Time

28/01/2021 – Poem a Day Compilation



The clock ticks incessantly

Marking the passage of time

In meaningless fashion

When one day runs into the next

And the weeks don’t matter

Nor the months that drag.



Before you know it

A year has gone by

Without contact with loved ones

Half a world away

Except though the magic

Of an internet connection.



How long will this fugue state last,

Where motivation must be intrinsic

And dedication to routine

Sometimes goes out the window

Because it’s easier to just exist

Than to be functional?



What even is time

That it must rule over us

In such a nondescript manner

That we can’t quite put a finger on it

Yet it follows us relentlessly

From the day we are born?



Time is a prison

Built from all our yesterdays

Making a wall around us

And forcing us to work

Toward a wispy tomorrow

That may never be realised.

The Loss of Innocence

03/12/2020 – Poem a Day Compilation



Take me back to the before

When idyllic summers were misremembered

As more perfect than they had a right to be

And people were genuine.



Tell me that such a time existed

Not just in the recesses of my grown mind

But in a reality not so harsh and cruel

As experience deems fit to show me.



Let me pretend, just once more,

That the superficial, animalistic lustings

Of men old enough to know better

Are figments of my imagination.



Return to me the trust I had

In the honour of parents to keep secrets,

Now stripped unceremoniously from my eyes

Never to be seen again.



Allow me to spend one more day

Sitting at the foot of a man

Who inspired fear in all others

But fostered my innocence.



Save me from a reality that stains my heart

With loss, and grief, and a heartache that burns;

That wrenches a knowledge of all that trembles

From the dark niches of this world.



Take me back to the before

When fairy tales merged with the everyday

In such a way that reality itself was bent

And innocence was not lost in time.

Overgrown

31/07/2020 –  Poem a Day Compilation



To be completely honest

I’d let the garden go.

It was too much work.

What with being a mum

And working full time

And having my mother live with us

There just wasn’t enough

Time or energy left at the end of the day

To make time for the poor garden

And it did look so neglected.

If I could have paid someone

To come in a mow the lawn

Or trim the trees,

Perhaps to a bit of weeding,

I would have jumped at the chance

But the purse strings were tight

And anything bar food and utilities

Was a frivolous spend right now.

So, the grass grew too long.

The weeds were out of control.

The trees hung branches over the fence.

Then it happened.

Not just to me but to everyone.

The world stopped.

Work closed up.

The pubs shut, the cafes closed.

And I was stuck in my house

Staring out at my sad looking garden

Wondering what I was going to do.

Then it struck me – here was my chance.

Not to pay someone to fix my garden

But to fix it myself, to be productive.

So, I put on my boots and gloves

And pulled out the secateurs,

Barely used this past year.

I got to work, pruning and trimming,

Mowing the lawn and tidying the edges,

And weeding the flower beds

Until it looked like a garden again And not the unruly, overgrown mess it was.

Frozen in Time

15/07/2020 - Poem a Day Compilation


I froze.

Time froze.

Nothing moved.

No one breathed.

No one blinked.

Forever memorialised.

An instant in time.

Never to be repeated.

Only to be relived.

The moment captured.

Frozen in time.

Compressed Universe

01/06/2020 – Iso Well-Being Compilation

 

Let’s take a wander

Through our magnificent and glorious past

As if all of time might be compressed

Into a single year of our lives.

 

Happy new year to the universe

It’s off to a tremendous start

A Big Bang and an expanding of everything

Begins us on a seemingly never-ending course.

 

Within just sixteen nanoseconds

Of our year having begun

We see the first stable nuclei form

From the matter that has been expelled.

 

By the 15-minute mark we find

The first neutral atoms have arrived

And the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

Has been well and truly emitted.

 

A few days later the first stars appear,

Bright dots in an expanding cosmos

The light from which we may never see

Even with our most powerful telescopes.

 

By mid-January we can now confirm

The light of those distant stars

Will eventually reach our modern eyes

And be a source of marvel yet.

 

As the month draws to a close

The first Galaxy proto-clusters are observed

Like embryonic star groups

Finding their way in the dark.

 

Valentine’s Day whizzes past

With the largest scale structures forming then

We’re starting to look more recognizable

As the universe we will become.

 

March has rolled around by now

And we’re seeing mature galaxies form

Bright and iconic to our eyes,

Littering the depths of space.

 

Then in mid-April they start colliding

Pairs of spirals merging as one

And turning into great ellipticals

A galactic dance with no known steps.

 

We fly through May and onto June –

The first sun-like stars are dying –

Evolving into the planetary nebulae

That we all know and love.

