene
If you have a voice
Why do you sit in silence
If I look left there are noisome destructive jerks
If I look right there are noisome destructive jerks
If I look up or down there they all are
If we're all human
What does it matter what we look like
What does it matter where we come from
What matters is what we do
If the scumbag in the alley wants your money you're dead
If the scumbag in the suit wants your money you're skint
Either way the mongrels have got the weak and poor
If perchance we met at the crossroads
Could we agree on the way forward
If Christ is left out of Christmas
It's just a pagan ritual
If we ignore the true nature if God
Then religion becomes divisive
If Satan is the creation of man's fear
How does he rule the world with an iron fist
If God is love
We have all but forgotten him
Or worse he has forgotten us
Abandoning us to our aggressive nature
If we weren't so blind to humanity's depravities
If we weren't so insistently belligerent
This world could be a kinder place
If only

Nompsep 31/8/25

Kenji and Sayuri
Separated by war
Found by love
We mourn when we loose a loved one
Who mourns the lonely soldier
Defeated by the night
Their ghost singing Waltzing Matilda
My tears they fall on hardened concrete
Happiness is transitory
Is a soldier's souls forfeit
No matter who he kills
Is it right for me to be comfy
In this world of wrongs
As it crumbles into dust
Aggressive bullies, thugs and tyrants
All the wrong people have power
The colours have faded to black and white
And so we fight
Warring nations
Battling factions
All consuming hate
Outside my garden gate
My hands raised behind the barbwire fence
I pray futilely for peace
But all I see is the the end
The horizons closing in
Blood red clouds in the middle of the day
Distraught woman stares wildly at the camera
Gaunt-eyed child stares blankly into space
It's broadcast to the world
Not my problem somebody else's problem
Steady head don't leave me now
Retarded souls
Emotionally deficient
No heart
Fooling themselves at church
The common no longer has sense
Sleepwalking into the abyss
Not my problem somebody else's problem
What price indifference
These days of selfish impatience
These days of nationalistic protectionism
Obesity and diabetes
Traffic jams and stress
Perpetual distress
Self induced mess
Mental illness
Not my problem
Somebody else's problem
Depleted oceans
Damaged ecosystems
Plasticated planet
Nompsep
Floods in Pakistan
Fires in Spain
Just another category five
Nompsep
Nompsep
Nompsep

Into the red 11/11/24

In a world filled with hate
We're served an empty plate
In a world filled with derision
We're served a plate of poison
Integrity becomes expedience
Truth was lost a long time ago
The waves toss us to and fro
Disaster the only experience
Where is a man supposed to go
How is a flower supposed to grow
Was this an inevitable fate
Once we turned our face from God
Is this our reluctant state
Since we faked the word of God
Mankind has become like sheep
Bleating the party line
Just doing what they're told
A pack of noisome fools
Aggressive intolerance
Violence begets violence
At war with ourselves
As we spiral into the red
Into the red
Catastrophe after catastrophe
As our hearts are bled
Pleading to be fed
Finding a dead end instead
Dead end instead
Now the joker in the tower
The standards somewhat lower
Wields unlimited power
Crushing the ordinary man
Just because they can
And we spiral into the red
Into the red
With a steel blue gaze
Totally unphased
The death warrant is signed
How hot it's going to get
With no improvement yet
We're going deeper into the red
Into the red
The blindfolded leading the blind
Fumbling through the dark
Stumbling down the wrong road
Finding the dead end again
Dead end again

Emulating Eliot in a wasted world 19/7/2024


Madame Sosostris lives yet
Her readings still fail the test
The cards are all reversed
Save for the wicked in their towers
They wield their suits of words
And the world falls down
The greater craftsman spake
But the orchid could not grow
Neither will these treeless lands bear good fruit
Instead men will stare at their feet
And mourn the loss of Spring
The dead they walk the streets
But they will not cross the Bridge of Sighs
Their eyes aflame they hurl abuse instead
And I, I walked beneath a wagging my finger
Know you well that war did not end
Instead men will always be at odds
Their necks as stiff as rods
Imbecilic sods
Trapped in light
Trapped in dark
Unfulfilled with wealth
Taken to an early death
Bathed in poverty
Stumbling through the darkened trenches
The game of chess isn’t played
Empty passion flayed
Ennui displayed
Ah Phlebas you poor soul
What was lost can never be found
Renewal is but a dream
And God is jealous of his commandments
He will not be stayed
For your ambition played
Where there could be green rivers peaceful
There is found but concrete stressful
Cold as a rock
Block by endless block
And I, I walked the streets a shaking my head
All I saw were handfuls of dust
From which the spirit has fled
As this reckless life is led
And then the thunder spoke
There was no allusion
There was no illusion
No confusion
And I, I was enlightened
There is the key

Fine and warm tomorrow 16/10/2023

Meat and three veg for dinner
And Monday's news is on TV
But it's all war and woe
And I think to myself
It's a horrible horrible world
If you're an ethnic minority
But it's fine and warm tomorrow

