December 2025 Collection

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.

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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

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.

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Thank you for reading and a happy New Year to you and your families.