RUNNING: ESCAPE; PEACE & FREEDOM
WAIT A SECOND (IT’S APRIL FOOLS)
There’s peace in the world today
No more war or bloodshed
Lost limbs or mass graves
We’ve learned to live together
Without greed
Wait a second…
It’s April Fools
There’s equality in the world today
No more sexism or poverty
Or judgment based upon race
Background or colour
And gender
Wait a second…
It’s April Fools
Everybody’s lives matter in the world today
No more riots against injustice
Or knees placed upon heads I pray
Played out on
Our TV screens
Wait a second…
It’s April Fools
There’s longevity in the world today
No more sickness or death
Everyone’s going to live & stay
Around forever
Ageless
Wait a second…
It’s April Fools
There’s full bellies in the world today
No more hunger or starvation
Everyone’s got food on their plate
Wherever they are
Fully satisfied
Wait a second…
It’s April Fools
There’s sanity in the world today
No more anxiety or depression
Bipolar disorder to play
Havoc with your head or
Pull the noose
Wait a second…
It’s April Fools
There’s soberness in the world today
No more addiction or dependency
Or another lost soul gone astray
Hooked & tethered
On something toxic
Wait a second…
It’s April Fools
It’s April Fools
Pranks and jokesters rule
(But the world hasn’t really changed)
Here to mock and ridicule
A society that’s still so cruel
And maybe put a smile on your face
COFFEE SHOP INTERLOPERS
Coffee shop interlopers
Strangers to these surrounds
Intruders to the peace
Adorned with Irish scarves
Leprechaun hats mounted
On their heads
Painted shamrocks upon their face
Standing around
As though having a pint
They look confused
They look out of place
They don’t belong
I look amused
At this giddy throng
Invading this sacred space
Of the highly caffeinated
Just to have a taste
Or their curiosity sated
I doubt they’ll be back
It’s just a day out
The commitment they lack
Of the true coffee devotee
The lure of the stout
Will launch their retreat
To the familiar environs
Of the public house
For some fermented banter
And a bottle of beer.
Meanwhile,
I’ll just stay in my corner
With a takeaway cup
Write up a charmer
With my laptop
As is my way
And celebrate the holiday
In my own quiet way
THE DEVIL FINDS
Sunken eyes
Sunken spirit
Bereft of sleep
Bereft of peace
Sitting forward on the couch
Shifting nervously
Fidgeting
Unable to settle
My hands quivering
My feet tapping
Off the ground
Repeatedly
Anxiously
So, I plant my unsteady hands on them
Firmly
Grasping them tight
As much as to give them something to do
As to quell the shakes
Otherwise I’ll reach for the phone
As I am prone
And…. well,
The devil finds work for idle hands
Dresses up pretty
Leads you on a merry dance
The restlessness
The agitation
Is palpable
Painfully so
Got to keep myself busy
As my head’s in a tizzy
Got to find something
For myself to do.
To overcome this temptation
To get myself through
I push myself up off the couch
Pace up and down the floor
Start washing the dishes
Hovering the floor
Cleaning the fire
Pretty much any chore
As the devil finds work for idle hands
And makes more demands
On you
Than you could ever have envisaged
My morality now pillaged
My sense of worth
At an all time low
It is easy to throw
In the towel
But that’s not my way
That’s not my style
Time to go all the way
Travel the extra mile
For I’m wrestling with demons
That no freeman
Should ever have to
Facing them head on
Though I’m not strong
Feeling the weight
Of responsibility
For all the people
I’ve let down
And hurt
Was it worth it?
This indulgence
This temporary pleasure
This flirtation
With danger
This bent
This compulsion
Of pressing the button
To self destruct
Whilst ignoring the treasure
Right in front of me
Before my descent
Into the abyss
Of fantasy
The same old dance you see
IN CASE I FORGET
I know, you’re right
Sometimes I’m still prone
To scrolling down
Through the pictures
Of you on my phone
To check for your number
Or my Facebook memories
In case I feel alone
My ache to appease
It reminds me of a birthday
Anniversary or holiday
Puts a smile on my face
Even just for that one day
I know I can’t ring you
That’s not a choice
It’s just in case I forget
The soft sound of your voice.
In case I ever let
The images of you
Fade from my mind
Memories so true.
Over the course of time
Because I got too busy
To stop and rewind
These are my fears
On this journey of grief
Replacing the tears
That’s taken me from
Fierce denial & anger
To acceptance & relief
That you never had to endure
The constant fear of infection
From Covid travelling around
Or the crippling isolation
That accompanied the lockdowns
That maybe, just maybe
You passed away at the right time
So, you could be free
To fly. That I’d be free to rhyme
For now, I must content myself
With more pictures on my phone
Or upon the mantlepiece
In my sitting room at home
It fills my heart with peace
I feel my hope increase
Just in case I ever forget
That won’t happen
Not just yet.
