Submissions by Josh
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction I write mainly poetry for the inner journey. I also have a feisty side-line of writing poetic commentaries on the war industry and politics & culture. "When power corrupts, poetry cleanses" (JFK, Oct 1963)
NON-FICTION PROSE
Published
13th Sep 2019 12:32pm
13th Sep 2019 12:32pm
The Kingdom of Hip
#politics
#ShortStory
#redemption
87 reads
7 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
10th Sep 2019 5:51pm
10th Sep 2019 5:51pm
Brexit Ultra
Some moments in political history
are like this:
On a green hill
stands a thousand year old oak tree
with a sword propped against its massive trunk
plus a noose hanging from a large branch.
And the choice for the ‘right honourable’ politicians is?
Either fall on the sword -
or put the noose around your neck
and step off the soap-box
trusting a mature angel will get there before a fallen angel
and glancing at the crossed scales on another green hill not so far away
will pick up the sword
and use it wisely.
are like this:
On a green hill
stands a thousand year old oak tree
with a sword propped against its massive trunk
plus a noose hanging from a large branch.
And the choice for the ‘right honourable’ politicians is?
Either fall on the sword -
or put the noose around your neck
and step off the soap-box
trusting a mature angel will get there before a fallen angel
and glancing at the crossed scales on another green hill not so far away
will pick up the sword
and use it wisely.
#politics
78 reads
20 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
5th Sep 2019 3:04pm
5th Sep 2019 3:04pm
A Mind Off-Grid, No:14 - Medallion Man's Beach Encounter
#relationships
#funny
124 reads
37 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
24th Aug 2019 6:23pm
24th Aug 2019 6:23pm
Three from my Bed
Dissent
It’s not the ascent that kills you
but the dissent -
gravity pulls you down
back into the valley
where shadows are longer.
Definition of Loneliness
I have been walking a long way
and not met a single poem.
Someone Suggested …
after the next election
there would be a hung parliament.
Now there's an idea ...
It’s not the ascent that kills you
but the dissent -
gravity pulls you down
back into the valley
where shadows are longer.
Definition of Loneliness
I have been walking a long way
and not met a single poem.
Someone Suggested …
after the next election
there would be a hung parliament.
Now there's an idea ...
#politics
#illness
118 reads
26 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
15th Aug 2019 3:33pm
15th Aug 2019 3:33pm
A Certain Reminder
If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you”; (Gospel of Thomas, Logon:70; translation as used in Elaine Pagels’ “The Gnostic Gospels”).
“I had a dream and because I did not live my dream, my dream was making me sick”; (Black Elk Speaks).
Interpretations notwithstanding
some reminders
of how things work
can feel pretty stark -
and peering into a dark unknown
I am tempted to turn away
arguing there are...
“I had a dream and because I did not live my dream, my dream was making me sick”; (Black Elk Speaks).
Interpretations notwithstanding
some reminders
of how things work
can feel pretty stark -
and peering into a dark unknown
I am tempted to turn away
arguing there are...
#MovingOn
123 reads
23 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
11th Aug 2019 10:46pm
11th Aug 2019 10:46pm
At My Brother's House
A Day Begins
Brightening morning mist
lightens the big kitchen,
old family clock chimes half-past
continues its loud tick-tock
keeping generational order -
grandfather Albert looking on, smiling.
The large Aga, master of many a Sunday roast,
boils its first kettle of the day
as the kitchen tap drips once every 16 tocks
and the fridge hums with a twenty-year ease.
Signal
Sister-in-law undergoing chemo,
two out of eight done,
and everything in the house looks the same
yet feels a little different,
slightly...
Brightening morning mist
lightens the big kitchen,
old family clock chimes half-past
continues its loud tick-tock
keeping generational order -
grandfather Albert looking on, smiling.
The large Aga, master of many a Sunday roast,
boils its first kettle of the day
as the kitchen tap drips once every 16 tocks
and the fridge hums with a twenty-year ease.
Signal
Sister-in-law undergoing chemo,
two out of eight done,
and everything in the house looks the same
yet feels a little different,
slightly...
#family
89 reads
15 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
9th Aug 2019 3:49am
9th Aug 2019 3:49am
Three Scribblings Returning Home from Holiday in Wales
Hosting my Ghost
Perhaps I’m no more than an entertaining ghost
who, alpaca-like, spits at those who cross the line
then fades through walls in a stately manner
to live a prisoned life, in non-sense time.
Sailing
Sometimes I feel I’m sailing into a mirror
where two of me foreshorten into a flat line
each emerging miraculously on the other side -
“As within, so without” sings my spirit, “step in time”.
