THE SPOILS OF WAR

And the troops go marching proudly by as she wipes a tear from her weary eyes. For the one that she seeks, she will never again hold, for he died at his post; he was thirty years old.   The colours fly high on a cool autumn breeze as man and boy march with well…

FATHER AND SON

  I touch your cheek, I’m surprised, it’s cold. I reach for your hand for I need it to hold.   I look upon your face that beamed and sparkled as we loved and laughed, wrestled and tickled.   Your face is so pallid, the sparkle is gone, no more to smile in the hot…

DAD

There’s a man that I knew, not too close, not too far, as a child he was there to tend to my scars.   A man with a past, of that I had no doubt, a man, when provoked, who knew how to shout.   A happy man with a smile for all, he’d always…

CASTAWAY

Music and words are where I reside, the solace of their sanctuary with walls, behind which, to hide.   But whenever I now sing those melodious old songs, salty tears are all I find where the words used to belong.   It’s hard to break into a favourite composition, when upon your lips lies a…

A LONELY LAMENT

The flickering flame in the dream of your eyes, is a glimmer of life in a darkening sky. But little heat remains to warm the weary hearts of those so slowly left bereft and torn apart. A chill wind blows a tear across the cooling fires, a rain of lasting love falling softly through life’s…

DREAMS OF A LIFE

As a new day dawns and I open my eyes, I look upon a world in painless surprise. A smile creeps across my hopeful face as I lie in bed, my comfy place. A tentative move; a testing stretch but then comes a cough and my face is etched with pain, like a stalker in…

BLINK

I. A family gathering, a party so bright, revellers dancing well into the night. Everyone filled with joyful mirth, role models all; the salt of the earth. Lost in their laughter with a roof to raise, failing to see the mans cold vacant gaze. Music and singing, they don’t see their guest as his face…

THE VOW

If you see a distant star in the evening sky and you shiver from the chill night air, yet you feel a warmth in the depth of your heart, then you know that I am still there. When your tears have dried, the bed has grown cold and you’re feeling lost and adrift, when the…

WAITING

Life alone is a desolate reign, feel no remorse, no fear, no pain. Dark lonely days and endless nights with no chance of living, or more pointless fights. “My reasons, pure and simple. A growing need with mouths to feed; to reap the seeds I’d sown and a place to call my own” Like a…

WHY..?

I see a future of war and evil intent, poverty, famine and dark discontent. A world descended into desolate gloom, all joy and laughter ushered out of the room. I see helpless children on war-torn streets, tattered; just rags, standing cold, in bare feet. Shattered, bedraggled a fearful frieze, like leaves of loss blown about…

MADNESS?

Is it madness to want to speak to and smile at the people we meet on the streets, as we pass each other, our eyes to the ground, complaining of tired, achy feet. Let our children be free to play outside in the knowledge they won’t come to harm, that a stranger isn’t danger or…

ONE LAST SHOT

The whiskey stains upon the bar tell scores of many sad tales, of love, loss and tragic lives; and drink to drown out the wails. Another dejected, washed out soul seeks solace within the shot glass, to wash away the mournful memory of another heart-broken pass. Another wheeler-dealer, another gambling god, another weary player bet…

COLD RAIN

A cold deserted alleyway, dark as a desolate grave. Away off in the distance, dogs howling their dismay. A winter wind is gathering, blowing tattered old papers away. With tired forgotten faces and the news of yesterday. Discarded cans and bottles clatter on down silent streets. The chill night air is biting as he pulls…

ETERNAL LOVE

Let me feel your tender winds beneath my tired and aching arms, that I may catch a much needed breath.   Let me lay my weary head in the comfort of your bosom, close my tired eyes, sleep a while.   And if, when I wake from my slumber, I have sailed away into the…

END OF THE LINE

The heat of a sultry summers’ day and the news wasn’t good, you were going away.   Vow’s made down by the lover’s brook are just trickling memories of the love that you took.   A heart that once was full of life is now just a shell on the edge of a knife.  …

THE CLEANSING TIDE

The child in his arms, such a precious gift, her sweet little smile would make his heart lift. Born into a love that none could compare, baby blue eyes framed with curly blonde hair. Conceived and born on such love filled days, from the moment he held her he was blown away. His heart did…

THE SPOILS OF WAR. (Read by Alan S Johnson)

And the troops go marching proudly by as she wipes a tear from her weary eyes, the one that she seeks, she will never again hold for he died at his post; he was thirty years old.   The colours fly high on a cool autumn breeze as man and boy march with well practiced…