My Wife is the Written Word

My wife is my most constant companion
To turn away from her would be a crime
My wife worries when I don’t spare the time
She knows I’ve ideas to fill a canyon

My wife is someone worth doing right by
The fact that she’s never left me is proof
My wife is the voice of reason and truth
She’s the one to whom I can never lie

My wife’s the voice that wants me to succeed
She knows when I’m happy, angry or blue
My wife speaks of imagination true
And she’s the only one I’ll ever need

Of a true queen, my wife wears a gold crown
And in return I’ll never let her down


Completed 17th November 2014

Payday

 My bank account has swelled greatly today
Just in time: I was through with being broke
But the drought is over; I have my pay
And with it my freedom I shall evoke
With this cash, I’ll get myself out of debt
I’ll go on ebay and a spending spree
I’ll buy tickets for a trip on a jet
For I finally have time to spend on me
I can meet my friends for drinks at the bar
I can purchase food for another week
I can now put petrol into my car
I can indulge in a life lot less bleak

The day ends: Goodbye to being wealthy
Hello to thirteen days of misery


29th September 2014

Man on a Park Bench

On a bench in the park sits an aged man
Looking wise; traveled; no more than fifty
Wearing a blue and white shirt with pants tan
Looking of experience and weary

Clearly he’s led a long life. Where’s he been?
What stories can he tell? Is he alone?
Does he have friends? What wonders has he seen?
And where is he going? Has he a home?

He looks up to the sky, his eyes seeking
But the evening looms: Soon it will be dark
He ascends from the bench with joints creaking
Leaning on his cane he departs the park

With a stride purposeful and colossal
He heads across the street to a brothel


22nd September 2014

Car Stereo

Welcome to my car. Welcome to my turf
Just go with it for you don’t get a say
Am I in control, Nowhere else on earth
And I determine what music will play
I play what I like. What I don’t I skip
Doesn’t matter if you like it or not
So don’t complain or give me any lip
No voice, Being a passenger you’ve got
I don’t care how long a song’s length may take
This is called tolerance so suck it up
The journey torturous. So does it make
I’m in the boss chair and won’t give it up

So I drive alone with a CD new
I just wish someone else would like it too


15th September 2014

Pretend Girlfriend

We meet up on a regular basis
We greet each other with smiles glowing
She likes to ask how my day is going
And never hesitates to plant a kiss
She knows what I like and talks about it
Her presence picks me up when I feel bad
She’s sympathetic when I’m feeling sad
And she finds much enjoyment in my wit
It’s for her I lower my defences
I see the real her; she sees the real me
I embrace her comfort, warmth and beauty
As her presence fulfils all my senses

But we’ve an understanding. Me and her
That what we have will never go further

9th June 2014

The Voice you Refuse to hear

Right beside you with every step taken
No matter where you go it’s coming too
Don’t like it? Well there’s nothing you can do
Ignore? You can try but you’re mistaken

Each and every thing you do it will see
All the good, all the bad, every action
It will note words said, each interaction
But it won’t tell you where you need to be

It will see thieving, the times you’re untrue
The people you hurt, the cruel words you say
It won’t speak out but it won’t go away
Because all it wants is what’s best for you

Unseen, it will be with you everywhere
And when the darkness calls it will be there


9th September 2013

Sunday Lunch

A sky of clearest blue. No cloud in sight
A house fifty miles from anywhere
A backyard looking deserted and bare
A green garden lit up by the sun’s light

By several cars, a driveway occupied
But there’s no sign of life that can be found
That can be heard. Because the only sound
Comes drifting in from the building’s inside

Chinks of both wine glasses and cutlery
A mixture of voices both young and old
Jokes being cracked and stories being told
Away from the world a good company

All thoughts of tomorrow have gone away
For now is the time to enjoy the day



Completed: 24th June 2013

Abandoned School

Vandalised walls that once looked so trusting
A dim light left on for someone unknown
Sports ovals left completely overgrown
Two soccer goals overturned and rusting
Concrete slab where basketball courts once stood
Pathways going nowhere. Railings broken
Empty terrapins where words were spoken
Windows boarding up the inside for good
Locked doors where through countless students have passed
Grounds where many met, made friends, fell in love
A building with no purpose to speak of
And a skiff bin going nowhere fast

Many an education once here dwelt
Now all that’s heard is footsteps on asphalt


9th April 2013

Science

I don’t believe in doing what genes say
Nor that I should obey some pre-program
I don’t believe that which is not my way
Nor that I have no say in Nature’s plan

