When the evening breeze
Ruffled the leaves in the half-light
I felt the greatness in the air,
Just standing there;
...
The time back then cannot be found,
Did I ever really live in those days?
The images in my mind are bound
By a somnolent, ghostly haze;
...
Time has grown over these plots
Of broken down plinths
And ragged headstones
With their faded engraving
...
The day is nearly done
Unblemished by the works of human hand
With gentle push, the sun slips ever lower
Beneath horizons, below hilltops, behind houses,
...
I found out with sadness about your plight
Your life lived in perpetual night
An underground stable was where you roomed
An innocent life entombed
...
"Are you going to Scarborough Fair
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine"
...
The fingers of the clock
Would not move around the face
Time seemed to be endless
As we gazed out into space
...
I leave to you everything….
The sunny days
When joy runs through your veins;
The view from the mountain top
...
We wandered by the boating lake
On a Sunday afternoon
With crocuses fringing pathways
For the daffodils just too soon
...
Here they stand, in long lines
Shoulder pressed to shoulder,
Unmoving, patient, steady
Waiting for the fire of human knowledge
...
The clouds lie still for a moment,
Their edges blurred and mottled
And their depth unfathomable;
The telegraph wires twitch in the breeze
...
I am called to arms
A thousand times a day
To wage this war;
And each time I must emerge
...
It's got Tower Bridge
And it's got Big Ben
It's got underground trains
That run now and then
...
The ground was slumbering
Beneath your chilly wrapping
Absorbing the sun's bounty
Fiery energy sapping;
...
We are sitting on the ridge
Looking down at our youth
Which lies forlorn in the valley;
We have burnt each bridge
...
There was a choice to make
As there is every morning
To get out of bed, to take
A step toward the dawning;
...
"It feels as if the whole world is hunkering down and drawing into itself ready for winter. The only answer is to embrace this, light the fires, read, plan for next spring and try and take the dogs for a walk every day whatever the weather! " - Monty Don.
The light grows low inside of us
As we draw in our souls
...
I think I will always love my life
Despite the setbacks and fears
Despite the onrushing years
I think I will always love my life;
...
How calming, the sweet song of the blackbird
The most melodic tune ever heard,
From some unseen point amongst the trees,
The cheery notes drift away on the breeze;
...
All my poems since 2010 are on poemsforlifebypaul.blogspot.com. I wrote 365 poems between October 2010 and 2011. I have now written over 1,000 poems. Inspirations - all poets with a feeling for nature and 'insignificant' things that are actually significant. Motivations - to express emotions, make people laugh or otherwise connect with the writing emotionally. Heroes - Stan Laurel, Humphrey Bogart, Agatha Christie, Sir Terry Wogan, Paul Kossoff, P.G. Wodehouse, Monty Don, Arthur Lowe, Aretha Franklin, Alf Wight, Gladys Knight.)
Evening Breeze
When the evening breeze
Ruffled the leaves in the half-light
I felt the greatness in the air,
Just standing there;
The quietness absorbed all thoughts
And carried me away to another place
A place where everything was all right
With no need for night;
And in that moment I knew
That everything that had happened,
Or was going to be,
Was down to me, just me;
The breeze carried the sorrow away
Into the clouds that slid over the trees,
Unexpectedly;
And left me alone
In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares. The older have learned to ever expect it.
How good it is to walk. How salutary, how pleasing, how utterly essential. How renewing, how refreshing How so existential Walking is balm to a troubled soul, and all people with souls have troubles. In bad times and in good, a march across countryside Lends perspective and eases the mind. Meanwhile, the dog, for whom every walk is a liberation, Lends you a little of her joy in being alive.
'Life's not fair is it? Some of us drink champagne in the fast lane, and some of us eat our sandwiches by the loose chippings on the A597.'
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn
Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself.
'And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.'
If you have an honest and heartfelt thought write it down, for that is poetry
'Wherever I live, I shall feel homesick for Tibet. I often think I can still hear the wild cries of geese and cranes and the beating of their wings as the fly over Lhasa in the clear cold moonlight.'
Never let politics get in the way of comedy
I gave up drinking once - it was the worst afternoon of my entire life.
Paradise Lost is a book that, once put down, is very hard to pick up again.
'Kindness changes the world'
'Politics is a dirty game, played by dirty people'
'Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.'
'It is always sad to leave a place to which one knows one will never return.'
I am stuck in a mid 1970s time warp - the medical term for it is 'Back Street Crawler'
'Gardening is about looking after plants; and when you look after someone or something else, you forget your own worries at least for a while'
Always move towards fear. It is the only way to beat it
'Rucksacks don't have wings' - Terry Ramsden, fearless gambler when asked about his high roller attitude
Amongst the drapes of gloom which hang around you are tiny bright threads which, if you reach out to and cling onto, will bring you happiness through the day
'I don't want to find out everything about the world because then the fascination and the magic would be gone' - Paul Gerard Reed,18th February 2022
'It can be hard to enjoy summer in the knowledge that summer is passing. But at Easter, everything good is to come.' - Emma Brockes, The Guardian 15th April 2022
'Your death only matters if there are people left behind who loved you' - Paul Gerard Reed
'If you don't go out and meet the future, eventually it simply moves on without you.' - Gaby Hinsliff, Guardian newspaper 16th May 2022
Without effort nothing happens
'If you are not enjoying something, an hour is a day; If you are enjoying something, an hour is a minute'