Blackbird - Richard Fleming

With catapult, once school was finished,
I went to hunt in woodland, high
above Belfast, in summer light
and heard, among leafed branches spread,
a blackbird, singing like a bell.
I took aim, shot; the missile flew
unerringly, my aim was true.
with awful suddenness it fell,
all broken. Exultation fled,
to be replaced by sickly fright.
I knelt to watch it slowly die.
Within me somewhere, light diminished.

Richard Fleming


Image : Pixabay - Jetiveri

Recluse - Richard Fleming

All scattered to the winds and ways,
like blushing cherry blossom blown,
the friends, he knew when not full-grown,
have vanished from his elder days.
The carelessness of childhood meant
that friendships were a thing to find
then let escape. No contract signed.
No deal. A currency unspent.
If friendships had been coins or gold,
he might have locked inside a cage
all he had gathered to assuage
the loneliness of growing old.

Richard Fleming

Image : Pixabay - michaelform

One Man’s Evolution, Or Lack Thereof - J. Archer Avary

I didn’t come quickly to poetry
I never did find it that cool
What caught my attention
Was punk rock aggression
And showing my ass like a fool

Pursuing the simplest of pleasures
Like drugging and women and booze
I wasted my youth
Spitting three-chorded truths
When I thought I had nothing to lose

Lamenting my twenties and thirties
My foibles remain unsurpassed
Repossessions and ex-wives
And workingman’s strife
Leave those terrible years in the past

Now I’m much older and wiser
I’ve mellowed like expensive wine
I’d sooner forget
Than dwell on regrets
It appears that I’ve turned out just fine

What lies ahead for the future
Oh where in the hell might I be
Pushing up daisies
From down in my grave
Or charged with disturbing the peace

J. Archer Avary

Conundrum - Richard Fleming

What’s worse, abandonment or else
the guilt of breaking someone’s heart?
I’d rather that my heart be stabbed
by some beloved’s dagger-blade
than do the wounding bit myself
and have remorseful feelings start:
dark nights when restful sleep is grabbed
as though by muggers, sins are weighed,
self-condemnation swamps the brain ...
that’s when you feel another’s pain
and long to take it back again.

Richard Fleming

Shores I Won’t See Again - Tony Gardner

These Coral reefs and coconuts
Are Heaven on Earth to you
Greek isles seem like Paradise
And I know you feel that true
But I’ve been ‘round this big wide world
And though I’ve loved the things I’ve seen
I’ve never felt contented
With the places that I’ve been
For there’s always memories calling
Dreams of deep cliff cutting vales
And the streams that lead us downwards
To the warm inviting waves
Or the inland valleys whispering
“Stay here more than just a while
“For your family’s ghosts are wandering
“When they see you, then they’ll smile”
And that little bubbling stream
That chuckles down the lane
Sighs ‘cause this poor old exile
Will never see those shores again

Tony Gardner

The Best I Could Do - Ian Duquemin

I never deserved you...
So your closest friends said
But those letters I sent you
They must never have read
The words I strung together
Were the thoughts I had of you
They may not be much... But the best I could do

I may have been angry...
But I smiled when I could
If I swore that I'd love you
Then I possibly would
But something in my heart, said
I may not be true to you
I tried to be honest... That's the best I could do

Those times we were happy...
They weren't meant to last
I tried to light up
But the shadows were cast
I'd look towards the heavens
Tried to will a brighter view
I never gave up... That's the best I could do

I'm sorry you're leaving
But what can I say?
You may find a lover
Who will want you to stay
I'll try to think about us
Like an old flame's meant to do
It may not be much... But the best I can do

Ian Duquemin

I Used To Be Indecisive But Now I’m Not So Sure - Lyndon Queripel

Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve
If only there had been time to spare
But now it seems all lost in my dreams
And so instead I’m banging my head
Against the brick wall of it all

Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve
Given my heart right from the start
And cast shadows out of my own doubt
If what I know now I’d somehow known then
Would I just make the same mistake again?

Lyndon Queripel

Gull - Tony Bradley

Grey gull, gliding gracefully
in the September squall
I need only your wings
I have a plaintive call.

Your Autumn is here again
as, indeed, is mine
I, too, just had Summer
but the sun didn't shine.

These seasons, even time itself, have nothing for me
all I care about, everything of worth
was taken from me, before I realised
overseas, to the far side of this earth.

Gull, you now circle the same harbour water
for forty years I've had my tear-filled eyes on
that took Janie away, in a big boat
following the sun, beyond the horizon.

Tony Bradley