I hate the way autumn comes so soon I hate the way moon leers at me Trees understand they drop their leaves And swallows flee from underneath the eaves T'was this time I said goodbye to you You closed your eyes and breathed no more Oh my darling you were my all And rain like sad tears did fall And so my life is where sadness rules What a hole is left in my heart Do you watch me from above? Do you see it's still you I love? You are still here all around me now Children grow apace you'd be so proud I grow so old without you Please dear, do read this billet doux Image found at https://pixabay.com/en/walk-landscape-trees-sun-sky-man-445272/
Didn't need an alarm this bright morning As birds chatter and quarrel in the trees Peek out the curtain, no sign of a breeze Rained last week but the bright sun's now shining Clouds high in sky, and moon grins like a cheese Slowly fades from sight now brought to its knees A grunt beside me, at last wife's waking I go to the kitchen, jug and cups await Dog at the door, his tail wags at a rate He dashes round garden, jug's now singing Now back in the bedroom your eyes I see You say "the tea can wait" beckoning me We both wake up with the dog barking I stagger to garden door to let him in Quiet day at home is what I'm thinking Image found at https://pixabay.com/en/coffee-cup-mug-bedroom-morning-690349/
It's almost eight years Since you went away I still feel you're here But no words do you say It's lonely in bed There's room for you still But your side's untouched For your place is not filled Family's all close Grandchildren grow up Laela does ballet Oh how they develop! Christmas is coming It's the same each year You're ever in our minds We still love you my dear Image found at https://pixabay.com/en/decorating-christmas-tree-santa-woman-2999718/
I stroked her hair as she closed her eyes Then put her big story book away How easy to love my granddaughter When with fairy tales or dolls I play I feast my eyes on her as she sleeps Then return to daughters dining room More juice? Son in law now says to me Waving bottle in hand; I say nay She's little now but the day will come When no doubt more wrinkled I shall be When with luck she'll want to play with us Plates cleared for games like Cheat or Rummy Image found at http://scottishbooktrust.com/
Thank you kids for being close over the years So happy all lived in the same state as us So together times of laughter, times of tears Weddings, birthdays and holidays with no fuss One year we flew to Tasmania for Christmas What laughter we had in our summer time No snow, just sunshine, bush walks and wines of class The pile of presents sky high it was sublime Then there was our autumn Murray River cruise We each took turns steering vessel on its way Keep the boat starboard or may get some abuse Then find a spot to tie up for the night's stay So we do as all families ought to do Being loved, being close, laughing away A family that's happy does stick like glue The best there is, thanks kids you are all OK Image found at http://www.murrayriver.com.au/unforgettable-houseboats-939/unforgettable-3/
I close my eyes, I am getting old What should I pray for, why be so bold? I have children and they have theirs I wonder if they say their prayers? I'm thankful for my ripe old age I read, I write, so turn the page I laugh a lot for life's so much fun I've never been faced with a gun Most people I've met I have loved (But not as a kid when pushed and shoved) I also noticed others eyes Easy then to tell truth from lies I want for nothing, that is the truth Wish luck to Martin, Robyn and Ruth And my grandkids for they are the best As they live their lives both east and west I'd love to meet my wife again To be together without all her pain I like to think she went ahead of me To speak for me like an attorney I would like to meet my dogs as well They were much fun despite the smell Many old friends too I'd like to meet Through them all life has been so sweet Image found at https://pixabay.com/en/church-praying-prayer-cathedral-768613/
I sit by your bedside, you are fast asleep, but I still talk to you whilst holding your hand. You have been in a coma for a few days but I still visit you everyday just in case. I tell you what flowers are out in the garden, and how the fruit is growing on the apricot tree. The nurse then comes in to check your temperature and says "You have been in most of the day, why don't you go home and have a break?" So I do and find it is late afternoon so I drive back home to get a bite to eat. I throw something together and am just finishing it when the phone rings. It is the hospital, the nurse from the ward says, "I am so sorry. Your wife died just few minutes ago. Please do not rush back, there is no hurry". I thank her and tidy up, ring the children and then drive back slowly to the hospital as the street lights come on. The sun has now set The clouds drift into darkness I kiss you goodbye Image found at https://www.shutterstock.com
What better healing balm than this That to be woken with a kiss How blind I was 'ere I met you Hand in hand we watch stars in the astral plane The bully Sun set long ago Twinkling lights sets your face in view Whispering words, music to my ears Your eyes wide shining bright in light of the moon Now walking through the forest trees On icy days or rain's fluid ways My blood pulses at the thought of you Spurs my mind, how beautiful our world can be Image found at https://zamilovane.wordpress.com
Where will I find you now you have gone? Where can I travel to hear your song? Where did you go for it's been so long? Darling you were the one I relied on I walk the beach that's close to home I see you skipping waves in my mind I call; it's you, surely I'm not blind? But you have disappeared in the foam Are the seagulls crying overhead? Does that crab wave messages to me? Is that you down there I can't quite see? Do you speak to me when I'm in bed? Then I realised you had not left As you are watching me from above For you're giving me unending love There' no need for me to feel bereft Image forund at https://pixabay.com/en/adult-beach-blue-horizon-leisure-21679/
Why now that winter is coming Do you now write me a letter Not that it makes me feel better To say just why we had to part Knowing that it would break my heart Four years have you been my lover Now I am lost, you have another Cold as ice; No it is far worse! Gone those eyes sparkling in the night Gone your kisses beyond delight Will I ever see you again? Losing you is such awful pain How can I start another life? T'was you I wanted for a wife Dark is my mood and dark the skies Sun leaves earlier every day Leaves have fallen, birds flown away Winter winds howl with a cold rage As my life turns another page Was it really your lips I kissed All in November's soaking mist Image found at https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/bank-day-november-fog-landscape-mood_668985.htm
