Passing Christmas lights by Dave Rendle

Passing colours glowing, tinsel hung high
Christmas lights, shimmering and sparkling
the smell of food, enticing on tongue
another world lingers though
a different reality resides
in the corner of our eyes
beyond the tragedy of hunger
the waste of consumerism
austerity that daily bites.
For some now the air drips with sadness

as the cold season blows again
people on long and tiresome journeys
drifting among thrift stores
food banks and charity shops
as the sky above turns dark and grey
citizens left wanting, running on empty
struggling on, feeding on misery and decay.

Perhaps some small acts of kindness
will be sufficient to keep some gladness alight
against buffeting winds, strength can grow
allow people to decorate hearts with hope
fill glasses full of reason and some cheer
with little things, perhaps time will heal
abandon the past, infiltrate the future
share some sustenance of survival.

Yesterday was hell, still searching for heaven by Dave Rendle

Yesterday I searched for something
some hope I guess, but could not find it,
what  else was  bloody needed
so I begged ,prayed and pleaded,
mind in array, how could I actually tell
no answers came all seemed like hell,
as politicians pillaged and clouds turned dark
left their truly horrible inedible mark,
I searched for solutions ever so far away
but lacked religion a God that could rearrange,
found some power on the streets instead
friends like me still hungry for change,
fighting, struggling for an end to this mess
releasing  thoughts of another world instead,
as this planet whirled on the path of destruction
searching for that elusive place called heaven,
a place where we could all find salvation
a kinder place that can’t be broken or stolen.

A Beautiful Resistance by Dave Rendle

Among tides of wild currents

Freedom spreads beautiful resistance

flying strong on winds of existence,

some will try to steal our thunder

tempt us into  places of fear and hate

but like the breezes that blow with persistence

mighty are minds that follow this source,

with compassion will help deliver tyranny’s end

for the lives of the many, not the hands of a few

beyond the darkness of our current days

there is strength in a crowd of solidarity,

with people’s power, the future looks bold

we can create and build a fairer world,.

following  paths of love and equality

our desires can continue to be shared,

carrying rainbow flags of diversity

refusing to be silenced or usurped

each night and day dreams will live

sowing hope in  hearts, seeds of change

onwards we rise,never to  disappear.

..

 Poem inspired by attending rally in Haverfordwest 13/10/17.

National Poetry Day Freedom poems part 2: Hungry for Freedom by Dave Rendle

So long as a human being thirsts for freedom
and is shackled in a concrete cage
without charge under a policy universally condemned
called administrative detention
I will sound alarms.

and if my poetry drifts towards polemic
I will make no apology
with the absence of the unseen in mainstream news
I will spread their dreams and hopes.

So long as bulldozers
destroy peoples homes
and walls are built that divide and uproot
I will raise my voice.

and when peoples lands are stolen
daily from under their feet
I will not be cowed into silence.

When rules of law are twisted
that allow voices to be unheard
I will not feign blindness
pretend ignorance
I will try to be an echoe.

and if some are allowed
to steal the richness
from peoples souls
I will stand up
and stamp my feet.

and will proudly raise my fist
proudly raise my fist.

Broken ( After visit to London, September 2017) by Dave Rendle

I heard the crying of the birds

as music sailed into tragic sky,

passing lonely figures with express

ionless gaze, sitting sightless and mute,

their only comfort a strong weatherproof can

almost naked in their cages, neglected and worn,

faces stained with sadness and bitter pills

the marks of battered existence,

sheltering among cardboard in open view

broken and torn, losing sense of hope,

with aching belly’s, empty pockets

flicker of dreams slowly evaporating,

struggling, drifting on streets of anguish

the pavements they sleep, not laced with gold,

as rain poured down, to lash skin and souls

others  rushed on by in search of entertainment

troubles they will keep as another world turns.

and politicians walk on paths of indifference.

Anti-Fascist Poem by Dave Rendle

Dedicated to Heather Heyer R.I.P

..

There should be no platform
For bigoted people with fascist views,
It’s time to block and remove the space
That promotes superiority of white race,
Alt right equals Nazi, it’s as simple as this
Provoking Nazi salutes, spreading hate.
..
Yesterday Heather Heyer was murdered
In Charlottesville, USA, this occurred,
during an anti fascist demonstration
By stagnated forces of negation,
Enough is enough people cry
We do not forget, we do not forgive!

Fascism does not arrive as a friend
Already using the language of persecution,
Daily threatening minorities and the vulnerable
Spreading message of repugnance and hate,
Harassing, prejudiced and spreading fear.
They will never be given a welcome here.
..
40 years ago the fascists were beaten
At the battle of Lewisham,
Intolerance was not accepted
Today we must face them again,
Standing together, proud and strong
We will resist, they shall not pass.

For Grenfell Tower : a poem by Dave Rendle

It is nearly summertime, but it’s increasingly getting very bitter.

