Author Archives: grahamswords1962

Winter’s pillow suffocates the light,Snuffing out desire to move, inThe same way unlit candles,When inverted,Extinguish a flaming match. Spring pokes fingers into eyes,Tormenting the need for sleep, in The same way eyelids,When trying to rise,Stutter like Venetian blinds.

…..Where is the truth here?In my words or in your ear?Legitimate fear.

Why?Why do we do this?Why do we do this to ourselves?Why do we take the ticket to ride on,The Roller Coaster of Wholesale Love, toHop on the Twister of Happiness, toCruise on the Carousel of Cuddles, toJump on the Dodgems of Joy, toEnter the Hall of Memory Mirrors? Why?Why when we know?Why, when we alwaysContinue reading “The Unfair Funfair”

NaPoWriMo 2023, Day 30 Our final prompt of 2023 is to write a palinode – a poem in which you retract a view or sentiment expressed in an earlier poem. I did not know that this is a poetry “thing” which is ironic, as that is precisely what I did for yesterday’s poem! So, toContinue reading “April 2023”

Napowrimo 2023, Day 29 In following today’s prompt, I stumbled across Byron’s When We Two Parted and was inspired by the metre and rhyme to create a two part poem (see what I did there?) that includes a food that has a speaking line as a particular person. Earlier this month I harangued the ButterContinue reading “Case for the defence”

NaPoWriMo 2023, Day 28 Task: To write a poem based on an index. This inspired little in me till I turned to the back of my copy of The 20th Century in Poetry (Hulse, Michael and Rae, Simon (eds) Elbury Press, 2011) and spotted the index of first lines of the poems. I took aContinue reading “Unpublished life”

NaPoWriMo 2023, Day 27 I don’t think I understood yesterday’s prompt clearly, so I’ve gone the opposite direction today and taken everything in an abstract direction and reused a character from this year’s works that a good counsellor of mine liked. And just for once, this one has no “bearing” on reality or social comment!Continue reading “The Purple Polar Bear of Knowledge”

NaPoWriMo 2023, Day 26 Today we were tasked with writing a portrait poem and play with the meaning behind the name of the person in the image. I chose a self portrait of Lucian Freud, as I like him. Lucian is derived from Latin and means light, it was adopted by three Pope’s and aContinue reading “Lux Freyde”

NaPoWriMo 2023, Day 25 Just the thought of you, resting on my skin,The way a butterfly would kiss a cloud,Just that –That is enough. Enough to inundate my senses,Overwhelming them,A Nile of engulfing emotions,Breaking the banks of all I perceive. Such rarity you held in your arms, rare,Rare as a true-black tulip,Rare as a condemnedContinue reading “My true-black Tulip”

NaPoWriMo 2023, Day 24 Today we were asked to write a review of something that normally does not warrant one. I asked my Facebook friends to suggest a subject and or others that cold be included in the poem. I was given warts on toads, Dame Edna Everidge and how steel transforms at 723 degreesContinue reading “Steel Toads”