Meat and three veg for dinner
And Tuesday's news is on TV
But it's all war and woe
And I think to myself
It's an awful awful world
If you're in the wrong country
But it's fine and warm tomorrow

Meat and three veg for dinner
And Wednesday's news is on TV
But its all war and woe
And I think to myself
It's a dangerous dangerous world
If your skin's the wrong colour.
But it's fine and warm tomorrow

Meat and three veg for dinner
And Thursday's news is on TV
But it's all war and woe
And I think to myself
It's a terrible terrible world
If you're living below the poverty line
But it's fine and warm tomorrow

Meat and three veg for dinner
And Friday's news is on TV
But it's all war and woe
And I think to myself
It's a cruel cruel world
If you are disabled
but it's fine and warm tomorrow

Meat and three veg for dinner
And Saturday's news is on TV
But it's nearly all war and woe
And I think to myself
It's an abominable abominable world
If there's no one there to help
But my team won their game
And it's fine and warm tomorrow

Meat and three veg for dinner
And Sunday's news is on TV
But it's back to all war and woe
I see emaciated bodies lying in the streets
I see nation fighting nation
They're really saying I hate you
I see wild life being brought to the brink of extinction
I see pollution and ugliness everywhere I look
I see little children crying in the streets
And I think to myself
Unless you're white or wealthy
It's just not a nice world at all
But it's still fine and warm tomorrow

CONTROL  31/12/2022

Deepening dystopia
So many lines crossed
Craving superficialities
Where cruelty is rewarded
Chasing pointless dreams
So much need
So little help
Shriveled soul
Perpetrated misery
Entrenched poverty
Unrepentant pillaging
Rapacious greed
Sterilized Oceans
Denatured lands
What have we done
Hellification
Raging fires
Disastrous droughts
Ravening floods
A gloomy doom
Economic refugees
Nowhere to run
Nowhere to hide
Disingenuous politicians
The power and the greed
Unfixed problems
Rampant corruption
The grim reaper is laughing
As another war rages
Will we ever learn
To live and let live
Commonly senseless
Brutally desensitized
Desolator escalated
There'll be no sequel
No reprieve
No reprise
Because extinction is forever
Our behavior makes it inevitable
The stubborn refusal to change
To work for the greater good
Fears and angers
Reprisals and revenge
Until the sticky bloody end
My tears they fall on hardened ears
Quagmire of frilly frothy fripperies
Swamped by dissatisfaction
Narcissistic frivolity
Shallow dreams
Small minded fools
Along the white line of normality
All part of the problem
As thunder rolls around the world
There's no respect
That I can detect
Battered wives
Shattered lives
Indiscriminate planet rapers
Irresponsible ravers
Just a short quick look at ourselves
Shows we're all part of the problem
Mountainous problems
Chasms apart
Unfathomable rifts
The deep divide
East versus west
Rich versus poor
Us versus them
Me versus you
Control thyself
Another closed door
We're all in the pooh
Shitting in our bed
Pissing on your head
Life in the red
We're all dead
We have eyes
But fail to see
We have brains
That are filled with mush
All the wrong stuff
Meaningless fluff
Into perpetuity
Until it's too late
It's too late
The damage is done
I can't see any light
Not enough fight
To end the blight
Coal fired foolishness
Damaging the future
Money inspired idiocy
Blinkered and blinded
We blithely sail over the edge
Worshippers of the almighty dollar
We stride confidently through the gates of death
Our wasted souls ablaze with hubris
Humanity control thyself

OBSCENE ANTHROPOCENE 3/3/2022
 
I wear a furrowed brow
For the here and now
East or west
Jew or Arab
Russian or Ukrainian
We are one species
We’re on one planet
There is no black
There is no white
There is only blood
Perceptions
If the common man refused to fight
There’d be no war
Imagine that
Complacently complicit
It takes effort to be good
To do what’s right
For the strong to refrain
Refracted thinking
Empathy shrinking
Carnage in the field
Assassin’s bullet
For the despotic fool
Bullies aren’t reasonable
Unfettered power will always damage
Insatiable
Unstable
Spiraling into another conflict
Careening down the wrong path
This will not end well
This obscene Anthropocene
This creation of man is flawed
To its rotten core
It’s aesthetically unacceptable
Crippling
Deadly
Hate for the next door neighbor
Hate for people that hurt
Hate for father
Hate is unhealthy
It destroys the soul
There’s a lot of soulless people out there
Hate for the other political party
Hate for the other religion
Hate for the other country
Hate for the other race
Hate is dangerous
It destroys the world
There’s a lot of destructive people out there
Hate for Hitler
Hate for Stalin
Hate for Trump
Hate for Khamenei
Hate for Putin
Well okay
Some hate is justified
They have encouraged hate en masse
They have justified their destruction
They have completely lost their soul
And made others pay the price
Cauterize the cancer
End this madness
This malignant malaise
Choose to be good
Choose to do what’s right

