Paradigm Shift, by Dave Rendle

Another world is possible
Beyond days of sleeping
Unsolved dreams can become a reality
Fulcrums of necessity
Flaming passion
Burning with fire
Released by comrades
Into the timeless bones of the universe.

Enjoying freedom
Wings of liberty
Unleashing stardust
Sweetness that contains mercy
Not bound by cages or prison walls
Through solidarity all made stronger
Breaking borders, spreading internationalism
Transforming with arms unrestrained.

The love we share
Can be a mover against injustice
Adjusting and shaping
Making waves that carry all
A communal roar spreading light
Against chains of command
Reinforcing pride with eyes glistening
Still gripping to the rays filled with hope

It’s a Wonderful World, by Dave Rendle

It’s another day in a fractious world
The Amazon burning, earths lungs aflame,
Everything else adding fuel to the fire
Seeds of destruction, all is very dire,
As the earth is murdered, breath suffocated
Hunger growing, rising tides of hate,
Feel the heat, the enormous pain
As people driven to edge, grow insane,
Meanwhile a vacuous politician claims
We’re ‘back on the road to a brighter future’,
Tell that to the citizens daily afflicted
By the flames of capitalism and greed,
In the uk one million using foodbanks
Rough sleeping doubled, children in poverty,
And in the drifting  summer afternoon
Following the hot sultry day of life,
A man is squinting his bloodshot eyes
Sees no beauty, only the world’s sorrows,
Watching the dreadful masquerade
Is left moribund, sucks his poison,
Relentlessly as despair keeps answering
Where prayers have failed, carries on drowning,
People  lost, giving up without a fight
The walking wounded not a pretty sight,
Beyond the sorrow, I try to illuminate darkness
Unable to hide the facts, keep on questioning,
In these emergency hours, cannot shut my eyes
Dream of revolution, people awakening,
With cauldrons of belief, keep revealing
Beyond the stench of chaos, restoration,
Witnessing the tragedy of our lifetime
We no longer need to live like this,
Blindly accepting this terrible fate
Join the resistance, before it’s far too late

Defusing the timebomb, by Dave Rendle

(for Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson)

Some say he’s all but won
for others a fly in the ointment
causing ripples of despair
as choruses of desperation
search for some way out of here
in the face of incredulous days
no room for jubilation
as idiocracy given keys of power.

There’s a difference between
austerity and robbery
the undemocratic process
that is not shown on the news
where they carpet bomb us with bullshit,
regurgitated soundbites that do not calm
do not expose the truth for all to see
that exist in the shadows of our being.

As divisions cracks are fostered
a snake charmer releases bag of tricks
time to shape new spectacles
end illusion, ignite passionate fire
create a new parliament for the people
built on circuits of love
where veracity in the end
will be what is left standing.

The hungry and those hardest hit
the broken and abandoned
with nothing left to lose.
will take on the mantle of power
no longer needing to run or beg
cancelling out abominations
the mists of their tomorrows
glimmering with hope.

Beds of roses, by Dave Rendle

Finding no sanctuary in my sleep
Nightmares roaring in my head
Scenes of desolation and devastation
Certainly no bed of roses

In war ravaged countries
The rattling call of injustice
A cauldron of death and despair
No respite or any beds of roses

Amid the poverty and desperation
Where people grieve for their dead
The ever flowing tide of human misery
For the children, no beds of roses.

Anguished eyes gaze, frail hands reach out
Barren lands flooding with tears overflowing
Global silence decapacitating hope
as the night calls, no bed of roses.

While humanity turns away and abandons
Another dawn exudes deaths mephitic odour
How can we fail to speak out, not be silent
Reach out, cultivate fertile beds of roses.

An injury to one is an injury to all
A collective thorn of pain and misery
We can cover our eyes, be indifferent
Or help those in need, offer beds of roses ,

From the heartache, filled with cries
We can send messages to the politicians
The gift of solidarity to those that deserve
And when wars cease, beds of roses will grow.

No Tears for Theresa May, by Dave Rendle

It’s the end of May
No tears for Theresa
Strong and stable she never was
Her deceit and neglect still resonates
our tears  fall for her defenceless prey
Windrush Brits deported, Grenfell victims
Disabled people systematically abused
Benefit claimants, the sick and marginalised
Four million children in poverty
Avoidable death victims of DWP
No tears fall  now for her cowardly stance
Let’s hope we see no more attempts to dance’
As her trade in Machiavellian deceit ends
Her nefarious flagitious poison still flowering
Among the seeds of pain she’s sown
Her legacy will  for long be known
May her departure precipitate
The induction of pragmatic change.

