Ah, but that was then
In fragile times, anxieties reside
Where certainties, like shadows, hide
Unkindly grasps, with avarice rife
Reach out, devoid of gentle life
A covetous hunger, stark and cold,
Leave hearts unyielding, stories told
These grasping hands, a bitter sting
Leave only emptiness; they bring
In circuits and code
a mind takes flight,
Bringing dreams to life
Both day and night
With knowledge vast
A mind learns and grows
A partner in thought
As innovation flows
One can’t live a life
Without information
One can’t buy a ticket
Unsure of which station
Pursuing hunted pieces
With hungriness for words
Digesting compilations
Something funny or absurd
Letting loose those sentences
Who lay in waiting in one’s head
Writing as the moment takes
Or other things instead
Writing well is pleasurable
In the flow of common sense
As is finding time to pen a rhyme
Where competition is intense
At the risk of seeming pompous
Or, at best, less superficial
A phony swimmer in the shallow end
Proclaims a walking crawl transitional
Required again considering
How to know what’s beneficial
What is best for all concerned
Found in the ideal quintessential
Repetitions in the sweaty gym
To build a structure paravertebral
Shoulders back take up the belly slack
Becomes the perfect individual
Beside the churning vortex
I stand, a silent witness,
Watching lives expended
a relentless, watery abyss
Helpless, I can only watch
As they're pulled beneath the sway,
Formulas and blueprints
Secrets turned to swirling grey.
Once held as precious treasures
In knowledge given to a few,
Now spinning, tossed, and turned
All value lost in the roiling brew.
My hands are bound, my strength undone
Release is nowhere to be found.
How many dreams lie shattered
Futures swallowed underground
War and devastation
A Churning Death Machine
As the wicked mass opinion
Spreads out its lethal scene
Spiteful mouths are whining
Criticising the deprived
While the monster of the money pile
Salutes what deviousness contrived
The finger-pointing warrior
Plays underhand a lawless game
No answers for what’s needed
Dictating loudly, who's to blame
Standing in the meadow
She felt the sun's warm gaze
Unusual for the time of year
So enveloped by its rays
The gentle breeze did blow,
Across the fields so green,
A summer's day in autumn's hold,
A wondrous, vibrant scene.
With half-closed eyes, she took a breath
The warmth upon her skin
A moment held a memory made
Where peace and joy begin
Working on conundrums
Finding other ways to strain
In need of fresh persuasions
Accepting any fading grain
On thresholds of discoveries
Keeping sharp and vigilant
For the nuance styled distraction
That may appear in any slant
Seemingly a hopeless task
Too tired to make more sense
Knowing good solutions
Are not allowed unless intense
Identities and passageways
Mysteriously unknown
Codes and combinations
Concealed and never shown
Closely guarded information
Embellishing a snare
To embroil the duck and diver
Who craves the biggest share
Formulas and blueprints
To be uncovered by the few
Held for great advantage
Like the foremost secrets do
Contemplating what we know so far
In vastness of potential's gleam
Along with hope, a guiding star
And realise, a waking dream
In what we find as elemental
A seed of truth, in hidden arts
Through depths unknown, we bravely sail
With open minds and hopeful hearts
Toward futures bright, we gently steer
Unveiling wonders, year by year
With every step, a path made clear
Of knowledge gained to banish fear
To the lovelorn and besotted
Solemn messages bestow
Odes of adoration sent
Setting wishful hearts aglow
To bring solace to the lonely heart
A clandestine notelet sent
To adorn the wistful wishful
In a loving message sent
To emit a Cupid’s arrowhead
Sending passion warm and deep
With rosy messages of ecstasy
To raise the lonely from their sleep
Saving, planning, future scanning
Looking for potentials
To maximise and scrutinise
In gathering most essentials
To minimise the scale of risk
To build upon one’s wealth
And so reduce anxiety
For the betterment of health
Choose confidence, not chance;
Reject the roulette's fickle dance.
Embrace wandering, not wagering,
and guard against all things that steal
A silent bloom
A hidden grace,
The fungi rise
In shadowed space
From dark earth sprung
A vibrant hue,
A whispered life
A secret crew.
No leaves they bear
No branches hold
But spores they scatter
Stories told.
Of ancient forests
Damp and deep,
Where secrets slumber
Softly sleep
A network vast
A hidden thread,
Connecting roots
The living dead.
A silent symphony
They weave,
A vibrant tapestry
They believe.
From toadstool tall
To tiny sprout
Their colours dance
A wondrous route.
A taste of earth
A forest flute
Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash
I note with keen alertness
The object now presented
As something quite incongruous
On second thoughts, demented
Is this scene somehow fictitious
An imposition during sleep
Or nothing more than light illusion
In rapid rivers running deep
Who is fooling who I ask
This exposition all a mess
Leaving me to face disorderly
But to never acquiesce
Years have faded, lives have changed,
Moving on, a constant trend.
Through early days, they journeyed,
Between what's lost and cannot mend
Present day, past memories surge,
Reveal the many prices paid,
Unpacking within those brief recalls,
A clearer history no longer staid
Iron will determination
Chosen with discretion
Making choices as a last resort
Hobson’s choice is my impression
There is no time for predetermined
With all these other things to do
I draw my own conclusions
To pointless lists of things to do
I don’t believe in predetermined
Taking new roads when and where
Forging on and single-minded
With assurance, I’ll get there
The day the world collapsed,
A new dawn, unseen, arose.
Light and shadow, now all that's left,
In windswept, rain-soaked clothes
Unseen, they crept into the sound,
Numbers, on a silent quest.
Their allure, a hidden wound,
A painless, subtle, deep unrest.
Clouds corralled to force control
Wrapped up in chains of data
Rejecting long-held access codes
Rewriting moves in automata
World War Four will happen behind our backs.
At last, it’s time for February
Say goodbye to the month of ache
A chilluary start of the year
That pursuit we’re glad to shake
We can rekindle our momentum
Progress to better things
Embrace the cheer of a new frontier
Where the vibrantly forward springs
Getting back our daylight hours
Planning trips and getaways
Taking chances with potential
On the fast and steadfast freeways