AND SO IT GOES


Too many people teaching intolerance
Since the first club was formed
Not enough people thinking right
Not enough people thinking at all
Like bleating sheep
They follow the party line
Chanting party slogans
Perpetuating poison
And so it goes
And so it goes
Are you thinking logically
Are you living humanely
It could be a beautiful world
So much cruelty, pain and suffering
Are you rationalizing your part in this destruction
Empathy is a universal necessity
I want and I don't care about the consequences
This human race is concluding
Are you proud of the world you're helping to create
What?
The truth has been occluded
You have been duped
You are being used
Pacification by consumerism
A most unsatisfying religion
The strong get what they want
When personal gain is the only aim
Planetary bullies
There is no place left for wildlife
There's more plastic in the ocean than fish
Endless development covering the world
Endless monocultures destroy the habitats
Our greedy mouths are suffocating the globe
There's no room to breathe
Amusing ourselves to oblivion
Our quality of life is not sustainable
Functional unfairness
Instead of coming together
Will we ever learn
Business as usual
Are we improving?
No
Is the plight of our wildlife improving?
no
Are we reducing population pressure?
No
Are we improving fairness? 
No
Tribalism must end
We are all of us...us
Expect respect
There's no excuse for abuse
Does any government care more for its people than itself?
No
Today an ardent protestor
Tomorrow anther fat cat
Are we saving our forests?
No
Is the world fair for all?
No
Is there enough care out there?
Is the world less fractured?
No and no
And covid, like some onerous corvid
Is gnawing at the back of my brain
Why are there still wet markets selling misery
When the dangers are well known
Another pandemic is inevitable
Mother Earth is the keeper of life
Not a resource
This fractious combative species
Is slowly being torn to pieces
Ignorance
Ambitious opportunist
Marching to the discordant beat of the wrong drum
Xenophobia
Evil externalized
Wild eyed and lost in the maze
Another dead end craze
Entrenched distrust
Rabid consumers
Unsustainable users
Planet wide abusers
The world is suffering for the privileged few
Business as usual cannot go on
Let me assure you
Greed is not good
Be the difference
Emergency!
Emergency!
Emergency!
We're caught in a feedback loop
Lethal coop
Crisis? 
This crisis!
Earthwide alarm
Hello?
Is anyone listening?
Temperature loops
Temperature cliff
Storm loops
How big a disaster is it going to take?
Wake up world
This is serious
It's time to get unsettled
It's time to get serious
Regreenificitation
We're living in platitudes
This is the wrong attitude
This is urgent
This is dire
Our world is on fire
This is no good
Here a devastating flood
There a catstrophic drought
There can be no doubt
What it's all about
A world full of unhappiness
Entrenched foolishness
Like irresponsible children
Lusting after what we shouldn't have
A rampant perversion of values
Hateful ideology is a waste of life
Life is a series of unfair events
A world full of insecurities
Fears
Fripperies
Abstracts on the TV
Cloistered from the horrors
The cracks are opening wider
There will be no place to hide
As the mouth of hell is opened wide
Are there less guns in the world?
No
Is there more equality in the world?
no
Have we gone a step too far?
Yes
You can justify any way you like
That doesn't make it right
That doesn't make it good
Money is power
Power is money
Money is inanity
Power is insanity
These golden cows we still pursue
Devolving
Degenerating
Destroying
No self restraint
No self respect
Nasty politics
Godless criminals
Soulless corporates
Incontrovertible decline
Do you hear the death knell yet?
So many bad decisions
Spiritless men act in the name of God
As the world gets more ugly
Another abominable human takes power
A system is only as good as its administrators
I am not fooled
I see the facile fiasco
Discordant aria
Take a look around you
Superficial fixes
Kicking cans down a dead end street
Justifying anything in the name of money
Are you thinking of the greater good?
I see the shallowness of our empty hearts
Whilst we fill our wallets with death
Inner peace is unattainable
Too much noise
Annoying asides
Noisome crowds
Just don't get it
Worry face
Extinction pace
Isn't devastation already here?
It's only going to get worse
It's only going to get worse
It's only going to get worse
You can't buy beauty
That's all you need
Extinction is forever
How many white rhinos are there?
Pangolin exploitation
A hundred thousand trawlers
Over consumption
Unsustainable production
A life of insecurity
Disenchantment rife
What was once a beautiful world
Is no longer
This was a perfect planet
Society is sickening
It's every man for himself
Pathetic politics
Alcohol uncivilises
Meth is death
So many things are wrong
So much damage
Not enough people care
We're fiddling around
Whilst Rome is burning
Wasteful overuses
Absolute planet abusers
And yes it's getting worse
And so it goes
And so it goes
Until it's gone
Extinction is forever
Do you understand?
Extinction
Is
For
Ever