Leaking Heat
I’ve experienced a six-decade meltdown
with its lingering, longing, leaking heat
which...
Perhaps I’m no more than an entertaining ghost
who, alpaca-like, spits at those who cross the line
then fades through walls in a stately manner
to live a prisoned life, in non-sense time.
Sailing
Sometimes I feel I’m sailing into a mirror
where two of me foreshorten into a flat line
each emerging miraculously on the other side -
“As within, so without” sings my spirit, “step in time”.
Leaking Heat
I’ve experienced a six-decade meltdown
with its lingering, longing, leaking heat
which...
#identity
#SelfReflection
62 reads
14 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
1st Aug 2019 11:19am
1st Aug 2019 11:19am
Three Scribblings on Holiday in Wales
A Hip Life
One blames gravity; things sag
feet dragging where once they skipped lightly -
we, mere nodal blips in cosmic time
passing through a gate, craggy
and finally shipped - elsewhere.
Souls look back,
thank John Lee Hooker
and say “It was hip, baby”.
Incarnation
“No poem as lovely as a tree” -
it trips off the tongue
on automatic pilot …
don’t get too cocky, poet.
I think back:
“In the beginning was the Word…”
“God spake, and it was done …”
Which came first - Word or Physics?
I read John...
One blames gravity; things sag
feet dragging where once they skipped lightly -
we, mere nodal blips in cosmic time
passing through a gate, craggy
and finally shipped - elsewhere.
Souls look back,
thank John Lee Hooker
and say “It was hip, baby”.
Incarnation
“No poem as lovely as a tree” -
it trips off the tongue
on automatic pilot …
don’t get too cocky, poet.
I think back:
“In the beginning was the Word…”
“God spake, and it was done …”
Which came first - Word or Physics?
I read John...
#marriage
#LifeAsAWriter
#aging
78 reads
18 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
24th Jul 2019 11:30am
24th Jul 2019 11:30am
Rune Visit
The spaceship took me slowly to the moon
to have a look at footprints in the dust
it hummed a kind of anniversary tune …
technology became the one to trust.
I stared out through the portal to the stars
the spaceship took me slowly to the moon,
too old to journey all the way to Mars
I thought I’d better make this trip quite soon.
The moonscape looked a bit like Herbert’s ‘Dune’
our landing slot came clearly into view
the spaceship took me slowly to the moon
along with many other tourists too.
And back in ‘sixty-nine...
to have a look at footprints in the dust
it hummed a kind of anniversary tune …
technology became the one to trust.
I stared out through the portal to the stars
the spaceship took me slowly to the moon,
too old to journey all the way to Mars
I thought I’d better make this trip quite soon.
The moonscape looked a bit like Herbert’s ‘Dune’
our landing slot came clearly into view
the spaceship took me slowly to the moon
along with many other tourists too.
And back in ‘sixty-nine...
#moon
#rhyming
#travel #aging
#travel #aging
108 reads
14 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
23rd Jul 2019 10:53pm
23rd Jul 2019 10:53pm
Systemic Tragedy
#power
#politics
#money
148 reads
20 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
22nd Jul 2019 5:54pm
22nd Jul 2019 5:54pm
No Defence for the Defence Industry
The so-called “Defence” Industry is a $1.8Trillion Dollar Industry.
Did you clock that?
1.8 trillion dollar’s worth of activity hell bent on destruction:
infrastructure, governments, agriculture, people’s houses, jobs.
Jobs? Don’t those in favour of the so-called “Defence Industry”
keep reminding us how many jobs are provided by the …
… well let’s call a spade a spade … by the War Industry?
Have you ever thought how many jobs are destroyed by the War Industry,
how many livelihoods, self-employed, small-time farmers, shop-owners
small...
Did you clock that?
1.8 trillion dollar’s worth of activity hell bent on destruction:
infrastructure, governments, agriculture, people’s houses, jobs.
Jobs? Don’t those in favour of the so-called “Defence Industry”
keep reminding us how many jobs are provided by the …
… well let’s call a spade a spade … by the War Industry?
Have you ever thought how many jobs are destroyed by the War Industry,
how many livelihoods, self-employed, small-time farmers, shop-owners
small...
#war
#AgnesTorok
133 reads
17 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
19th Jul 2019 12:04pm
19th Jul 2019 12:04pm
Sword
Love is a one-edged sword
facing a two-edged sword
and saying
“I have no second edge
to flip around
and use against you”.
facing a two-edged sword
and saying
“I have no second edge
to flip around
and use against you”.
#love
#relationships
152 reads
29 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Josh