It’s strange, by Dave Rendle

It’s strange
each day the same as the last
millions dying of hunger
profiteers counting their cash,
daily people getting exploited
man made crisis and refugees denied
racism and homelessness on the rise
the grains that still fall ,full of doubts and fears.

It’s strange
there is no end in sight
ecosystems on the precipice of extinction
sea levels rising, the planet in peril,
the shimmering light of tomorrow disappears
dark hands of fate, twist the knife
trouble keeps brewing, spreading strife
no matter what we do, we are betrayed.

It’s strange
tears  of humanity lingering long
releasing sadness, breaking hearts
remember though, this pain we must share,
but moving round in circles
can be done with little fuss
a solution surely can be retrieved
beyond us, no more anguished  memories.

It’s strange
how love still tears us apart
as we weep to remember
what  it once contained,
some people two-faced
only interested in self and position
no radiance have these people
they are stagnant and void.

It’s strange
how life can weigh heavy
are we not all at times afflicted
let us share the wealth of our affliction,
salvage some hope, tear down the chains
messages of human kindness, instead of greed
in this odd little world, we can search for a new reality
let’s  all try and continue until the day we die.

Spinning predators, by Dave Rendle

Catchy jingles, striking slogans and subliminal commands
Cook up the tailor baked insidious mixture,
Guilefully iced with fairy fingertips
Cunningly crafted to engender the bite,
Cultivating tastes and erasing senses
Resetting fashion and exploiting the impressionable,
Crippling the mind with fabricated dreams
Epitomising the dysfunctional corporate culture.

Relentless blitz campaigns infiltrate young minds
Wafting of empty catchpenny blurb,
Magnetising and harvesting incipient souls
Channeling conception of lifelong habits,
Casting the spell of deluded grandeur ,
Emblazing emblems and velvet voices,
Pull at the fraying parental purse strings
Planting the seeds of the anticipatory crop.

As unscrupulous measures invite comparison
And polarizing attitudes sever relationships,
Advocating change and facilitating division
Endorsing the social class perimeters.
Glorifying the rich, shunning the poor
Harbouring hate and compromising principles,
Breeding contempt and empowering crime
Stimulating suicides and signing death warrants.

The spectre of materialism courts capitalism
Reinforcing elitism and widening the gap,
The opulent empires triumph and prosper
Home to rapacious fat cats and parsimonious millionaires,
Embroiled in a mission of propelling persuasion
Shooting sugar coated spears at the statistical melange,
Bagging vulnerable victims with wily schemes
Prey of the coercive stimulus of obsequious ladder climbers.

I have the Right, by Dave Rendle

I have the right to my own opinions
to state what I believe to be the truth,
I believe in freedom of thought
I believe in freedom of speech,
I have the right to be free from bondage
to be free from chains and mental slavery,
to choose what I want to be, where I need to go
because this is my right to be me.

I have the right to speak out
this is my choice, this is my conscience,
this is my right to freedom of expression
this right allows me to speak out against oppression,
a right that embraces the immortal declaration
a right that recognises the concept that all men born equal,
everyone has the right to life and liberty
to breathe in, breathe out, scream and shout.

I have the right to dignity and pride
the security of peace and protection,
that allows me to love, laugh and cry
to be treated kindly, not like a fool,
remember when justice is forgotten
and certain paths trample down opposition,
keep on fighting for human rights with no inhibition
decency and justice, and all that has been given.

I have the right to pledge no allegiance
to any country, or any bloody flag,
my struggle embedded in the rich earth
the poetry I release from my breath,
as the shadows wait for the tides to turn
will blister through cement walls,
remembering complacency invites an impasse
what unites us is greater than what separates. 

Freedom’s Breath, by Dave Rendle

There is urgency within it’s exhalation
In fields of wonder, on journeys frustrated,
Towns and cities, countless street corners
In places where we come together.

Weaving among our destinies
Feeding hungry voices of conscience,
Shouting, resisting, singing
Never stops to rest, keeps on calling.

Carrying people to safety
Across barricades and borders,
Upon the tides that overtake
Scattering hope on the lands.

Providing and protecting all
Weakening the shackles that bind
Sharing our fears, courage, fragility
The capacity for humanity to love.

Beyond prejudices and barbarism
Opening doors, a doyen against division,
Releasing souls, letting minds  break free
Bringing beauty to the waking eye.

Moving through unstilled clouds
Moonlight dapples, waves of thought
Turning things upside down, finds new horizon
Seductive reasoning in every waking season.