Theresa May not capable of shaping society for the better

Getting daily free food and accommodation and so much more,

Just adds insult to injury to  those already feeling  sour

Victims of Grenfell Tower fire, without food,  no roof over head

Feeling abandoned a community mourns for their dead.

..

The Queen,  managed to walk the streets, for some this was noble

Had at least made the effort to leave her palace of gold,

After many poorer people had died in  raging inferno

Maybe she found time to witness the cracks of division,

The feelings of despair and rage as the Prime Minister hid

Streams of rage currently growing stronger until she is rid.

..

There are almost 20,000  Ghost homes sitting empty in London.

Many left on the streets feeling the heavy weight of burden,

And the Crown Jewels value means nothing at all to those lost

Nor the CEO’s receiving  millions  as a reward  for cutting costs

While fire resistant cladding is 24 pounds per square metre

Money still keeps getting wasted on those that don’t deserve it.

..

As a  people’s need for justice grows bigger and bigger

And the scent  of anger keeps blowing through our streets,

We are connected by faultlines of separation and inequality

Certain lives are still considered more important than others,

As smoke drifts, lets not forget the crimes of greed and selfishness

remember the victims, harmed by the crime of recklessness.

..

The future will look back in anger and deep everlasting shame

Until there is justice and those responsible are apportioned blame,

This tragedy will not be forgotten and nothing  will ever be enough

For those that are daily caught up by the effects and anxiety of poverty,

Revealing the wealth disparity that crawls through our days

Let the healing begin, time now to abandon division.

Squatter in the House by Dave Rendle

There’s a dangerous squatter in the house

With a lust for power, playing with our lives,
In league with dark forces, even dodgier friends
Hope will try to stop her, driving us round the bends,
Spreading insecurity, contradictory  policy
Getting into bed with DUP monstrosity,
She’s like a bad joke wearing thin
Rally irritating getting under skin,
Who  said the naughtiest thing she’d ever done
Through fields of wheat as a child she once run,
Would be endearing if she had not spread  misery
Pushed so  many  of us into grinding poverty,
This profiteer of capital and shares for personal gain
As she tears up her manifesto, she really has no shame,
Soon we’ll feel a warm glow when she’s gone
As time keeps the pressure on her to jog on,
Her policies of instability creating to much pessimism
At least we can  thank her for bringing back socialism.

For the many not the few by Dave Rendle

In desperate times  people demand another way

Beyond the stealth  that devours our lives,

The cruel division of  current leaders creeds

Tory polices creating much worry and dismay,

Spreading poverty and indignity

Wanting us to beg and get down on our knees,

There are too many scars and cracks

Hidden away by a right wing media,

Time to abandon this transparent vision

Spare us all from fatuous condescension,

We can shed our tears, walk again with honour

Garlanded around us red roses of hope,

Build a future of kindness and fairness

After May has gone, sing celebratory song,

Living and defending  one another

For the many not the few.

Light Rises Up by Dave Rendle

When  blinded by our differences
Life often makes no sense at all,
It’s enough to darken the soul
The world  falling  apart at the seams
Nothing left but blood and bodies
Images that haunt our compassion
Some people will shout for vengeange
Others  will sing songs of peace and love
Finding  time to  ease the pain
candles among the darkness.

Mourning the loss of innocents
That fall on this twisted earth
United in grief and solidarity
We stand together and cry
Carrying the weight of heartache
The need for blind retribution must die.
Step by step we can run from  fear
try to reconcile ourselves with one another.

Clinging on to healing overtones
Find the strength and courage to move on
To a place where hate refuses to grow
Too much pain keeps us suffocating
Not sure we can withstand much more.
Lets spread  tender inclinations
Build bridges out of  destruction
In moments of despair cling on.

There is much in life worth saving
But we have to keep working together
Otherwise the same old divisions take hold
And the second we close our eyes
Every advance we’ve ever made
Drowns in  pools of  impossibility
Hold hands now with your neighbour
Share what you have in common
Beyond different sadnesses, light rises up.

To The Politicians by Dave Rendle

They will offer you

a handful  of inflated emotion,

tie you up in knots

having eaten their fill,

will not do anything you ask for

whilst continuing to deliver soundbites,

eager to show that they do really care

will continue to offer you handshakes,

full of lies and deceipt

with warped sense of logic,

as the pain frosts over our breaths

offer us scraps of austerity,

whilst  hours draw by keep us unsatisfied,

continue their games to bend and shape us

apart from a few, most of collassal self-importance,

with their rhetoric full  of emptiness

deliver to us, utter complete disrespect,

it is up to us to stir their will

in sweet sheer defiance,

carve a new domain

into which, us they must serve,

instead of corporations and lobbyists

and others with a lust of power,

deliver us human foundations.

built on us concepts of truth

that can be seeds of future’s rebirth.

