Does the nominal HEAD of the “CHRISTIAN” Church

not have a CONSCIENCE, not wield immense POWER?

Is such a “CHRISTIAN” by reason of “CONVENTION”

absolved from his “CHRISTIAN” duty to OBEY

his CONSCIENCE, to speak out against mass MURDER,

murders enabled by subjects of his REALM?

If such a “CHRISTIAN”, whether by reason of

“CONVENTION” or COWARDICE

should see fit to abdicate...

Read and leave comments (1)

I look at her, when

she doesn’t realise

I’m looking,

bodies change,

mannerisms remain,

I watch her mouth

in serious concentration,

balancing her tongue

on her lower lip,

she has a smile that

breaks like a wave

crashing before slowly

spreading over sand,

and those eyes

still sixteen, that after

a lifetime

still notice me

© Graham R Sherwood 08/25

Read and leave comments (0)

Upon a throne of faux gold spray, He rules the kingdom of “Me First Day.” With subjects glued to cable* cheer, And mirrors jeering, NOT the greatest here. He longs for crowns and velvet halls, For royal waves from gilded walls. Yet all his touch turns not to gold, But rust and debts he leaves untold. Already Trumpvicted, the Convicted-in-Chief, His crown now reduced to a paper-thin ...

Read and leave comments (1)

On the colorful roofs

On the colorful poofs

The streets are filled with walkers.

The streets are filled with talkers.

 

 

The grey clouds cover the blue sky.

I am the one who wants to cry.

The dust covers the walks of the city,

The squares, parks don't look pretty.

 

 

The winds play with the leaves

They look like thieves.

The cold autumn is coming

Only...

Read and leave comments (0)

Liptitudal pronunciation 

Scribble doodles 

Of your imagination 

Under the rock of mystery 

The clock of destiny 

Off the hill he launched

Flew to the clouds

hung around awhile

had his lunch

Chilled to the bone

It's time to come down 

It's time to go home 

We are

All we can be

Living below the trees

Only there is not a feel

Like jumping off the hill

...

Read and leave comments (1)

 

i lean into the salt wind,

fingers tracing faint ridges

in damp sand.

 

“Where is my oyster?” i ask the horizon,

its answer swallowed by surf.

 

Kester Reed waits behind a driftwood break,

taps the shell-shards underfoot,

listens for that hollow note

that might be its name.

 

“What would it be, even?” he murmurs,

searching for shape in shadows.

 

O...

Read and leave comments (2)

There’s a summit in Alaska,

With Don and his mate Vlad.

They’re going to talk about Ukraine;

The omens are quite bad.

 

They’re due to feast on gourmet food;

Their hot thirsts will be slaked,

But any deal that’s hammered out

Is bound to be half-baked.

Read and leave comments (1)

[6/30, 04:32] MBJP: Awesome God!
  ( In Haiku)

I went to market,
Thousands of vegetables,
I thank(ed) God Jesus.
[6/30, 04:32] MBJP: Magnificent God!
       (A Haiku)

Plantain varieties 
Siblings of bananas,
Christ the Gardener.
[6/30, 04:32] MBJP: Power of God!
    (A Haiku)

Nature has its place,
Species run on their own speed,
Christ the Sustainer.
[6/30, 04:32] MBJP: Great ...

Read and leave comments (0)

"Hearty singalongs interspersed with Steve’s sharp, witty performance poetry: an incredibly incisive, thoroughly enjoyable CD which sums up our battered country in 2025 to a T. Definitely my album of the year so far."

Attila The Stockbroker's review of Evidence-Based Punk Rock by Steve White & The Protest Family, out on 5 September 2025.
Full review here: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/ar...

Read and leave comments (0)

Waiting to meet

the newest member of the family for the first time.

 

Your Mum, stepping off the train

holding our blanketed beautiful you in her arms.

 

After hugging and kissing you,

we saunter over to the station cafe, but,

before we enter, our attentions are distracted,

by a brightly colourful display of various novelty gifts,

in the window, of a shop next door.

...

Read and leave comments (2)

The Colosseum rose in the morning haze,
Its arches whispering of bygone days,
I traced its shadows, wide and deep,
Where echoes of battles still seem to sleep!

The Pantheon welcomed with solemn grace,
Light spilling softly into its space,
Its marble walls, its oculus sky,
Held secrets the centuries cannot deny!

The Spanish Steps, a cascade of stones,
Led me upwards, but not alone,
Fo...

Read and leave comments (1)

It’s the weighted chest pain

That’s hardest to explain 

The interwoven, the lingering

It spins a web across everyday

It’s the fog you learn to see through

Because you can’t get away 

Never the needle in your eye

The thorn in your side

It’s the routine of soft pain 

The clingy sting for life 

It’s the dull ache

Freedom but on a leash

Your mothers kiss with teeth

...