PORCELAIN DOLL
To my porcelain doll
My fragile little girl
Your body shivered
Your mouth, it whimpered
And you gave out a heart-breaking cry
When you came into this world
When you were lifted out
It’s like you were asking us why.
Why did we have to lift you up?
Why did we have to take you out?
Of the womb, you’d made your home
I kissed your forehead
And talked to you
Mam gently rubbed your cheek
We tried to console you
As you seemed a little weak
With your spindly legs
And quivering lips
Your narrow, pleading eyes
Eyes that seem to beg
Us not to disturb you
And let you lie in peace
Eventually you find rest
On your mother’s chest
Skin to skin
Little ears to beating heart
Soothes you into a
Wonderfully deep sleep
We’ll hold you tight
We’ll wrap you up
But not so tight
In case you might break
For you feel so light
Like a little baby bird”
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
SIT DOWN ON THIS COUCH (With a Shrink)
SIT DOWN ON THIS COUCH (With a Shrink)
To sit down on this couch, I never thought
I’d be here, yet this strange life has brought
Me to this place, where I’ve become wrought
With these anxieties that have me caught
In the mousetrap of crippling past vocations
Haunting my mind and stilting aspirations
So here I find myself sharing my vexations
With a stranger, a long way off from elation
I sit down on this couch, not to think
But to carve open my head to a shrink
And let him see inside, how I just shrink
Sometimes under life’s weight, the brink
Of fragility and battened up tears
Vulnerability and fattened up fears
That I try to hide but truth always rears
When nerves are fried, breakdown nears
To sit down on this couch, I now believe
Is the beginning of the long path to retrieve
The sense of balance and peace to conceive
Medicine for the silence and keys to relieve
The pressure that’s been building up inside
Gets less, the more I’m willing to confide
The more I’m willing to swallow my old pride
and learn the lessons that need to be applied
A SHADOW CAST
Born on 16-11-1928, today would’ve been by dad’s 93rd Birthday! He cast a wonderful & happy shadow over us all; was a huge influence on every one he knew and is still greatly missed! 🙁 Happy heavenly birthday Dad! 😁🎂🎉❤️ #poems #poetry #writing #AShadowCast #dad #birthday #happymemories
“Are you John Hume’s son?”
They would inquire,
Once they had caught wind of my surname
“I am”
Came the immediate; proud reply.
“Nothing to do with his namesake John Hume up in the North by any chance”
They would pursue.
Both men of peace. Both much respected.
“I worked with your father when he was Hospital Administrator”
“I was in the Civil Defence with your dad”
“I used to work with him in the court house”
“Ah, I remember working with John in Kilroy’s”
“Didn’t he do the Mater Hospital Pools?”
“He was a good man. A kind man. Always had time for everybody.
Was an absolute gent. Always got things done. Always had a smile
On his face.”
“Who is this man?” I thought to myself
This man they call John Hume
The man with a plan
This man of whom they speak
With such fondness and high regard.
With veneration almost
As though he were a saint
To be revered.
A giant among men
Chosen to walk among us mere mortals
Without equal.
Yet treating everyone equally
Such high standards
Such lofty heights
Such charm and charisma.
I did not really know this man
Nor he me.
He was a stranger to me.
And I to him.
A mystery wrapped in an enigma.
Not a patch on him
Yet cut from his cloth
So something of him
Must have rubbed off on me
Right?!
Yet he loved me unconditionally
Encouraged my talents
Embraced the path I chose to walk,
Even though it wasn’t pensionable
Nor secure
Walking the extra mile with us all
Bending over backwards to support
Always expressed his pride in me,
Via our mutual translator:
My mum. His wife.
He said to her
“I wish I had Ken’s way with words”
I said to her
“I wish I had my dad’s way with people”
You cast a large shadow over us all dad
Spreading far back into a time before I began
Before I was a twinkle in my mother’s eye
Comforting and warm as a thick blanket
Suffocating and inspiring in equal measure.
Your name carried so much substance
And character. Had a gravity to it
So loaded with expectation and history
That I sometimes stumbled under its weight
A weight that I’m only now learning to carry
And embrace.
A rich tapestry of experiences
Sewn together by the same name
By the same man. Bound
Together forever by
The same man’s sorrow
Which made one family, two.
One family’s loss
Became another families birth
Multiplying his legacy
And casting his shadow
Way beyond what he could
Have ever imagined.
Written by Ken Hume
09/10/2015
Copyright of Ken Hume 2015
Poetry and Prose of Ken Hume 