Thoughts Intrude

Thoughts intrude,
Like a hammer’s blow,
Destroying the peace
I’ve cultivated.

Thoughts intrude,
Like a siren’s scream,
Stealing the attention
I’ve promised.

Thoughts intrude,
Like a threatening word,
Forcing the action
I’ve avoided.

Thoughts intrude,
Like a funeral march,
Revealing the emotions
I’ve suppressed.

Thoughts intrude,
Like a bird’s call,
Highlighting the beauty
I’ve missed.

Thoughts intrude,
Like a child’s smile,
Connecting the reality
I’ve lost.

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This poem is from the book, ‘Bound To The Wings Of A Butterfly’.

Read more from the colleciton, download a free copy, or purchase as a Paperback, eBook, Hardcover or Audiobook.

Choose Wisely

Why do you think
It will be ok?
Because thinking so
Takes your anxiety away.

How do you know
It won’t happen to you?
Because knowing so
Is all you can do.

What makes you certain
It won’t be a bad day?
Because you get down
On your knees and pray.

You don’t even believe
In the power of positive thought,
If it were someone else,
You’d say their methods wrought.

That they are just
As likely as another,
To undergo pain, loss,
And oh yes, to suffer.

Yet for you, you permit yourself
This one kind of fiction,
Because it allows you to function
With renewed conviction.

But what happens when
The charms and mind games fail?
What will happen when
Life causes you to wail?

Don’t you go thinking
That these words are lies,
That the message here
Is something to despise.

It is merely a warning
To get your house in order,
Because eventually life
Will throw it into disorder.

Look up the numbers
Apply them to your life,
Statically speaking,
You will go through similar strife.

But it doesn’t feel this way,
You are somehow special,
That’s just your ego talking,
With the words of the devil.

You will reap what you sow,
Getting what you deserve,
The actions you take now,
Dictate what life will serve.

Look at your past and trace life back,
What you did then put you on this track.

So choose wisely.

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This poem is from the book, ‘Words On A Page’

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You Say

You say you love me,
But you don’t know me,
Not the full me,
Not every part of me,
Not as I really am.

You say I should open up,
That I should share,
That I should let you in,
Into my inner world,
Into my mind, my emotions, my everything.

You say you will accept me,
But that’s a lie,
You don’t know me,
Not all of me,
Not the parts you haven’t seen.

Do you know yourself well enough?
How will you react to me?
What will you do when I show you?
What will you think of my darkness?
My pain? My weaknesses? My desires?

No.
You only accept the parts you’ve seen.
Then you make assumptions,
Of yourself,
Of me.

That I’m not that bad,
That there isn’t much more,
That embarrassment holds me back,
That you can save me,
That you would want to.

It is safer to hide,
To show a just little,
Just the parts that are acceptable,
The parts I have practiced,
The parts that work.

You don’t love me,
You just love those parts,
You just love the surface,
Your love hasn’t touched the depths,
It never will.

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This poem is inspired by the book, ‘How To Write Evocative Poetry’.

You can read some chapters from the book, download a free copy, or purchase as a Paperback, eBook, Hardcover or Audiobook.

Red Signs and Rainbows

Red signs and rainbows,
Nanna’s gone away,
Mum and Dad are stressed,
So many bills to pay,

Empty schools
Abandoned shops,
Empty playgrounds,
Broken hopes,

A fever dream,
Days drifting together,
Visiting hours closed,
Only memories last forever,

Daddy’s started drinking,
Mummy sleeps a lot,
Daddy’s getting angry,
Mommy’s lost the plot,

They are always here,
Adapt to the new norm
Survive till night,
Weather the storm.

Stuck in this house,
All is gone,
Nothing to do,
No place to mourn.

Flatten the curve,
Keep your distance,
Unemployment lines,
Struggling for subsistence.

Protesters amassing,
Ignoring science,
Just making it worse,
With their continued defiance.

Red signs and rainbows,
My child just wants to play,
He is going stir crazy
Every damn day.

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This poem is inspired by the book, ‘How To Write Evocative Poetry’.

You can read some chapters from the book, download a free copy, or purchase as a Paperback, eBook, Hardcover or Audiobook.

The Writer's Prayer

I am a writer.
I have given myself this time to write.
This time is sacred.
I will not waste it.
I will not worry about the quality, worth, or potential audience.
I will just write.
I will get the words on the page, as they come, without judgement, without filter.
I will write because I love it, because I have something to say, and because writing heals me.