My word you are beautiful Like sun setting in the west Skittish, laughing, hard to read Head full of untold secrets An old one that knew so much One who has travelled so far But are those tears in your eyes? Closing them as I hug you Remembering infant me Time, tick, tick, ticking away Your worn hands reach up to me Compare me to my father "I'll get you a cup of tea" She says to me now smiling Forgetting she is in care But the trolley's coming round We both get one and a biscuit Hers shaking in her old hands "How is...?" My wife's name is blank So I talk about June then I stay about an hour or so Chatting; she patting my hands Slowly she closes her eyes I leave when she falls asleep But she may not remember That I came, but that's okay Better than pleading with me To take her back to my place So hard to handle last time Carers had to calm her down Image found at https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-mommys-boy.htm
What can I do with all these tears? I'd never before seen the connection between weeping tears And the tears that rip you open until now Now as I feel my heart being torn open again the tears flow freely What's the thing about grief that punishes me so much for loving? What can I do with all these tears? Can I collect them and wash myself free of the memories That constantly nibble at me now? But you are all around me and within me, both outside and at home There is the scent of you, enticing but sadly out of reach What can I do with all these tears? Let them fall and get them to send a message of lasting love That will forever be in my heart Telling you of your children and grandchildren, of music and birds Of the sea and the hills and wind and rain and of holding your hand Image found found at https://pixabay.com/en/sunset-couple-holding-hands-love-583933/
I can't say anything For you won't speak to me So I write you letters But do you read what I've written? You were my first true love Help me to understand Why I'm not on your page Foolish me for I was bitten No more long walks outside Holding hands white Moon beams Carved our names in tree's trunk Silly me, as I was smitten No more shall I write words Sentences filled with love Tempted by another You're no more my charming kitten
Image found at http://soulmagazine.org/he-heals-the-brokenhearted/
First rays of dawn shone through the window She snuggled close to my back Now breathing contentedly I loved everything about her Her eyes, her nose and her soft hands But didn't even know her name Image found at https://www.verywellmind.com/getting-quality-sleep-when-stressed-3145263
I was surely lucky as a child Instead of me madly running wild I visited my mothers place of work Not playing in the streets like a jerk After school I raced without a care To library in town's Market Square Mum behind the counter stamping books I gorged myself in some cosy nooks In reference room I did my homework And walked back home with Mum after work I read fiction books not meant for me Books like "Lolita" and "The Cruel Sea" Wasn't long before I found classics To each bookshelf I go and fossick Aesops Fables, then The Golden Ass Balzac, Zola and Seutonius What education it was for me To binge read "The Old Man and the Sea" Even "On the Beach" by Nevil Shute And other authors of great repute When married my wife also a fan So our few bookcases grew a span Years later those books still talk to me For reading's a pleasure guaranteed Image found at https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/teen-boy-reading-in-quiet-library_2667043.htm Note the picture is not of me but the story behind the poem is true Authors of novels referred to: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
She is off on a journey now Flying high in the evening light Or singing at a perfect pitch Oh how she made my life so rich How I yearn for her now she's gone Perhaps wading on a coral shore How relentless is life's machine Where have you gone my dear Maureen? Met you when were such a cute miss Walking to work so close to me How telling was our first talk Our eyes eager like pair of hawks We stuck together as we should Travelled the world and raised three kids Grandchildren now number six I just wish you were a Phoenix Image found at https://pixabay.com/en/photos/
How I miss the swings and slides Of our happy childhood days Now my life is all despair Oh for those times without care How did we exist before? Homework, tests and such strict rules Cough syrup with runny nose Hand me downs of sister's clothes First to bathroom, lucky me Now she's banging on the door "Wait I've got to do my hair" She pinched my arm with a glare How the years have passed since then When she died my heart did break Cool day for her funeral Heavens open; rain does fall Image found at https://onceuponasnarkyrecap.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/
I am ahead of you Those were my last words Just moments before my execution Thinking that humour was apt As a final cutting statement As the crowd gaped on All laughing at my misfortune I made a clean break And doffed my peaked cap To wave goodbye quite unaware Of the end of time Image found at https://2.bp.blogspot.com/
I never used to write poetry Until I found the man That forever changed my view On such rhyming verse So then I thought, I can Writing of his world for all to see John Clare's work spoke to me Peasant poet, he was called Seeing through his eyes Although a troubled man His style was of course rural poesy Taking readers with him To that world many years past Simple rural life Read him, you'll be a fan Here is his sonnet "I love to hear the evening crows go by" I love to hear the evening crows go by And see the starnels darken down the sky The bleaching stack the bustling sparrow leaves And plops with merry note beneath the eaves The old and lated pigeon bounces by As if a wary watching hawk was nigh While far and fearing nothing high and slow The stranger birds to distance places go While short of flight the evening robin comes To watch the maiden sweeping out the crumbs Nor fears the shout of passing boy But pecks about the door and sings with joy Then in the hovel where the cows are fed Finds till the morning comes a pleasant bed Starnels -Starlings British poet John Clare b 1793 d 1864 Image from www.http://www.australianauctionreview.com.au
