Millions of answers to the same question.
Millions of questions to the same answer.
Makes the whole questionnaire
seem pointless or a nightmare.
These dark lights flicker
and leave a long shadow.
I spent the first half of life not getting it.
The second half ignoring what I didn’t know.
Share moments.
Real moments.
Nice moments.
Natural moments.
But not with them.
Unless you clear it with them.
Only post what compliments them.
Whoever’s snapped in the group, it’s about them.
They look good.
Of course they do.
You’d post it, sure you would
but photogenic fakes aren’t like you.
In the end, what you see
has no currency
because once you’ve seen one great pose
you’ve seen them all, I’d suppose.
A ghost came into my dreams
‘Someone’s gonna go
and you’re gonna miss them’
is what it said and went off again.
See how being the life and soul of the party
can leave you in the dark shadows
buried with the roots of a tree.
‘Someone’s gonna go
and you’re gonna miss them’
is what it said and went off again.
The joy of living a charmed life.
The psychedelic colours of daytime.
The sleep of the dead deeper than the living
out for the night from their tomb.
‘Someone’s gonna go
and you’re gonna miss them’
is what it said and went off again.
You have a first, middle and surname
but none of them stay the same.
Some get shortened being a mouthful
or get punned right from school.
You lend yourself to nicknames
that you get known by.
Some know you as this, some as that.
Some just get your name wrong and you let it lie.
You even changed it and took on new identities.
So crafty, you can’t even track yourself down.
You become a runaway at large.
Hand yourself in as a missing person.
Years later it all comes back to haunt you
as you call yourself names in the mirror.
And just to think it all started with your birth certificate
which couldn’t have been clearer.
She walks down that street
looking like a star I’m gonna meet.
My jaw dropping heart stopping.
Seen it all before but I was blind.
Regrets I’ve had a few, Frank.
Strangers in the night, Frank.
Love your songs, Frank, and you were always way ahead, Frank.
So how come you kept me behind, Frank?
When you watch a gritty mother saying she’s told the kids their house has burned down.
When you watch a Borg -McEnroe doc on their struggles, rivalry and friendship.
When you see how much sacrifice a women’s England football player made to get to the top.
When you see a friend struggling with bureaucracy diagnosed with cancer.
When you look back.
When nostalgia brings a lump to your throat.
When a song comes on that gets you going cos you suddenly got older.
When there’s a moment you could have changed.
When you watch a soppy film about pets.
When someone dies. When your team wins.
When someone says something that isn’t even upsetting.
When something triggers something, or teary little bullets in you.
When you get good news out the blue.
Not often bad news cos you hold it back
And not always when you should.
It usually comes when least expected
But that’s when you get like the poem title says.
Probably on your own, the best way.
Sometimes with others.
When you think to yourself something they won’t say.
When you surprise yourself
‘Well yeah, I can get emotional.’
If you ever doubt
good can last for good
cos it fades faster than it should
make a wish, baby.
Light the candles
on your birthday cake
a big breath take
and on your big day
make a wish, baby.
Love is easy if you let it win.
All you need do is give in.
Take a deep breath
and make a wish, baby.
Here is a quick visual representation of my self-illustrated poetry collections since 1982.
In the menu, there is ‘One poem from each collection 1982 onwards’ to see an example of what I was writing at the time.
My 40th collection is in the making and will be posted soon!
After all the bombs have died out
there’s nothing like calm.
No one’s died down
and everyone’s come to harm.
After everything’s called it a day
and the dawn’s gone to sleep
most of the most live the least
and fewer than the few believe in peace.
A Pretty Kettle of Poetry 