CLOUD CUCKOO LAND

The whole world
You should understand,
Well
It seems we're employed
Just to see it destroyed
That's why
We all live in
Cloud cuckoo land.
The truth is this
Things are rather shitty,
I've found the nub
And this is the rub,
The real nitty gritty.
We've made it an art
To pull
The world apart,
We rape resources
From the ground,
Natures tears
Have wept for years,
But,
Man never hears the sound.
Masses
And the call to prayer,
Dictate a theological brew
Their reason for you
Being there.
Every setting sun
The harvest of the gun
All done in Gods name,
Doctored doctrine
So under hand
Here in cloud cuckoo land
This is mans greatest shame.
We have our senses bashed
As to lifes mast
We're lashed
Sailing upon the sea of lies,
Though we're all carbon based
It leaves an awful taste
We've even polluted our skies.
Now nearing the final hour
Yet we still have the power
To change
What they have planned,
For once don't take....
Give
And let the earth live,
We can all emigrate
From cloud cuckoo land.
Phil Hall  June 2014

YOUNG GUN

Life was so much fun
Acting the part,
Nothing taken to heart
I was a young gun.
Like a fugitive on the run
Friends curried favour,
Whilst the ladies I did savour
Rarely holstering the gun.
Setting phaser to stun
Downing the beers,
The acclaim and the cheers
Rapid firing young gun.
Now the setting sun
Puts the world in go slow,
Life just a fading photo
For this has been, young gun.

Phil Hall  May 2014

THE WINDOW

A portal
For me
A mere mortal,
Do I have the zest?
Am I like the rest?
Do I go with the flow
See what's on show
And
Look through the window?
I see the old tree
Staring back at me,
We have the same roots
Stretching so deeply.
Tendrils twisted
Together
Down below,
Breath mists the pane
As ghosts of youth
Drift past the window.
There are two sides
To glass,
On the outside
Pleasure and earthly desire.
My side,
Agitation and a decaying mire
Where my thoughts
Form a baying horde,
A battalion of words amass.
The leering reflection
To which
I feel no connection,
The windows watery mirror
Shields the impacted horror,
We all speak of love
Of hope, faith
And honour
And what hides
The other side of the glass.
That's my rendition.
Open the window
Taste the fresh air,
Climb through
Say hello
He's the one
Stood in front of you.

Phil Hall  June 2014

OBLIVION

I long oblivion
I crave its darkness,
I yearn a shrouded pavilion
Far from the suns hardness.
Eyes stuck with pins
Hollow with sunken appeal,
Leaden gate where it begins
To the alter of death I kneel.
I'd walk in silent pleasure
Upon silken floors,
Choosing the hidden treasure
From behind pulsating doors.
Standing in the midst of dreams
At the precipice of oblivions deep,
Life stands still it seems
As I fold into the cocoon of sleep.

Phil Hall June 2014

STORK = VULTURES

Here we wait
Vultures,
Around the table
Without spoons or forks,
We have a sharp knife
To help create life
We're the assistance
To maternal storks.
As darkness falls
Us vultures,
Prepare drugs
And check oxygen pipes,
We await the crash bleep
Which denies us any sleep
And this is how
We earn our stripes.
Here we wait
Vultures,
Nocturnal storks
We prove our worth,
The night drags so slow
And whether it's rain
Fog or snow
We're ready for any difficult birth.

Phil Hall  June 2014

DOWNTOWN

Downtown
That's the place
Where the sun wears a frown,
A cold wind blows
And the queen's lost her crown.
A sad clown
In a uniform
Looks out of place, he ain't brown.
A judge sits naked
Under his resplendent gown.
Spent
Where's the money gone?
The politicians are all bent,
The decent folk left long ago
They all went.
City gent
Flashed the cash
So much lent,
Sky high interest, no food now
Can't pay the rent.
All the same
Any downtown
Where morals are aflame,
Young girls strut
Then on their back for the game.
By the gun
Make your name,
Drugs and violence
Such a shame.
Downtown
Such a letdown,
Community
A scarcity
Dog eat dog
Meltdown.......

Phil Hall  June 2014

A SEAT BY THE SEA

The gentle breeze
Such a soft caress,
Its tender, salty kiss
Unravelling the stress
As I sit
A seat by the sea.
Eternal ebb
Maternal flow,
Like the heartbeat in the womb
Like only a mother can show
As I reflect
A seat by the sea.
Life enriching sun
Strokes my brow,
Peace giving radiance
All my yesterdays now
As I remember
A seat by the sea.

Phil Hall June 2014

THE BEAST

Beware
You had better beware
The rampant beast,
With thickset elevation
Drooling salivation
Her luscious body he will feast.
Fire
Loins full of fire
Flame engorged beast,
He stalks his prey
With whom he'll lay
She's a beauty from the east.
Taste
His snake like tongue will taste
Feel the strength of the beast,
In truth, the passion she'll find
Is loving and kind
But, the beast can dream.... At least.