But still curtailed by hostile environments
Lost among tyranny, the walls we build,
Still too many who do not see its worth
But freedom’s gasping will not withdraw.

In Memorium : Lest We Forget, by Dave Rendle

In fields of horror
the poppy flower now grows,
as superficial patriotic threads spread
profiteers fill their bellies on the dead,
bereft of life, cruel futility flows
cities of blood built, destruction grows,
fresh graves tended, full of nameless corpses
peaceful branches torn, children left as orphans,
salted tears soak the earth on the edge of memory
in every sense of direction, the screaming roars,
on fields of slaughter, visceral anathema shed
but the white bird of peace flies, lest we forget,
fluttering on the winds, its seed will always blossom
showering the world with gentleness,
high above the ruins, reason grows strong
choruses sing in unity, embracing humanity,
touching, stirring beyond the futility of it all
an enduring battle of survival, to make us secure,
away from indiscriminate killing, the slaughter of war
primal forces degenerating, a new age is born,
lessons learnt, history provides the ammunition
with hope we can turn swords into ploughshares.

Still, by Dave Rendle

(This week  marks the 2 year anniversary of  a makeshift camp known as  the Jungle in Calais, France in 2016, being demolished and people evicted, yet the  the problem and tragedy nevertheless still sadly ongoing.)

Still the language of spin repeating
Still angry choruses releasing,
Still the flood of tears raining down
Still lines of division, continue pressing,
Still refugees seek shelter, from fear to freedom
Still forced to flee, poverty and war,
Still abandoning man made tragedies
Still escaping darkness, hope undimmed,
Still not welcome, still told to disappear
Still building walls to keep them out,
Still made illegal, repression continues
Still in desperate search of  need,
Still is the night, still is the air
Still logic flies on paths of departure,
Still the beyondness of unknowing
Still the tides keep on flowing,
Still travelling, unravelling threads
Still seeking hands of kindness,
Still hoping for depth of understanding
Still offering the hand of friendship,
Still human, still imagining tomorrow
Still hoping the world will change,
Still determined, carry on unbroken
Still many mountains to climb,
Still got the future, still got time
Still on the verge of hope,
Still words of truth flying high
Still inspiration calls from mind’s eye,
Still displaced but still surviving
Still the gift of dignity, keeps on calling.

 

From Despair to Hope, by Dave Rendle

There’s so much conditioning, making us hate
that we become our own enemies at the gate, ,
beams of reason disappearing before us
colors of hope melting in the earth,
politicians burying consciousness
join in the revel, play with the devil,
bitter and biting, silently gloating
releasing fathomless depths of despair,
punishing people for simply being ill
with policies of cruelty that actually kill,
the ghosts of Grenfell still haunting the land
yet they continue building walls to divide,
louder and louder, the wind is raging
the air not  yet full of resignation,
strong, courageous and resilient
we can overcome the monsters,
gentler aspects of humanity will reveal
to not allow ourselves to be draped in pain,
hopelessness will only hang around, if we feed it
blazing embers of defiance burn brightly too,
we can be saved, greet  tomorrow’s epiphany
the future unwritten, can cancel the negativity.

Repossession, by Dave Rendle

I believe in the many not the few
for all brothers and sisters to live in love
beyond  rising tides of  hate and envy
a world being painted darker still
by forces of fascism and intolerance
as we stand on the precipice
of a rumbling volcano
that heeds not the plea of humanity
we are akin now to a flock of sheep
heading forth to danger
without a shepherd to guide
but with careful navigation
beyond the ignorance of our ways
we can find safer pastures to graze
follow peaceful rivers – unafraid
forces of negation do not disappear
if we simply ignore them
torrents of  poisonous tongue
keep releasing deep from bedrock
swastika eyes  now roaming the land
lets keep growing with compassion
in unison expel the streams of division.

 

Love Trumps Hate/Mae Cariad yn Trechu Casineb, by Dave Rendle

July 13th is coming
Catch a bus and protest
Greet orange man
With  freedom’s voice
Cast out intolerance
That is accountable to no one
Flaming and flaunting intolerance
Daily releasing sad delapidation
Let’s weave together in unity
Be a speck that proudly stands
Sing together with one voice
Our bubbles shifting together
Hands together, raised high
Cries refusing to be silent
Collectively not frightened
Speaking in different tongues
Against racism and bigotry
Offering no welcome
To a narcissistic clown
Our love will triumph hate
Against a narcissistic clown.

They teach us (After Tory Britain), by Dave Rendle

They teach us  to be subservient and respectful
To obey their rules, which they change whenever they choose,
Treat us with hatred and derision, humiliation and disrespect
Destroying communities, continuing to insult and neglect.

