Harry Is A Poet

I've done this before.
This day to day
Waking up in dismay
The repeat and replay
To all work and no pay
I've done this before.
I've done this before.
The eternal tired
The never inspired
My headache is fired
My nerves are wired
I've done this before.
I've done this before.
The ever-fake smile
And yet all the while
A face in denial
Of internal trial
I've done this before.
I've done this before.
You may know it too
And this to be true
What we've been through
Is never that new
We've done this before.
But what is it for?
That glimmer of change
Just out of range
Asks much in exchange
It may seem strange
I've seen it before.
I say nothing more
But that it's worth fighting for.

It's time that this world did not forsake me
No lie, it's tried, to bow down and break me
It fried me inside as it tried to bake me
Wanting to expose, but finding no fakery
It would never hold back
So I weathered attack
Of smacks front and back
That would felled any hackThough not framed in my favourThis game's to my flavourThe danger, I'll savour'til I emerge slave or a savior
I arose unbound from the ground
Though my soul it did hound
Alive now I'm found
Crowned a man of renown
This Earth will strike again
It matters not when
For now as for then
I have not forgotten
This earth's not one to trust
I'll fight 'til I'm dust
Until I'm bones and rust
Just doing what I must ***

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/10/break-me.html

Your own experience of the world is not invalid.
The emotions you feel are very much real
There is no bubble that is more real than any other
No possible interference of anything but a real experience
It is not only they who have it worst who has a right to complain
Anyone can feel depression or anxiety or pain or PTSD
And yet, we must also, as always, acknowledge the inverse
We must be kind, not terse; whether or not our friend has it worse
See, when I look worldwide at the struggles other humans face
I can't help but feel bad for complaining about how I feel sad
As if the sheer resilience and courage so many manage to show
Means I should refrain from the response due to chemicals in my brain
I am not saying don't feel sorry for them. I'm not encouraging apathy
Go out and make a difference, join every indifference resistance
Merely saying that it's also ok for you to cry and laugh, if you need
You are always permitted to feel, that your experience is real.
***

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/10/first-world-problems.html

Never forget your youth, dear reader.
By which I mean the truth.
Not of simple nostalgic flights of fancy
Your days were not that angelic
Not, simply of this fact, good friend
You'll realise if you think back
That you were made to conform each day
You were dressed in uniform
You were made to parade in dress
That was only ever a façade
There was no reason, though I say
To suggest so was treason
No financial incentive, as in employment
Just a crush on fashion inventive
There are no individuals, in a crowd of the same
Just uniformed residuals.
One day, I happened to go back to my school.
Back to the place that started it all.
To the place I was never cool.
But back as a much wiser fool.
I came in colour. And felt alight.
When wondering through those halls.
No longer fitting in. I drew stares and gossip.
Setting me apart with knowledge
knowledge the pupils had yet to grasp
I smiled. ***

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/09/colour-in-crowd.html

We, as a country, elect a leader
(Near enough we do anyway)
This leader is sent to live in London
And in London they'll tend to stay
A five minute walk from work
What a beautiful place to reside
And if you go to Downing Street
You can see through the leader's eyes
See, what's telling is not the gates
The security looking the part
What's telling is the surroundings
The feel, the look, the Art
Some of our leaders have gone to war
More sent others in their stead
Some of those others came victorious, some came defeated
Most they came back dead.
As if in protestation, the country, well
The country responded in force
Not to say they were wrong or at fault
Although some of them were, of course.
Merely to make many a monument
A testament to those dead throngs
Then make many more (for we've many a war)
Built strong of stone and bronze.
Each war is different, each monument too
But somehow all the same
Trying to tell our leader, shouting it silently
That war is not a game. ***

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/09/on-streets-of-our-leader.html

