Welcome to my December 2025 collection. Not only is this my last post of the year but it is also the last post I plan to do for the foreseeable future. I've thoroughly enjoyed sharing my poetry over the last few years, both here and via social media, but feel I have been going over old ground in recent months. It's time for a break.
With this in mind, my aim is to make this post something special. I have joined forces with two gifted poets whose work I have a great deal of respect for. They have both been massively supportive of my writing too, for which I am eternally grateful. I know you will enjoy reading the poetry of Steve Oxlee and Joe Praks.
Before we get into the poetry, I would like to thank everyone who has been kind enough to take the time to read this blog over the last six years. It's been a pleasure putting it together and sharing my thoughts and some of the many images I have taken with my trusty iPhone.
To start the ball rolling please enjoy a selection of song-based verses.
Roxy Music - Dance Away
Mickey worked in a pit
At the end of the village
Where his family had lived
For years
Suppressed emotion
When he went underground
Coal dust ringing in his ears
But there was a secret
He held close to his chest
Something he never shared
With anybody else
When alone in his room at night
He wished he could be like Bryan Ferry
Circa 1979
He was captivated by
His confidence and charm
Swooping moves
Slick dark hair
He was effortlessly suave
But right now
Pianos were tuned
To expose his fragile side
Lorraine had gone and left him
For another guy
Deceit seeped through
Every orifice of
Her matte lipstick smile
He needed to dance away
The heartache tonight.
Yazoo - Only You
Standing beside
The upstairs window
Looking down on
A world I thought I knew
I speak slowly
In wavering tones
You’re not here
But my words are for you.
Don’t know if I can
Take this anymore
All I knew
Was the love you gave
Outstretched hand reflected
In misty glass
Soliloquy
Evaporating.
ABC - Poison Arrow
Hey girl I see you
Lost in the depths of night
Shutting your ears
To that voice in your head
Convincing yourself
The combination is right
You won't be the last
To walk the path
Of an illicit love affair
Please walk away
Before he shoots
A poison arrow
Through your heart.
Eurythmics - Love is a Stranger
Mighty waves crashing
Inside your head
Fading footprints
In sinking sand
Lover confidante
Shadow friend
Chivalrous bold
Respectful kind
Destructive obsessive
Lost moments in time
Raindrops in steam
Dark moody skies
Love is a
Multifaceted stranger.
The Jam - Precious
In the vespertine hour
Feelings magnified
Heady midnight beat
Infiltrates the mind
Waiting for dawn to break
Through slats in the blind
Yearning for a touch
Aching deep inside
Heartbeats dance like sunlight
On curling tides
Precious love a rare gem
So hard to find.
Tears For Fears - Mad World
Following a whirlpool
Spinning to an aphotic zone
Everyday sounds become numb
And distorted
The deeper and darker you go
Smiles are replaced
By expressionless faces
Circular ripples spread
Tears eclipsed by fears
Mad world occupying
Your head.
The next four poems are by Steve Oxlee.
Picture This?
The woman in the photograph, looks at us.
A pose so vivid; some think she's a painting.
Is she someone we know, or Lisa Del Giocondo?
Her stare suggests, she wants us to come near.
But for some reason; we don't.
She teases us.
Almost as if, she's enticing us.
Yet, what is the dare?
Is it to free her; or perhaps, to feel her?
She looks as though, she knows we're scared.
But, what is so unnerving.
About this beautiful woman?
Gorgeous, in a subtle way.
And what's so frightening.
About getting close to someone?
As we struggle, to answer these conundrums.
The picture, continues to haunt us.
Perhaps, it's about being half hidden.
What it means, to come out of the long shadows.
And maybe, we failed to make a connection.
Because, we wouldn't let there be one.
Jack
Through to his teenage years; Jack was endearingly, one of the shyest.
At school, his diligence; that of the highest.
A solicitous soul; he always looked out, for his younger brother.
The bond between them; solid as any other.
Jack was unique; unconcerned by what others propriety expected, or allowed.
His dreadlocks and bandana; stood him out, in a crowd.
Jack was courteous, empathetic, nonjudgmental.
An amiable lad; with a heart and nature; so gentle.
A self-taught, gifted; guitarist and artist.
Jack cherished such inventiveness; which were his catharsis.
Taken too young; in an avoidable tragedy.
I'm left to look in the mirror, at my own culpability.
As the gates of heaven; stood open wide.
The angels lined up; side by side.
They murmured softly, 'we have a guest'.
Not by happenstance, they realised; Jack yearned for rest.
At peace with loved ones, and now my ladybug.
I'll see you, in due time son; for a resonating hug.
