Night Bus

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AbeBooks, Amazon, Another Tease, Book, Book Depository, creative, Depression, hope, inspiration, loss, Love, Lulu, lyrics, music, nostalgia, Peace, poems, poetry, Prose, Publication, verse, war, writing

A short piece taken from the collection of poetry, prose and lyrics entitled ‘Another Tease’ (links at the end of the post. Enjoy!

I sat on the bus, watching the night-lit streets as they passed by like frozen, shrouded memories. The juddering, stop-start motion seemed to bring an uneasy comfort to my body, detached as it was from my consciousness. Other vehicles, heading in the opposite direction, appeared and then disappeared as if they were on some mythic quest, their headlights dull and dim below my position on the top deck of the bus, illuminating nothing but the first few steps on a journey without end. For a moment it seemed as if only they knew the direction in which to move in order to find some salvation, some respite from the pain, and yet I knew, contained within each metal box, was nothing more than one more lonely figure hoping beyond all hope that something, some miracle, would appear to snap them out of their coma.

Buildings rose up on either side of me now; giant monoliths, some pale and dark, devoid of life, tired and waiting for release, others still humming under the electric glow which gave them purpose. Their eyes stared out without seeing through the dark, and were gone again, lost to me as I moved steadily on. Their facades hung momentarily in my mind like all the faces of people I had met in my life, before fading into a sea of ashen memories. The night around me seemed to tighten its grip as, like an abandoned vessel, we sailed on.

To both the right and to the left of me roads sprouted off from the main artery down which I was travelling. They sparkled and twinkled with the hope of the newborn before even their lights were swallowed by the darkness into which, it seemed, the whole world had fallen. I shuddered as the bus lurched around a corner: not from the cold – I had long since become immune to that – but from the impending realisation that we were, at last, nearing my stop, my final destination.

And then everything was quiet, but for the pounding in my chest and the pulsing in my head. What if I were to remain on the bus? Would it eject me when it reached its destination, its point of termination, or would it show a glimmer of empathy, offer up a hand and cradle me to its heart? After all, my brain reminded me, what point was there to alighting, to leaving the bus to continue without me, if you were no longer there to welcome me home?

Another Tease – poetry, prose and lyrics

LULU

BOOK DEPOSITORY 

ABEBOOKS

ALBRIS

AMAZON

Something Borrowed (not really) – Borrowed Time (a song)

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Another Tease, Book, Borrowed Time, City, creative, lyrics, music, poems, poetry, Poverty, Struggle, verse, writing

Ran on down through the night

Passed the high shot pusher on the corner,

A hundred hungry faces cried

A thousand tears of sorrow.

Saw the lost on the pavements

Met the all-day fallen on park benches,

Watched the closing of cafes

The all night sanctuaries.

A street light lit the alley

Old man crying in the gutter alone,

Hollow girls in the doorways

Promise of escape for some.

A wallet slips into the night

A thousand hands reach for offering,

A knife shines in the road

The broken hearts reach out.

Night time lovers flit across the sky

Don’t hear the dying breaths downtown,

The misplaced and abandoned

Souls that can’t go on.

The downtown joys of such men

Can’t feel the pain of life,

Too many broken hearts

Which live on borrowed time.

A Farewell

Tags

A Farewell, Another Tease, Book, Communication, creative, fiction, flash, flash fiction, Leaving, loss, lyrics, music, poetry, Prose, Published, short story, stories, story, writing

A very short story today taken from the collection of poetry, prose and lyrics: ‘Another Tease’ available via the links below.

Hope you enjoy this.

I thought of you then, on the day that I left, knowing, despite the words, that we would never meet again. I thought of you as I sat in the darkness, as the Sun dipped like a dying friend beyond the horizon for what might as well have been the last time. I knew that I, like the errant Sun, would rise again, but that neither of us would ever be quite the same: the Sun would burn fractionally less brightly, its gaseous source ever so slightly diminished, and I, with less reason to rise than before, would begin to become a shadow of myself. I thought of you and the words that we had shared wondering if you had ever truly understood my meaning. Had you thought of me as a friend or merely an acquaintance, and had I ever truly understood what lay behind your eyes? I thought of how close I felt that we had become, our shoulders brushing against one another as we shared a joke, our laughter spreading its roots between us connecting us forever, or so I had imagined. But did you leave me behind along with all the other artefacts of work when you closed the door behind you and returned to your home?

