THE ROMANTIC COLLECTION
A collection of 35 contemporary romantic and philosophical poems ranging through observations on life, love, the everyday, the day, parties, country lanes, city streets, meeting lovers, regret, holding candles, reflections, plus lyrics in a form for modern music. Extract from the poem Memory:-
Lanes of memory bends to get by
tall hedges obscure and the sky is high
I reach each bend in a state of suspense
pass drives and gates where there is silence
passing places high expectation
to be controlled by near miss sensation
fallen branches deep ditches, mud
run over wild life bodies and blood ...............
THE LIFE COLLECTION
A collection of contemporary verse dealing in 33 poems with issues of our modern way of living and our related concerns. An askance look at topics like the housing market, soaps, rural life, city life, north and south, different places across the UK and Ireland. I have taken these apart and set them into a cryptic observation of the human condition - what drives us, what entertains us, how we are changing – evolving if you will. Extract from the poem Soap :-
I've just checked
there are dead people watching soap on television
the people they are watching
who are portraying normal everyday life
are also dead
it's a recorded show
Easy to see how dead people can somehow take up on each other
though because they are dead
there is little point to it ..............
THE PEOPLE COLLECTION
A collection of 23 Poems of varying length and form, in which I aim to raise awareness of individuals who suffer, deserve mention, or stand out against the system, and the great majority who for their own reasons stay silent at critical times when their voices might make the difference between what is seen as fair and what is seen as corrupt in society. Extract from the poem The Tide:-
It falls on me to meet the tide
of protest and mass hysteria
with questions that investigate
attitudes of mass media
the cause celeb the raging banker
the child molester family horror
the wars we fight the reasons why
flash point erupt and people die
slogan language catchy headline ...................
THE STYLE COLLECTION
A collection of 30 contemporary poems of varying length and form dealing in a light-hearted way with issues of style:- lifestyle, living in style, living with style. How people style themselves to fit in with others – or not, country style both political and promotional, personal style, and more. Extract from the poem Escape:-
The attractiveness of an Escape holiday
is that you escape from the everyday
to the each day
Each day you will remember from where you escaped
and why (each) day will be remembered
from the incredible excitement between two midnights
two sheets
new bed(s)
new address .........
WAR PEACE AND POLITICS
A collection of 14 Poems of varying length and form, considering political issues that have given rise to war, its outcome and the peace, in the first fifteen years or so of the 21st Century.
I write about the key conflicts of the Western world, challenging the political thinking of the day, highlighting the nonsense of political thinking at the time, and raising awareness of the wider context of democracy and the human condition.
Perhaps a little less humorous than some of my other poetry, but I try to be always ironic and pertinent in observation, I concentrate on the dilemmas, excuses and ironies of negotiation and getting agreement. Contents:-
In Praise of Cool Heads; Iraq Excuse Me – May 2003; Cold Warning; God’s Own Crusade – October 2004; Trouble was… the Blair Years; Talks – Belfast 1996; The Outcast – Thoughts Found in Downing Street; Bosnia 1995; Bullets; The Power of Suggestion; The Word; It Never Happened; Bombing; Egypt- 2013.
