September 11th 2001 New York - Theresa Le Flem

American flags hang dismally
like forgotten laundry slung across balconies
dirty and betrayed
A grey skin of steam
plumes by the Hudson River
It echoes the smoke in our memory
Something to fill the gap
Where the twin towers stood like brothers
proud against the skyline
mothers search for sons
There is no looking
only seeing, disbelieving

American flags in tatters torn
like skin like someone waving at the moon
It’s so unreachable untouchable
this enemy of life
No amount of kindness or forgiveness
seems enough

When hate itself becomes the sword
that pierces every word and thought
What can dilute the poison draught?
Who can achieve a goal in life
if death itself is the task?

Two cylinders of buildings
where people starting work
carrying coffee, filing letters
are ignited by a spark
Death such as this
makes history itself unworthy
of the task of recording
so many lives lost senselessly

We have this hole in Manhattan to fill
It aches, it kills us still
they all belonged to us you see
now we’re loosed from it
but we don’t feel free
Our question lies uncomfortably
Why not me?
Why not me?


Image : Pixabay - Armelion

From Theresa Le Flem's collection 'Meet Me at Low Tide' available here.

Blue Woods - Tony Gardner

Blue bells nod their sleepy heads
In old sun-speckled woods
To spring time music of the birds
In glades where once she stood.
Her laughter rang like Fairy bells
In youth when Life was gay
And often we would wander there
Along the blue bell'd way

Today I walk that path alone
But still she's there with me
Her shadow dances soft upon
That old sun-speckled tree
I hear her laugh like Fairy bells
And I'm not sad you know
I can always find her here
Where the Blue Bells grow.

Tony Gardner

The Call - Richard Fleming

We watched a small boat on the lake:
oars dipped and rose, oars dipped and rose,
and strollers, happy, I suppose,
went by, each blind to our heartache.
We held each other, did not speak
too numb to search for words to soothe:
instead, embraced the dreadful truth
and, in truth’s loveless arms, grew weak.
An hour ago, we laughed and shopped,
drank coffee, waited for a bus,
then came the call that murdered us:
Time slowed, then stalled. Now time has stopped.

Richard Fleming

Image : Pixabay - TF3000

Armistice Day, France - Trudie Shannon

Armistice Day
And the café is two thirds empty.
Vacant seats that evoke images
Of men unknown
Who drank coffee, made love, fathered children
Teased their siblings, loved their fathers, idolised their mothers.
Unknown and faceless here and now
Yet these empty seats exude their presence somehow.
Their voices infiltrate the conversation and the music,
Their invisible footprints leave muddy trails upon the floor
And the dank smell of their unwashed bodies and uniforms
Permeates the air and outside there is a
Staccato rhythm to the silence.
It is not raining.
It is not nighttime
But there are ghosts, drifting hopeful
Around these empty tables, these vacant chairs.
And suddenly in isolation, tears cascade into my cup.

Trudie Shannon

True Romance - Richard Fleming

It may have been a fling to you
and little more. To me it was
the world I’d built our future on.
You threw me down as though I were
a paperback you’d read and liked
but hardly loved: a hollow book.
Abandoned, desolate, bereft,
I felt my love was quite enough
for both of us. I begged you stay.
You laughed and said, things end, don’t weep,
discard one book and start another.
You left without a second glance.
I thought ours was a True Romance.

Richard Fleming

Sorry Situation - Ian Duquemin

There ain't no point denying, I ain't lying
That our love affair was real
Or how could I explain, this kinda pain
That's how a broken heart should feel
If I can't sleep at night, or hold you tight
It never was infatuation
I wait here all alone, for you to phone
And that's a sorry situation

I never thought you'd go, so you should know
That wasn't ever my intention
And if I made you cry, then say goodbye
I guess that I forgot to mention
That I'm in love with you, I thought you knew
I was as stupid as a fool could be
Now I'm longing for the kiss, I've come to miss
So won't you please come home and back to me

If you should stay away, another day
You know I'd understand your reasons
But not to have you here, is like a year
Without its ever changing seasons
The rain would fall all day, and come what may
There wouldn't be your inspiration
These words to you I send, in hope to end
This sad and sorry situation

