Avant-garde Ba(sta)rd

Do avant-garde poets know what they're on about?
Do you know what they're on about?
I don't know what they're on about
Maybe I'm uneducated, maybe just thick
Maybe I don't understand what makes shit stick
I'm sticking to what I know
Life and all it throws at you
I leave the high-brow rhetoric
For those who DO have a clue
Call me an idiot
Call me a taxi first!

Close The Door (on the way out)

What gave you the right to judge me?
Dismissive, unjustified, non-constructive nonsense
Stuffing suffocating rules into rigid boxes
Dogmatic and elitist

Your gleaming ivory towers require privileged membership
I may apply when my soul is dead
When my empathy and warmth are driven out

I don't live in your pretentious parish
A cold dictatorship
Harsh, unfriendly, unyielding

All arts require freedom
Individual expression
I've vanquished your shadow of doubt
Close the door on the way out

 

Folly of Warring

Silence is silver when tranquility is golden
A meadow, birdsong, wild flowers untamed
At one with nature, no need to count further
Green is the colour of calm, it's claimed

A primal need to escape the turmoil
A tidal wave of humanity drowning the town
Feral and fervent, noise and pollution
The once swathes of green decaying to brown

They mill and spill with the will to kill
Survival of the fittest, pushing and shoving
We never evolved to live this way
Where is the empathy, caring and loving?

The world I grew up in has gone forever
I'm no hippy but I do crave peace
Will there ever be a time in mankind's time
When the folly of warring will cease?

She Said, He Said

She said,"When I was 8, I hated your hair"
He said, "When I was 9, I stuck gum on your chair"
She said,"When I was 10, you looked like a scarecrow"
He said, "When I was 11, I meant to stand on your toe"
She said,"When I was 12, I had a crush on your mate"
He said,"When I was 13, I asked you out on a date"
She said,"When I was 14, I thought I loved you"
He said,"When I was 15, I knew I loved you"
She said,"When I was 16, you thought you were a man"
He said,"When I was 17, I was your biggest fan"
She said,"When I was 18, you were always drunk"
He said,"When I was 19, our love was sunk"
She said,"When I was 20, you re-floated your boat"
He said,"When I was 21, you wrote me a note"
She said,"When I was 22, you treated me like dirt"
He said, When I was 23, you turned into a flirt"
She said, "When I was 25 I heard you'd got married"
He said,"When I was 25 my feelings were buried"
She said,"When I was 40, my marriage had ended"
He said, "When I was 40 my heart was mended"
She said,"When I was 50 I still missed your smile"
He said,"When I was 60, I held your hand for a while"
She said, "Now we're married, tell me what I wrote at 21"
"We were born to be soul mates until we're gone", it said

Are you true to yourself?

I'd rather hear a bird sing than a dog bark
do you see the light or watch the dark?

I'd rather feel fresh air than a desk-top fan
do you want to run a race not already ran?

I'd rather read your face than see your e-mail
do you wish your best laid plans didn't fail?

I'd rather be a happy loser than a winning sinner
do you prefer a restaurant to a TV dinner?

I'd rather smell the flowers than a burning barbecue
are your funds empty when bills are over-due?

I'd rather make a positive difference with everything I've got
are you true to yourself or someone you're not?