POETRY FOCUS
A place to pause for a poem
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Indelible Marks
No-one will recall how many times you swept,
the dusting or how clean you made your house,
No-one will list how many nights you haven't slept -
Where worries stole your dreams away,
sapping energy that would have been better spent
on plans, adventures, lazy days.
They will remember when you shared a smile,
a look, a nod, a walk together side by side,
Made space to listen to them for a while -
Held hands and nurtured memories,
laughed or cried but solved a problem,
built a bridge, left a footprint, made a mark.
June 2023
MOMENTS IN TIME...
This small selection captures significant moments, in a way that only poetry can do.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Here's to together times and smiling days
Coffee cup chats wrapped in nostalgic haze
Friends round a table, sharing pizza and pud
Laughing again and feeling good
A day at the seaside, the breeze on our face
Time to browse a shop at meandering pace
To hugs and conversation, sat within the same room
And actual celebrations without the need for Zoom
A toast to love and friendship, habits to renew
Singing round the candles - happy birthday to you
Many little moments, together spread a smile
May we share them all again some day, in just a little while
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January 2021
FULL MOON
What draws the eye to stare upon the moon, when it's glow is full?
A beacon in the midnight sky,
A skipped heartbeat of mystery,
Watching us beneath, amongst our toil,
Returning our gaze with silent stare,
Softly hanging there...
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January 2021
THE MEASURE OF A MAN
How do you start and where do you look to find the measure of a man?
Not his height or weight but the mark he made in his lifespan?
​
The figures in his bank account,
The steps of a career,
The hours of time invested,
His hopes, his dreams, his fears?
Is it the races that he ran,
The wit of jokes he made,
The years of marriage that he shared,
The sacrifices paid?
The wisdom of experience,
The views that he has seen,
The games played with his children,
The places he has been?
How do you hope to catch it all?
Hold the details if you can,
For all of them together,
Give the measure of a man.
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Summer 2020: Written in memory of my father - a quietly determined man whose loss is too great to measure.
BLUE
Open space,
Still in this place,
This place of calm,
To float on thoughts, thoughts to encapsulate
Blue sky thinking
Freedom of escape, de-stressing the mind
Bathed in the rays of the sun,
A sense of renewal begun
As a shroud of silken blue to enrobe,
To comfort, to complete, to pass unnoticed to the eye,
Save for sandy footprints from a dipped toe
An ocean of blue, expanding to the horizon to hem the sky and sea together
Such vastness in a microcosm,
A ripple, a wisp of cloud, a breath of a breeze,
Drawing into the soul,
Bringing a peace to the wrestling blue within,
Blue is a breath, a beat, a pulse
A place to be still, to reboot and refill,
Blue,
Wide, far and insular blue.
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11/3/2020
YOU DON'T NEEDÂ TO
You don't need to tell me how to style and fix my hair
You don't need to tut or shrug about what I choose to wear
You don't need to limit me in what I choose to do
You don't need to hold me back from trying something new
You don't need to pigeonhole my skills in any way
You don't need to talk for me as if I have nothing to say
You don't need to write me off or say I'm getting old
You don't need to like itas you watch me break the mould
​
​
September 2019