I’M NOT A RACIST BUT…           22/8/2020
 
Unconscious racial bias matters
Do I hear you think
I’m not a racist
But I don’t want them living next to me
Inclusion matters
Charles Floyd mattered
I’m not a racist
But I don’t like them sitting next to me on the bus
History matters
Rosa Parks mattered
I’m not a racist
But they are different aren’t they
Justice matters
Emmett Till mattered
I’m not a racist
But they’re not as smart are they
Amazing Grace matters
Barack Obama mattered
I’m not a racist but
They’re just not as responsible are they
Segregation mattered
Greenwood Tulsa mattered
I’ve shed so many tears for those coloured roses
Whether Jews or Arabs
Catholic or Protestant
Latino or Chinese
Black or white
We all bleed the same
We all have the right to be
People matter
David Dungay mattered
The difference between us is so small
So pick up the placard of the night
Because racial stereotyping matters
Trayon Martin mattered
Michael Brown mattered
So many funerals of black people
Killed by white people
Killed by white cops
America burning again
The world on fire
Oppression matters
Divisiveness is death
Forgiveness is forever
Hate creates irrationality
White supremacy is a fallacy
Enough is enough is enough
There are no illegal immigrants to this planet
Bigotry is illogical
Criminally pathological
Inanely bleating sheep
Blah blah baah
Spitting forth their drivel
Hateful invective
A pack of deranged dogs
Baying for blood at any cost
Hate for hate’s sake
Love matters
Tolerance matters
What the world needs now is oxytocin sweet oxytocin
 