Read and leave comments (2)

is there an end to this darkness

or will I forever stagger on the path?

is there a will where there is a way?

if so, i want to know.

 

my father says i’m cursed

my mother barely calls my name

an abomination of sort, she says

mr. miller in school believed her.

 

I received the end of the stick 

well, that went okay

i am upright, easy going

she likes to add: up...

Read and leave comments (2)

THE HEART THAT WAITED

 

I am your heart, Lee. 

Not metaphor, not symbol— 

just muscle and memory, 

torn by the tremors 

of your mother’s absence.

 

I remember her laugh 

echoing through your chest 

like wind through a hollow reed. 

I remember the way 

she stitched your courage 

into the lining of your ribs.

 

Before 29th November 2023, 

the...

Read and leave comments (3)

Poem 197 of 230:  HISTORIC HEXHAM - AUTUMN 2002

 

All hay was made,

    And the sun stayed,

The autumn day

    I made my way,

Via Heddon,

    To old Hexham,

Where I did see:

    The fine abbey,

The ex-gaol

    By the moot-hall,

Plus, holding sports

    Of varied sorts,

The Tynedale

    And the Sele.

 

(C) David Franks 2003 - https://walkaboutsvers...

Read and leave comments (2)

—so I took her to my masters swim meet… a pantoum

 

Her body swayed, night’s mistress, hips caged in silk’s heat.

I froze—her lioness gaze, her eyes undressed.

A temptress sculpted by shadow, my goddess—complete

She grinned—my name, her voice, a purr—confessed.

 

I froze—her lioness gaze, her eyes undressed.

She pawed valleys, mounds—denim mines skin.

She grinned—my name...

Read and leave comments (0)

Bowler hats and spotless spats,

teamed with neatly tied cravats;

shouldered suits with wide lapels,

mobsters dressing up as swells.

 

Gangster movies, black and white,

sound of gunshots in the night.

Double-crossing, double-deal,

engines racing, tyres that squeal.

 

Night-club singers, cabarets,

dancing girls in chic berets;

bent casinos, Mr Big,

cards are ma...

Read and leave comments (3)

We are products of our times 

these thoughts aren’t mine 

everything passes through us 

from sewers to the divine 

 

I vibe on your signal 

you wave you particle 

merge into a molecule 

divide for reaction

 

deaf dumb and blind 

slaves to the grind 

compressed coal hearts 

exploited diamond mines

 

we see through the veil 

dancing snake-tailed 

im...

Read and leave comments (1)

I pulled back the skin around my cuticles like a banana
I kept going until my shell had shed 

This has not been a cacoon
This has been hell
I've painted it on everyday 

No one can see my rotten core 
Bruised 
It was just sugar 
I had let myself decompose 

So if you were to devour me
I would leave a bad taste in your mouth

Read and leave comments (0)

So you think you are here for what
How long have you even got
Day by day your life ebbs away
Hey what have you got to say
Look around you what do you see
You are destined to be history

Peace of mind 
My eyes were open but I was blind
Peace of mind
I remember when the sun it shined
Peace of mind
Me and my world were entwined 
Peace of mind

You are just a number man
Doing the very ...

Read and leave comments (2)

Libra Lady, born an Air bender.

Perhaps it’s why I spent $400 on a plane ticket 

Just to jump out of it at 90 mph.

For a quick fix, I do 90 mph on I-95 with all 4 windows down

So I can pretend I’m flying.

I’m not concerned with my hair blowing out of place

Don’t you know I just rode the back of the breeze?

 

Maybe it’s why my heads always in the damn clouds

Forgetting to...

Read and leave comments (0)

She was laughing 

Vividly

Romantically 

Lost in June 

That's where she stays 

Frozen in time 

A tear lingers begging to fall 

It's hard to remember who I was before 

How badly I wish to be her once more 

You can see it in her eyes 

While accompanied by friends 

She was happy

I long to be happy 

To be whisked away by laughter 

I can't pretend to know what w...

Read and leave comments (1)

Spotlight on skin/burn /not sun.

‘Still’ they say /Turn a key.

Line after line / A spider web.

Frayed memory / A escape.

Dismissing the past.

Echo/breath out.

Not summer anymore / new beginning.

Beating on the glass

Flow / Mask unveiled / Mood / Fragile.

 

 

From 'Echoes of August - The End of Summer II' 

Read and leave comments (0)

Know thoughts and feelings come in waves,

Though this may depend upon how one behaves.

So if we feel bad know this shall change,

Though at this time it may seem strange.