Phil Hall  June 2014

THE BOYS

Yeah, we were solid
We weren't tough,
But we were stolid
A crew
We stood together
We'd see it through.
Aloof?
Nah!
We were fucking bulletproof!
No one came near
Nothing to fear,
Skinheads
Dreads,
Whoever,
They would take us on,
We never stressed
We were the don!
The boys
Teenage artisans,
Heroic partisans
With The Jam
Blazing in our heads.
Sharpest hair
Pointed boots
And finest mohair threads.
Cool?
Definitely... Yes
The coolest?
Can't you guess?
Alas
Those days are gone,
Anyway
We were "All for one"
'Mac', 'Bush' and Rod,
'Bot', 'Stoat' and 'Barts'
And of course Gary Powell
Who now drinks with God.
Not forgetting 'Polly'
Madman 'Rogers' and Dean,
The boys
We were unique
In our heads
The wildest, slickest army
The world had ever seen.
"YAHOO BOYS!!!
That was the rallying call,
If you started trouble
Whatever your size or age
You were going to fall.
Just like the Brighton mods
Who were our gods,
We'd rampage
Totally teenage
Until you bled.... Really bled.
Yeah,
Those were the days
Crazy in a lot of ways,
Our goal
Unlike many lads then
Wasn't to find a hole.
We were a brand
Not a manufactured boy band,
An air of disdain
Almost carnal refrain
You just wouldn't understand.
Our passion?
Music and fashion,
Though we didn't follow
We weren't shallow
We were 'The boys'.
Days of magic
Inevitably tragic,
Sands have shifted
Memories sifted
No more
Boys
No more.......

Phil Hall  June 2014

NEWQUAY '78

In memory of my old friend Gary Powell who tragically took his own life a few years ago..... One of the original members of "The Boys" our very select group of teenage trend setters. RIP 

I suppose
I could be selective
With the retrospective,
Though I won't
'Cause I can't,
A liar I ain't,
This was Newquay '78.
Great summertime,
Hot sunny days
Cornwall basking
In shimmering haze,
We arrived
In a drunken blaze.
Me and the boys
Fresh outta toys
Girls now our joys,
Back in Newquay '78.
The town at night
We stood out,
Put it about
Moody pout.
We looked mean
Powerful, yet lean
Anger of James Dean,
It'd never been seen
In Newquay '78.
Mad landlady
Kicked out of digs
For behaving like pigs.
Ha ha! We laughed in her face,
Stomped from the place
Her old man did chase.
But, when we faced him
He backed down
So we walked into town
And drank the night away
In Newquay '78.
Lusty glaze
Beautiful sandy beach
Girls ass like a peach,
Kevin grabbed a feel
That wasn't the deal
Whoa there keep it real.
It wasn't much,
In fact
Only a slight touch
She still slapped him!
A learning curve
In Newquay '78.
Gary had gone!
Things got bad
He'd gone quite mad,
Ran off to the hills
Alcohol and pills.
Lay under the stars
His kicks and thrills
In a potato field
Near Newquay '78.
Staggering about
Followed by the law,
Head feeling sore
Our friend a sorry sight.
Life was his plight
The police he'd fight
Rebellious youth
In Newquay '78.
I look back
Most of it a blur
Booze shadowed what did occur,
Kevin, Gary and Me
I look back fondly.
Misguided yes
But take a guess,
Of course
I'd do it again
In Newquay.
It may be too late
I may be
Past my sell by date,
My body wouldn't allow
What it did then
In the summer
Of Seventy Eight.

Phil Hall  June 2014.

MULBERRY HARBOUR

Children play
Contented and safe,
Where many fell
Under bomb and strafe.
Concrete monolith
Sea creatures hi rise arbour,
Courtesy of Mr Churchill
And his mulberry harbour.
Kites fly
When once shells flew,
For freedom they died
To thank now, so few.
Seventy years
Since that heroic day,
When the brave allies
Swept the evil away.
Iron warriors,Rodney and Nelson
Added their thunder,
Paving the way
For the liberating wonder.
The mulberry harbour
Saw it all,
Men and tanks
A protective wall.
Sea birds sail now
Under peaceful skies,
Where once battle raged
And held fear filled eyes.
Utah and Omaha
Juno, Gold and Sword,
The beaches where the heroes
Put their trust in the Lord.
Our thanks is to them
Who answered freedoms call,
The allies who still walk
And the ones who did fall.
Mulberry harbour
The sea laps still at your base,
The feet of the brave strode
And made our world
A safer place.
God bless all our brave fathers
And mothers who did pray,
When the world held its breath
On that monumental day.

Phil Hall  June 6th 2014
(70th anniversary of the D Day landings)

PLATITUDES

Maybe it's my attitude
But, the veritable cornucopia
Nay,
The plethora of platitudes
Has me feeling really quite ill.
They occur on many a latitude
With creepy, nondescript
Followers
Displaying sycophantic gratitude,
Why do I care? Still.
Visions of great magnitude
Images seared and scored with
Poetry,
Diluted and disfigured by platitudes
The most banal of overkill.

Phil Hall  June 2014