Always something on my mind!

I walk along a country lane

The road still damp from acid rain

The polluted air smells bitter-sweet

And bottles crunch beneath my feet

I look around and there I see

The wonders of nature - just for me

Such beauty that I stand and stare

At all the things that I find there

Oh look, among the haws and hips

I do believe – yes, fish and chips!

More traces of that creature “Man”

Some plastic bags, an empty can

A rabbit hobbles across the grass

With feet all cut by broken glass

A badger lies – it did not heed

The car approaching at such speed

And in the slowly moving stream

No fish leap to disturb my dreams

For waste pours in from every quarter

And nothing lives in the dark water

You think that I exaggerate

But soon it may be much too late

To save our world from being just

Filled with pollution, waste and rust

In a pub

Somewhere in England

Music Blaring

Standing here

Drink in hand

Shouting

Shallow conversation

Above the noise

But this isn’t me

Not all of me

Just the outside

Pretending to be alive

The most real part of me

My inner Core

Is far away

In another place

Much more exciting than this

With another man

Much more exciting than you

This isn’t me

Not all of me

Just the outside

Pretending to be alive

The music fills me up

Outside and in

Outside just a meaningless noise

But inside so much more

There the words mean something

Words to fit each situation

Each situation made to fit the words

This isn’t me

Not all of me

Just the outside

Pretending to be alive

Surfacing for a moment

I look around

And see blank faces

And I wonder

Are they far away

Like me

And is life so boring then

That we must fill each moment with fantasy

Instead of living

This isn’t me

Not all of me

Just the outside

Pretending to be alive

Sometimes

When I stop my fantasies

And think

I wonder what would happen

If I was really there

In that other place

With that other man

Would all of me be there

Or would a part be

In a pub

Somewhere in England

Music blaring

You should have read the small print

It is there for all to see

So okay, it isn’t written

But implied - you must agree

It says that the speed limit sign

Does not always apply

That sometimes it can be ignored

And there are many reasons why

Being late for work is one of them

Or late for anything

Or being a bit distracted

By the mobile phone’s insistent ring

Or listening to the radio

With only one eye on the road

Stewing over big work problems

With a mind on overload

Planning what to cook for tea

Making a shopping list

Hurrying home to catch that program

That nobody should miss

Trying to control the children

Who are fighting in the back

Turning round to shout at them

And threatening with a smack

Or just being plain impatient

And not wanting to be last

Having a big powerful car

And wanting to drive it fast

And, of course, it doesn’t really count

If there’s no camera there to see

And everybody knows that it

“Will not happen to me”

The sign is backed with yellow now

There are flowers on the grass

And the traffic’s moving slower too

But I don’t think that will last

And I really am so sorry

(The yellow roses are from me)

And if I could have the time again

I would drive slow enough to see

Oh yes, I’m sorry,  really sorry

I wish it could be different

But you should have been more careful

You should have read the small, small print

Lots of black plastic bins bags and brown cardboard boxes

In the end is that all we really are worth?

Is that all the meaning there ever can be

For all of the time that we’ve spent here on earth?

All these black plastic bin bags and brown cardboard boxes

Filled up with the things that were gathered in life

Old ornaments, papers and a few precious items

Not much to show for the struggle and strife!

But the black plastic bin bags and brown cardboard boxes

Cannot ever contain all the joy we have known

In our hearts and our minds we will carry the memories

For away with the rubbish love can never be thrown.

Tell me exactly why you wear that cross

Hanging from a chain around your neck

Or dangling from you ears and other places

I don’t quite like to mention

Tell me why don’t you wear a noose

Or miniature electric chair

Or guillotine, or gas chamber

Or other murderous invention

Parental guidance needed

It tells you an the screen

Because you can’t erase the memory

Of what your children’s eyes have seen

Parental guidance needed here

But turned the other way

It’s us that need the guidance

On what to do and say

What happens if we get it wrong?

And give the wrong advice

Or let them get away with things

Just so they think we’re nice?

What happens when they get it wrong?

Is it all down to us?

When we let them get away with things

So not to cause a fuss

                        When life comes hammering at my door

                        And I can really take no more

                        I close my eyes and I pretend

                        That all my cares are at an end

                        Heroes that I can almost touch

                        Provide the strength I need so much

                        I decide the story line

                        And everything I want is mine

                        But comes a time when I can see

                        The dreams are taking over me

                        And seem without a hint of strife

                        To become a substitute for life

                        Immersed in my imagination

                        Fatal in their fascination

                        Hidden at the heart of me

                        Fathoms deep in fantasy

                        Far deadlier than nightshade

                        Even my waking thoughts invade

                        More solid than the things I see

                        More real than reality

                        If nothing comes to take their place

                        I'll disappear without a trace

                        Lost in my world of make believe

                        Drowned in the daydreams that I weave

Inside myself

There's a private place

That no-one else  can see

It is my inner core

The centre of my being

It contains my dreams

My fantasies

My deepest thoughts

My reason for living

Inside myself

There's a private place

That no-one else can see

I keep it locked

And shut away

It's not for sharing

Others wouldn't understand

If my eyes are windows of my soul

Then I will keep the curtains

Firmly shut

Inside myself

there's a private place

That no-one else may see

I know that everybody else

Has a place like me

Hidden away  - inside

How can anyone tell

looking at the outside

What goes on within

Secrets and dreams

Or just emptiness - and fear

Inside ourselves

There are private places

That no-one else can see

Inside myself is a battlefield

Where good fights evil

Where dark and light combat

Like gladiators in an ancient arena

Fighting to the death

Which will win, I wonder

I think that mostly it's a draw

Inside myself

There's a private place

That no-one else should see

Sometimes my feelings

Fill my private place to bursting point

And I must let some out

(On paper - not in speech)

To avoid an explosion

But even then I only skim the surface

For even I can see right to the centre

Inside myself

There's a private place

That even I can't see

Boys in men's bodies

Playing games with our lives

Political games

War games

Moving us which ever way they can

Not caring how we feel

No thought for our future

Just boys in Men's bodies

Playing games with our lives

Pressing buttons - making us move

This way and that

Like a giant computer game

Run  -  Jump  -  Climb  -  Aim  -  Fire!

Whoops!  Lost another life (or lives)!

Never mind - it's only a game

One day God will halt the program

And stop these boys in men's bodies

Playing games with our lives