One Other Place

I was at a religious conference

At a summer school

(I often go to summer schools in my dreams)

I had made friends with a military man

Who felt that he needed to speak out about

The conflict between the military and religion

An older lady joined us

A cheerful yet devout believer

Who told my friend

That God would make it all ok

And not to worry too too much

The two of them went for lunch

My eldest son joined me

And asked how was I going to entertain him

Because his mum was being such a pain

I only had five pounds in my pocket

And knew that would not satisfy his wants

Triggers

I had watched a film the night before

About Dr. Stephen Hawkins

The credits said he was 72

A couple of days ago my son

Had been to his grandfathers funeral

I am typing up my poems from 2005

Available at Amazon

Christopher's Website
for his Collected Works

Solitaire

It was instability

The very opposite of being in control

There was guilt

An acknowledgment of wrongdoing

It was emotional

Pains in the tummy

Rattles in the headspace

No one else was present

It wasn’t a shared success

But what if it could have been

What if someone

Could have helped

At that point of vulnerability

Imagine if the tears

Could have been encouraged

To flow without restraint

Then, if with that person

An open conversation

A discussion of and from within

Wouldn’t that equanimity 

Be worth having

More than the velvet sacks of silver

Available at Amazon

Christopher's Website
for his Collected Works

Absent Without Leave

It is the funeral today

But I won’t be there

Though we did share a joke

Playing bingo that Sunday lunchtime

In the Conservative Club

You teased me

About the thousand pound prize

Which I fell for

Hook line and sinker

As also for your daughter

Yet the words ended

As the separation began

I became persona non grata

Which was understandable 

Given my lack of conviction 

It will be a small affair

All others, or most

Having already passed

Their bowls and blazers

To the cloakroom attendant

Your family will be there

At least your child and her children

Who carried your burden

Only to end up

Spilling over with tears

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Christopher's Website
for his Collected Works

Thin, But Total Covering

Such is the new light

That the lead penetrates the paper

Even more so as the floorboards creek

All is curve and straight line

All is solid, or submissive

Soft furnishings and decoration

As if the walls could be papered

With the same ten dollar bills

Which brought this room into being

If those abstract paper currencies

Could replace the tables and chairs

The bookshelves and the lamps

To give a focus, a continuation

To create a living space

As opposed to relying on happenstance

To start again with a blank canvas

Knowing now of mistakes to avoid

Yet somehow to hold onto the romance

To have skipped with joy

Then rested, with some satisfaction

At a job well done

Forgetting, or ignoring the difficulties

The obstacles involved with self-creation

Which had to be stumbled through

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Christopher's Website
for his Collected Works

Triggered Repeat

One life is in shadow

One life is in plain sight

In this way

Both are hidden

From the outsider's view

There is little or no conversation

Among the chiaroscuro

Small steps may have been taken

Yet it is the in silence

Where the giant strides are made

From hotel bedrooms

To solid stone archways

From museums and galleries

To ice creams

Taken in the square

On the ledge

Watching and waiting

For others to appear

A new letter is written

As if from the third man

All nonsense

And missed conversations 

With the invisible beauty

Hidden by ether and distance

Covered by joy and sadness

Available at Amazon

Christopher's Website
for his Collected Works