Ian Duquemin

Remains Of Love - Ian Duquemin

Was my touch so repulsive, you scrubbed me away?
And my company so cruel, it caused you to stray
Did the structure we build, turn to rubble then sand?
That spills from the palm of your hand

Was my love so destructive? A drug forced to take
The heart you once dwelled in, abandoned to break
Were the feelings you gave me, on loan for a time?
Returned, as they never were mine

Did the tears that I cried put a smile on your face?
The desire we shared now unholy disgrace
Do the memories of something remain in the past?
As shadows of doubt have been cast

I was lost when I found you, and lost once again
As all that I'm left with is sorrow and pain
The coldness I feel is a fate hard to bear
With the knowing you don't even care

Ian Duquemin

Johnny, Dear Johnny - Ian Duquemin

Johnny, dear Johnny, since you sailed away
Now a year, seven months and a day
But your ship it has not yet returned
Though my heart it has hungered and yearned

Oh Johnny, dear Johnny, my only true love
Do you see me in stars high above?
How I've prayed on those nights all alone
For the wind to have blown you back home

Johnny, dear Johnny, I've cried every day
From the moment you drifted away
You remained with me here in my heart
Though the tides they have kept us apart

Oh Johnny, dear Johnny, the sea is so deep
Like the promise you swore you would keep
On this shore I'll be waiting for you
For your sails to come into view

Johnny, dear Johnny, did you die in the waves?
Did your crew meet their watery graves?
As the sea seems to whisper goodbyes
Bringing sadness and tears to my eyes

Oh Johnny, dear Johnny, please come back to me
Be the husband you promised to be
Don't leave me alone for another day more
And honour that promise you swore

Ian Duquemin

Goodbye, my friend - Bryant Doyle

It's hard to write this, and hurts more to read
I can't stop the tears, my heart's gonna bleed
such a precious time, with my only real friend
but their tormented, painful life will soon end.

All purpose, all joy shattered, this hideous grief
so brave , so inspiring, a life so tragically brief
only the death of one's child could hurt this way
going to a better place, on this, their last day.

Bryant Doyle

Billy Fisher - Tony Bradley

Back at your granite seat, Billy, love
though you'll come this way no more
six years since it was placed here, above,
your favourite stretch of shore.

Six winters now, tide in, tide out
the earth will turn, beyond my life
you're out at sea, where you belong
and I wait here, a fisherman's wife.

Tony Bradley

Unfinished Sympathy - Lyndon Queripel

Underlined in your mind lies unconfessed
Dressed with a cold shoulder interest
Quick change artist behind painted eyes
Daughter of the water coloured skies

Your saving grace on an empty face
Where emotions have no hiding place
Darkness will find you all alone
Lock the door and ignore the phone

Far beyond any reasonable doubt
The heartache's been all cried out
Turn a chapter of tears to overlook
The last page missing in the book.

Lyndon Queripel

Together - Tony Bradley

Together, for the first time in cold December
Christmas carols, decorations and snowy weather
like children again, a magical time
because we were together.

Together, the precious years we spent
it seemed they'd go on for ever
the joys, the hard times, the laughter and tears
we were so strong together.

But now, for me, it's all grey and empty
it's meaningless now, forever
nothing's important, nothing is real,
nothing now can be together.

Tony Bradley

The Hidden Traveller - Richard Fleming

I remember
the over-furnished room, cold as a cave,
where they had laid him
between the aspidistra and a spotted mirror;
the sunbeams, slanting by the window, shoaled with dust;
the silent street beyond, devoid of passers-by.
Immaculate in laundered shirt and
suit so rarely worn in life; in death he looked
more like a character from a story than himself.

I remember
myself dressed in a suit that day;
the parlour’s silence broken only
by the ticking of a clock;
the sense of unreality, of ritual without feeling;
an odour of chrysanthemums.

I remember him
alive and huge and I so small,
watching geese fly
high over wetlands blurred with morning mist,
our upturned faces wet with perfect joy;
the swing he built me in the secret clearing
in the green-wood;
his hearty laughter booming in the treetops.