I don’t believe that I’m part of a tribe
That I must find allies to mock the rest
Mixing is a dumb idea to subscribe
And enforcing that my path is the best

I don’t believe my group should be the one
That I decide what is morality
That I decide what to think, how it’s done
That who disagrees is an enemy

Because, in the end, I believe in me
Because that’s the only truth I can see


Completed: 11th March 2013

What a miserable year

Can this year hurry up and end? Like now?
It’s been the worst one yet! Like no other!
Been one disaster after another
Sure I survived it but I’m not sure how
This year was the absolute pits – It’s true!
Gave it my best shot but nothing went right!
Against the calamities I did fight
But in the end there was not much I could do
This year’s been a chain of catastrophe
Like they’re all trying to get out all at once
Too much to ask for something good up front?
You’d think it was with what’s happened to me

This year has been awful I must concede
And a fresh start is just the thing I need


16th November 2011

Sound System

Surround sound coming from every angle
Bass speaker set to rumble with thunder
All for the sake of a guitar’s jangle
My planet of sound. Bow to it’s wonder
So many genre’s all within my hand.
Rock, metal, dance hip-hop, folk: Got them all
Thousands of mp3s at my command
Ready to roar, scream, rock, party and call
Ten years spent building a rock history
Forty eight gig on an aging hard drive
In this chair there’s no place I’d rather be
An immersive world that keeps me alive

The louder the better. To this I drown
Because my sound system won’t let me down


11th July 2011

When you were mine

I remember those days spent together
Hand in hand watching a summer set
Laughing at jokes that weren’t really clever
Singing to my ipod as a duet
In a flash restaurant sharing dinner
Sitting on the water front with ice cream
Competing on Xbox to be winner
Gazing into each other’s eyes agleam
I remember those days spent together
When you said that: Yes you’ll be my girlfriend
When you said you’ll be my friend forever
Building a bond only we comprehend

But you say that none of this happened – ever
But to me it all should have – not never


8th October 2012

The Author

In the beginning there was an idea

It cut through the darkness with a beacon

It found its voice and it began speakin’

Words tumbled out with a purpose so clear

Words that could not be destroyed or halted

Words that formed into that which must be told

To form more ideas – more precious than gold

And once they knew how to walk, they bolted

Life was created with a waving hand

Universes were born with just one thought

Characters came and their voices they sought

And they walked on to forge legends so grand

And as long as there are words to apply

Ideas will never stop, falter or die

2nd August 2012

Wayfarer

Breaking down boundaries of exploration
Seeing as many things as possible
Meeting a giant number of people
Influencing lives towards succession
From many cultures, picking up so much
Discovering new methods and thinking
Going where no one else will be going
Always finding something new to see, touch
Encountering evil in many forms
Just for the underdog, prepared to fight
Even when winning can’t always be right
So someone small can see many more dawns

There’s no one else doing this type of thing
Of defying laws of adventuring


25th July 2006

The Time Capsule of Pop Music Revolutions

In the Sixties, the Beatles changed the face of pop music
The Rolling Stones proved the power of a good guitar lick
Jimi Hendrix became the undisputed master of the guitar
The Beach Boys sang in harmony of an endless summer
Bob Dylan merged folk and rock music in songs of protest
The Velvet Underground experimented in ways that worked best
Elvis Presley was still enjoying his reign as the king
And for metal bands, Led Zeppelin went pioneering

In the seventies, Neil Young made an early form of grunge
Into black soul and R&B, Curtis Mayfield took the plunge
David Bowie took his music, and his faces, into outer space
The Pink Floyd took listeners to many a different place
Fleetwood Mac told the world of relationships and dreams
Kraftwork set up the blueprint for music made by machines
The Bee Gees made a large number of disco floors rock
And the Sex Pistols preached chaos designed to shock

In the Eighties, AC/DC revealed what was going on down under
Joy Division expressed a man's soul being torn asunder
Madonna broke down many walls for feminine pop
Run DMC forged the way for the movement of hip-hop
R.E.M. brought attention to the alternative rock band
Bruce Springsteen told us all of the working class man
The Violent Femmes played acoustic for the many a geek
And U2 rocked out to bring the world at their feet

In the Nineties, the Happy Mondays dance music reigned supreme
Until Nirvana arrived to express the rage of teens
Metallica brought recognition to the world of metal
And Beck made admitting to being a loser a pathway to cool
Everything but the Girl and Massive Attack brought in Trip-hop
Whilst Blur and Oasis competed in the field of Brit-pop
The Chemical Brothers brought in their techno bag of tricks
And Radiohead wrote songs of alienation to win over the critics

But in the twenty-hundreds, everyone downloads the mp3
World Idol inspires great songs reworked generically
A mobile phone ring tone has become a number one hit
It just doesn't seem quite the same now, doesn't it?


