Flipside

31/08/2020 –  Poem a Day Compilation



When I was young

I’d sit by my grandfather’s feet

Listening to records

Playing on the turntable.



He had a really old one,

You had to flip the record yourself

And place the needle carefully

So it wouldn’t scratch.



We’d listen to the classics

Music he’d grown up loving

And I knew all the words

Even though they were well before my time.



He’d say, “Flip it over, kid”

And I’d jump up from the floor.

Then, he’d smile.

He didn’t do that often.



I’d take the needle off

And carefully lift the record

Turning it on one motion

In the blink of an eye.



After I’d set the B side playing

He’d watch me dance to the old songs

Reminiscing about his dance hall days

But I couldn’t imagine him dancing, then.



I still listen to music every day

But it’s not the same unless it’s on vinyl.

To hear the crackle and the noise,

That’s what my heart remembers.



“Music isn’t meant to be perfect,”

My grandfather told me one day,

“It’s meant to sound lived in,

Just like hearing it in the flesh.”



I didn’t know what he meant that day,

And I wouldn’t for a very long time.

He saw me grow and find my own music

And we shared it on that old turntable.



Every year, under the Christmas tree,

A flat, square present waited to be unwrapped

By a child, a teenager, a young woman

And, finally, a mother of rambunctious boys.



But as I sat at his funeral all those years later

Hearing the music they’d chosen for him

It finally made all the sense in the world to me.

It was all too perfect.



Ave Maria carried effortlessly

Across the room as if sung by angels,

And tears rolled down the cheeks

Of relatives and family friends.



But it wasn’t until I heard the hum

Of that old record player

And Vera Lynn’s voice rang out

As if standing before us all.



    “We’ll meet again,

    Don’t know where, don’t know when,

    But I’m sure we’ll meet again

    Some sunny day.”



My chin trembled,

My eyes welled up,

I caught my breath

And felt him there.



That lived in sound filled my ears,

And swept over my heart

And his last words came back to me,

“See you on the flipside, kid.”

Listen Up

30/08/2020 -  Poem a Day Compilation



Listen to the taps of keys

As I write into the wee small hours

And you are sure to hear a tale

Told from a heartfelt place.



I could not shout these words as loud

As I can through this keyboard lit

By one small lamp beside my bed

Calling to the world beyond.



There is no rhyme or reason here,

Just words upon words, layered high,

Oozing from my fingers down telephone lines

To destinations far and wide.



They are soaked up by eager eyes

In distant lands with foreign tastes

Who will never know me as I am

But only as I seem to be.



What creation I might fabricate

As stars distract me from my work,

Alien light shining from afar

To spark a notion in my mind.



And as I listen to silent stars

Their energy burns through the page

Reaching a hand out into the void

And making contact with what it finds.



Where these words were born, I know not

Yet some fester where I find them

While others grow and creep and shine

Reflecting my injured soul back at me.



The tendrils wrap around my heart

Squeezing experiences from my breast

That burst to life like Sweet Alyssum

Drawing me in as with no other.



And so I am, locked in this dance,

Feverishly spewing out syllables

In some vain hope they make some sense

To more than just my troubled mind.



Then, when those lines have flown the coop,

I shall be absorbed in darkness new

To devour words, to feed the light

and listen to the taps of keys once more.

Do Not Cry

29/08/2020 –  Poem a Day Compilation



Do not cry, my sweet,

I cannot stand your tears.

They sting like nettles overgrown

And cut a thousand times as deep.



I long to dry your eyes, my love,

But how do I stop the rain from falling?

There’s no magic in these hands

And my words can cast no spells.



If I could take away your pain, my dear,

Scrunch it up into a little ball

And throw it into the fiery pits of hell,

I would not hesitate at all.



There is nothing I wouldn’t do, my precious,

To ease your hurting heart,

To give it back it’s vigour

And return to you your soul.



Because with every tear you shed, my beloved,

When you lay your head on my shoulder

I feel your heart break afresh

And I know there’s nothing I can do.

Sarcasm

28/08/2020 - Poem a Day Compilation



Please forgive me my sarcastic nature,

It is the only other language

In which I am fully fluent

And I’d hate for it to go to waste.