I thought of you and wondered whether I had been too obscure, too subtle in my words and looks, for you to see me. And what exactly had I felt? Was this a connection that I felt that I had needed or something that had burst upon me unexpectedly and had opened a new door which whispered quietly for me to go through? Perhaps the moment had come for me, after a life of living at a comfortable distance from the edge, to finally take a chance, a risk. But, of course, caution is a powerful bedfellow, and, by the time I had recognised the chance, if had closed its eye for ever.

I thought of you then and wondered if you had ever lain alone in the dark beneath the Summer’s heat: I wondered if, like me, you had lost yourself to imagination; and I wondered if you had ever found yourself with your hand between your legs, wishing its fingers were mine.

Another Tease – poetry, prose and lyrics

LULU

AMAZON

BOOK DEPOSITORY 

ABEBOOKS

ALBRIS

Take This Heart

Tags

creative, inspiration, loss, Love, lyrics, music, poems, poetry, separation, Take This Heart, verse, writing

Open my eyes to the grey

That bleeds between the blinds,

Dead welcome to the day

No comfort to my mind,

No sunlight on my skin

To warm these broken bones,

There is no doorway in

No house without a home.

The ache that spreads between

The blades across my back,

And nothing I have seen

Comes crawling through the black,

And limbs that move alone

No mind no words no will,

The things that I have done

No longer touch me still.

So come

Come take this heart away

I don’t need it now you’re gone,

So come

Come take this heart away

It is lost without your song.

And everyday is winter

So cold without your hand,

Every word a splinter

No place for me to land,

A scuff upon my shoe

Reminders of the day,

The memories of you

The words you used to say.

And what does it all count for

Those things upon the chair,

And who is keeping score

Of tears that I left there?

Your scent upon my skin

Serves only to remind,

That all has come and been

Lies lonely in my mind.

So come

Come take this heart away

I don’t need it now you’re gone,

So come

Come take this heart away

It is lost without your song.

Let You Down

Tags

Another Tease, Anthology, Book, Collection, creative, Let you down, lyrics, music, poems, poetry, song, verse, writing

Another lyric taken from my recently published collection ‘Another Tease’.

Another lyric today. This is called ‘Let You Down’…feel free to create your own melody.

Hope you enjoy.

I’m sorry

I’m so very sorry

I never meant

To let you down

Never meant

For you to drown.

I’m sorry

I’m so very sorry

I never meant

To let you down

Never meant

For you to drown.

On days

On days so much better

So much better

Than these

We watched each other dance

Made promises on stars

I swore I’d never leave

I’d never let you fade

And nights

Nights we shared as one

In brighter dreams

Than we could hold

We watched each other shine

Make circles in the sky

I swore I’d keep forever

And never wish away

I’m sorry

I’m so very sorry

I never meant

To let you down

Never meant

For you to drown.

And how

How did I let it all

Fall away

Fall to shadow

We watched each other go

Leave footprints in our hearts

I swore would never happen

I’d never let you fade

I’m sorry

I’m so very sorry

I never meant

To let you down

Never meant

For you to drown.

‘Another Tease’ is a collection of poetry, short prose fiction and lyrics covering themes as diverse as love & war, faith & loss and hope & depression. The lyrics have no melodies – each one is left open for the reader to create their own interpretation.

ISBN: 978-1-329-16251-8

Available now via:

LULU

As soon as the book is available on other platforms I will post more!

I hope that you enjoy reading!

Tangled

Tags

Another Tease, Anthology, Book, Collection, creative, Lulu, lyrics, music, poems, poetry, Publication, song, Tangled, verse, writing

Over the next few weeks I am focusing on editing some short stories which I will hopefully be able to publish in the near future.

In the meantime I am going to share a few pieces taken from my recently published collection ‘Another Tease’.

Today’s post is a lyric entitled ‘Tangled’. Hope you like it.

I love you but I’m broken

The words you said to me,

I’d like to hold you baby

But I’m not sure I’m free.

I’m tangled up and twisted

Afraid of what you’ll see,

The loneliness and fear

A darker side of me.

My shredded heart is open

Lays weeping on the ground,

Your words tumble around me

Fall lifeless with no sound.

