Hope

Perhaps it's been a while since you were there,

Although it's never far away,

Like the promise of tomorrow,

It will bring a brand new day.

A short walk from abandon,

Beyond a steep and slippery slope,

Is a place all roads can lead back to,

A little refuge known as hope.

If your life is filled with doubt,

Disappointment, fear or hate,

Reset your way of thinking,

It will never be too late.

When the pressure bears down on you

And you find it hard to cope,

Break free from the chains that bind you

And find your way to hope.

Keep your chin up, don't be beaten,

No matter what the cost,

You can never really lose your way

If you’re already feeling lost.

Take that thread you think you hang by

And climb it like a rope,

And you'll find the brightest sunrise

Atop a mountain known as hope.

This poem is dedicated to Dr Rola Hallam and her team and the amazing work of candoaction.org

Commuting Blues

The platform's packed and they've canceled the train.

Some have cracked, they can't handle the strain.

The stress is back, here we go again.

An empty track and now it's starting to rain…

I've got the blues, got commuting blues.

I've got the blues, it's not the life I choose.

I've got the blues, so much time to lose...

I wanna swap this tie for some dancing shoes!

She looks at him and he looks at her.

They share a grin and something starts to stir.

But they won't give in and say a word...

Because commuters being friendly would be completely absurd.

And there's a youth, he ignores the crowd,

His Beats are in, but it's way too loud.

Now that's a sin and I'm not too proud,

To confront him, and scream and shout.

So I move in.

But I got it all wrong.

I start to sing, because he's playing my song.

I have to move, I can't help myself...

I start to swing around from the luggage shelf!

They all join in.

The whole train starts to move.

We're in full swing,

It's the commuter groove...

WE'RE ALL DANCING CRAZY LIKE THERE'S NOTHING TO LOSE!

We've got the blues, got commuting blues.

We've got the blues, it's not the life we choose.

We've got the blues, so much time to lose...

WE WANNA SWAP THESE TIES FOR SOME DANCING SHOES!

Oh wait, this is my stop…

Good morning class, ready to learn today?

Take out your pen, your bible, your AK.

The lesson this morning is a murder mystery and why children being slaughtered is part of our history.

The right to bear arms, the right to arm bears, both just as crazy when you're cowered under chairs.

Or screaming through tears while running for your life…

But don't blame the guns, because it could be a knife.

F&@k you you fool! Take a knife to school and it might be a very dangerous tool,

But it doesn't spray a thousand bullets across a crowded hall.

Innocent flesh lying in a deep pool.

Of blood is what you spill when you don't pass that bill, because you hunger for that bang of a pathetic cheap thrill.

Protecting yourself and property is your right?

Well then so is your child's to awake in the night, to re-enact the horror of an imaginary fight.

Automatic, semis, weapons of war, was it 17 this time or have we stopped keeping score?

Is this the last time you'll see them walk out the door?

When there's no guarantee they'll come home anymore.

But the constitution says I can have a gun, how dare you try to spoil my fun!?

An outdated law from a backward time, when it was OK to fight a crime with a crime.

This so called right is one nobody gave,

the same as the right for keeping a slave or the right for a man to be beating his wife,

what about their children’s right to a life?

F&@k your thoughts and f&@k your prayers, we're no longer listening, nobody cares,

for your political filth and your greedy deceit,

spewing your wealth with bodies at your feet.

And f&@k you Trump and the NRA, destroying their futures with the games that you play.

And here endeth the lesson, did you get that class?

A test your parents may never pass.

Do your lives matter less than an ego-filled hobby?

Should your country be run by a soulless gun lobby?

Students can you hear me?

Oh that's right, I'm alone.

An empty classroom with me stood on my own.

Because you're already dead or afraid to leave home.

No tree can grow like an Irish tree,

So strong of root and true,

No field is as green as in Ireland,

Awake with the rare mountain dew.

No song can be sung like an Irish song,

With words that only time knows,

And no heart can love like an Irish heart,

As fierce as the Moher wind blows.

I saw a friend the other day.

We walk to work a similar way.

I mentioned the weather; quite mild for May.

But I forgot to ask are you ok?

I saw a friend the other day.

He raised a smile that didn't stay.

We talked about sport; did his team play?

But I forgot to ask are you ok?

This morning now without delay,

I'll take the time to stop and say,

Why do you seem distant, sad and grey?

But I didn't see that friend today.

mind.org.uk

My nephew Kai becomes a man today,

So I'm spitting some rhymes and I don't play.

18 years? That seems unreal,

Wasn't long ago that I had to kneel...

To pick him up and now he's six foot three!

I'm so very proud of the man he be.

With a golden soul and a caring heart,

He beat tough odds from the very start.

Nickname: The Pieman.

Used to be a shy man.

Now he's a fly man,

A gonna reach the sky man.

Part time chef. Full time star.

No time for limits, he's gonna go far.

He's got bare skills. He lives for music.

He plays the drums and it's totally sick.

Born to the beat with the world at his feet,

Bringing some manners back to the street.

A model now too, he got good genes.

Playing it kind and making no scenes.

Growing up for him wasn't always easy.

Now I hope his life is bright and breezy.

Full of opportunities and success.

It's up to you Kai… be the best.

I prefer Uncle but you say Uncool.

Fool around, but don't be no fool.

Love and happiness for your day of birth.

Go seize your future for all you're worth!

You never really went away…

I saw your smile the other day.

I caught a glimpse in my own face,

As I passed by a mirror,

There you were, then no trace.

I hear your voice in words I speak,

Sometimes wise, sometimes weak.

As a child I'd doubt with all my might,

To now concede,

Bloody hell, he was right.

My eyes now old are replaced by yours,

Windows, souls, neglected doors .

Prophetic tales of boughs that break,

Your sound advice I chose not to take.

Strangely you're here when I yawn,

A unique sound like paper torn,

And you reappear through a favourite song,

Compelled by love to sing along.

Your treasured blues or rock and roll,

Awakens your ever playful soul.

I can see you now as you play with ease,

Fingers dance across eager keys.

Still remembered for catching crooks,

Immortalised in history books.

To save a princess from a deadly fate,

I just did my job, don't call me great.

So you are still here and never far,

In a Devon view or lit cigar.

I hope old man to make you proud,

And if I make it then I'll make it loud.

Inspired to be a better man,

Live that life, fulfill that plan.

Then through me I could truly say,

Although you're gone...

You never really went away.

In memory of Peter Edmonds QGM

Hey Universe I'm on a rock...

A tiny grain on the tick and tock.

I'm important! I was born!

While evolution gives a yawn.

Organisms been and gone,

We'll be before, before too long.

Don't waste your time on what's not there,

Embrace your species like you care.

We're a blip, but what a blip!

Twist your happy around your hip.

Smile and dance like no one's watching,

Because you know what?

No one's watching…

I marched before, I’ll march again,

One step for each, those fallen men.

Their spirits flicker behind my eyes,

Ever forward, ring those battle cries.

We faced a threat so dark back then,

Now I’ll do my best to help again.

Many precious lives once more at stake,

A mile of hope for every inch I take.

One hundred laps, one hundred years,

One thousand lives, one million tears.

No time to waste on petty scorn,

There are paths to tread this very dawn.

I walk for those who give all to heal,

With hearts of gold and strength of steel.

Women and men from every land,

I salute you all as you make our stand.

Our moment in time may be long or short.

But the future will know if we stood and fought.

To protect their lives as we would our own,

So they will know…

They never had to walk alone.

A tribute to Corporal Sir Thomas Moore (Captain Tom)