Friday 31 July 2020

A Poem a Day (227): Dark echo

Dedicated to a friend.


Dark echo

An echo, a repeat, a minor word
Plays in jest to reflect what’s real.

Memory spurred runs rings round us,
Forgets secrets, thunders the obvious,
Tiptoes like a child through our rooms.

Turn on a light so it won’t lose itself,
Write it all down lest you forget.

This stealth intruder sits in a web
Of wires, waits as a spider would,
Buries itself, twists in deep.
 
In the dark the tumour grows quietly,
Stealing words, balance and repose. 

Echoes in this chamber speak fainter.
An artist draws thoughts on the walls,
A surgeon with a scalpel in the scrawl.

Copyright Vickie Johnstone, August 1, 2020

Thursday 30 July 2020

A lockdown song: The Dark Wood

Something different from poems. Here’s one of the songs that my uncle, Billy Johnstone, and I have written during lockdown. It is one of my favourites.

Its called The Dark Wood. He’s behind the melody and sings, while I wrote the lyrics. Enjoy! 

In the deepest depths of the dark wood,
See the spectre trees stand and stare,
Stretching out their bony fingers
To trip any wanderers who dare...

Lyrics © Vickie Johnstone 




Links for Billy Johnstone:


Bandcamp (buy tracks) 


If you are viewing this on a mobile and cant play it, just click to the website. Cheers.

A Poem a Day (226): Life beneath


Life beneath

We wait in line, solitary, slow,
Not knowing what we wait for.
It can’t be the sun or the moon –
They only keep an eye on the above.

Is anyone clear on their role?
We follow lines to know where,
Take to ground in changing air,
Rats scurrying for sustenance.

We know not who we are sometimes
In this countdown to realisation
Under this intricate web of streets.
We switch off to hibernate apart,

Dreaming of life above, a fairytale
Our parents read to us as children.
A world of sun and moon and stars.
We ruminate in our burrows,

Stare at this dirt devoid of windows
And wonder. Wonder how the world flits
Between above and below without
A blink. These times, they unravel.

This separation can only widen
Between the haves and have nots.
The need of want can only dilate,
Those on top can only grow fatter.

Copyright Vickie Johnstone, July 30, 2020