Billy Ross

As The Sea

I ebb and flow

Swelling with emotion,

My thoughts racing like a tidal wave

Seeking the distant shore on which some answers may be found.

Ripples of pleasure can be seen and felt,

Yet below great turbulence remains,

Gliding nightmarishly through a seaweed jungle,

Moving upwards to explode at its foaming mouth.

What fleeting patterns in my mind exist?

A sudden impulse - like a darting squid.

The flash of genius? Elusive as the silver salmon,

Yet hope, clinging like a barnacle, remains.

The Voice Within

Call it conscience call it faith,

Call it what you will,

But listen to it urgently

Lest your voice be stilled.

Nearsighted

What a joy it is to see

And yet we are so blind

The blind man sees

In his mind's eye

The things we try to hide

The Tallest Giraffe

On behalf of myself and my daughter Emma Taff

May I please be permitted to obtain your autograph?

At the same time do allow me to take a photograph

As I need to send this quickly to the Daily Telegraph

This poem of course refers to a very large giraffe

Round whose neck was a polka-dotted brightly coloured scarf

To put this on required a ladder and the zoo's entire staff

And me, hanging round her neck, well!

I must have looked quite daft.

But not to end this tale too sadly, I write another paragraph

Just to prove after all there's still time to have a laugh

Because there is a 'little secret' I can tell on your behalf

You see that very tall tall lady, has a very tiny calf.

How do I tell my children?

How do I tell my children not to do what I have done?

How do I show the way ahead, yet let them have their 'fun'?

How do I explain the wrongs that lead to living hell?

How do I talk about the things I have no words to tell?

How do I find a way to show this world's so full of greed?

How do I learn to appreciate the lives they want to lead?

How do I help them understand what life is all about?

How do I try to teach them when my learning is in doubt?

How do I give the love I have for them, anew each day?

How do I overcome these things, before time slips away?

I need to find the answers now!

There's much to do, while time allows

To show my children, and theirs too

That only peace and love will do.

When I Think Of You

When I think of you -

I think of warmth and laughter,

When I think of you -

I smell blossoms heavy with dew,

When I think of you -

I feel your hand resting in mine,

When I think of you -

I see all the colours of the rainbow,

And when I think of you -

I just want to go on dreaming

Until the reality awakens me.

Wind of Change

So much is cast upon the wind,

Words spoken in jest or in anger,

We should be careful lest they

Yet again return,

For the wind knows not

Where its journey ends.

Will we ever learn?

So much pain,

So easy to forget,

So many lives in torment,

So much is owed, and yet

So little understanding leads

So few to try and help,

So will we really ever learn not just to think of self?

I must be dreaming

I'm not awake, yet not asleep

But still I hear you softly speak

You call my name, I turn to hear

But nothing more I sadly fear,

I must be dreaming

You came to me at work today

But then your never far away,

I feel you very close to me

There is a vision that I see

But then, I'm surely dreaming.

I realise how much I miss

Your smile, the scent you wear, that kiss

So far away and yet so near

Your laughter ringing loud and clear

But no, I must be dreaming.

A World Together?

Christmas joy and birthday fun

Opening presents one by one

No special day to shed some light

The broken doll is held so tight

Picnics, swimming at the beach

Friends and family within reach

Windswept hovels in the sand,

No one comes to lend a hand

A cut kissed better, then a hug

Playing games upon the rug

Wounds so deep they may not heal

This game of life seems so unreal

Bath-time fun, delighted screams

Bedtime drinks and happy dreams

No clean water, dirty clothes

Nightmares disturb our short repose

Schooldays learning how to write

Painting pictures, such delight

No books or joy to fill the breach,

Is this what life has come to teach?

No cares or woes no need to fear

Knowing mum and dad are near

Afraid, unsure of what's ahead

One parent ill, the other dead

Theirs is a bitter-sweet refrain

Where only fragile hope remains

We have the means to do so much

Let's give them more than straws to clutch.