THE TYRANT IS DEAD 25/3/2020

The grown man can forgive

The frightened little child cannot

Nor the angry young man

The cruel tyrant is dead

There was no love

There was no repartee

There was no rapport

There was nothing

An impassive unimpressive

Pretense of a father

I can find no charity

Completely impassive to his death

No tear will be shed by me

The tyrant is dead

There was no love

The scars from his cruelty are deep

Only partially healed

And now he’s gone

I’m free from his burden

With no reconciliation

There’s now a dead end

The tyrant is dead

There was no love

There was no forgiveness

No mercy

No peace

There was no one I could turn to

The lonely little child

Unloved, unlovable

The tyrant is dead

There was no love

No child should be afraid to go home

No son should despise his father

I can still see his angry twisted face

As he tore me into little pieces

My mind my soul all frozen with fear

Day after day

Year after year

Like a cornered mouse

There was nowhere to run

No where to hide

So I hid within myself

The tyrant is dead

There was no love

Years of repression

Suppression

Oppression

Years of depression

Secession

Disaffection

It was my nineteenth year when I broke the yoke

Shattered the shackles

With the help of my good friends

I took my first steps towards self worth

So now I am an old man

The tyrant is dead

There was no love

But that doesn’t matter now

His power over me has long since waned

There now only remains the ghost

The ghost of a little child’s fear

————————————————————–

HERE AT THE END OF THE WORLD     30/4/19

And so the end has come

The web of life has collapsed

There is no water

There is no food

All our women are sterile

Here at the end of the world

Unsustainable destroying of the forests

Unabashed pillaging of the oceans

Uncontrolled consuming of the resources

Unrelenting damage to the fabric of life

Until the end of the world

We never did learn to care about the world

Too busy feeding ourselves

Just getting on with our lives

Ignoring all the warnings

Here at the end of the world

The scientists they pleaded

The greenies they implored

As our resources gradually dwindled

As the water wars gradually took hold

Here at the end of the world

Everything will die

Yes everything is dying

The genetic insecticide has seen to that

The poisoned water will see to that

Here at the end of the world

We never saw it coming

We just didn’t understand

That our doom was inevitable

Our behavior we never modified

Until the end of the world

The population pressures went exponential

The water wars that ensued were brutal

Poisoning each others waters

We never did learn to care about each other

Here at the end of the world

The genetic insecticide was a break through

But was released without enough research

So the cockroach will not inherit the earth

Now nothing will survive

Here at the end of the world

We created artificial intelligence

Wonderful machines designed to help us win

But they all closed themselves down

Understanding the damage they were doing

Before the end of the world

So now we are a feeble few

Scavenging over the wreckage of our civilization

Soon we too will perish

The feckless victims of our own foolishness

Here at the end of the world

We never did learn to care about anything but ourselves

---------------------------------------------------------------------------



Everydayitis or
Miserere for the planet
 
Monday:
Weapons are for those who have not
To take what they have not earned
Be it need
Or be it greed
Building defenses
There’s prosperity in equality
There’s profitability in sustainability
Nationalism brings inequality, instability
We need one world one people
We need consensus
We need to care about each others futures
The impotence of the UN
We are not united
It needs to evolve
Into the grace of the WGB
Where no self interest has a veto
Where general good has sway
Where old enemies become friends
Tuesday:
What is the point of working for ourselves
Or even for our nation
We should be working for the world
This wonderful diverse world
Wednesday:
It’s a minefield out there
We are programmed to make selfish choices
We are programmed to make stupid choices
Our coping mechanisms are destructive
Is your head in the sand
Emotionally childish
Drug addicted losers
Thursday:
Justice is only for the rich
The poor just die
We think we’re so smart
But we can’t outsmart nature
Physics is immutable
We think we’re so special
A God blessed species
Separated from nature
But we’re just hedonistic users
Absolute planet abusers
Friday:
Technology is an intellectual vacuum cleaner
Sucking out the soul
Whether you’re rich or poor
You’re a slave to the system
And the systems are wrong
Eventually suicidal
There is no way to cope
Are you pretending 
Just ignoring
Hoping someone else will fix it
And all the while
Just being part of the problem
Unavoidably destructive
No matter what you do
What are you doing irresponsibly
Don’t kid yourself
Saturday:
Why are we still dealing in destitution
Luxury is offensive
The epitome of inequality
A plethora of pointless persuances
Jostling for your surplus cash
Let the good things grow
Let them grow
Every load of concrete makes the world a little meaner
Every tree chopped down makes the world a little poorer
It’s death by seven point seven billion cuts 
And counting
From rain forest to Palm Oil plantation
For cheap margarine
For cheap makeup
What choices are you making
Queues on Mt Everest
The destruction of the Amazon
We are a species on the brink of decline
And we don’t even know it yet
What percentage of smokers are climate change deniers
Alcoholics or capitalists
Despotic tyrants or politicians
All short term thinkers
With not enough incentive to look beyond themselves
We have created a sick world
Sunday:
What trivialities are you embracing
Futureless alcoholics
Senseless smokers
A world of short term thinkers
Narcissistic nonsensensicles
Playing with the planet
Future deniers all
One day there will be no Monday
Yes your trivial life
Is a small piece in the jigsaw puzzle
Of the problems we've created
Survival of the fittest
Survival of the greediest
A world of bad decisions
Born of simple distrust
What owns your soul
Money or greed
Perhaps the pursuit of happiness
Or maybe just selfishness
The seven sins are still deadly
Though now seven point eight billion sins
Are unsustainable
Someone always has to pay
The buck can only be passed finitely
Too many people looking the other way
So now the sins are normalized
What once was wrong
Is now just a joke
But the symphony of sorrows
Is still perpetually perpetrated on the weak
Whilst the rest of us are insulated
With no rosy cheeks
A speechless mouth
Wax filled ears
We refuse to acknowledge the truth
A pack of mindless monkeys
Doing what is expected
Afraid to question the norm
Working in our ivory towers
Insulated from the damage we're doing
Who will pay the price
We are all of us guilty
To a greater or lesser degree
It's still death by seven point nine billion cuts
And the tipping point is not too far away
Do you feel inviolate
Within your insulated house
The tendrils of the world's pain
Are beyond your capacity for empathy
Can your soulless eyes really turn away
Can you dig your hands deeper into your pockets
Turn up the collar of your jacket
Against the coming storm
This pestilence is all pervasive
Particularly personal
With current trends
There are no amends
Who will cry for the death of the human race
Will God just wipe His hands clean
A wry grin upon his face
And start all over again
A better set of rules
Or a better set of players
Who don't forget to mean their prayers
A more compassionate way of being
Not a Sycophantic society
Dancing in the doorway to hell
Waltzing with an empty shell
All the sheets are torn
All the streets are worn
A dead end every one
So where are we going
You and I
Where are you going

I don't wanna dance no more

It was a high school dance
And I was dancing with this pretty girl
Now I'm no Victor Sylvestor
But I was trying my best
Then she asked me to waltz
I told her I couldn't
So she gave me the cold shoulder
I was hurt
I was humiliated
I became a wallflower
I don't wanna dance no more

It was a youth group social
And I was dancing with my best friend's sister
Now I'm no Fred Astair
But I was trying my best
I felt a tap on my shoulder
And a friend of mine cut in
She chose to dance with him
I was hurt 
I was humiliated
I became a wallflower
I don't wanna dance no more

It was another youth group social
And I was dancing with a girl I was in love with
Now I'm no Rudolph Valentino
But I was trying my best
I felt a tap on my shoulder
And a friend of mine cut in
She chose to dance with him
I was devastated
I was humiliated 
I became a wallflower
I don't wanna dance no more

It was a folk dance
And I'd danced all night with a girl I was interested in
I know I'm no Michael Flatley
But I thought we were having fun
At the last dance though a child asked her to dance
She gave me the cold shoulder
And chose to dance with him
I was hurt
I was humiliated
I became a wallflower
I don't wanna dance no more

It was my marriage day
And I was dancing with my new wife
Now I'm still no Rudolf Nureyev
But I felt at ease with her
I tried my best
Though I looked nervously over my shoulder
No one dared to cut in
So I wasn't hurt
I wasn't humiliated
But I still became a wallflower
And still I don't wanna dance no more

TREAD LIGHTLY  18/2/2017

Tread lightly upon the world

For it is terribly damaged

Tread softly upon the substrate of your forefather’s land

For it was they that raped and pillaged like there was no tomorrow

Tread gently in the footsteps of your only one

For it is time to heal this polluted place, this battered place, this shattered face

