NEW PATH – Ragtag Daily Prompts (New; Path)

Hey folks! Happy New Year to you all. Wishing you the best year full of love; creativity; purpose and happiness. After a much needed blogging break, it’s time to get back on the literary horse with my 1st poem of 2023. It’s appropriately titled: NEW PATH, an amalgamation of Saturday and Sunday’s Ragtag Daily Prompts.

NEW PATH

Out with the old
And in with the new
As you begin the process
Of rummaging through
The mistakes & successes
But don’t let them stew
Instead, let’s throw out
The things you’ve outgrew
Nothing to lose
But everything to prove
Know it’s been tough
And you’re feeling blue
A change of path?!
If you care to choose
If you’ve the courage
To follow through
Study your perennial pathology
Of failure that rules.
A change of direction?!
A chance to regroup
Pathway to a different life
Pathway to a better you.

If you wish to participate in the prompts then you can access them through the following links:

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2022/12/31/rdp-saturday-new/

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2023/01/01/rdp-tuesday-path/

On the Brink

Always writing on the brink
Between sadness & jubilation
Pen & paper as my shrink
For life’s duration
With a healthy dollop of instinct
(And a little perspiration)
A trait that’s nearly extinct
Like poems in gestation
Skating on the ice rink
Spinning words for ovation
Providing a literary link
To a new generation
Encourage them to think
Above their station
To eat & drink
From the cup of alliteration
No more assassinating
Metaphorical fascination
Perfume the poetic stink
Going back generations
Unlock the chains. Clink.
Remove the hesitation
Better not blink
Or you’ll miss the adoration

SNOW FALLS

Snow falls
Kids enthralled
Outside calls
For play

No school today
I heard you say
No need to stay
In front

Of the TV
And it’s “reality
We’ll be free
From it’s clutch

Excitement builds
As mouths they fill
Seeking thrills
With their

Scarves & hats
Gloves and caps
Jacket zip catches
In their hair

Hair today.
Gone tomorrow, hey.
So we may
Aswell make

Make the most of it
Before reality hits
And we have to sit
Inside. Ho hum

Off they run
Into the weak morning sun
For some winter fun
Belated

Though it may be
End of February
Can’t you see
Their delight?

With snowball fights
On carpets white
A joyful respite
From the mundane

To something new
Out of the blue
For a few
Hours at least

They’re having a ball
As the snow falls
Time stalls
For a little bit

Multi-Coloured Terrorism

Struggling to find your place Amongst a beleaguered human race Frightened & confused By the world’s ever-changing face. Constantly trying to chase Its tail Struggling to contemplate the grace Once bestowed upon us all But now seems lost in space Squandered by this relentless violence Death and terror Floods; earthquakes and tremors Hovering over planet […]

Multi-Coloured Terrorism

Goals for the New Year: Part 1

1. Lately, towards the end of last year, I made a decision to place more time into my blog by updating it and interacting with my followers more regularly. It has definitely paid off so far with more feedback from folk, new and old, and visits to my blog. So I’ll continue with that approach for the duration of 2021.

2. As a result of this, I’ve decided to expand my or should I say the blog’s range as I feel it’s gone a bit one dimensional recently by adding only the odd poem every now and again. To do this I’m going back to where my writing journey began. Between December 2005 & September 2008, I had the privilege of writing film and to a lesser degree, gig reviews for my local paper: Tullamore Tribune. It’s the film reviews I enjoyed doing the most and gained a loyal following from, whilst developing my writing style in the process. And it’s that I’m returning to as who doesn’t love a good movie right??!

3. Other goals for making my blog more personal include: giving insights into my writing process; sharing the ups and downs of fatherhood and talking about my own mental health journey, an issue that has and will become more and more prevalent & relevant in the wake of Covid 19

4. In the past couple of years, I am ashamed to admit, that I’ve neglected my reading and writing in favour of watching my favourite show on Sky or now Disney & Netflix. Hey, we’re all guilty of this! And can I really call myself a writer/poet if I’m not reading regularly? My goal here is to cut the TV back to 1 hr an evening then devote the rest of my evening to either reading; writing or both but to have read 12 books by the end of the year. Am currently reading “Rory’s Story” by the now well known comedian: Rory O’ Connor who himself has struggled with his own mental health issues on his road to success. Might do an auld review of that when I’m finished it.

5. On the writing front, this is my fifth & final goal for the year: Get my 2nd poetry book, “What Happened Next” published. I can hear ye all laughing in the background there “Yeh right Ken, you’ve been saying that for years!” And you’d be right. This is where I need ye guys and myself to hold me to account by checking in to see how I’m getting on with it! Don’t let me slack off or fob ye off with excuses as I’m one of the world’s best procrastinators. Give me a kick up the ass when I need it and I will need it! 😛😛😂😂 I need to be ruthless and put it out there to finally get that monkey off my back.

Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, it means a lot to me! I hope you enjoy it and maybe find something useful or helpful for you in your own journey. Mind yourselves and each other! 😁 Tune in later this week for part 2 of my New Year’s goals which deal with my personal focuses.

RUSTY COIL

“RUSTY COIL

Despite you’re heartache
Despite your grief and your pain
You put on a brave face
Get out of bed each day
There’s no time for tears
In your children’s eyes
You learn to hide your fears
Push down the cries
But it’s all come at a cost
As now you’re in turmoil
Wandering and lost
Like a rusty coil
You’re tightly wound
Overcome by anxiousness
Looking for something profound
In all this bewildering mess

If this coil’s wound much more
It might break altogether…

But this rusty coil has the oil
To take away all the creaks
Get things working again
My wife and my kids who spoil
Me every day of every week
With a love dressed like rain
That washes over me

Unconditional and undeserved
Puts the spring back into the coil.”

WRITTEN BY KEN HUME

17/08/2019

End of an Era

It’s the beginning of the end

The end of an era

Of a simpler time

Before the rhymes

Took hold

And my folks got old

And father time came a knocking

A place I called home

Where I used to roam

Quiet as a little mouse

Squeaking and scampering

Ducking and diving

Out of people’s way

Afraid I would be stepped on

Caught in all those mousetraps

Life can set you

Formerly known as the “Pink House,

Which became our go to address

The home provided solace, shelter

For me, for our family

For so many more

From the world outside and it’s mess

 

Filled with love; security and wisdom

 

FREEZE TIME

Wish that I could’ve frozen time

Halted it completely in its tracks

Made it that the bells wouldn’t chime

That you wouldn’t fade to black

Wish I could’ve wrapped you

And your fragile little frame,

Stooped in humble service

Like a perpetual prayer,

up in cotton wool

In bubble wrap

In my arms

Breathe fresh life

Into your lungs

But cancer had set its trap

Aggressively it had struck

And your body slowly wasted away

To mere skin & bone

As if you were made to atone

For some ancient sin

You’d buried deep within

A thought I scarce can entertain

For it would stain

Your memory

Your legacy

You were too pure

Too gentle

For this earth

Hope you find the peace

You’re looking for

To make your sacrifices

Worth.

 

Wish that I could freeze time

Halt it completely in its tracks

Get a marker & draw a line,

Across which you cannot pass

For fear that you might get older

Grow up too soon

Lose your childlike innocence

For you’re too young to shoulder

Such burdens.

If that makes any sense.

Put together your very own

Wardrobe to Narnia

Where you’ll never grow old

Or succumb to disease

Where you’ll never be told

What to do

Or have to appease

You’ll sit on the throne

Guided by the great lion

And rule your kingdom

With kindness and compassion

Love and wisdom

Strength & dignity

For the whole of your life

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEES THE TEARS

She sees the tears

But doesn’t ask me why.

Just says, “Daddy are you okay?”

With her sensitive spirit

And her searching eyes.

She lifts a chip from the plate

Pushing it into my mouth

Sits herself up beside me

As in her own way she tries

To comfort and placate

My bruised and broken heart

Causing a smile to start

Breaking through.

In spite of my best efforts

To dwell in my melancholy

To remain there.

In my despair.

She’s a source of pain relief

Our very own paracetamol

A natural born entertainer

With energizer batteries

And a massive heart of gold

A wisdom unseen

And a wise old soul

Well beyond her years

Devoid of all the fears

We build up as we get older

The load we carry on our shoulders

I wish not to inflict

My own anxieties

And improprieties

Upon her and our little bird

I yearn for them

To be honest and be free

To travel and to see

The world. And to be

Themselves. Their full selves

Unfurled.

SOME PLANS

‘Ye had plans for me’

I know you did.

Hopes. Expectations. Prayers.

Plans for a better life.

A pensionable job

A stronger faith

Plans that have robbed

Me of time.

Plans that have always proved

Just a little bit of my reach.

A little hard to teach

An alien such as me

 

God knows. I’ve had some plans too

Lots of plans

Goals

Some absurd

Plans to save souls

Preach the Word

Plans to play roles

On stage occurred

Plans to turn my writings

Into songs

My internal fighting

Meant they didn’t go along

 

Lofty plans.

Ambitious. Naïve.

Idealistic.

Not always realistic

Optimistic

But socially fatalistic.

Kept me in my head

But out of touch

Full of dread

Not up to much

 

Some plans succeeded

Others didn’t

Some plans impeded

Us. So, I say good riddance

Some plans are needed

To go the distance