I look out for myself, in my own way,
I try to take care of the day to day
I watch for trouble, look for danger
Every other human is essentially a stranger
So I keep myself aware and healthy
For this is a tie that binds me
But I can't just watch out for myself blindly
Throughout my life I've loved my family
They've supported me since I was a child
Now I give shelter away from the wild
I love my family, and do what I must,
For these are the ties that bind us.
I care for friends, trying not to cause fuss
I give 'em support and advice if I must
My confidants, those to whom I turn
With differing thresholds I try to learn
I joke and tease, to try to be kind
For these are more ties that bind
I love the country with which I'm aligned
I care for its heart, body and mind
Though honestly we may not always agree
I do care and work and hope for my country
I should vote, protest and aid sans hesitation
For these are ties that bind our nation
I care for those across all boarders
The sharers, cares, hopers and hoarders
We are you united by no more than our biology
The empathy inherent inside humanity
Opportunities are sparse, but I do what I can
For the ties that bind me to my fellow man
We all care, in one way or another
For family, community, country or lover
Recognise those with whom we share lives
Those on whom we depend to survive
The question is where we draw our line
Between our ties that bind

*** http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-ties-that-bind.html

Dear human,
Rest assured this letter is not of the form I would love to write
I would love to claim moral height of what is wrong and right
I dearly desire to dismantle and dissent of all that you do
But I can't. The truth is, I don't even know you.
Dear human,
You untouchable being separated by electronic waves and wires
One of humanities many enragers, saviours, liars or criers
The fact is, I don't know you. Not in any meaningful way
Though we may have met, or may indeed meet someday.
Dear human,
The reason I'm labouring (maybe straining) this particular issue
Is that I've literally no idea what hardships you've been through
You may be fathering a child, have never smiled, or be just fine
I'm sad to say I don't know your struggles, as you don't know mine.
Dear human,
When my dear friend posted about her experience with sexual assault
I hope you realise, regardless of appearance, that this wasn't her fault
That she may have already gone through enough stress, anguish and fear,
Without you saying"your arse was grabbed once. Not exactly the sinking of the titanic here".
Dear human,
I've no idea why you or I may choose to say the things we say
I like to think us all honest and blessed, in our own little way
Maybe you really do judge everything life brings by the same metric
Judging life as if you're thinking you are sinking on the titanic.
Dear human,
I would dearly love for this letter to allow me to shame and rage
But I clearly don't know you, and we're not on the same page
I don't know your life and struggles, and I'm not going to pretend
I just wish you had realised to do the same to my good friend.

This was a five part poem. Only the first three fit in the description, links to the other two are below.

Stage 1: The Gates

Are you really alive? Are you really awake?
Is all this real, or might it be fake?
Do you know for certain, can you be sure?
In which domain you dwell either side of dreams door?
Let us propose to postpone pomp and pretence
Stop with the certainty, admit self-synthesised sense
This world, whatever it be, confuses all the human race
We struggle to reason, just ruse to wear a brave face
For those who walk the borders between lands, beware
I have known men slip the line of neither here nor there
Traverse an edge long enough, who knows what you find
When the certain become stuff, you know not you own mind
Let us journey, the glory is always in adventure
To the initial question, which I felt brave to venture
Of if we are in dream, or dwell with the awake
I propose it matters not. Regardless, we shall undertake
To shine. Let us make promises and favour, debts to be owed
Let us adventure so our subconscious struggles to lay road
Whichever world we find ourselves, lets us still be proud
Let us prod dwell and delve, meet our destiny unbowed Stage II: The passage

The dreaming is not a difficult place to enter
You've probably done so yourself many a time
Any meaning or memory you must face to surrender
To protect everyone against dream crime
The dreaming is more fragile than you've been told
A single misstep and it'll break
Usually seeming to occur just as the good bit takes hold
You suddenly find yourself awake
Those who are versed in passage can avoid this path
We've seen some shape dreams to their will
They've rehearsed an age to hone their craft
Weave reams and make seams with utmost skill
They always get the kiss before opening eyes
Can always utter that last goodbye
For days they've waited in bliss where they lie
No sound say they but a sigh
Beware, though, should you chose this path
Do not draw attention to you presence
The Lord of Dream enjoys a laugh
You should seek prevention from this circumstance
Tread soft. Get the girl after time. Fly low.
There is much to offer a traveller in Dream
Don't act aloft, being hasty is a crime y'know
Be aware from this storyteller not to blaspheme