Do not feed the Trolls by Dave Rendle

( a poem written after  an encounter with an internet troll)

They simply do not give a damn
especially when on social media
where everything makes them angry
but without the gift of articulation
every time they open their mouths
release a torrent of abuse and profanity
do not try not to feed them
or massage their twisted egos
they will just carry on mocking
poking aggressively with idiocy
spreading messages of hate and prejudice
poisonous voices of this new world disorder
who will try to destroy your compassion
your sensitivity and reason 
leave them alone they have no allure
let them continue making fools of themselves
am sure one day soon they’ll get their due.

Counting down the days to Christmas by Dave Rendle

It’s a wonderful time of the year

for many trapped and living in fear

caught by a malicious system

drowning in debt,facing it all alone,

benefits cut, holding on as best they can

spending many days with heads in hands,

hearts aching, tears rolling down cheeks

counting down the days to Christmas.

..

Have you seen the alternative news

that exposes this conscious cruelty?

Government  robbing people of self respect

left in sullen days of  abandonment,

people with no heating, sitting around freezing,

listening to reality blues, life in gloom

trying to fight, pick up the pieces

counting down the days to Christmas.

..

Its difficult to find any hope

or feel the presence of any holy spirit,

in this season when things  fall apart

people caught up in  war zones,

refugees  fleeing for their lives

lovers slowly dying of terminal disease,

refusing to surrender, releasing resistance

counting down the days to  Christmas.

..

I can’t handle another bloody Christmas song

my will is already being pinched and broken,

by adverts spreading the disease of capitalism

tinsel,glitter and fairy lights masking crisis,

at a time of the year many now come to dread

too difficult to contemplate, let alone celebrate;

scrambling our way through the fog

counting down the days to Christmas.

..

A time for peace,goodwill and generosity

but the world’s stage makes this difficult,

leaving many facing sleepless nights

long drawn out days of thrift,

so try not to forget the cheated, the old

the poor and the sick, the weak

cast aside, forced to tighten their belts

counting down the days to Christmas.

..

Defend The Sacred ( A Poem for Standing Rock) by Dave Rendle

Water if life, oil is poison
one is a creator, one is a destroyer,
under angry sky proud people stand
defending ancestral burial ground,
in a battle for survival  treated so shamefully
pleading for sanity in a state of distress,
daily faced with disrespect and intimidation
rubber bullets, intruders threatening,
invaders returning, stealing and encroaching
in a thirst for profit, means of fairness hidden

Let us  pray for all the tribes of Standing Rock
deprived of joy and laughter, a means of survival,
grant safe keeping, peace, love and many blessings
respect the water protectors for courage and brave heart,
release them from oppression, free from corruption
offer peace, love and many blessings,
worldwide unity as they battle to save our planet
people before needless, senseless profit,
souls drenched, not from water, but tears
grant power to the people, united so strong.

Those at Standing Rock remain steadfast and free
peacefully trying to erase enormous pain,
armed with the truth, waiting for justice to call
sorrow and sadness to dissipate, healing to return,
to escape the bonds, flee the enemy
to be at one with mother earth,
indigenous resistance we must celebrate
honor and protect their sacred fight,
let our warmth melt their fears
allow their magic to forever flow.

..

On the heels of increasingly severe human rights violations against the water protectors of Standing Rock, the Army Corps of Engineers released a statement that on Dec. 5 that they plan to shut down the Oceti Sakowin camp — the primary camp where water protectors and allies have been resisting the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline for months now.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota has stood in agreement with the plan by ordering the water protectors to evacuate the camp.The water protectors have been standing strong in the face of police assaultswith  rubber bulets, concussion grenades, tear gas, and water cannons in freezing temperatures, and the risks are threatening to become worse.
As a result, the camp has issued an emergency call for others to stand in solidarity on Dec 4. 

Look Ahead by Dave Rendle

Look ahead,beyond the chaos
our only hope is the children,.
make them see, make them care
show them a brighter vision,
where people no longer bludgeon each other
for a slice of bread or less.
Destroy apathy that does not give a toss
just keeps the status quo running at
…………………………huge human cost,
a case of hope deferred, energy lost
when we should be keeping spirits high
by fighting for a nobler cause.
Try not to become defeated or foiled
reach out for freedom, peace,equality
keep looking for another way of possibility
or be doomed forever as prisoners of time.
Teach the children to listen
offer them the gift of understanding,
if fear is the only way
frighten them into caring.
When this task is undertaken
beyond the walls of illusion,
we can all become one
society re-moulded, re-cast,
for future generations to come.

