Whales

All life's glorious shipwrecks

Come finally to their rest
We are Titans becalmed by fate

Upon calm seas of fine threads

Where rocky pillows of instance

Break hubris to a lapping loyalty

The whales of fortune have dived

Fled into the deeps of younger seas

But all wonder is not yet vanished

As a lover, I was alas, poor interest

So now only as a warm companion

Welcome onto my watery divan

And we may still caress, or embrace

Though no pearls will we now find

Upon a sandy décolletage at dawn

Like a languorous foam on slow tides
We shall float away the remaining days

Indolence will triumph on the high sea

Though no good people of elegance

May stay buoyant and free forever

We shall let the waves, take us away

On one last journey over the horizon

Following the day's descending sun

Till we are under the new rising moon

And then the sea may close about us
For life's voyage is not so bad, after all

Walk

The Amazonian was felled

And we wreathed the victor

In a crown of incredulous awe

And now all is quiet; all is still

Crowds may away into mists

Till there are only ghosts left

But our hearts keep a chronicle

Tolerance may diminish and rot

But always where there is loss

Flowers will flourish the swifter

Great, profuse blooms of hope

Floral lamps scenting away sorrow

Illuminating any loss of liberation

And upon these trails of beauty; walk

Trace new and stronger paths of equality

For freedom grows best in summer 

Temple

My body is a temple

But what a glorious one

A veritable ruin of antiquity

And inside its facade

Betwixt column and decal

A half-remembered dream

Upon an altar of flight

Lies still like a sacrifice 

Better

There are millions of good people

But I'm not one of them yet

I thought perhaps I was

But now I can see my imperfections

I suddenly become a little better

And hope comes like endowment

I unwrap these new days like gifts

Take off the starry bow of dawn

And savour each hourly layer

Till night rewraps it to black

And I sleep a better man than yesterday

Denial

The animals pay for our denial

The truth is a fleeting blossom

Under clouding summer skies

The lies will always break free

Metamorphose into aspiration

For we never remember truth

Self-importance makes us forgetful

For who can live and thrive

With the constant disenchantment

That we are made so dreadful 

First

Now the earliest flowers do arise
The yellow trumpets will tell no lies

Nor snowdrops erupting under bluer skies

And witness how the coldness flies

As warm spring comes; winter dies 

First flowers in the garden

Honey

When all honey from the world is gone

When we decline kindness as deception

Forgoing all the sugar of its compassion

Naught will sweeten life's bitter draught

For then, all there is left, becomes brutality

Valentine

And no one  may unravel this blissful thread

The Valentine is sent; longing cannot be unsaid

This mistress of time is no measure of chance

She has a debt to collect and a destiny to dance

From out the hopeful hearts that cling to youth

She takes some vitality but bestows worthy truth

A gift of love she brings forth upon a loving wind

For all the happy times the young have sinned

And in the loving war of desire all is bloodless

For it takes only a card of intent to do it justice 

Walking

Bafta’s

What's it about; who the hell knows?

Faux appeals for equality in costly clothes

Commercial novelty for a selfish aim

Hollywood's hobby now an English game

And I saw some of the Bafta’s last night

Our glittering display of celluloid might

It's the pre-orgasm Oscars; UK foreplay

Little real talent, but yet, so much to say

Some political posturing to make it real

All ignored when it's time to cut a new deal

And I watched about as much as I dare

But does anyone but the business care?

And I confess, it troubled me to distress

To see former beauties become aged actress

Bearded men abound and everyone guesses

They'd rather wear their partner's designer dresses

Paint

On a Scots highland holiday

Under a clear and blue sky

Looking out to a majestic vista

Beside the shimmering loch

We all painted pictures

Of tall green mountains

With veins of silver water

In jest we painted together

To make small treasures to keep

But now when I look upon it

I see the colours of our souls

Perhaps we painted heaven

In small strokes of innocence

I hope it resembles your drawing

Now that you are first to travel there

First, to become emotion unbound

Among the horses and meadows

Flowers and blue skies are coming

Stage

For none clearly sees the aim

When at stake is Twitter fame

The world's becomes a new stage

On which the liberals now rage

But forgive the eccentric topics

Of all these ill-advised myopics

Protest is all very well and good

But don't do it because you could

And so, round and round, it goes

Where it will stop, nobody knows 

Demo

Finally at last, the weekend is here

Now's the time for a new demo my dear

Don't worry what we will protest about

Just so long as we dance, scream and shout

We'll wave high our placards and banners

Shout f**k and c**t to show our bad manners

And don't wonder if will it do any good

All this venting of media-led bad blood

When Monday comes, we'll be at home

With consciences as shiny as chrome

For when all is said and done

Here in the safe suburbs protesting is fun

We'll drink latte; update our social feeds

With tall stories of our valiant deeds

And in the real world nothing will change

And no one seems to find it strange 

Pictures

Some recent pictures I have taken while out walking around Entwistle Reservoir

Tread

We softly tread upon a starlit lawn

To gaze upon the fiery birth of dawn

As bats now withdraw and owls still

Sunrise crests above the eastern hill

In nascent shimmer does light awakes

Another new day the world now makes

Bees soar out from their waxy hive

The world is up and humming alive

On lavender, thyme, chive and box

Their day unfurls as nature knocks

I know the world is a pitiful place

Yet here I see another gentler face

If we all took some time to see wonder

So much strife we could put asunder

Before day and danger has beckoned

Be at peace in a green, sunny second