The look on your face when you’re not sure

If I am being sarcastic or not

Is quite exquisite in its deliciousness

Until the realisation dawns.



I do try so very hard, mostly,

Not to overdo it in company

But it does tend to slip out

At incredibly inappropriate moments.



Like that time when your darling brother

Dropped the drinks over the table

And I couldn’t help but say,

“I think you missed a spot.”



He was very annoyed,

I don’t think he’s forgiven me yet

But that’s ok,

I’m sure he’ll get over it.



Some people think I’m unintentionally rude

And that they need to quietly admonish me:

I have set them straight with the fact

That I completely intended the insult.



I can always pick the pop-psychologists

When they describe my dark, dry wit

As hostility disguised as humour

When it’s obviously dripping with sarcasm.



If you cannot abide my very occasional snark

Then I am happy to show you the door,

Though the number of times you’ve left

I’m sure you know where it is.

You Are Wrong

27/08/2020 -  Poem a Day Compilation



You are wrong in every conceivable way.

I cannot begin to fathom how wrong

It is possible for one person to be,

Yet here we are.



When we met, I didn’t realise

How ideologically opposed we were

Because you camouflaged your true identity

To ingratiate yourself.



Maybe I missed all the warning signs

And wanted to see the best in you –

I’d set the bar so low without knowing

And the likes of you slipped through.



I’m sorry to say it took me too long

To call you out on your bigotry

And when I did it felt so good

And you took it so very badly.



You reacted like the child you are,

Throwing your proverbial toys from the pram,

And I was one of those toys your tossed

But you’re not getting me back.



You’ve made your bed to lie in

By choosing division over acceptance,

Your compassion chip not functioning

Nor your humanity interface.



I hope, one day, you’ll see the light

But I won’t hold my breath and wait.

I don’t ever want to hear your voice

And I won’t answer the phone when you call.



I don’t understand how you can’t see

That we are all just human beings

Trying to survive this thing called life

And our differences are miniscule.



The colour of my skin doesn’t matter,

It won’t change whether I’m kind or mean,

Unless you make it an obstacle to overcome

When it never was for me.



The language that comes from my mouth

Has no bearing on my intelligence

Though I marvel at those among us

Who can converse in many tongues.



What greater gift than diversity

May be bestowed upon our land?

The melting pot includes us all

And we should treasure every soul.



Your hatred burns inside your heart

And grinds your thoughts to dust;

But your vitriol will never reach my ears

Now that you have been cast aside.

Perfection

26/08/2020 - Poem a Day Compilation



I am perfection.

I am perfectly perfect

At perfecting the art

Of being a perfectionist.

Moonlight

25/08/2020 -  Poem a Day Compilation



Do you ever just want to dance

Shrouded in pale moonlight,

Ethereal, otherworldly, and magical,

And free from all that binds?



I wish I could close my eyes,

Covered by hands like butterfly wings,

Blocking out the rest of the world

With all of its harsh reality.



There’s value in holding on tight

To the fantasy of imagination

Where everything impossible is possible

As long as you think it to be.



Slaves could rule over masters,

The hungry could feast on the rich.

Animals could speak words of wisdom

And the planets could all align.



Humankind will always be disparate,

Unequal in power and might,

Bosses lauding control

As kings did over the serfs.



Wealth tears societies apart

With the haves and the have nots,

Imbalance creates a vicious cycle

That keeps the poor in their place.



We tune out the voices we don’t understand

And miss the signs that all around us.

The plants and animals could teach so much

If only we opened our ears.



It seems that we’d much rather have faith

In the sorcery of times gone by

When the seemingly supernatural

Could not yet be explained by likes of us.



Smoke might transform into diamonds,

The sea might give birth to the mountains,

Dragons might sleep on hearth rugs

And moonlight might be as bright as the sun.



But smoke wafts away on the breeze,

No riches left here for me to find.

The lingering odour feeding memories

Of something that may never have occurred.



While the sea roars and rushes

It tears down the land it surrounds,

Eroding the foundation of my existence

As it gorges on all that it sees.



No great wings beat over my head

And my ankles remain unscorched,

With no scales shed in the carpet

And no way to vanquish my foes.



But the moonlight dances on the water

And plays funny tricks on my eyes,

The white sea horses frolic gayly,

Glinting and shimmering and free.