Bio - Richard Fleming

Richard Fleming is an Ulster-born poet and short-story writer, now resident in Guernsey.

His work has been broadcast and widely published and will be familiar to listeners of BBC Radio Guernsey, BBC North-West and Radio Ulster.

He has performed at various literary festivals in the UK and Europe, has three collections of verse in print:
A Guernsey Double, Strange Journey and Stone Witness, recently published by Blue Ormer. He is currently compiling a fourth collection.

Richard enjoys music, books and films, food, wine, animals and sunshine. You’ll find these subjects featured in his popular blog, Bard at Bay (http://redhandwriter.blogspot.com) along with many of his better-known poems and short stories.

New Year's Wish - Ian Duquemin

So Christmas is over
And it brings a new year
For some times of plenty
But some dreaded fear
Will wishes been made
Be of greed or of peace
How many have wished
That destruction will cease?
Is new year a time
Where we all celebrate
Just a day when we smile
To disguise what we hate
Then fall back to hatred
So many prefer
Simply wishing for heartache
And bad to occur
It's another new year
Where the world is a mess
Do you turn a blind eye?
Or stand up and address
A child has just died
While I'm writing these lines
But the sales bring hordes
That's the sign of the times!
Another year over...
Another year ends...
So I ask you wish wisely
My most thoughtful of friends

Ian Duquemin

May You Know Peace - Kathy Figueroa

Under the weight of your burdens
May you never stumble
May your spirit and resolve
Not waver or crumble
May you find strength and joy
In small and quiet things
And may you know the peace
That this season brings

Kathy Figueroa

A Christmas Poem - Ian Duquemin

When Santa got stuck down the chimney, he began to shout
"Oh deer’s up on the rooftop, pass the reins and drag me out"
The reindeers pulled and pulled, as Santa pleaded "Rescue me"
But try they did, to no avail... They could not pull him free
Rudolf started laughing, then he stomped his cloven heels
Said "When that fire's lit, then you'll know how a turkey feels"
Well Santa saw the funny side, and laughed so very loud
He crashed down to the fire place, amidst a sooty cloud
He climbed out of the window, as the deers all gave a cheer
"Christmas isn't snowy white, it's very black this year"
Old Santa gave a chuckle, as he brushed away the dust
"We won't be having turkey, although venison’s a must"

Ian Duquemin

Sorry About That, Folks - Tony Bradley

Well, typically, and in character, I’ve screwed up again,
Just when everything was good . . it’s such a pity,
now our Poetry meetings are cancelled, at the hotel
but in mitigation, please, an explanatory ditty.

I always come late, from a Zumba class
the two functions overlap , by quarter of an hour
no time for the Bar, so I finish my health drink
hence the Hotel staff begin to glower.

Tony Bradley

No Strings - Diane Scantlebury

Without strings
Bows will fire no arrows,
Without strings
A guitar makes no sound,
Without thoughts
A mind can’t trip over,
If wisdom’s pearls
Cascade to the ground,
Without strings
A puppet has no animation,
Without life
A body is just a pile of limbs,
Where there’s no loving spark
To pull on the heart’s strings,
Or inflate the lungs of the soul within.

Diane Scantlebury

Lamp Standards - Stephen A. Roberts

You shone for King George
and the Beatles and the Stones
clean and new-fangled
no lamplighter required

Every day for 60 years
patiently awaiting dusk;
your time to shine out
a beacon to home

Your warm yellow beams
threw shadows of ghost riders
and winter shoppers
into our garden and drive

Cast in iron
now cast aside;
scrapped for convenience
no more egg-yolk rays.

Metal grey, sleek, this
new circadian disruption is
streamlined, characterless
it is the cold blue light of progress.

Stephen A. Roberts

Earth Spirit - Trudie Shannon

I let the water fall
Through sunshine and onto cloud.
I let the water fall
Through rainbow and into sound.
I am the rhythm.
I am the soul.
My dreams cascade
My vital waters flow
Into harvests,
Into ground.
I am straight and lithe in growing wheat
I am the life in each bird's wing as it takes flight.
I let the water fall
Let glistening pearls rest
Upon leaf and twig, flesh and fur.
I let the wind call through the grasses
Crossing meadows, traversing forests,
Rippling waters, rivers and seas.
I await, for my seasons fruit to fall
Enriching all,
The soil, the earth, my Self.
I let the water fall
Through sunshine and onto cloud

Trudie Shannon

Sundance - Lyndon Queripel

Your shadow escaped capture
Now your spirit is reconciled
You've got to find your roots
Before you are exiled
Freedom is a word
That a lot of people use
When they think they’ve got
Nothing left to lose

Sundance in the morning
Sing away the rain
Ignore the early warning
Once again

There’s gold in the hills
And diamonds in the dust
There’s silver in your smile
And wander in your lust
There’s a promise broken
And an air of mistrust
With a rainbow on the rise
That’s just turning to rust

Sundance for the seed
Clouds obscure the view
Will the sky you need
Be cleared to blue

The moment of truth
Can no longer be delayed
Let go of your fear
You don’t have to be afraid
Peace is the time and space
Between all of the wars
Fought to the bitter end
For an almost forgotten cause

Sundance for the children
Take them by the hand
Pray that they will listen
They will understand.

Lyndon Queripel

Face(book) - Ian Duquemin

You know, Facebook can be such a powerful tool
It can teach you the things they avoided in school
If you scroll past the nonsense and seek you can learn
About forests of trees (for your palm oil) they burn
There are posts that will show you how animals die
But you're scared if you watch them you'll break down and cry
But that is its purpose, and why it is there
To show you have heart, and to prove that you care
You can read of our world, and the damage we've done
This is something so real, it should scare everyone
Your children, their children, their children to be
Might not know of a fish that once lived in the sea
If you scroll past the posts that are trying to teach
If you think that your friends are just trying to preach
I ask you... Is posting your dinner okay?
When the dinner you show was alive yesterday!
Do you think that a quote that you found on the net
Will make others think twice of the karma they'll get?
It's a fact, no one thinks when the truth has been shared
If you did, then a million lives would be spared
So read what is posted, and watch when you can
By eating a cow doesn't make you a man
But by shedding a tear when you see something real
Is how every human should honestly feel

Ian Duquemin