The spectre of fascism is haunting the World by Dave Rendle

They call themselves the 'alt right'
they are given a platform by sites like Breitbart,
now they're in the bloody Whitehouse
fascism that's swapped its jackboots for business suits
if you're not worried yet, you're not paying enough attention,
on the brink of World War Three
do we ignore lessons from our history,
as the spectre of fascism haunts the world again
Le Pen, Trump, Farage  all cut from the same cloth,
bringing no fresh light for us to consume
complacently deciding who to pick on next,
aiming at all they consider, less than them
hatred breeding, running amok.

The fascist logic is cruel follows all seasons
knows no reason it is inhumanity’s curse,
orders genocide and feels no remorse
asphyxiates and destroys freedom’s torch,
lets the cruelty of abuse loose
for truth  to be buried and hidden,
tears to flow with the weight of knowing
as they blame their victims, insisting they are grateful,
we should always listen to the voices that survived
tortured and abused, tonques of masses silenced,
threatened shaken, shackled, shat upon
corrupted  left writhing in pain
crushed stamped left crying in rain,
women and children raped to stigmatise .
left abandoned drowning in vomit, smeared in blood.

We all place ourselves in danger
when we refuse to condemn,
viruses spread when not confronted
and authoritarianism is a very ugly disease,
from flag waving right wing bigoted fascist bastards
to right wing suited neo-liberal managerialists,
their free speech treats you like a subhuman
teaches others that you should not exist,
remember terrified people are easily controlled
easily abused, easily conquered, taken over
so inhale the future, exhale their poison
resist them with all the strength you've got
all of them can be beaten, they shall not pass.

Phone Pest by Dave Rendle

I lose my head often in the midst of thought
I feel no sudden loss or unexplained pain,
The telephone rings, disconnects the silence
Are they tapping into my attitude
As I lose my resolve in the middle of day
Answer a cold caller going by the name
                     of pest.

Good day sir, he says
I’m with opinion research
I would like to ask you a few questions
It will only take a few minutes
And then we will be done
Promise wont ring again,
But its never really that simple
Because once bitten, they return again
Usually at a time of most inconvenience.

I simply have no urge to participate
Or time to lose my patience,
Its just another boring distraction
They want to know what I consume
What  flipping things I like the most
As the world continues to burn.

But there’s nothing new to be said
I tell them not to worry or fret
Try not to lose too much sleep
Every day is full of surprises,
Consumer lifestyle choices
Really are not my bag.

In the face of social decay and vast corporations
Eating away at the future of humanity
There’s enough pesky problems in the world
From birth to death, bitter pills to taste
So please can you stop pestering me
as the phone line goes dead, peace is restored.

Powers of earthly plot still carry much strength by Dave Rendle

( for Guy Fawkes)

Remember, Remember,the Fifth of November
Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators,
religious fundamentalists of their age
who on this day tried to carry out their deadly plot,
because of passionate indignation
a message that still chimes with us us today.

Political corruption, in parliament
and backrooms woven with thickets of greed,
however I’ve never been to keen on bombs
currently I’m planting bulbs for springtime,
to allow  freedoms petals to explode and inspire
waiting for winds of change to blow, energies to invoke,
that can help reveal truth’s essence 
beyond ignorant and irrational threads.

Down here below among bedrocks of tears,
we can still make those above tremble,
planting seeds of dissent and rebellion
putting right to wrongs, with the strength of conviction,
against the arrogance of those who cling on to political power
like nature we can grow wild and defiant
with deliberation and courage, and fortitude,
if we keep pushing,their days in control, might crumble
our powers of earthly plot, still carry much strength.

Beyond the chains of humanity by Dave Rendle

Chains of fear

from Gaza to Aleppo,

the borders of Mexico

to Calais where tears run dry,

people crying out for help

abandoned seeking dignity,

waiting for tomorrow to call

the imprints of fellow man

to release them from pain.

..

As the politicians daily calls

planting seeds of chaos,

with unblinking eyes

spreading darkness,

sadness falls and trust rushes by

hope keeps missing its targets ,

bitter taste is the daily harvest.

..

Far away tears of compassion flow

the winds of humanity blows,

trying to sprinkle some kindness

refusing to ignore or lose faith,

with freedoms banner speaks out

goodwill peaks out beyond the clouds,

delivering streams of conscience.

Austerity Bites by Dave Rendle

There  is something in the air
and we breathe it everyday
a war of attrition
an ugly game of lies
as the politics of austerity
bites and pinches our lives.

Today, this country
is no gentle place
the sky full of tory toxitity
as they tear apart the welfare state
and so much more.

Easy to lose control
trying to feed hungry hearts
all we need is love they say
but on poverty’s line
it’s the only thing 
we have now for free.

It feels like 1979 again
but with more of a sting
as  politicians pickpocket
daily from our purse
and bankers bonuses still pile high.

Silence is not golden
time for them to hear us shout
beyond their false mirrors
no use just complaining
in the darkness we must sow light  
as they treat us with derision
time to drive these bastards out.