The end of an era
But I hear her
Calling me back
Gripping me harder

Harder than the quiet
The peace I awake too
A pleasure it has been to sit and dwell
But I hear her

Whispering to come back
To life as it was
The circus of emotion and ambition
Brutish said Hobbes

“Don’t be scared”, she says
“The emotion will pass
What you achieve with your day
Will surely last”

Her voice is close by
Like an echo returning home
Circling around me
Vibrating my bones

I can feel her presence
But I didn’t foresee
Or think for one moment
That perhaps she was me

A message left behind
Intended to persuade
To call myself back
Stear me this way

A trail of breadcrumbs
To a life hard and fast
When all I wanted
Was our holiday to last
 

The tunnels of London an extreme conundrum
World class engineering yet terrible steering
Women standing but men sitting
Baby’s crying and the elderly reading

Mayfair hats next to builders bags
Shiny suits and worn out boots
Packed in tight with very little light
Silence amid the crowds piled in

London at its best and it’s worst
It’s care and it’s lust
Hated and loved
By all races and faces 

Get up, get up
Did you not hear what I said
Ferocious in the morning
Is Military Meg

Walk the dog
Clean the flat
Make my breakfast
You lazy brat

We’ve got things to do
People to see
Get dressed and move
Or you won’t be seeing me

She means well
Does military meg
It just comes out wrong
Not a bad egg
 

How did I lose that bastard stick
Where did it go or was it a trick
He does this thing where he fakes a throw
Makes me think it’s gone then it’s time to go

No, I’m not leaving
I’m not some mug you’re walking
You take me out once a day
Sometimes twice if I pay

Help me find it owner
Give it here or I’ll show ya
Dogs can be a whole lot worse
So help me find it first    

Early rise to singing birds
 The songs that start the year
 A verse of real and a chorus of hope 
 I long to hear

 A melody for the ages 
 Rich sounds of trees
 The rustling of leaves 
 A gentle breeze

 I’m alone up here
 Most are sleeping still
 The open marshes of Leyton
 Yet to spend their thrill

 A full day blocked till 8
 For heavens sake 
 Thank goodness for the sounds 
 Noises you can’t fake 
 
 

A city to wander
An afternoon to ponder
A sober mind to dwell
How to spend a life well

Family is never questioned
And rightly never sectioned
For people may pass
But some bonds last

Bonds that give space for questions
Reveal vulnerability and emotion
A life long search
To find ones earth

A sad goodbye
To a special guy
Just got back, milo seems glad
He says hi Grandad 

Money 
 A web of thrills and spills 
 Asset
 A holding for you to choose 
 Debt
 A crunch that tends to bite 
 Lending 
 A power with lots to lose 

 Micro
 The shit that matters
 Macro
 The shit that other people sort out 
 Market 
 A mood that swings with little reason 
 Insurance 
 A money tree ready to sprout 
 
  

Dog on the train 
 At it again 
 I’m going insane  

 One person plays 
 One person groans 
 Take the dog home 

 Bring the dog in 
 Or stay in the flat?
 Give me a Cat 

Council flat
 Silver spoon 
 Food bank
 Dinner soon 

 Carlsberg 
 Homework 
 Savings 
 Find work

 Merge 
 Emerge 
 Clipped 
 Fly 

 Bin man
 Lawyer 
 Uber 
 The boss

To walk along the river,
 A crisp morning with crunch underfoot
 Is to clear your head of concern or simmer 
 No time for the congested or familiar 

 Rhythms pull in directions 
 Most are straight no curves 
 Others with bends and ramifications 
 How to choose 

 Daylight breaks early 
 The water sparkles bright 
 How the winter has come fairly 
 Pushing through January swiftly 

 Every two weeks we change places 
 Up and down the canals we trade 
 The same hellos and the same faces 
 But the season pushes through