“Everything is fine, it sure is swell”
Cross The Line – 1st August 2026
we tell a
story
an illusion of control
a cold comfort
in mourning
lines drawn in sand
random; unplanned
rally the troops around
fighting to the death
for their story
til strangers
on familiar grounds
we used to call home
Inspired by the various border wars around the world and copying the syllable count from a previously published poem by Matthew Maitland, including the borrowing of the final stanza. The poem has since been made unavailable.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Don’t Go Expecting Perfection
Why ponder the existence of nuisance?
It’s holding you back from getting started
Best to make do with how things are
And take on the task wholehearted
The Big ‘Oh!’s – 31st July 2026
Decades rush towards
an ever distant double-o.
Crossing off the milestones
one by one
we find less to celebrate.
And when lids finally close,
eyes open to a new world
with a big 'Oh!'
"That's what it all meant."
Destined to write poetry forever
next to Wilfred, Walt and William,
like old friends.
Written for dVerse – Launch and these thoughts came to me after reading Henry Rousseau’s tombstone epitaph, written by poet Guillaume Apollinaire:
“We salute you Gentle Rousseau you can hear us
Delaunay, his wife, Monsieur Queval and myself
Let our luggage pass duty free through the gates of heaven
We will bring you brushes, paints and canvas
That you may spend your sacred leisure in the
light and truth of painting
As you once did my portrait facing the stars, lion and the gypsy”
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Your Career Is Not A Life Sentence
Your work does not make you immune
From the end arriving soon
Just A Prayer – 30th July 2026
We filled our children full of hope—
What else were we supposed to do?
We taught them that to care is to cope
With the evils we’ll put them through.
Make it faith, or just a prayer—
Because what’s left when love’s not there?
Written for dVerse Quadrille #252 – care
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Stoic Joy
Real joy is a serious thing
More than just a simple cheer
Joy is a deep state of being
Inspiration for those you hold dear
Why Don’t You Just Die? – 29th July 2026
The cell door opens, but no light comes through,
just a guard's fist and a dog's snapping jaw.
Thirty-three years of this, though changing too,
the blocks where guards once kept a fragile law.
They took the books, the mirrors, the hotplate,
removed our blankets for a single sheet.
Toothbrushes replaced with ones short and straight,
walking our laps without shoes on our feet.
Still touching hope when the radio plays
Abeer Nehme for three minutes a day.
Then I feel human, despite the malaise,
as Gaza burns a hundred miles away.
They ask,
"Why don't you just die?"
The guards sneer.
I'm still here.
I'm still here.
I'm still here.
Inspired by the titular article by Nasser Abu Srour at Equator magazine about life as a Palestinian inside Israeli prisons.
“I have decided to write because things do not find existence outside the borders of language, not even genocide. I must write about the slaughter in Gaza; about its famished men, women and children; about its drowned sea and about its ability to rise again; about the world’s indifference to what has happened there and what is still happening there; about how the major powers barely even acknowledge this crime. I must write about Palestinian prisoners, because a war is still being waged against them; the Israeli prison authorities have not yet declared a ‘ceasefire’.”
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
A Cure For The Self
Through nurture and nature we form our traits
Some with negative consequences
Philosophy and all it investigates
Brings positive outcomes to all our senses
Breakfast In Gaza – 28th July 2026
Spoons still clatter each morning,
amongst the rebar and dusted bread.
Idle chatter around the fallen awning,
auntie still insists we make the bed.
But first, we must wash the dishes,
perhaps there will be time to play.
Even knowing worse, unspoken wishes,
it’s another day off school today
No reception from the satellite,
let’s make do with our imagination.
This inception of al fresco light
shall become our new foundation.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Check Your Privilege
Some people are sharp and others, not so much
Not everyone has the same head start as you
Be patient with those still searching, as such
Check your privilege before all that you do
Jamais Vu – 27th July 2026
Once, going home to chase old memories;
is this old house truly the one I see?
A character in my documentaries,
walls whisper alienation to me.
Your face is familiar, but who are you?
You talk to me like I’m someone you know.
Taken for granted yet still ‘baby blue’;
scared of any other places to go.
The bathroom mirror is asking me too,
Who is this impostor who takes my name?
Every morning, a case of jamais vu,
The ‘I’ in ‘me’ is no longer the same.
Inspired by Colleen’s comment on my old poem ‘Ten To’
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Where Is Anything Better?
Is there anything better
Than the suffering of your own mind?
If there’s another answer
Tell us all what it is you find
Unwanted – 26th July 2026
I remember that time,
a gift
I gave
without
reason,
rejected;
you
returned
a gift too;
I remember that time.
A skinny poem, the form inspired by this post by Nilofer Neubert
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
When Good Men Do Nothing
Injustice can be just as often found
In what’s not being done
Without good, evil comes back around
Where there may have been none
Our Game – 25th July 2026
Let me get you a drink;
that is all I can do.
With a sigh, let us think,
in the dark, with the brew.
It's our game from the start,
in the blood of our night.
Through the mist, from the heart,
in the grave—made it right.
Through the years, on the way,
for a friend, for a bit.
At the end of the day,
on the fence, we should sit.
An anapestic poem written for dVerse – Meet The Bar. Possibly, not quite a ballad…
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
What’s On Your Tombstone?
The ladder of success is short
When it comes to your epitaph
All that success amounted to nought
There’s nothing after the laugh
Mistreated Reminders – 24th July 2026
These I have loved amongst many others.
That green-handled oval hand mirror,
dusty, with paint that would peel and crack.
Held just right, it allowed me to squeeze
those difficult to get pimples on my back.
The old dirty Lino floating under the rugs
collecting snot balls and hair in the corners
Those rugs made a comfort of the floor,
on which I danced like my favourite performers.
The old dirty bed clothes where everyone sat
would become the warmth that each night needed.
The glass in the window, sagging with age,
so often slammed shut and mistreated.
These little nostalgias are a cold comfort,
prickly reminders of all that was
I don’t want to hold on to them anymore.
All these have been my loves.
Written for dVerse Poetics: The Great Lover. I like to reminisce and be nostalgic but it is becoming a reminder of feelings that will not be repeated. While I spend most of my time analysing my own past to understand who I am, I’m also conscious that the little time left to us is being wasted in the process too. This poem could have gone on a lot longer (and maybe one day it will). I think I mentioned this elsewhere, but it brings to mind the Big Black lyric, ‘I know what a liar I am, I should know me by now.’
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
1994ever 