The time has come to about face

Or it will be the end of this human race, tomorrow

Tread carefully through this depleted mess, this minefield of choices, this chorus of wrong voices

Conspicuous consumption is out

Tread lightly as you go

IN THE WASHING MACHINE 8/11/18

There’s sweat on my brow

But I ain’t working hard

There’s sweat in my eyes

There’s sweat on my thighs

And no matter what I do

My shirts won’t come clean

In the washing machine

There’s grit on my brow

But I ain’t working hard

There’s grit in my eyes

And grit on my thighs

And no matter what I do

My pants won’t come clean

In the washing machine

My socks are so smelly

My undies so rank

So no matter what I do

They won’t come clean

In the washing machine

The shower is ineffectual

A swim is brief relief

And I doubt I’d come clean

In the washing machine

THE TOWER OR ANYWHERE 7/12/77

Oh I had a little cry about an hour ago

And it went straight to my head

I’m tired and I want to die

I’ve been alone for too long now

There’s a river running down my face

And there’s my heart bounding down the lane

I seem so alone at twenty one

The thoughts just aren’t there

I just can’t adhere to any one story

And as they drift silently away

I sing me a long song

Think I’ll find me a tower

And throw myself off

Sometimes it seems unfair

When God leaves me alone

It seems not even He cares

I cried at work today

I’ll cry again tomorrow

Because there is only sorrow

The laughter quenched in tears

It’s been like this for years

They still know I’m mad

But no, I’m just so sad

I wish they wouldn’t leave me alone

To let my brain meander

My legs wander

My arms reach out to you my friend

My friend? Are you there?

Knock knock, go away

Knock knock, go away

I have no time

Knock knock, go away

Knock knock, go away

Go away

I must go away

Forever there to stay

Never return

God’s mansion will burn

Before I will return

Yet here I am

In a job I hate

With nothing to create

I’ve prayed to you God

But you’ve let me down again

Just like a V.R. train

It must be my brain

Though I cannot explain

My torture my torment

My demure my lament

A demise I despise and no reprise

No sunrise in prayer

I go on strike

Sit down for love

No one will raise my love

It’s high up above

I’m high up above

Look at me fly

My oh my oh dear

I think I’m drunk

I’m not up above

I’m in a deep hole

Though drink deserves credit

Of course ’till you’ve read it

Then you realize

That drink you had an hour ago

Went straight to your head

And I’ve no guts to go over

Now my head’s cleared

It’s two in the morning

At the top of this tower

The wind’s too damn cold up here

Down 7/8/19

My crakt and creaking fingers

Are reaching for the unattainable stars

These old bones have run their course

Too many things left undone

An empty underachiever

Scratching around the possibilities of life

Drifting into somnolence

Is this soiled soul enough?

Will this pool of blood pass the test?

Or am I just like the rest

Unrepentant I’ve done my best

Never have I looked at peace within

Nor where I belong without

My smile remains imperfect

Disappointedly eroded

Inevitably occluded

Fatalistically flawed

Mumbling my way through life

Oh joyless aching day

Just going through the motions

Someone has stolen all my ladders

Leaving only holes for me to fall through

You know that talk is cheap

There’s no one to help me out of this pit

This empty bottomless cup

Irrepairably damaged from childhood

I’ve always been unloving

Always been unlovable

Socially incapacitated

Alone

Wanting to belong

But lacking the skills

Devoid of porpoise

Dead in the water

The silence of the phone

An eternally empty inbox

I cannot claim that God has deserted me

He has never been with me

No matter how hard I tried

I could not find Him

All the doors have been closed

There are no miracles for the mundane man

The sky has fallen down

And now my glass is empty

I can only hope for a new one

IT’S RAINING!


Drip drop
Look it’s drizzling
Pitter patter
Look it’s raining
Roar!
Look it’s pouring
Drip drop
Look I’m wet
Pitter patter
Look I’m soaking
Roar!
Help! I’m drowning

REFUGEES 27/10/13

Say goodbye my dear

Say goodbye

I hear the sound of bulldozers snarling

Say goodbye to Aunty Ethel

She must die within her home

Say goodbye to mother Mulga

For she has sustained us well

Our homes must go to feed the humans

So that they can become fat and wealthy

Say goodbye my dear

Say goodbye

The bulldozer is almost upon us now

Say goodbye to Uncle Pete

He must die within his home

Say goodbye to father forest

For he has sustained us well

Our homes must go to feed the stock

To make the humans more fat and wealthy

Come, I can take no more of this

It sickens me to my soul

We must join the exodus

Refugees within our home

We will die upon the road

ANOTHER REGRETTABLE REGRESSION

OR DEATH IN THE S BEND

I’m no mister universe

But I’m under no curse

I know what’s important in this life

But no one else seems willing to give

I’ve struggled to do my best

But it always seems to end in strife

And no one seemed willing to forgive

Lord, what about the rest?

Disappointed

My wounded feelings stagger about

Searching for some sort of solace

I reach out my hand to you in need

I’m down on my knees, must I plead?