Then Dreamers Would Ride
She was unconcerned.
That she had no move.
Some days she'd create 20 ventures.
Flitting around like quicksilver slipping through the grasp of safety.
Other days the dame made none.
Several weeks passed,
where she didn't lay down at all.
For there simply was no play.
She marshalled her resources.
Waited for a propitious situation.
Then the lady upped the ante.
She walked down to the beach.
Past a colossal sand sculpture.
Jesus on the cross with two heads.
Much in life quixotic, let alone copacetic.
She'd syncopate Gloster for Gloucester.
Went to confession on Friday.
Made merry, Saturday through to Sunday.
That night the lass dreamt.
About an orange serpent,
which she sliced up with an axe.
The segments turned into expeditious horses.
She rode one away.
Singing, 'if wishes were horses,
then dreamers would ride'.
To Have Seen Her, Serene
Sat alfresco, at a bar.
Savouring Steph's company; a soothing drink.
Musing, over the literature festival.
Those wondrous scribes, who make us think.
Espy, walking past, a bonny, young girl.
Clutching, christening balloons, that sway and swirl.
Her cute face, beaming; the exuberance of youth.
So full of joy; no lies, just truth.
Suddenly, in a pigs whisper, they slip from her hand.
Floating, far and high, away across the land.
Joy, turns to pain, espoused by howling grief.
The autumn air, becoming a machiavellian thief.
How, oh how?!, I yearn, for mesospheric powers.
To fly up, bring her relief.
Her entire world, now crashing down.
Besmirched, sullied; by an impudent clown.
Soaring away, are her cherished memories.
Of a devine day; her dreams, abated.
A juxtaposition, of the rapture.
Of the book marquees; Steph and I, did capture.
The poets, crime writers, musicians.
Their talents, as soothing, as the passing breeze.
The bonny young girl, did not, deserve that.
Which her pleasure, did seize.
And, as inspiring and engaging.
As my adventure, had been.
I would have swapped all of it.
To have seen her, serene.
<><><>
Climbing in the loft
Waking up the sleeping box
Of Christmas magic.
Waxy dark green leaves
Crown of thorns set with rubies
Majestic holly.
Flickering bauble
You seem to shine more brightly
When I twirl with you.
Ice, wind, droughts and floods
You’ve rolled with it all this year
Adaptable stream.
The next three poems are by Joe Praks.
My world has changed
My world will never be the same
It has turned into a kaleidoscope
Preventing my eyes to see
Clearly what is around me
But maybe it is me
Who has changed
Maybe it is me who will
Never be the same
I watch this new world in silent awe
Life is nothing but a game.
Just a leaf
But it makes me wonder
It's asking me tough questions
Questioning my belief
In front of my eyes
Helping me to realise
Helping me to understand
What once started
Must once end
My heart is shaking
Like the leaves on a tree
Now I know for certain
The fallen leaf is me.
Such a majestic sunset
Such a magical place!
Yet you refuse to see it
You can't admit the beauty of
The world around you
I wish we could talk
I wish we could mirror
Our souls in each other's eyes
But I'm afraid it's too late now
Your lips might be moving
But I can't hear no sound.
<><><>
When green shoots appear
Through a patchwork of winter bracken
It is Mother Nature’s gentle reminder
That even though the trees are bare
And leaves are returning to the earth
We should not be fooled into thinking
The garden is asleep.
The Shortest Day
One year ago
On the shortest day
The stars greeted us
That little bit earlier
As we walked through
Christmas-lit streets
And somehow this
Made sense of it all
Enabled us
To scatter differences
In twilight shadows
And recognise
The time had come
Not to fight anymore.
Rocky
Everyone knew
Rocky the barman
With his topaz eyes
And cowboy hat
They drank his stories
Like a fine red wine
Of Fiji mountains
And the Australian outback
He never went
To the same place twice
Life’s too short
For turning back
Always travelled light
By never carrying
Regret in his rucksack.
I Recall...
I recall how you told me
That when you looked
Into my eyes
It was as if you sailed
Into a faraway world
Of moonbeams
And velvet skies
And I believed you…
I always believed you
Until the time I realised
It was a flowery prelude
To you saying goodbye.
The Jaded Lovers
Let’s do something
Frivolous tonight
Sip wine from
The same glass
Beneath the stars
Light fires in our hearts
Rekindle the flames
Search for faraway tracks
Jump on midnight trains
Let’s do something…
Anything
Before things
Become
Monotonous.
Etch my name
In your grieving heart
And in the bark
Of a sprawling tree
So on days like this
I can remind myself
What we had
Was not a dream.
<><><>
Thank you for reading and a happy New Year to you and your families.
