Free To Fly - 10 Poems on Getting Through
Paul Whybrow
Free To Fly
10 Poems on Getting Through
Paul Whybrow
Copyright 2015 Paul Whybrow
Published by Paul Whybrow
Cover Art: Google Images
Free To Fly
10 Poems on Getting Through
License Notes
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Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction. While some of the place names are real, characters are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Free To Fly
10 Poems on Getting Through
'I have no talent; I make Ready Wit my Talent.
I have no friends; I make my Mind my Friend.
I have no enemy; I make Incautiousness my Enemy.
I have no armour; I make Benevolence my Armour.
I have no castle; I make Immovable Mind my Castle.
I have no sword; I make No Mind my Sword.'
Samurai Creed
Junco Dojo Web Page
Contents
The Poems
Fearless Journey
Stubborn, Determined and Tenacious
Do Something You Don't Want To Everyday
Free to Fly
Heaven in Maybe
Where It Goes
Filters
To Make Cakes, She Bakes Biscuits
Something To Do
Living The Lives Of Others
The End
About The Author
Also by Paul Whybrow
Novellas
Short Stories
Song Lyrics
Poetry
Novels
Connect with the author
Free To Fly
10 Poems on Getting Through
Paul Whybrow
Fearless Journey
(blues/hymn/spiritual)
Come, hold my hand
and I'll chase the darkness away,
There's nothing to be afraid of,
'twas only a bad dream.
There's more fear in imagination
than exists in real life.
Leave fear behind
by taking that first step.
Don't let doubts overwhelm you.
They're just black clouds
that you can melt
with the warmth of your soul.
There's more fear in imagination
than exists in real life.
Leave fear behind
by taking that first step.
I once was lost in wilderness,
my tracks lost in the night.
Then I stumbled to the horizon,
and was bathed in golden light.
There's more fear in imagination
than exists in real life.
Leave fear behind
by taking that first step.
You don't need to know the way
before you set out in life.
The route will find you,
and show you who you are.
There's more fear in imagination
than exists in real life.
Leave fear behind
by taking that first step.
The road goes on forever,
you know that it is so.
But your struggle will end
on a restful bed of ease.
There's more fear in imagination
than exists in real life.
Leave fear behind
by taking that first step
Stubborn, Determined and Tenacious
I've been called stubborn for sticking to my guns,
Continuing to do what folk don't approve of.
Thinking me mad, they tut, sigh and turning away
Show their disapproval of my headstrong ways.
But were I doing something they liked, admiring
My determination, I'd win their respect.
They'd think me resourceful, gritty and tough.
A good man in a storm, someone to rely on.
And what of tenacious, where I never let go?
Keep a grip on an argument, clamp down my hold.
Never let something go, not even a relationship.
A bit of a pain and a bore—would you like that?
It's all how you see things—depends where you're standing.
If you were proved right in the end, stubbornness works.
Determined men sometimes perish, despite being brave.
Those who dogmatically hold on are reviled and despised.
The question of balance is hard to decide.
Whether it's worth it, is all up to you.
I've let things go that others have fought for.
Letting go sometimes harder than holding on.
Do Something You Don't Want To Everyday
You know that it needs doing,
That thing you've been putting-off.
It won't go away if you ignore it.
It'll still be there in the morning.
Do something you don't want to everyday.
It's good for the soul, you'll feel better for it.
Forget new year's resolutions—oh, you already did.
Just get that wretched job done, don't be a martyr.
It wasn't so bad after all, now was it?
And things look so much better than before.
Give yourself a pat on the back, and relax.
There's sure to be something nasty to do tomorrow.
Free to Fly
(for J.F. 28/01/2014)
You've let go,
fallen into the void
where love fragments.
Buffeted,
tumbling,
you drop.
Holding to yourself,
wings encasing you,
bird imago,
you fall.
Gaze at emptiness,
to far horizons,
no clear course,
bemused,
you plunge.
Self-doubt
stoops on you
in grim pursuit.
Unfurling,
you flay
flight-feathers,
checking descent.
You glide.
Peer back
at the ruins.
Disintegrated
coupling propels
your flight.
Flutter awhile.
Hover.
Migrate now
to safe bower.
You fly.
Heaven in Maybe
Distinct possibilities
Emerge from the mist.
Grasped or ignored,
Some miasmas,
Others phantasms.
They're what you make them.
Making things happen
Could mean stumbling
The spiked marshes
Of disaster and doubt.
Chasing cruel shadows,
Poleing your psyche.
Sink holes widen.
Your step hesitates.
Stay still awhile.
Let them come to you—
The dreams you chase.
There's heaven in maybe.
Where
It Goes
The will-o'-the-wisp,
Creativity's soul
Is an elusive sprite.
It's body there,
The words visible
On the page.
Cold black slugs
That sparkle not.
I put them there.
Did the work
As continuance.
Out of duty,
Hoping for light.
Never 'blocked',
Creation's fount
Disgorged sludge.
Ever inventive,
I swirl bubbles,
Effervescence
Into the stodge.
Creative alchemy
Bringing colour
To what glowered.
Bright shards.
Filters
Getting through life needs filters.
Think about that particular disaster,
And you'll become sad and doubtful.
Remembering a long-missed lover
Won't improve your current partner.
Why recall that nasty wounding insult?
Memories are best viewed through
A rose-tinted filter on your misty lens.
Thinking positively means removing
Impurities that could melt your spirit.
Hard to remove everything damaging.