But I will wait

A thousand years

To hold your heart

Again,

And I would walk

The continents

To bring you back

Your love.

My tears will fall forever

But never set you free,

My heart can offer nothing

There’s little left of me.

I love you but I’m broken

The words you said to me,

I’d like to hold you baby

But I’m not sure I’m free.

But I will wait

A thousand years

To hold your heart

Again,

And I would walk

The continents

To bring you back

Your love.

‘Another Tease’ is a collection of poetry, short prose fiction and lyrics covering themes as diverse as love & war, faith & loss and hope & depression. The lyrics have no melodies – each one is left open for the reader to create their own interpretation.

ISBN: 978-1-329-16251-8

Available now via:

LULU

As soon as the book is available on other platforms I will post more!

I hope that you enjoy reading!

Another Tease

Tags

Another Tease, Book, creative, Depression, faith, Falling Sleet, fiction, flash, flash fiction, hope, inspiration, Love, lyrics, music, poems, poetry, Prose, Publication, short stories, stories, The Candle Game, verse, war, writing

Firstly a huge thank you to everyone who has purchased either Falling Sleet or The Candle Game. I hope that you are enjoying them.

It gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of my latest collection of writing Another Tease:

‘Another Tease’ is a collection of poetry, short prose fiction and lyrics covering themes as diverse as love & war, faith & loss and hope & depression. The lyrics have no melodies – each one is left open for the reader to create their own interpretation.

ISBN: 978-1-329-16251-8

Available now via:

LULU

As soon as the book is available on other platforms I will post more!

I hope that you enjoy reading!

And now, a couple of ‘teasers’ –

Watching Dreams

Watching dreams

Evaporate like tears

In the warmth of another,

Sun-bleached streaks

On a bed of sand,

Wanting to reach out

Clutch and grab

At Youth’s fresh resolve,

Mold it to age’s wisdom

And stride once more,

Sight-scarred eyes

Life-bleached and hollow

Stare blind at passing time,

Hands that sweep so quickly

Unforgiving, so cold,

And floating on the wind

Dream’s lost fragments fly

To settle on another,

Sun-bleached streaks

On a bed of sand.

The Interview

When they had asked me what he had been like, the man with the knife, all I could say was that I couldn’t really say. He had been, to my mind’s eye, nothing more, or less, than average.

      He had stood at average height; not discernibly taller nor shorter than myself. His hair had been worn short, but neither cropped nor shaven, and his eyes, well I could barely remember the colour of my closest friend’s eyes, so that line of questioning drew a blank.

      What of the colour of the man’s skin? I could confidently say that he was white, but boasted a tanned face; or had that been a more olive complexion? It was difficult to say with any degree of certainty.

      Distinguishing features? He had a knife: a response that solicited a look which could have been annoyance but equally disdain. No, there were none that my sapless mind could recall.

      He had been, the man with the knife, nothing more than average. His accessory had been all that made him stand apart. His unremarkableness reminded me only of myself.

      In fact he might as well have been me.

Something New

Tags

creative, dreams, Fear, hope, Love, Memories, music, nostalgia, poems, poetry, Something New, verse, writing

I listened then to something new

The softly whispered

Tender words

They made me think of you.

The melody inside my head

Swam from ear to

Ear to heart

And kissed me restless in my bed.

It filled my dreams with thoughts unknown

The melancholic

Touch of love

The early shoots of seeds once sown.

It made me feel like I had lost

Something that I

Had never owned

A burning hole the final cost.

I listened then to something old

It took me far from

Fragrant fields

And left me safe but left me cold.

Musical Interlude

Tags

Charlotte Young, Country, Country music, Country rock, Download, iTunes, music

Had to share this.

Please take some time to download/purchase and listen to the latest ep from Charlotte Young.

Some great guitar work (biased it’s my son!).

Enjoy

On The Loose

Tags

Chatlotte Young, Country, music, On the Loose

A SHOUT OUT FOR ALL LOVERS OF COUNTRY ROCK MUSIC

The new single by the very talented singer/songwriter Charlotte Young is now out.

If you have never heard her music before then you should definitely have a listen. (I may be slightly biased as my son plays guitar with her and co-wrote ‘On The Loose).

It is available to stream on Spotify or purchase on Amazon.