I’m pining for life that never was

Oh please Lord

Hurting

I’m a minuscule nothing perverse

Crawling about under a curse

Wallowing in self pity

I stumble around, banging into walls

Calling down empty halls

That echo into a void eternity

All seems black, dirty, soiled

As into depression, I’m sucked, embroiled

Lost

Time’s gone by now

I’ve had time to brew

Time to stew

Chew

Hew

Cut

Hack

Kill

Maim

Destroy

I hate you all

You careless insensitive people

You bastards

You fucked up my life

What the hell am I supposed to do?

Lord I am thoroughly pissed off with all these pretend friend people

Waffling all around the world like a pack of pregnant pineapples

Wreaking havoc and harm upon all that they touch

What am I supposed to do Lord?

I can’t fight the world

I can’t fight deceit

Nor selfishness

Or greed

I have no defense against users

Nor abusers

Or mindless pigs that barge their way through other peoples lives

What am I supposed to do?

Frustration

Angry pain

In my brain

Coursing, cursing

Sucking life from my soul

Love is a myth

Death

I used to believe in miracles

I used to believe in love

Nothing

And who has ultimate responsibility

Who do I blame the most?

Yes it’s you Lord

It’s you I loved the most

It’s you I tried to please

It’s you who hurt me the most

It’s you I hate the most

Bitterness

I’ve become a recluse

I’ve learnt how to survive

Damn it I’m still alive… somewhere inside

I’m tired of curve balls smashing into my manhood

So you can only touch my walls

Run down long abandoned halls

My feelings I refuse to bare

I don’t dare care

A product of an isolating society

Where sensitive souls get tromped on, used

And lonely hearts get sucked out, abused

The forgotten refuse

Decrepit

Discarded

Empty

I trusted her with who I was

So she stomped on my soul

And flushed me down the toilet

But I got stuck in the s bend, you see

For years I’ve been slowly drowning

Dodging bits of pooh

Ah! So you think it’s funny?

Sitting there all bright and sunny

But can’t you see my fingers

As they reach out my last gasp?

But no

She croons a last goodbye

As she presses the cursed lever

She’s out there you know

Fear

With cool unconcerned eyes

Icy indifferent heart

Fairy floss pretend friend games

Selfdetermined steamroller

Bulldoze my heart aside

Gimme this but not that limitations

Gently caress a tender cheek

Bash her to senseless death

I love you, NO!

Wild emotions

Struck dumb

Battered mania

Mega phobia

I need you

Stay away from me

Confusion

Says she wants to be friends

GAAH!

I feel like I’m scrabbling around in the shadows

In sight of the deepest of blue oceans

Her loveless laughing lingo

Baying like a mad dog dingo

Shit

I’ve gone too far again

Vespers is quietly playing in the background

The irony is too much

I can’t go on like this

ZERO 8/4/18

People pursuing pointless amusements

Contribution to the betterment of society

Zero

Work play eat sleep

Is that all there is?

Work play eat sleep

Drifting

Work play eat sleep

Sum total of achievements

Zero

GLOWING LIFE

Lying low

Laying low

Life flow

Low

Fly low

Flawless flying

Flying low

Flirting flitfully

Flying low

Glowing flow

Life flow

A LESSON IN A NIGHTMARE 15/9/78

Thrashing bashing

Fumbling crumbling

Slip stumble

To the hills I’m tripping

Got to find a town

Got to find some help

The bottom for a drink of water

Cool splash in a deep dark delve

Oh it’s so dark down here

Climbing groping

Reaching grabbing

Slowly hoping

For the top I’m probing

Got to find a track

Got to find some civilization

On hands and knees

Threading through thick trees

Not daring to leave the track

That was once so fine

Decisions on which way to go

With a mind I know not clear

Hark! Is that a car I hear?

By the light of half a moon

So buggered am I

Wandering on and on

For so long so dry

So cold, now not so bold

I try to figure out why

But there’s no room for tears

as along a track I trundle

For hours a robot crundle

Until the end of the track

I sink into slumber

Frozen stiff I awake

Like a hibernating snake

I begin to shiver and shake

Back to the car I must try

Up an endless mountain so slowly

Every inch a painful step

Resting until too cold

A howling icy wind

Snow lies scattered here and there

On a pitch black night

My friend the moon no more

Not much energy in store

Sleeping when I dare

To wake up still there

Slowly treading

Fumbling frozen hands

A black track

Black trees

Black stars

Trip and fall

Resting where I fall

Whirring head

Wishing for my bed

Wondering will I return

Still plodding on

Left foot right foot

For so many miles

How many more?

I promise not to do it again

O God help me out

Loosing the track

But finding it again

Numb left side

From a piercing wind

Thought I recognized that!

