When On watching my elders I see that the mind never ages, It softens in matters of the heart and hardens with principles, The body tires from its breakneck speed, Teenagers trapped in immovable contorted frames, This flesh and bone just wears out, it cannot sustain this youthful mind, Trapped in a generation that sees and judges the world a certain way, but youthful in playfulness, openness and not giving a hoot, Unperturbed by what others think and full of curiosity snuffling for gossip, We have our built in obsolescence , our time to fallow and our time to rest, When will our body self catch up with our mind self and learn to live without limitation and live freely like the imagination - unencumbered, shackle free

Tribute When you loose something, retrace your steps, carefully go backwards, moment by moment go to each place and think, ponder even and cast your eye without actually looking, I retraced my steps And I found hundreds of carrier bags filled with velvet scrunchies for wearing on my wrists, a pile of tie-dyed skirts and Bangles albums on vinyl, a room filled with laughter, bottles of white chestnut with half filled pipettes the sound of ‘now come on darling” and kindness, such kindness Teenage companionship, face packs and shopping in Camden market, not so long telephone calls and pierced noses, rare honesty and innocence practical jokes and sleepovers, friendship 25 passing autumns and springs each in their turn bringing new challenges and adventures, the salad bar at pizza hut, slurpees from 7 eleven and everything was ‘gorgeous darling’ just gorgeous. "lets have a look at you boy you've put on a bit of weight haven't you darling?” never a flicker and honest to a T So when mum called and we knew that we’d lost you we retraced our steps, And we found you in every memory. in every part of us that you influenced in every part of kindness that we pass to others in every honest deed and every dirty joke we tell and that is where we find you, not lost but very much in our hearts

Walking Weary Walking weary Treading my troubles into the earth Kicking embers Leaving the past underfoot On heel, on ball Steady the trudge, steady the forward, Marching on with rounded shoulders Demons beating down in hailstones, jumping and thumping on spine and bone, Walking weary in beleaguered strides .

Belfast Faded flags whipped up in the easterly winds, Unions and tricolours, Fish and chip shops bristling with "what's yours love" stainless steel counter terrorism, Gravy chip and a dose of "here's me wa?" High streets empty as the clock strikes six and the Tarmac crackles as the sun beats down like the lambeg on parade, Kids whistling the sash, gable ends are portents, Buckfast fuelled 2am chanting, Taytos and orange girls, Pokes and polish folk Town in city clothing, villages in hand-me-downs Villains as heros , This is our Belfast

Fire Boy (Naughty Child Series #3) I am writing a series of children's rhymes for my little cousin George, who is 8 and seriously smart!! He has ADHD and is hyper and finds it hard to be still and quiet. We've noticed recently that he responds to vivid colours and patterns and rhymes, for some reason they are the only things that absorb him, so..... I am hoping to write a mini series of stories for him and then publish for him for his birthday, so I am trying it out on you guys first! Here goes another.... Fire Boy was fiery of that there was no doubt But he also had a temper, that needed stamping out By demeanour and appearance his flames enticed you in And when sitting close beside him, took the chill right off your skin But when dealing with this young man , there are lessons to be learnt, He'll lure you in with a cheeky grin and your fingers will get burnt But then one day dear fire boy, he really met his match A young woman from an ice realm and him she would dispatch Her breathe a cold as ice pops, her tongue it was austere "I'll melt you into steam dear and then you'll disappear" She knew he could dissolve her and she'd be gone, that's it! So instead of using brut force, instead she used her wit! And as his flames grew higher and crackled all around The woman laughed right at him and this it did confound Now being a lot smarter than Fire Boy she said "If you win my little wager, I will walk away instead " "No need for all your tantrums and your hot tempered little bursts If you win what I am challenging you'll surely come in first. And without a second thought (as he was made of bluster) Said in a hot and headed voice"'bring on all you can muster" Now being of the fire, he was made of fuel injection, Reacting quickly, full of sparks, not a child of quiet reflection. "Okay" said she, "I bet you now, that you can't hold your breath And by the count of five, you'll surely meet you death" "Is that it?" Said he, for thinking it was easy "Better pack you bags and leave right now", said he sounding rather wheezy But just as was predicted the boy without a thought Held his breath and counting down tried to go from five to nought But he never did quite make it, got to two, which was quite fair But everybody knows that there's no fire without air And without another beat poor old Fire Boy had 'croaked' And headed up the chimney in a puff of soot and smoke So the moral of this story is before you judge another and before you scream and shout, Be careful that in all your haste, you don't blow yourself right out!