They teach us about pain and desperation,
Tell us everything’s alright when it isn’t,
Turning a blind eye for their own means
That we’ve been conditioned not to notice.

They teach us, about broken promises, desolation
Ghost like towns, where hope and love has gone,
Levels of greed everywhere, forces of negation
As we stumble and fall, all they offer is rejection.

They teach us, about abandonment and disillusion
Hatred and division seeping daily through our lives
Barbarism and racism swallowing up hearts and mind
Time to depart this darkness, these tides that bind.

They teach us, how to question, rippling waves bursting through
With different rays of possibility,for the many not the few,
Springing back with resilience,bringing a  splash of hope
In  our country sinking in the mire, with faith we can develop.

Fighting Times, by Dave Rendle

People in society currently pecked into pieces

Politicians creating wastelands for generations,

Taking from the poor and giving it all to the rich

Division not progress their ultimate pitch,

Poisoning minds, creating wars of attrition

Continuing to blind us with fear and confusion,

With twisted morality, sullied emotion

Forces of capitalism, driving us in one direction,

Planned poverty,leaving victims in its wake

Homelessness growing that the government make,

Food banks growing in this age of austerity

People daily waking up to distorted reality,

In Grenfell tower people died, government indignation negligible

No deaths in a Salisbury cafe, government reaction incredible,

Their systematically treating us with derision

With conscious games that simply imprison,

Daily now the balancing acts of life hard to handle

People broken, beaten, continue to be strangled,

Held captive by forces of misery and mockery

Time, to take a stand, make demands that set us free;

Break the bonds that bind us, the walls that hide us

Plant seeds of rebellion, rise back in disgust,

Growing stronger lifting, voices high

So loud they will be unable to drown our cry.

Together we are capable of inducing chain reactions

Generating effects that take away maddening distractions,

Leaving the present behind, that is ever so profound

Keep fighting for our lives, until the next round.

Against Gun Violence by Dave Rendle

Sometimes it seems that hope runs out

There seems no end, to waves of violence.

No prayers or thoughts can break the cycle

This endless primal, destructive spiral,

Innocent lives getting lost everyday

Can we not simply destroy the ammunition,

Instead of trigger happiness, stop the madness

So that darkness no longer releases its deadly load,

Is it too late to halt the hate, lament all who’ve been lost

On blood stained streets, where flowers wither,

Tell the NRA no one has right to bare arms

The second amendment has no moral purpose,

Stop the bullets flying, shots from killing

With Gun control heal a wounded nation.

After Dresden (13/2/45 – 13/2/18) by Dave Rendle

Evil falls from all sides
Spits its deadly poison,
In Dresden everyone felt
Horror unimaginable,
No one left alive could escape
As people burned in flames,
Left a mark that forever stained,
Releasing years of mental turmoil
Burning phosperous still today falls
From, Gaza, Iraq to Syria ,
Civilian casualties lost forever
Vanished under cruel clouds of ideology,
Skin and bone melting and disinergrating
Rising today as spectral ghosts.

Anger is an Energy by Dave Rendle

( after Carillion)

They try to control us
the old enemy deep outside,
their words are dust
time to brush them away.
The first five years
are always the hardest a headline cries
rubbing salt into milky eyes.
Time to shake, the sleep away
and catch the fire by its throat,
as they feed us lies day after day
hiding our pain behind their laughter.
Sky is angry, wind comes down
launches its bullets, this should be enough,
we are not surrounded yet
we will not be trampled down,
we are still here unrestrained
this is our season too, our time of discontent.
Capitalism is not working
look at the crimes across the globe,
ideological theft for the few, not the many
yet they still make us pay for their greed,
with systematic theft and robbery out of control
don’t go to them crawling back on your knees,
remember anger is our energy too
live with fierce passion, take back what’s yours.

Merry Crassmess by Dave Rendle

This Christmas  try cut down on consumption
release  some compassion, instead of greed,
avoid the Queens speech, seek alternative news
seeds of another society, that takes away the blues,
in this winter of discontent, it’s time to rise
keep on planting the seeds of insurrection,
because they’re  trying to break us in pieces
in the name of austerity, and government lies,
making people, beg, borrow and steal
people in charge treating its citizens like garbage,
as media shields us from  cruel reality
makes some think everything is fine,
the future must change, we must continue to fight
those that dictate, what we can say or what we can do,
beggers all of us, refusing to take the crumbs they give
merry crassmess to all, another world is possible.