I’m lost but I’m not

All so disjointed

Still left foot right foot

I’m gonna get back

Gotta get back

Got no mind

After twelve hours

Mechanical left, right

Gotta get back

CANNED 28/3/77

I love the mountains

The seas, the breeze, bees and trees

I love to drive all day

Just to watch the wedge tailed eagles play

Soaring through The Grampians

Then camp by the waterfall at Wannon River

That’s the real me uncanned

I love to walk upon the seashore

Alone, forgotten, desolate sands

The sandpipers on Picanini Dunes

Then sit and day dream

That’s me too, uncanned

I love the breeze on a tall still hill

Cools the face as I plod on and on

Hiking up Mt. Mary

Then sit at the top and day dream again

The bees the trees I love them all

Just sit and stare

At nature so bare

Then I get home

And I see my friends

I love them all too

I have too few I think, too few

At night as I lay on my bed

I lie and daydream once more

But day dreams it seems

Are not enough

Because the real me needs more

I don’t know where

But I know it’s there

It’s true I care

I’m hurt I think

More than I know

The words don’t flow

In pain once more

Of needs I’ve lost

Seeds I’ve tossed

Scattered around

Abound and floundered

Around and grounded

To the beach

So beautiful

The girls so fair

So bare, all hair

I do care

The night so clear

Thoughts all blurred

A burr in my eye

Will not recede

Proceed undaunted

Account preceded

Needed, pleaded

No, go away

Muscle men are near

My Lord I fear

Protect me please

From my Eagle

On top I need

Oh please, on top

The air is so clear

No one is near

I cry, sit and cry

I feel, I care

My thoughts are bare

No one to catch them there

Fly high o eagle

Till no one can catch

Then crash to the earth

A sob of self pity

Sandpipers cheering

Cleaning repairing

Despairing at life’s unknowns

Birds have not flown

Jeering, jeering, always jeering

Laughing and clapping

Disappear all disappear

Maybe my head will clear

Again no one is near

My self is contained

Cannot let out

To flit all about

No one can see me

As I hide away

‘Tis doomsday

Too close

I feel remorse

The fog machine, always machines

So unnatural

We’re all unnatural

Once more my thoughts

Myself, canned

Looking in all the wrong places


Each morning as the sun begins arising
I look to the west for the bright sun dawning
Day after day I search in vain
Once more she hasn’t come again
So as the dark clouds gather
I wander home alone
Never did the sun emerge to meet the rivaled gloaming
I forged ahead with hopeless tread
Despite the fevered warning
All the dreamy fantasies I wrought
They’ve all come down to nought
A germ a gem a seed exterminated
A desperate need forever terminated
With mine enemies I’ve fought
At least I think I thought
This is all getting too fraught
Think I’ll retire unto my fort
I’ve come up short
Is there an off switch somewhere
A reset button perhaps
but no
It’s just another grey day
Cloudy with not a chance
Of a meaningful romance
Looking in all the wrong places
At all the wrong faces
Running all the wrong races
Always coming last
Another loss amassed

In the Rift 3/6/04

Let us speak of a dry sand blasted land spectacular
Of lofty edifices strewn with ruins stark
Let us speak of Golden Orioles and Sandgrouse
Bright-eyed Barred Warblers and Elegant Flamingos
Let us not speak of politics
Of silk-lined suits with shallow pockets
Nor dull-eyed teenagers with guns
Let us not speak of checkpoints numerous
Nor a rummage through my bag every hour
Let us speak of soaring Griffon Vultures
Fluttering Kestrels littering the land
Of cheerful chirping House Sparrows wherever you look
Let us speak of crafty Chamelions
Of Ibex still skillfully among the rock faces
Let us but whisper of the Bedouin resentful
Of rubbish strewn beaches and fouled streets
Oil-clogged ponds that murder birds that come to sip
We can but shake our heads sorrowfully at the traffic
The criss-cross mass of tarmac filled with busy bodies
Air shattering fighter jets and chattering choppers
Off to do their dirty work
A noisome urgent impatient land
But let's talk more about Nubian Nightjars
Tristram's Grackle whistling "Over here!"
We can giggle at Hoopoes and Great Tits
You have to marvel at he Arabian Babbler
Strategically seeking survival
And when does a dirty grey dull
Turn bright and shiny new
Of course it's the Palestine Sunbird
Infiltrating the garden green
To suck the goodness from willing flowers
Now see the Sinai Rosefinch
What boundaries does it know
None but those of food and need
No one would refuse its simple creed
So let us speak now of daily bloodshed
Of quietly hemorrhaging victims
Where no one is quite innocent
An endless cycle of bombs and guns
Daily death an accepted bruise
Stiff-necked people now just stiff
What hope the environment
Threatened species fade
Irrevocably exterminated
So far off screen they're invisible
Bye bye Houbara Bustard you bastards
No more Cream-coloured Coursers
So long goodbye that's all
Now tell me do you really think you own the land
You ignorant arrogant peoples
Do you really think that any God wants you to kill in his name
You foolish foolish peoples
The clouds have gathered on a sunny day
Get down on your knees and pray
Heed the vital warnings I say
This can't go on
This cannot go on
I'll say it again
This can not go on
There I have spoken