And when the time is up, I will let it go, until I sit down to write again.

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This poem is inspired by the book, ‘How To Write Evocative Poetry’.

You can read some chapters from the book, download a free copy, or purchase as a Paperback, eBook, Hardcover or Audiobook.

I Am Constant Change

Who am I other than constant change?

Thoughts come and go,
Same with emotion, memory and desire,
I am not who I was a moment ago,
And who I am won’t last.

I am constant change,
I am the thread of time,
Birth to death,
Ever changing,
Ever growing,
Never the same.

I am constant change,
I accept this change,
Embrace it,
Lean into it.

Therefore I won’t delete my past,
It was me,
Just as much me as my desire to delete it,
Who knows what I will think in four minutes?

I am constant change.

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This poem is from the book ‘Reflections of the Self, The Poetry, Insights, and Wisdom Of Silence’.

Read more from the colleciton, download a free copy, or purchase as a Paperback, eBook, or Audiobook.

Flashback

There’s nowhere you can run to,
Nowhere you can hide,
Not when your problems
Are coming from inside.

You cannot escape them,
You cannot leave,
Now that blood is
Running down your sleeve.

Don’t try to face me,
Don’t try to hide,
Mummy, Daddy,
Why weren’t you by my side?

Do I want to sober up,
Or do I want to die?
Blank memories. Pain.
Watching his hand touch up my thigh.

I couldn’t say no,
I couldn’t flee,
Nothing I tried
Broke his hold of me.

Years have passed,
But his grip remains,
He took my body,
My soul, my brains.

So now I’m sitting here,
Stoned and alone,
Trying to remember
If I have ever felt at home.

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This poem is from the book, ‘Words On A Page’

Read more from the colleciton, download a free copy, or purchase as a Paperback, eBook, or Audiobook.

Pandemic

Our minds are racing,
Our mood oscillating,
Endlessly contemplating,
Ruminating,

Anxiety,
And insobriety,
Spreading through society,
Bored with no variety,

Stay home and wait
Call your mate,
Think straight,
Commiserate,

Pretend,
Online spend,
Try to comprehend,
How this ever happened,

Presidents be acting competent,
Their faces prominent,
Acting dominant,
Imminent,

Woe,
Moving slow,
Just for show,
Really they don’t know,

Still they continuously interview,
Securing their revenue,
Sweet rendezvous,
Hitherto,

Corruption,
Excess consumption,
Designed to function,
Greed and false assumption,

Pull it all down,
Destroy the crown,
And town,
Drown,

Free,
We be,
Living in glee,
If we just agree,

To act as one,
Make it done,
Leave none,
Outrun.

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This poem is inspired by the book, ‘How To Write Evocative Poetry’.

You can read some chapters from the book, download a free copy, or purchase as a Paperback, eBook, Hardcover or Audiobook.

Rejection

You are not what I am wanting.

Don’t offer to change.
The desire to change yourself
Is itself off-putting.

I know myself well enough
To know what I want;
And what I want is not to be found in you.

This isn’t to be lamented,
Mourned or concerned.
But to be celebrated.

Because if I had you as you are,
I wouldn’t be happy.
If you were to change, you wouldn’t be happy.

By taking you,
It would be as to someone else
Not having you.

This someone would find affection,
Where I see only flaws.
Would find joy, where I see annoyance.

A union should be frictionless.
Two pieces of a puzzle coming together,
Not a round peg, conforming to a square hole.

Don’t get me wrong,
This is not a criticism of you in any way.
You are perfect, but simply not perfect for me.

You are what someone is wanting;
And in turn you are wanting that someone.
But that someone is not me,

And you can never be my someone.

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This poem is from the book, ‘Words On A Page’

Read more from the colleciton, download a free copy, or purchase as a Paperback, eBook, or Audiobook.

Dissociation

I see myself, and I see myself seeing myself;
Trapped in an infinite regress.
Triggered.
I don’t know what I am,
Other than, that I am the ‘other’.
Separated.
I sit in the eye of the storm,
Enjoying the false calm.
Rumination.
Picking the poison to escape my mind;
My father’s curse, passed down to me.
Stoned.
I should lean towards hope,
Look to the light.
Futility.
These words have no meaning,
I am incapable of giving them any.
Numb.
No happy ending, no fresh beginning;
Just nothingness.
Life.

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This poem is from the book, ‘Words On A Page’

Read more from the colleciton, download a free copy, or purchase as a Paperback, eBook, or Audiobook.