Stage 3: Comfort

It is often the curse of life, that we get too comfortable in our way
We're all versed in strife, too ameliorated with the day to day
Too easy to get a trifle too used to do tomorrow what you did today
See the same eye full of images emerging as if they're on replay
It is all too easy, to turn to live a life that's sedentary
You must seize the day be on guard like the sentry
Unlock the problem the keys of the solution elementary
Lest you freeze sans delay you must force your entry
Nowhere is this more true than when discussing your dreams
Nothing more sticky than glue than thrice failed schemes
To explore through I implore you to live in new regimes
And force into new ways of sleep, experience extra extremes
Do not fall into the same wish, night on night
Do not stall when deciding to walk or take flight
You must know by now what is easy may not be right
You must show your strength, for courage is a fight

***

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/08/stage-1-gates.html

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/08/stage-ii-passage.html

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/08/stage-3-comfort.html

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/08/stage-4-dreaming.html

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/09/stage-5-sleep-paralysis.html

When I was born

And when you were too

Some sounds were uttered

Then given to you

You held on tight

Still do to this day

To that utterance

Which you portray

The sound is not unique

To you or another

Yet it's certainly yours

To be learnt to a lover

These sounds are you

Pick you out from crowds

Yet mean nothing more

Than what you allow

They are arbitrary

But that doesn't mean

They can't be you

Who you are, who you've been

Did you stop to wonder

To if you had different sounds?

Would you be the same

If that different you were found?

It matter not

For you are simply you

But it's also fact

Your name is you too.

***

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/07/names.html

IMPORTANT: THIS IS A PSA

IF YOU'VE RECENTLY FOUND YOURSELF DOWN ON A MONDAY

LESS ENTHUSIASTIC THAN MANY OF YOUR BUSINESS COLLEAGUES

UNABLE TO FOCUS ON ANY CIRCULAR OBJECT WITHOUT WANTING TO THROW IT

TRYING MOTIVATION CHANTS BEFORE IMPORTANT MEETINGS

SPIKING ANY REPORTS DONE ON TIME TO AN ACCEPTABLE STANDARD

OR EVEN JUST RELISHING CRAMP FOR THE MEMORIES IT CONTAINS

THEN YOU,

ARE SUFFERING,

FROM,

POST TOURNAMENT BLUES...

The post tournament blues are the downfall of us all

Where most incidents renew your recall of a call

Since recent emotions have been so intense and too high

Your mind's location is green pitches and blue sky.

The speech replay of the captain trying to inspire you at half

The point of day where you were in pain 'til a team mate made you laugh

Your saviour, near enough flying in a bid to make up for your mistake

You savour this stuff near crying until you have to fake you're awake.

Snap back to reality, and ain't it cold?

You lack normality, though it should've taken hold

See, the moments where you are most real and alive

Paid atonement now in the struggle to feel and strive.

You miss your team. You miss your friends.

You want to scream and make it end

It's the price we pay, for bonds so tight

My advice today, to make it right.

Is to enjoy the tournament most, while you are there

To not annoy or taunt the host, to show you care

To play with spirit and heart, try not to be fake

Today give it your part, for all of our sake.

It may not make it any better the day after

Trying to fake along with the office laughter

Just know if you make your tournament and invest all you can do

Your team is doing what they do best, and sharing that feeling with you.

And with your team behind you, you can do damn near anything.

***

http://harryisapoet.blogspot.com/2015/07/post-tournament-blues.html