 

So if you live in a pit of misery,

Know you shall find a way out and be free.

And you shall once again breath the air

Of a world that we should love and share. 

 

So break out from your troubled min...

Read and leave comments (0)

There's a winged bug in my lukewarm coffee.

 

I'm not sure how it ended up here. Maybe I was careless,

but I feel no animosity toward it.

 

I don't know how to save a caffeine-buzzed, drowning insect,

but the important thing is that I'm going to try.

Read and leave comments (4)

If all the days of all the years were made of wine and gold
I’d roll them up into the light of intelligence in this one dog’s eyes
This friendship across species — a Buddhist mantra –
Rocks me like my good old boy, befriends me like the wind.
Be with me when the gates fly open — love will enter in.
Seek out the Majesty, the shaman-spirit that will be:
Come with me to the Paiut Wovoka gho...

Read and leave comments (0)

The D(e)utch 'Drinks'
(Europa's DemosCratos or Devinations)

I have a friend from H(a)arlem.
His name is 'likely' French.
He identifies more as ‘British’,
with ENcyclopedias entrenched.

I shouldn’t call that Latinized.
We wouldn’t call that bluff.

But what is in an alphabet?
Is it ‘shorely’ enough?
What lies within an alphabet
won’t really call our bluff.

And if you call that Sl...

Read and leave comments (0)

To My Brother

 

As we know, I've struggled on 

fighting demons of every size,  

But it was the action of my little brother  

that made me feel alive.  

 

What a blessing you are to all that you touch,  

your strength comes as such surprise,  

Because only we can see the fire  

that's burning deep within your eyes.  

 

Made from love, yet the start of your life  

...

Read and leave comments (2)

Hello, I see you.

Who are you?

Are you

depressed

autistic

psychotic

mentally ill

crazy

ocd

add

adhd

manic

addicted

neurodivergent

neurodiverse

etc etc

Good grief

Just be yourself

Use the labels if they help

Drop them if they don't

Just be yourself

I see you

I love you

We are all...

something.

Just be your beautiful self.

...

Read and leave comments (5)

 

How she was young and still with hope,

her skin unbroke by wicked days...

 

eyes that spoke no need of words,

yet sang "Zabur" a thousand ways...

 

her hands that worked the barren soil,

would glide like silk upon his face...

 

though ragged clothes betrayed her toil,

they could not dull her state of grace...

 

and now with streets and markets gone,

the ...

Read and leave comments (9)

Swearing for teenage boys is an identity creation,

Forming social bonds with new friends avoiding isolation.

Taboo words are choosen related to religion ,sex or slur.

When they are not thinking at all,when suffering a brain blur.

 

In their teens boys move towards the influence of their peers.

When "us" and "them" rules get transmitted to their ears.

Talking to a trusted adult...

Read and leave comments (1)

I raced to catch the London-bound eight fifty-two.

 

It pulled out slowly from unseen moorings

Slowly, slow, fast, faster, faster.

Those on the station waved enthusiastically

At those seated aboard,

Who waved back, less exuberantly.

Through dark-tinted glass, they peered.

The finality of their excitement, a mere hour away

Whilst mine should be a lot sooner.

The announ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Gritting my teeth, I can begin to admit
I have been struggling
In the first half of this year
I got bruised by my own undoing
Whittled so brittle
On cold spring afternoons

And you have been a salve
The gentle warmth of a grounded voice
Through cheap headphones
Brimming with sweet greetings
Quick with earthy encouragements
Easing me down cracked pavements

Your presence, your message...

Read and leave comments (1)

If not my veins,
at least, then,
the throbbing of my blood.
I just want to stay connected,
and not pretend
that all is alright.
To sleep without worry,
that maybe this night
might be different.
To no longer watch
my hands wrinkle,
as I worry about tomorrow.
I don't want to think about
yesterday's sorrows.
I just want breath,
and feel the lungs take in life,
not the lie I live on.
...

Read and leave comments (0)

my call cries

 

it climbs to the top of the mountain 

 

the mountain of all hope

 

over this heap of grief and sorrows

 

 

over the history scrawled in its crags,

 

the guilt and condemnation

 

of all the generations of man

 

 

 

I am in the fire atop

 

and in the cooling light beyond

 

 

 

in this moment the call brings me home

...

Read and leave comments (0)

Was I too much?

Too close?

Too heavy?

I still remember last winter 

When your fingers clutched me

The dark mornings 

When you couldn't let me go

I cradled you 

In a cocoon of quiet warmth 

I was the guardian of your shivers

And Now?

You toss me into the abyss

I lie waiting here in silence 

Suffocating in mothballs 

While the sun mocks me

But I know seas...

