Nascent Ripples

I stood, as if naked,
stripped by the haughty sheen
that shimmered
against a backdrop
of infinite darkness,
and just a few faltering steps
before the earth’s moon tide.
Sharp highlights
played across the vast, black silken sheet –
and struck the deathly stare
thrown up from its ruptured surface;
with each nascent twinkle,
a wink of adulation
ran across its undulating body.
Murmurs in faint echoes ache
from more tender moments;
the sounds of their soft crescendo
hushed in tune to the ocean,
blow past my still feet
until its quiet fade
takes a life flowing within me.
Our lives, no longer enmeshed,
are hungry and empty.
Slowly, surely, quietly
the stars lay down with me, peacefully,
in the guise of a restless sleep.

The Normalisation of Lies and Crime

In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act – George Orwell

Rib cages burn
with the pollutants of politicians
curled inside their darkness.
Inside of ours, conscience and despair
battle it out –
defending ourselves against the brutal
and cowardly thumps to our innards,
bruising softer organs
so injuries cannot be detected
on the outside.
We take these jabs and kicks
with every breath we breathe,
when we’re forced to inhale
greed
and sickening philosophy
and ideology
and the stench of populist autocracies –
for shame, more weak minded people are
sucked in.
We are loathe to breathe
this putrid air – its stench
is rapidly suffocating us,
snuffing out normality
and decency
and civility
and humanity,
keeping in line with policies
deigned to compromise us
and the air we breathe,
and water that runs clear
and life as we know it.
Don’t let them win
and destroy your life
and the future
and the lives of billions.
and the truth.
Fight for your right to cleaner air…
and the rest.

Poem Published

I am happy that the editor, Reuben Woolley, has accepted my fourth poem ‘Raping Women and children will not Bring you Closer to God’ on i am not a silent poet. Thank you, Reuben.