Negativity regenerates, unfortunately.
Fit new filters to screen-out the crap.
It'll be round again, but you'll chug along,
Your pink-hued vision on the road ahead.
To Make Cakes, She Bakes Biscuits
There's ways of approaching things,
Of getting a job done properly.
Head-on works for some,
Sneaking behind for others.
But she sidles in unseen,
Making a practice run—or two.
To make cakes, she bakes biscuits.
Filling trays with her dreams.
Risking a little before attempting
A lot, she watches them rise.
A measure of temperature.
Proof of her technique.
Ovens are temperamental.
Life can be that way too.
Things don't always turn out
The way you'd like them to.
Don't trust in other's recipes.
Test what's right for you.
To make cakes, she bakes biscuits.
Love crumbs fall moistly apart.
Crispness bites, snapping brightly.
Worth risking something bigger.
That will last longer than treats.
Sustenance and proof of love.
Something To Do
We tell our children this,
When they say they're bored.
"Well, find something to do then"
That's a clue for how to solve boredom.
The act of searching is a good start.
What would you like to do right now?
I've found something that I avoided
Doing for years, thinking it too engrossing.
I was right, as it's taken over my life.
I'm not bored anymore, though I kept busy
Before, insatiably curious and reading lots.
Now I write the words for others to read.
They may provide delight and pique the interest
Of those who were once bored, but now respond
To ideas and stories I've created, passing on bits of me.
The best something to do is just that, share yourself.
Let others in to who you are, and how you feel.
They'll do the same back, chasing boredom away.
Living The Lives Of Others
The easiest thing in the world to do
Is to live someone else's life.
We're all experts on what they need.
Know exactly how they should behave.
It's tougher to live your own life.
To look at who you really are.
But others know you better
Than you know yourself.
We're all the same, we all do it.
Organizing, advising others,
While ignoring ourselves.
Why not be you, for a while?
The End
About The Author
Paul Whybrow has a young head on old shoulders.
Ex many things, including being a teacher, counsellor,
librarian, dispatch-rider, milk-man, postman, bar man,
house renovator, classic vehicle restorer, courier,
van driver, factory worker, project manager,
live-in carer for the elderly, editor, photographer,
volunteer at a community centre, play-schemes,
homeless campaigns and nature conservation projects.
I wrote non-fiction magazine articles for ages,
but turned to creative writing in the summer of
2013. I've been my own boss for a long time,
which means I'm working for an idiot and the
pay is lousy—but the holidays are great.
Paul Whybrow has a good heart inside a battered chest.
* * *
Also by Paul Whybrow
Novellas
* A Man Out Walking His Dog—A tale of mistaken identity.
* Burpwallow Holler—Loyalty in post Civil War America.
* Quarry—A gangster becomes prey in a lethal reality TV show.
* Ghosting—How a lonely biologist finds peace with the ghosts of her life.
* Is It Her?—A new start is offered to a grieving widower.
* A Blue Tomorrow—Temptation and new beginnings on a farm.
* Hearts On Tour—Small town friends support one another.
* What Would I Do Without You?—A newly-single wife begins life again.
Short Stories
* The Moon Is Out Tonight—Two soul-mates separated by circumstance.
* Due-Date—A soul in limbo is given a new job.
* Jacqui In Space—A 20th century explorer on 22nd century Mars.
* Over And Out—Things come to a head on a 50th wedding anniversary.
* In The Graveyard At Dawn—A boy and his dog among the graves.
* Soul-Swapping—Moving souls, a demon tries to get back to hell.
Song Lyrics
* 12 Country & Western Lyrics—hope, regret and seeing things as they are.
* 13 Kinds of Blue—trouble's your only friend, ain't it?
* A Dozen Pops—love in a bubble always goes pop.
* A Dozen Rocks—head down boogie along the highway.
* Box of Love—songs of love and hope.
* Howling For You—the sadness goes on and on.
Poetry
* Love Stages—Love affairs seen at different phases.
* Love Begins—The thrill of the new, the nervousness and delight.
* Love Ends—What do you do when things go wrong?
* Love Hopes—How would you like love to happen?
* Love Wishes—In an ideal world your affair would be like this...
* Nature's Ways—Aspects of the natural world, happy and sad.
* Modern Times—What it means to live in the 21st century.
* Old Age Navigation—Ageing stinks, but it beats the alternative.
* Darkness—Written from the endless night of the soul.
* Darkness Darkness—We all have our dark side—how's yours?
* Loneliness—The poverty of the soul, when you're alone.
* Solitariness—The richness of the soul, when you go solo.
* Poems To Ponder—Thoughtful and amusing poems for children.
* Witches' Knickers—Silly and nonsense poems for young readers.
* Hold Onto Yourself—Funny and warm poems for youngsters.
&n
bsp; * What Do You Like?—9 Erotic Poems
* Building Story House—10 Poems on creating stories
* Lost Among The Words—10 Poems about Writing
* Friends And Other Confusions—10 Poems on liking others and yourself.
* Chasing Big 'O'—9 Erotic Poems
* Squeeze It—10 Poems on Creativity and Setbacks
* We Stop Ourselves—10 Poems on Creativity, Doubt and Self-Belief
* Love Scenes—10 Poems about love
* Free To Fly—10 poems on getting through
Novels
Coming soon:
* The Perfect Murderer—a novel about a serial killer, who makes no mistakes.
.
* * *
Connect with the author
https://paulwhybrowblog.wordpress.com