Read and leave comments (4)

Read and leave comments (1)

Sunday/Michael Kwack

 

Could’ve I met

  that woman? --

 

From somewhere distant,

 

With an ear of tiny hope

  in a sack of vacant heart,

 

To drop ennui,

To glean sympathy,

 

Or simply

  to hide in an afternoon chat,

 

Blinking those tender eyes,

 

Would’ve she sneaked away

  from her dim chamber,

 

That little woman

  of ...

Read and leave comments (0)

In the vast, dim canvas of the sky,
the moon perches,
like a night-blooming flower unfolding
in the darkness. It says nothing,
yet its glow reaches anyone who dares to look.

The stars flicker,
like quiet secrets dancing to a slow rhythm,
igniting hope
in the folds of the dark.
And in that soft light,
I try to sketch you.

You,
who were once a hope I could hold.

For a moment,
I l...

Read and leave comments (4)

A child on the shore,
Building sandcastles galore,
Innocence abounds.

A vivid display,
So much pride clearly shining -
Sea shells everywhere.

Engineering art,
Streams of water run through sand,
Castles come alive.

A drunken debut -
He kisses her by the sea,
Sand clings to his toes.

Education done,
Life’s journey just begun-
Sea spray in his face.

A knee in the sand,
A new...

Read and leave comments (1)

My eyes dim
My muscles ache
My bones weaken
My motivation asks,
"Is it worth the effort?"
My drive
My ambition
Want to sit
And rest a while.

Even if my hair
should turn white
overnight...   Okay.
But if I should cease to care,
If I no longer want to try,
Then the self rules,
And I die.

Read and leave comments (2)

I mistook you for a perennial, I grew addicted to your smell.
How you forced a coin down the wishing well.
All is swell in all that is dead,
You disappeared in the Winter time, leaving a mark on the earth.
Your dizzying effect even reached the banks of the river.
Eroding its barriers between the river and me 
I thought I would fall, what with all your tyranny.
You made a stranger of the nat...

Read and leave comments (1)

Like the thickening of your waistline and the thinning of your hair

It comes to you as just like me you fall to disrepair.

And not just stuff that's physical you find you cannot do

With time it also downgrades all your aspirations too.

When once I lusted for some blond to take her on a date

These days I'd love to cut my toe-nails

Or even just piss straight.

Read and leave comments (4)

 

It had gone from your eyes when you saw me

The light that used to adore me

It dimmed to a mist in the forest 

Where a canopy of leaves once fell for us

They fell like colourful snow

As we laughed & danced in its flow

 Wondering if we could stay there forever 

Thinking life was full of this splendour

 

But, time came & took you away

And the only thing that I could...

Read and leave comments (0)

Tyrannical, a voice was sound at distance
Resounding high above at marble spire
Where farthest, no one voice could but inquire
About the motives for the circumstance
Of wild laughter thunderous expression
That filling chamber hollow and of echoes
The purple garbed in silk so hast’ly chose
To make her lone alcove for recollection

About occurrence recent in experience
To witness public gr...

Read and leave comments (0)

These moments 

We need to remember 

But we don’t 

I had a full head of hair 

It was brown 

There were no flecks 

Of salt and pepper grey

in my beard 

And now

As I gaze through 

My glasses 

I forget that once

I had no need of them

To read

And I see 

A photo 

Of a friend 

And I have to stare 

Because he looks 

Like someone’s 

Dad

Or dare...

Read and leave comments (0)

Unlearning what has 

Ceased to serve, 

While still pestered 

By the electrified spectres

Of what has been, 

Yet faithful footstep 

After footstep,

Doubt is allayed,

And, in the distance,

A tabula rasa seems

To gleam, inviting

A lightness of soul

To descend, as when

A dandelion to

The breeze defers...

Read and leave comments (4)

There are things a poet shouldn’t do

like fly a plane or fix a shoe

Or hang a picture on the wall

it will either slant, or fall

 

Any vocation that makes you bored

Accountancy is best ignored

Adopting an extreme yoga position

is at odds with a poetic disposition

 

Woodwork, tapestry or macrame

Joining the Territorial Army

Playing golf or running a bar

No poet...

Read and leave comments (7)

Love I've found it again, a reason to 

Smile someone to pour my heart out to 

But im scared this love will end and 

it will end in a way that brings 

Me back to you.

Read and leave comments (0)

Tainted willows tearfully bowing to the devil’s courtier

Held in a clench by the wicked winter

Nothing mattered during this dark and dreadful time

Horror was the emotion of those days

Treacherous men tirelessly murdering the innocent

Death lay silently all around

Life dared not even twitch for fear of meeting death head on.

Read and leave comments (2)