10th October 2005

The island we call home

The island we call home’s a foreign shore
Made up of ghost towns built from our own hands
Ghosts walk for no one lives there any more
As everyone travelled to a new land
Travelling across the sea in a coffin
To a life that will never be the same
Don’t say what you have done. They won’t listen
They will own you and make you change your name
You have to smile in spite of the gloom
They don’t care for you are a refugee
Opportunities become delusions
And fortune relies on a lottery

But you still have dreams of a nice blue sea
From the island home that you’ll never see


18th February 2005

The Fable of Jacqueline and Michael

Jacqueline was a typical teenager
She had a real cute boyfriend called Michael
And she had dreams of being a singer

One day, he dumped her in a way most cruel
Citing an excuse that was pure nonsense:
He was through with her and she was a fool

Jacqueline got angry: She wanted vengeance
She felt cheated and made into much less
So she drew from that weak experience

Her songs grew angry in brutal excess
Apoplectic, scornful and accusing
And it put her on the road to success

A recording co. exec heard her sing
And immediately put forth a contract
Suddenly, Jacqueline was the next big thing

Her face began appearing on CD racks
And her fans began to grow in legion
She had a wrath that others seemed to lack

Jacqueline got rich through bones of contention
As well as, her fans who demanded more
She scored awards to numerous to mention

When Michael heard, he was shocked to the core
Jacqueline was taking a swipe back at him
It was too damn obvious to ignore

Now the whole wide world knew about his sin
And he was made into a laughing stock
He was in a trap where he couldn’t win

Michael had been transformed into a crock
He was now public enemy no. 1
His life had been smashed up onto a rock

But time wore on and Jacqueline’s time was done
She had been in the public eye for too long
And reality hit like a falling tonne

Her fans switched loyalties. They’re sick of her songs
Ignored by the press. What a brutal clout.
Jacqueline is now scorned. Her career’s gone wrong

Now Michael laughs, recovered from his rout
He wonders when he thinks of Jacqueline’s knife
So what was all the damn fuss all about?

So Jacqueline is still moaning about strife
But the public now find her annoying
Whilst Michael is getting on with his life


10th January 2005

Gabriella's Dream

Dark trees in a darkened word. Candle flame
Freshly fallen snow. A white dove croons
The sweet scent of roses. Walking through gloom
Guided by voices beautiful, she came
Shattered clock. She had forgotten her name.
Sheets of white silk. The light of a blue moon
A broken music box plays out a tune
She opened her heart for it to be tamed.
She undid her robe. The moon turned to glass
Closing her eyes. Smiling with ecstasy
Throwing her head back. Falling through the night
Lying on the snow. Breathing out short gasps
Remaining there, leaving no print, she lay
Until the arrival of dawn’s first light


25th October 2004

A powder keg of contradictions

I love life, the beauty of this planet
Yet I hate all the morons around me
I’ve a huge hoard of anime DVD’s
But I’ll never be a fan idiot
I am a recluse and a quiet one
But when I get excited, I bellow
I’m indeed keen to get out and have fun
Yet I’m also, quite frequently, mellow
If needs be, I will gladly stand and fight
Yet I abhor all forms of violence
Distinctions change. But I couldn’t care less
About the difference between wrong and right

“The point of this poem?” I hear you speak
Well buddy, I’m just proud to be unique


22nd October 2004

Anzac Day

Today we arrived at Gallipoli
Well prepared the shed some blood, sweat and tears
We’ll fight with our heads held high and no fears
We’ll fight for our freedom, home and country
We all know our home is worth fighting for
Even if we may not see it again
We may get shot, crippled or go insane
But our cause is just in this grizzly war
In war we’ve made friendships strong as cement
Friends to get drunk with at the local pub
Friends to joke and laugh with at the gambling club
But now laughter is forever silent

This silence has given me time to think
So I’ll go join the old folks for a drink


25th April 2003