The Curse – Colson Anx

the people they`re burning

The Curse

When I was young I was bitten

by strangers who saw me at nights.

And now that I’m grown, I am smitten

to continue the bloodline of bites.

–

I don’t need to pass down my own genes

to continue the bloodline at night.

I just need to have access to bad dreams;

It helps to believe it`s all right.

–

And as the moons turning,

I should be still, learning,

but it`s something that I can`t avoid.

It`s never concerning

the people they`re burning

as long as the species’ destroyed.

–

There are things I do against my will

And my will does things against me

And there are people who just think i`m ill

And I would agree, conversly

–

Yet some would persist

we`re just creatures of myth,

but the people they say don`t exist,

are clearer than day

when they`re hunting their prey,

the hard part’s discerning the mix.

–

And I know it`s not right

It`s not a choice that I’ve made:

Rather it is a choice that made me.

Though I can`t contain it,

I`ve learned to restrain it,

as long as I’m still paid my fee.

–

And though the times change,

the tales remain;

I cut my tail clean off in bars.

This is how it ends,

Sterling unmakes;

Not put in bullets, in bars.

–

To end, in a sense,

the word “innocence”

is slowly destroying my soul,

for it can be taken,

but it can`t be given,

and I have become a black hole.

–

And I hope the lines break

for the small part that aches:

A small person in worlds now departed,

but also, unsmartly,

bloodlines impart me

with the only thing keeping me started.

Colson Anx

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You – Diane Leopard

YOU changed my world but that’s not bad

In 2013 aged 49 I had treatment for breast cancer. Reflecting on my personal journey and the loss of loved ones gave me the inspiration for this poem.

Written shortly after my 5 year review, I had never written anything until these words flowed from my heart. My wonderful husband, family and friends have been a constant support.

My treatment has gone well and I will always be grateful for the care I received at University Hospital North Midlands from all the breast care team.

I now deliver a thought provoking and original presentation using my own non-clinical photography and poetry – ‘Focus on Emotions’ to both medical staff and the general public to help people understand the emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis. I am also an award winning complementary therapist, keen photographer and write as a guest blogger.

This poem is dedicated to all those who have been touched by cancer.

Here is also a link to an article published about my presentation and photography which may be of interest to you.

https://breastcancerartproject.wordpress.com/2019/03/10/images-through-the-emotional-impact-of-cancer/

YOU

YOU crept silently into my life

YOU came along without warning

No lights flashing, no sirens screaming

Are YOU real or am I dreaming?

YOU turned my world upside down

As only YOU can do

The lights went dim, my head was spinning

I didn’t know if YOU were winning.

–

YOU might stay

YOU might go

Do any of us really know

YOU made my days so cold and lonely

The tears I cried left me empty inside

But, what YOU didn’t know

Is that my world is filled with so much love

I was wrapped in a protective glove.

–

YOU changed my world but that’s not bad

For every day I feel so glad

The beauty that surrounds us all

Was waiting just outside the door

YOU held my life in your cold hand

But YOU gave my world a loving glow.

–

If YOU should ever call again

I’ll walk with YOU into the rain

But just for now we walk together

Your shadow never far away

YOU may come, YOU may go

YOU may take and YOU may hurt

BUT, just for now I want to say

Thank YOU for giving me a bright new day.

By Diane Leopard

Email – dianeleopard@gmail.com

Tally Ho – Rebecca Fall

five years of eyeballs and packaging peanuts

I attend college in North London and this poem was inspired by the nearby town and its features. It can be quite disheartening walking home in the bleak weather in the winter yet I have found writing about its monotony to be uplifting.

Tally Ho

Stealing jewellery from swivelling

contraptions and vendors of

presidential toilet paper in

shops stacked so precariously

I could make a living from twisting my ankle

–

I stand flat against

the perpendicular washed out block and

five years of eyeballs and packaging peanuts

compress me in the wind.

