NOW THAT I AM OLDER by Faymarie Morris

Faye’s response to the ‘Now’ Trigger. The next one is of course ‘then’.

NOW THAT I AM OLDER.

Now that I am older and my world is slowing down

And my life is mainly governed by how to get around,

I can look back to another time, when I was young

And the days were always endless and packed full of fun.

Computers weren’t invented then, mobile phones or texting.

I played for hours out of doors, no time for resting,

Until the sun was going down or tummy was rumbling.

No rain or snow or sun or blow, or mother grumbling.

Summer-time went on forever. I was never bored.

Things to see, find and do. Building dens, making swords.

Skipping up and down the lanes or fishing in the stream,

Collecting frog spawn, sticklebacks. Life was one long dream.

And even in the darkness of a long midwinter’s night

I’d still be outside with my friends, underneath the lights.

Freedom should be each child’s right, to live life to the full,

Learning how to improvise and never being dull.

But it isn’t like that any more, kids can’t be free

To play for hours and hours on end, wherever they please.

There’s danger round each corner, lurking in the shallows.

Hiding in the undergrowth. Prowling through the shadows.

We never saw it coming. When did it come to this?

Did it happen overnight or bit by little bit?

What if it was always there and parents never knew

Or chose to just ignore it, like adults sometimes do?

But this is how it always was, back then, in the day.

The many dangers I encountered, just out at play.

Like standing by the railway tracks with steam trains chugging past,

Waving at the people as they went by, in a flash.

I still grew up and lived and thrived and wanted for nought

And ate the things I shouldn’t have. Sometimes I know I fought

To try my best to understand the workings of the world

And how to grow into myself, while the cosmos unfurled.

And nature was my best friend, it helped me to survive

The miles and miles I trudged to school, when I was just five.

Birds were always singing whether skies were grey or blue

When every precious moment was filled with things to do.

By Faymarie Morris

SNOWFALL by Cynthia Smith

[As we get another flurry of Winter…Ed]

SNOWFALL by Cynthia Smith

Falling, falling,

Straight down, unflurried,

Sparkling snowflakes,

Softly, unhurried.

Peaceful, dreamlike,

Silvering the landscape,

Ugly streets and buildings, now

Snow adorns the man-scape.

Trees, hills, even motorways

Shine with rare beauty,

Decked in a new disguise.

Nature’s done her duty.

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Born From Nought? (Almighty Hand) By Chris South

Inspired by music Prelude – L’Apres Midi d’un Faune by Debussy.

Born From Nought?
(Almighty Hand)

By Chris South

Born from nought this world of dreams
When all the heavens heaved a sigh?
No mortal ear beheld the screams
That birthed the earth, the sea, the sky!
How then be it men ponder this
And from their musings understand
The empty womb, that black abyss
Of time and space spewed forth the land?
That from its sulphurous choking bowel
Sprang life in bountiful supply
Each plant and beast, each fish and fowl
Then last not least came man, then I?
Now farther take such wisdom hence
Pray dwell on this; foretell the end of time
What justice shall our world dispense
Befitting of all human crime
What answer holds this universe
That born from nought gives substance still?
Entire existence seems perverse
If back into the void we spill
How then be it men ponder more
And musing fail to understand?
Not born from nought, creations core
Was wrought by an Almighty Hand!

(If you click this link it will open in a new tab.L’Apres Midi d’un Faune You may then wish to come back to this tab to listen while you re-read Chris’s powerful piece)