Free To Fly - 10 Poems on Getting Through Read online

Free To Fly

  10 Poems on Getting Through

  Paul Whybrow

  Copyright 2015 Paul Whybrow

  Published by Paul Whybrow

  Cover Art: Google Images

  Free To Fly

  10 Poems on Getting Through

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold

  or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person,

  please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did

  not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and

  purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work

  of this author.

  Disclaimer

  This book is a work of fiction. While some of the place names are real, characters are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Free To Fly

  10 Poems on Getting Through

  'I have no talent; I make Ready Wit my Talent.

  I have no friends; I make my Mind my Friend.

  I have no enemy; I make Incautiousness my Enemy.

  I have no armour; I make Benevolence my Armour.

  I have no castle; I make Immovable Mind my Castle.

  I have no sword; I make No Mind my Sword.'

  Samurai Creed

  Junco Dojo Web Page

  Contents

  The Poems

  Fearless Journey

  Stubborn, Determined and Tenacious

  Do Something You Don't Want To Everyday

  Free to Fly

  Heaven in Maybe

  Where It Goes

  Filters

  To Make Cakes, She Bakes Biscuits

  Something To Do

  Living The Lives Of Others

  The End

  About The Author

  Also by Paul Whybrow

  Novellas

  Short Stories

  Song Lyrics

  Poetry

  Novels 

  Connect with the author

  Free To Fly

  10 Poems on Getting Through

  Paul Whybrow

  Fearless Journey

  (blues/hymn/spiritual)

  Come, hold my hand

  and I'll chase the darkness away,

  There's nothing to be afraid of,

  'twas only a bad dream.

  There's more fear in imagination

  than exists in real life.

  Leave fear behind

  by taking that first step.

  Don't let doubts overwhelm you.

  They're just black clouds

  that you can melt

  with the warmth of your soul.

  There's more fear in imagination

  than exists in real life.

  Leave fear behind

  by taking that first step.

  I once was lost in wilderness,

  my tracks lost in the night.

  Then I stumbled to the horizon,

  and was bathed in golden light.

  There's more fear in imagination

  than exists in real life.

  Leave fear behind

  by taking that first step.

  You don't need to know the way

  before you set out in life.

  The route will find you,

  and show you who you are.

  There's more fear in imagination

  than exists in real life.

  Leave fear behind

  by taking that first step.

  The road goes on forever,

  you know that it is so.

  But your struggle will end

  on a restful bed of ease.

  There's more fear in imagination

  than exists in real life.

  Leave fear behind

  by taking that first step

  Stubborn, Determined and Tenacious

  I've been called stubborn for sticking to my guns,

  Continuing to do what folk don't approve of.

  Thinking me mad, they tut, sigh and turning away

  Show their disapproval of my headstrong ways.

  But were I doing something they liked, admiring

  My determination, I'd win their respect.

  They'd think me resourceful, gritty and tough.

  A good man in a storm, someone to rely on.

  And what of tenacious, where I never let go?

  Keep a grip on an argument, clamp down my hold.

  Never let something go, not even a relationship.

  A bit of a pain and a bore—would you like that?

  It's all how you see things—depends where you're standing.

  If you were proved right in the end, stubbornness works.

  Determined men sometimes perish, despite being brave.

  Those who dogmatically hold on are reviled and despised.

  The question of balance is hard to decide.

  Whether it's worth it, is all up to you.

  I've let things go that others have fought for.

  Letting go sometimes harder than holding on.

  Do Something You Don't Want To Everyday

  You know that it needs doing,

  That thing you've been putting-off.

  It won't go away if you ignore it.

  It'll still be there in the morning.

  Do something you don't want to everyday.

  It's good for the soul, you'll feel better for it.

  Forget new year's resolutions—oh, you already did.

  Just get that wretched job done, don't be a martyr.

  It wasn't so bad after all, now was it?

  And things look so much better than before.

  Give yourself a pat on the back, and relax.

  There's sure to be something nasty to do tomorrow.

  Free to Fly

  (for J.F. 28/01/2014)

  You've let go,

  fallen into the void

  where love fragments.

  Buffeted,

  tumbling,

  you drop.

  Holding to yourself,

  wings encasing you,

  bird imago,

  you fall.

  Gaze at emptiness,

  to far horizons,

  no clear course,

  bemused,

  you plunge.

  Self-doubt

  stoops on you

  in grim pursuit.

  Unfurling,

  you flay

  flight-feathers,

  checking descent.

  You glide.

  Peer back

  at the ruins.

  Disintegrated

  coupling propels

  your flight.

  Flutter awhile.

  Hover.

  Migrate now

  to safe bower.

  You fly.

  Heaven in Maybe

  Distinct possibilities

  Emerge from the mist.

  Grasped or ignored,

  Some miasmas,

  Others phantasms.

  They're what you make them.

  Making things happen

  Could mean stumbling

  The spiked marshes

  Of disaster and doubt.

  Chasing cruel shadows,

  Poleing your psyche.

  Sink holes widen.

  Your step hesitates.