 

The universe carries on like this

All through July and September

Creating and destroying

As it had all along.

 

On September 3^rd our sun appears

With its proto-planetary disc.

This will be our giver of life,

Where all life as we know it exists.

 

The Earth, it formed without satellites

Until it was impacted the very next day

By a large proto-planet

The debris coalescing to form our moon.

 

It was not until September 21^st

That the first life appeared on our planet –

Unicellular and, by our standards of today,

Completely unremarkable.

 

Life comes into its own

When sex appears on the scene

Though that wasn’t until December 2^nd,

Relatively, not that long ago.

 

Around December 17^th, we have the Cambrian Explosion

And life as we know it blooms.

Diversification is the rule right then

And it continues for a good, long while.

 

Extinctions come and extinctions go,

Until December 30, at 6:25am to be precise.

We lose the now beloved dinosaurs,

A meteorite strike thought to be to blame.

 

Mammals take over from that point

With the Homo Sapiens swaggering in

Just in time for New Year’s Eve,

A mere seven minutes left to spare.

A Decision in Time

05/05/2020 – Iso Well-Being Compilation



Today I might to decide to get a puppy.

Not just any puppy – A rescue puppy –

Not because I must but because

It exists within me to care.



Or maybe I’ll be a cat instead,

They seem so much more independent

And I wouldn’t have to take them for a walk,

Just make sure they don’t eat the bird.



Today I might decide to save those few dollars

That I would have spent on a takeaway

And put them in a piggy bank

Safe for a rainy day.



Or I might give it to the homeless guy

Who looks like he needs a hot meal

And, though it won’t buy much,

It’s more than he’s had all week.



Today I might decide to eat a salad for lunch

Because it’s time I looked after myself

And stopped over-indulging

On comfort foods and junk.



Or I might have the slice of cake

That was left over from my birthday

Because it’s not right to waste food

Especially when it’s so delicious.



Today I might decide to go for a run

To get the blood pumping though my veins,

Air flowing through my lungs,

And my muscles stronger than before.



Or I might sit on the couch under a blanket

And binge watch that latest TV show

That everyone’s raving about but of which

I don’t quite understand the premise.



Today I might decide to read a book

And get lost in its pages,

Captured by its characters and themes,

Transported to a different realm.



Or I might go to bed earlier than usual,

Get a full night’s sleep for once,

And hopefully wake up refreshed,

Not like I’ve been hit by a truck.



Today I might decide to get excited –

About what, I don’t know –

But I will approach it with enthusiasm

And overbrimming with the trill of it.



Or I might just plod through the day

Avoiding conflict and surprise,

Having a day where I simply exist

And don’t have to exert myself.



Today I might decide to follow my dreams

And change my career path,

Take on that role I know suits me

More than any other has done.



Or I might make the best of this job,

Creating the role I want for myself

From within the existing constraints

And blowing them to kingdom come.



Today I might decide to choose the right guy

To settle down with for the future

Who treats me as I should be treated

And accepts me, faults and all.



Or I might choose Mt Right Now,

Who makes me feel exponentially good

If but for a fleeting moment in time

And then disappears into the ether.



Today I might decide to catch up with friends

Who actually get me,

Who rejoice in my absurdity,

And who understand my weaknesses.



Or I might hang with new friends

Because then I can pretend to be someone

Infinitely different from who I am,

If only for a day.



Today I might decide to love myself

Because if I don’t, who will?

And I deserve to be loved

Just like everyone else.

We are the Dying

Look at the world, what's happening, what's happening.
Look at the people and places and things.
These are the things which surround us, engulf us.
We are the dying, help us survive.

Time is continually escaping, escaping.
Forever in the past and present and future.
Treat us with pride and treat us with care.
We are the dying, help us survive.

We live in the forests, the forests, the forests.
We live in the forests and oceans and plains.
We are the rare, endangered and sought after.
We are the dying, help us survive.

The Hourglass

Tip the timer over
Let the sand run through
Watch as it trickles down
Into the once empty base

Use the time as best you can
Do not dilly-dally
Soon no grains will remain
And then where will you be?

When all the sand has fallen
And none remains above
The next generation will come
And turn it over again

But the same cannot be said
For the seconds of your life
As they trickle through your fingers
And flow over your thumbs

Colour the grains of sand
In all manner of vibrant hues
Make your world an artwork
Priceless in anyone's estimation

Carry your hourglass with you
Do not sit and watch it run
Merely touch it in your pocket
To remind yourself it's there