I was delighted to be invited as a guest onto the Decadent Airwaves poetry programme on Beyond Radio.
Reading poems from some of my favourite poets and my poems was a pleasure as was the company of Paul Fisher, Matt Panesh and Amelie.
Poetry darts was fun too!
You can listen to the broadcast here
In my darkest hours, when shadows loom,
a flicker of light dispels the gloom.
Hope, a beacon, steadfast and bright,
guides us through the endless night.
When the storm clouds gather,
hope remains, gentle and mild.
A whisper of chaos, soft and clear,
reminding us that dawn is near.
In the heart’s deep chambers, where sadness lies,
hope plants seed that will never die,
with every tear, a promise grows,
that from the ashes a new life will flow.
Through trials and tribulations, we find our way,
with hope as our compass, come the day,
it lifts our spirits, fuels our dreams,
a river of light in life’s winding streams.
No matter how heavy the burdens we bear,
hope’s gentle touch is always there,
a reminder that within us all,
lies the strength to rise, to stand tall.
So hold on to hope, with all your strength,
for it will guide you through the night,
and when the dawn breaks, pure and true,
you’ll find that hope has carried you.
There’s nothing you can do,
but follow the flow
and cultivate the river,
forget your old routine,
swapped for care and comedy,
nurture the goodness of today
and each step will fall easier,
let love cushion your feet,
hold your heart in esteem,
your courage and bravery
will set your demons free,
our friends call and say,
you are in their thoughts and prayers,
remember hearts beat for love,
you don’t need to let the fear in,
in these struggling times,
put yourself in God’s hands.
Your tears like a sea,
penetrate my skin
and flood my soul with sadness,
absorbing the unknown.
I listen to you sleep
and hear your heartbeat,
I am your shadow of disbelief,
and meditate in memory.
Reminded of Mother’s scare,
my heart anchored in pain,
our world split
in this time of faith.
Keeping the lamp inside,
we have a change in the rhythm of life,
in this sinking sand
our spirit needs to hold on.
The cool breeze wraps around my ears,
I forget a camera and pause,
absorbed in panoramic view,
the bay brings peace to thoughts,
freedom whispers around in silence,
Cumbrian mountains in mist
like a citadel to a secret world,
not a ripple of water around me
in sight of the ocean.
My eyes close
and reflect this moment of solitude,
the soul calmed and captured in this stillness,
sky reaches out forever
my concern released to the world,
twilight direct to heart,
encapsulating the mind.
Silence echoes,
unlocks mechanics of mind,
eclipses nine-to-five,
working the inner dynamo,
escape in the compass needle,
in nothing there is everything,
nature carries you
and hears your heart in the openness,
the space that holds you,
projecting this earthing,
peace sets the soul free.
What was I ever looking for?
Perhaps my father’s sense of adventure
or was I getting away from my mother’s control,
Was I rising from routine or ruin?
Comfort in the 9 to 5,
reason in rigmarole,
stability in work and business,
the ego and id in overdrive.
I always felt I couldn’t get enough life,
it gets addictive,
what you like,
what bounds can break you.
Underpinning my own existence,
all ideas form from consequence,
the rebel was roused
and in subculture found identity.
My Parka ready,
music in my ears,
Farah shirt,
Gola trainers.
Thursday club was Indie night,
my late night escape,
my search for freedom again,
at least I felt free on the dance floor.
I always questioned reality,
What did I want in the mundane?
dulling my senses and draining
the colour from my eyes.
Connected by streets and history,
blood lines like routes,
always takes you back to a place
where there is an innate connection.
The boundary lines bond
an unspoken language
and when you are there
no-one is a stranger.
When people look you in the eye
and you see their soul and spirit
acceptance is second nature,
What was I ever looking for?
I immerse myself in colour,
in a moment my past comes
together in contemplation,
the hard wiring of the world
stripped away.
Layers surface in meditation,
memories dance through darkness,
a life time of work
at my finger tips,
I am liberated.
Looking at my bare bones,
through detachment from life itself,
hidden depths echo,
in between flashes of entity,
memories position in abstraction.
Paintings punctate
in explosions,
freedom in the turbulence,
harmony in division,
bringing meaning closer to existence.
As day draws to its climax,
red sun falls in patchwork cloud;
fragmented colours of pink
lie across the horizon
in fading blue sky’s canvas,
holding onto the day
in mid summer’s moment;
air passes bridges
and trees flower.
If this is paradise, then
I’m in heaven,
cocooned in Nature’s bosom.
For this time I reason with nobody,
nature is mine to see
what I choose.
Inspiration reflects from water.
The darkness cuts through
a thousand images,
as day folds gently
over the bay.
The colour of seasons squeezed on canvas,
like the voices echoing from the paint brush,
mixing the soft and the strong,
echoing and spreading
like the wings of a dove
released into the sea breeze,
waves fold and cast the summer aside,
the days begin to hide away,
looking into myself through layers,
visioning to reinvent myself.