–

The town makes me so sleepy but

I want to stand on your balcony and be sliced high,

sharp. It would be enough. Maybe

you will take a photograph

Rebecca Fall

Alien Vessel – Dean Simon

taught me maths and how to survive

My name is Dean Simon I’m 37 and live in Berkshire, I come from a mixed background and have always loved reading poetry and writing. Recently after finishing a script with a family member I decided to try writing poetry and after completing a few poems now would like to share to see others thoughts.

Alien Vessel

Darkness and creaking

Painful wails then sleeping

Water splash, heads bashed

Ebb, flows then peaking

–

Why wasn’t I quicker

Should’ve listened to sister

Onboard this giant coffin

Faecal smells; fits and coughing

–

Should’ve listened to father

Become a sheep herder

Now shackled like cattle

Alien smells Alien prattle

–

Packed in like taro patch

Many souls soon dispatch

Breath warm blood tasted

Should’ve listened a life wasted

–

Should’ve listened to the old slave man,

One we bought from caravan,

He said they’d come for us too,

Took his family across big blue,

–

Aliens on the alien vessel

Don’t value life they value metal

No escape I must remember

Play the game; feign surrender

–

Remember listening to the old man

He knew science and read Koran

taught me maths and how to survive

How to smelt metals and skin hide

–

When I’m loose of these chains

When I’m free from these aliens

When I’m sure clear of death

I’ll build again remembering

–

Darkness and creaking

Painful wails then sleeping

Water splash, heads crash

Ebb, flows then peaking.

Dean Simon

Leaving you, looking back – Sue Proffitt

You occupy silent space

Leaving you, looking back

for Hazel

It started with an alien thing

tracked in the deep space of your body,

sucking a kidney. Expelled with its prize,

but not before a tumour-stream of stars

metastasises, bright on the screen.

–

I’m imagining crystals you said,

weeks later, shining inside.

Sitting with you at home,

spring sunlight shifts the goldfish

in the pond, nuzzles out-nosing bulbs.

–

The air around you inhales

and stops.

You occupy silent space

whilst sounds surround you –

kitchen-business, radio, birds.

–

Nights dislocate. You finger fear

along the edge of hours – stay with me.

Oh, but you travelled wildly those nights.

Barbados, Hawaii, memory’s miasma

glittering, hijacking the dark.

–

In freefall now, in the half-light

of your hospital room the fragments

of your still-embodied self unravel.

Help me stand you beg

but I can’t – your atrophied weight

too great, too frail

–

instead I press my palms

into your soles hard,

pushing my guilt against you.

I am your ground now.

It isn’t enough.

Sue Proffitt

The Truth – Marc McCann

Lonely as a scarecrow

I began writing a few years ago as a hobby. I find writing poetry to be a positive, creative outlet for my thoughts and feelings. My work has never been previously published in books or journals. I do occasionally share poems on social media.

The Truth

More honest than winter
Night skies tell no lies
Judgement comes regardless
My lies are white

More deadly than ether
Lonely as a scarecrow
Nighttime leaves slowly
My heart is black

More promise than sunshine
Broken hearts, fractured minds
Older than enzymes
My hope is yellow

More real than children’s eyes
medicated, traumatized
Oceans swell with people lie’s
My blood is crimson

Marc McCann

Left Behind – Jaydene Ming

Will he ever find his way back?

My name is Jaydene Ming. I am 17 year old college student currently studying English literature, law and sociology. I have aspirations to further study English at a university level. Hopefully you enjoy this poem as this is the first I have written.

Left behind
By Jaydene Ming

Happiness is a hopeful fantasy.
You can’t truly be happy.
If you can why doesn’t it last?
But to be sad it permeates throughout my life like a blanket of ice.

Disconnecting me from the world
I no longer belong for I am broken.

–
There were once ‘men’ I knew
Perhaps my father or my lover.
They both left me. Lonely.
There once profound presence haunts me In that translucent whiskey bottle.
In that smoke from that death machine. I can’t escape this sorrow.
For I am broken.

