Have to remember to forget you (Song)

When I wake up in the morning light
I turn, expect to see the sight
Of you, but you've gone away
And though it's been a long long time
It always seems to slip my mind
Have to remember to forget you every day

When I'm staring at the TV screen
Or flicking through a magazine
There's always something makes me stray
A girl in the story with your name
An actress who almost looks the same
Have to remember to forget you every day

I stand down by the riverside
Watch the water roll on by
Watch the changes as it drifts away
Though I know you won't be coming back
I can't move on or change the track
Have to remember to forget you every day

Sometimes it's the good old days
Mostly it's the crying phase
Memories just seem to want to stay
I still expect to see your face
In every part of every place
Have to rememebr to forget you every day

Praxis- a manifesto for action

The middle way is not the safest course
And inaction is not the wisest scheme
In desperate times, unstoppable force
Must be met by an answering extreme
He who hestitates will often suffer
And hanging around, get blamed for everything-
Others have had time to run for cover
Grasp the nettle tight to avoid the sting

It is the early worm that gets the bird
The wise virgin who will remain unwed
The quiet voice of calm that goes unheard
The thoughtful monarch who loses his head
Too much time spent deciding how to act
Prevents a vision turning into fact

Sunset in Gaza

I sit on my bench as the air turns chill
I grab a handful of the well-tilled soil
I feel its warmth on my open palm
The grains glow red in reflected light
As though still stained with Philistine blood
From Samson's time

I think of fires, remembering ovens, other deaths
This was our refuge, our one safe place
Tomorrow we must leave, the soldiers say,
Another journey with an uncertain end
Carrying what we can, leaving an empty house
For the bulldozers

The wine-dark Mediterranean reflects
The last crimson rays
Stars emerge
Enough of death and retribution
Righteousness and rage
I water the earth with tears of farewell

The seeds I planted, trees I tended,
Will be harvested by other hands
Let them take good care of this land
And live in peace.

Variation on Springsteen

You are lookin' so beautiful
I can hardly keep my eyes on the road
My heart is pumpin' heavy oil
An' I think it's gonna explode

You've got your summer dress on
Flappin' in the slip stream
Your breath smells like perfume-
It's as good as gasoline

The billboards tell us nothin'
That we don't already know
An' even all the roadsigns
Can't tell us where to go

We pull over to the roadside
An' we watch the passin' cars
I swear if you say you'll marry me
I'll pick you a diamond from the stars

Jamais vu

I wake from a confused dream
Panting, trying to remember
Where I am,
Who I am.

Accidents and emergencies

After the dashes
The colons and periods
There come the wild shrieks


Note: newspapers refer to exclamation marks as shrieks.

Nature poem

"Poets walking: some find solace
Others, guts and blood"
Wendy Cope, The squirrel and the crow

Some poets, stuck for the next thing to say,
Will look outside for their inspiration
Cover the page with a note on the day:
Events in the garden's population-
A new bloom here and a fruitfulness there
The violent end of a fledgeling bird
Creeping of beetles and swelling of pear-
The world is observed and sight becomes word

But all this should remain in the background
These things happen, unworthy of remark,
They distract from the place where truth is found
By their acts and cries: cats simper, dogs bark,
Grass grows, the birds sing, and bumble bees buzz
It's just nature doing what nature does