Alternative history

Two heroes rode into the town
Greeted by cries of "Welcome home"
Their clothes strange and bright

One had been to a foreign war
Had killed and plundered
Won spoils, captured towns

The other had gone to court
Argued persuasively before the king
Was granted lands and titles

Their sister met them at the door
Kissed their cheeks and asked them in
As night drew on, their stories failed

"Well, sister, what have you been doing
While we have been making history?"
"Nothing much- just raising kids,

Growing crops, washing clothes ..."
She left the table, called
By a child's cry from the loft

Old age: views on life and death

Life
My memory's not
What it was- but then,
Neither is the world

Hands shake and tremble
I open the newspaper
Head shakes and trembles

Tea and cakes were treats
To fill time between kisses
Now they're all there is

A winter mountain
My summit is topped in white
The cold reaches deep

I bask in the warmth
Of company: it's good to
Be seeing old friends


Death
Old age is not bad
When you consider what the
Alternative is

The postman brings cards
For funerals every day:
I will go to mine

I check the paper
To see whether I am dead
If not, I get dressed

Grey skies: Brown leaves drop
As nature prepares to sleep
I'll not see her wake

55 words for Bob Dylan

Robert Zimmerman
left his name behind- just took
his guitar with him

Wailing in the streets
of New York, he became a
hero, then Judas

Electricity
mixed with drugs and rock and roll
thoughts and feelings merged

Marriage, kids, divorce
facing up to pain and loss
You always have words

The minister

Whose drive to succeed
Overrode every need?
Who schemed and plotted
And promptly forgot it?
Who drafted the laws
To milk most applause?
Who signed his name
But refused any blame?
Who crossed the line
And had to resign?
Who used to be feared
Then just disapperaed?
--The Minister

Evasion

Pontius Pilate
Washed his hands and said "It's not
My jurisdiction"

A short history of Wales

As glaciers crept around Paviland Cave
We laid our first leader in his grave

We prised the Preseli bluestones free
Sent them to Stonehenge over the sea

The Roman soldier oiled his curls
Didn't bother with local girls

Arthur's veins ran with royal blood
Made a palace of sticks and mud

Rebecca's children have grown up wrong
Drunk on story, myth and song

The millennium dawns on Cardiff Bay
A nation reborn, or so they say

Very short job interview

"So we're looking for
a self-starter-" "I thought
it said 'fire starter'".

Lunacy

The moon, manless, has no thought
For its beauty
It waxes and wanes
As geometry dictates.

Tugging tides, inspiring poems,
Taunting astronauts:
It could be said to do these
If it were not a lump of rock.

On Earth its path is carefully tracked
Noted, calculated, observed
But the Moon needs no map
Only the pulls of gravity.

Afterwards

Tang of salt and sweat;
Glistening and wet
Skin against skin, warm,
Sharing one form;
Sweet somethings whispered
More felt than heard;
Desire's debt is paid;
Our love has been made.


Part of the 5th Poetry Carnival at Poetic Acceptance.

Proverb

All work, no play, makes
Jack dull-must be some other
reason in my case

Ghost hunter

Forget the chilled dusk
Wisps of mists trailing through shattered windows
The fox's bark and the owl's screech
Forget creaking floorboards,
Cobwebs, gnarled trees
Forget half-seen ghosts
Zombies, vampires, skeletons

What makes me shiver
Are regrets, griefs, sorrows,
From which dawn brings no relief.

Say somebody loved you (Song)

You used to be part of a circle of friends
Who flourished in each other's light
Lately you haven't been seeing them much
Instead you've been staying in nights
But now you're going back to them
And if someone asks what's new
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true

I know that I wasn't your ideal man
I know that I wasn't your dream
If you don't keep your mind on the road
You end up just drifting downstream
But I hope you haven't forgotten me
And if someone asks why you're blue
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true

It's so hard to clutch at moments
When you're looking for something more
And it's so hard to keep on giving
When you've nothing left in store
It seems that being happy
Is sometimes hard to do
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true

My face is fading from your mind
You have left me far behind
And although you may not know
I still love you so

Now all that's left between us
Is something in the past
And all that's left within us
Are memories that won't last
One phrase will remain of us
Now that we are through
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true

And so I sit in silence
And what for dawn to come
The nights are long and lonely
I end up waiting for the sun
One phrase is left repeating
Waiting for its cue
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true