–
Once filled with light, filled with dark.
I am dim , no longer a spark.
For I am broken by the mischief
Which resided within there heart.
These deceivers have made me a receiver. Yes, indeed now I am a non-believer.
Can I be fixed?

–
I reminisce over the past and it’s unfulfilled promises.
My soul has been taken twice by them. The first time:
It went from Daddy’s little girl
To the girl with the daddy issues. Now A permanent residence of nothingness Tucks me under the covers.

–

Surrounded by this beckoning darkness,
Will he ever find his way back?
Arrived here is nighttime but no one to greet it with once favoured fairytales as that man is gone. Never to return.
Leaving me open to succumb to the reality and the nightmares of this world.
Death is the fate of my innocence for I am broken.

–
The second time:
Battered by the harsh reality of tragedy
An outlet of escape was what I was searching for. Now I can say my hearts mission was completed.
That void was now temporarily filled by a sense of security through his big arms.
He was my healer. Never to last.
Slowly but surely unwrapping me of his
Protection I became poorly.
I didn’t realise but
I was getting replaced by another.
Will I recover for now I always wear a cover.
A facade of sorts I carry to bare a shield
Of indestructible concealed emotions.
Defeated. Now I am truly broken.

Jaydene Ming

Cognitive Conflict – Aleena Romaji

To have loved or lost

My name is Aleena Romaji and I am a final year dental student. I enjoy writing in my spare time and have gotten prizes for coming first, second for poetry competitions at my University in previous years. This, however is a first, I haven’t entered online before and I hope this will be the first of many entries.

Cognitive Conflict

Bickering in my mind these two

Was one good and the other not?

–

Stepping stones hazy with contempt

Broken bridging cleverly amend

–

Forfeit, elusive bare to first

Perfumed ploughs curtly immersed

–

Flickering adornment, a right of passage

Cursing gently towards grand perish

–

To have loved or lost, which on verge brought

Hands instinctively to fiery thought.

Aleena Romaji

Venture – Jan McGeachie

Love and affection grows in every way

Born in North London, lived in Suffolk, Scotland and Yorkshire, I have always loved writing and was first told about Maggies by my husband’s Uncle when the first one opened in Scotland, thinking how I would have welcomed it when I lost both parents within weeks of each other. I submit articles to magazines hoping they will be published but aim one day see my vast array of poetry in print and move closer to volunteer at Newark Air Museum.

Dedicated to my sister Sarah Jane Dalton 8.6.1959 – 11.8.2019

VENTURE

Credit to Maggie’s, that defence we seek

Engaging solace to assist the weak

Consolation awaiting the all clear

There for the very person we hold dear

–

Shock, anger, lets battle, all in the mind

Resenting invasion of the mean kind

That encounter, all having to endure

Mutually live through, waiting for the cure

–

Love and affection grows in every way

Respect, watching endurance every day

Calm, warmth and comfort by showing the light

Supporting those needy, keeping it bright

–

All here united can walk tall with pride

In the knowledge, Maggie’s is on their side

Each journey alone, somehow together

Successful conclusion the endeavour.

(18^th September 2019)

Jan McGeachie

Autumn – Becky Bishop

Vibrant reds and oranges, browns and golden yellows too

I have been writing poetry for about 5 years and have self published a book of ww1/2 themed poems and recently self published a book of over 50 poems for all occasions.

Autumn

After the long, hot days of summer, autumn blows in on the breeze
The leaves change colour, before falling from the trees

Vibrant reds and oranges, browns and golden yellows too
Bold against the greying sky, a spectacular sight to view

The leaves fall to the ground, rustling underfoot
Children splash and jump in puddles, wearing welly boots

Halloween beckons, a time for ghosts and ghouls
Of children collecting sweets, as if they’re precious jewels

A time of spicy aromas and pumpkins glowing bright
Of firework displays and guy fawkes, burned on bonfire night

Horse chestnut trees, make for conker fights
Squirrels bury nuts and acorns, ready for the long cold winter nights

A time for celebrating the harvest, the autumn equinox brings a harvest moon,
Until autumn fades away and crickets chirp their final tunes