I remember
the warm, familiar smell of him;
his callused, gentle fists
thrusting the timber swing-seat
higher, ever higher.

I remember still,
though years have crowded in between then and now,
the reckless humour ever-dancing in his eyes,
blue as songbirds' eggs;
the sweetness of the lulling tune he hummed at ending day
as, sleepily, I rode his shoulders home to bed.

Each passing generation
prints its image on the next: an echo of the parent
in each gesture of the child.
So his essential being rides my adult shoulders now,
as I transport his spirit towards another century.

We dress ourselves unknowingly
in garments of departed love, in remnants
of lost voices or half-remembered smiles.
The length of stride, a turn of phrase
betrays the other, hidden traveller in our skin.

Preserve in me
the things that once I loved in him.

Richard Fleming

Gone - Tony Bradley

Struggling, climbing our mountain together
then, as I looked around , you fell
I'm all alone now, stranded in darkness
there's no mountain, and I'm an empty shell.

Something magical brought us together
such a happy time in love we spent
but time is fragile, and never forever
my Heaven and you were only lent.

Tony Bradley

All That Mattered - Tony Bradley

All memories, hopes and dreams, in tatters
when such a beautiful thing just shatters
somehow I knew it would soon be gone
Nothing that perfect could ever last long

Suddenly, shatteringly, I'm broken, undone
I'm feeling nothing now, frozen, numb
I'm hearing nothing, not really seeing
my soul has died, my very being.

All that mattered has vanished, as if never here
It was all just for moments, now so dear
now only memories can soften my sorrow
of an unconditional love I could only borrow.

Tony Bradley

For You - Bryony de Lat

What can I do now, all I wanted in life
on that cruellest, blackest day
stolen from me for ever
please take this nightmare away.

All the good stuff in me's been taken
everything that was pure, made me proud
inspiration to strive, be brave, be strong
vanished, gone in a hideous black cloud.

Every new day, these constant reminders
slash at any chance of a new life, they sever
they cut without warning, jabbing, stabbing
and I'll be bleeding inside forever.

If all the precious things had vanished with you
I'm sure I could easily had gone with them too
easier than these empty todays & tomorrows
just wishing for, . . living for, . . dying for, . .you.

Bryony de Lat

Give and Take - Bryony de Lat

Life was a jigsaw before you came
lots of pieces broken or lost
you came along with a simpler game
caring, sharing not counting the cost.

After all my dark depressing days
suddenly bright and free
a new straight road, so clear, no haze
all I had to be was, me.

No matter now what fate dealt me
little hopes dashed, small dreams shattered
being worthy of this heaven-sent love
was the only thing that really mattered.

She's been stolen now, so soon
and I've gone back to a cold dark place
I seek no help from this private doom
to an evil world I cannot face.

Bryony de Lat

Harp - Diane Scantlebury

Your pale hands hover
Over the harp,
Curved and curled
Like eagles claws,
Paused and poised
As if to strike,
Beautiful melodies
From the strings to draw,

Your head it nods
And then it dips,
Each note trickles
As your fingers slip,
Across the screen
Of vertical wires,
Our cores to melt
Our hearts to inspire.

Diane Scantlebury

Fragments Of You - Bryony de Lat

This crumpled sweet wrapper down the back
of your favourite sun-lounge chair,
this half scribbled recipe in the drawer
along with the neater ones there,
or this beautiful dress in the wardrobe
that I never saw you wear.

That last sweet wrapper,
that meal you can't cook,
that dress you'll never put on
endless reminders
stabbing my heart
now that you are gone.

Bryony de Lat

Why? - Diane Scantlebury

I sat in his mother’s conservatory
For a quiet moment,
Surrounded by floral tributes and cards
To have a silent weep,
While I thumbed through a selection of photos,
Snapshots of a blue eyed boy
Taken from us in his sleep,
My eyes stung
As the tears welled up,
But I had to let them fall,
To stain the images in my lap
Of a young life so strong and tall,
Every frame captured still in time
His journey from child to man,
Bright smiles betraying his lonely demise,
Why he’s gone?
We’ll never understand.

Diane Scantlebury