  Stay still awhile.

  Let them come to you—

  The dreams you chase.

  There's heaven in maybe.

  Where
It Goes

  The will-o'-the-wisp,

  Creativity's soul

  Is an elusive sprite.

  It's body there,

  The words visible

  On the page.

  Cold black slugs

  That sparkle not.

  I put them there.

  Did the work

  As continuance.

  Out of duty,

  Hoping for light.

  Never 'blocked',

  Creation's fount

  Disgorged sludge.

  Ever inventive,

  I swirl bubbles,

  Effervescence

  Into the stodge.

  Creative alchemy

  Bringing colour

  To what glowered.

  Bright shards.

  Filters

  Getting through life needs filters.

  Think about that particular disaster,

  And you'll become sad and doubtful.

  Remembering a long-missed lover

  Won't improve your current partner.

  Why recall that nasty wounding insult?

  Memories are best viewed through

  A rose-tinted filter on your misty lens.

  Thinking positively means removing

  Impurities that could melt your spirit.

  Hard to remove everything damaging.

  Negativity regenerates, unfortunately.

  Fit new filters to screen-out the crap.

  It'll be round again, but you'll chug along,

  Your pink-hued vision on the road ahead.

  To Make Cakes, She Bakes Biscuits

  There's ways of approaching things,

  Of getting a job done properly.

  Head-on works for some,

  Sneaking behind for others.

  But she sidles in unseen,

  Making a practice run—or two.

  To make cakes, she bakes biscuits.

  Filling trays with her dreams.

  Risking a little before attempting

  A lot, she watches them rise.

  A measure of temperature.

  Proof of her technique.

  Ovens are temperamental.

  Life can be that way too.

  Things don't always turn out

  The way you'd like them to.

  Don't trust in other's recipes.

  Test what's right for you.

  To make cakes, she bakes biscuits.

  Love crumbs fall moistly apart.

  Crispness bites, snapping brightly.

  Worth risking something bigger.

  That will last longer than treats.

  Sustenance and proof of love.

  Something To Do

  We tell our children this,

  When they say they're bored.

  "Well, find something to do then"

  That's a clue for how to solve boredom.

  The act of searching is a good start.

  What would you like to do right now?

  I've found something that I avoided

  Doing for years, thinking it too engrossing.

  I was right, as it's taken over my life.

  I'm not bored anymore, though I kept busy

  Before, insatiably curious and reading lots.

  Now I write the words for others to read.

  They may provide delight and pique the interest

  Of those who were once bored, but now respond

  To ideas and stories I've created, passing on bits of me.

  The best something to do is just that, share yourself.

  Let others in to who you are, and how you feel.

  They'll do the same back, chasing boredom away.

  Living The Lives Of Others

  The easiest thing in the world to do

  Is to live someone else's life.

  We're all experts on what they need.

  Know exactly how they should behave.

  It's tougher to live your own life.

  To look at who you really are.

  But others know you better

  Than you know yourself.

  We're all the same, we all do it.

  Organizing, advising others,

  While ignoring ourselves.

  Why not be you, for a while?

  The End

  About The Author

   

  Paul Whybrow has a young head on old shoulders.

  Ex many things, including being a teacher, counsellor,

  librarian, dispatch-rider, milk-man, postman, bar man,

  house renovator, classic vehicle restorer, courier,

  van driver, factory worker, project manager,

  live-in carer for the elderly, editor, photographer,

  volunteer at a community centre, play-schemes,

  homeless campaigns and nature conservation projects.

  I wrote non-fiction magazine articles for ages,

  but turned to creative writing in the summer of

  2013. I've been my own boss for a long time,

  which means I'm working for an idiot and the

  pay is lousy—but the holidays are great.

  Paul Whybrow has a good heart inside a battered chest.

   

  * * *

   

  Also by Paul Whybrow

   

  Novellas

   

  * A Man Out Walking His Dog—A tale of mistaken identity.

  * Burpwallow Holler—Loyalty in post Civil War America.

  * Quarry—A gangster becomes prey in a lethal reality TV show.

  * Ghosting—How a lonely biologist finds peace with the ghosts of her life.

  * Is It Her?—A new start is offered to a grieving widower.

  * A Blue Tomorrow—Temptation and new beginnings on a farm.

  * Hearts On Tour—Small town friends support one another.

  * What Would I Do Without You?—A newly-single wife begins life again.

   

  Short Stories

   

  * The Moon Is Out Tonight—Two soul-mates separated by circumstance.

  * Due-Date—A soul in limbo is given a new job.

  * Jacqui In Space—A 20th century explorer on 22nd century Mars.

  * Over And Out—Things come to a head on a 50th wedding anniversary.

  * In The Graveyard At Dawn—A boy and his dog among the graves.

  * Soul-Swapping—Moving souls, a demon tries to get back to hell.

  Song Lyrics

  * 12 Country & Western Lyrics—hope, regret and seeing things as they are.

  * 13 Kinds of Blue—trouble's your only friend, ain't it?

  * A Dozen Pops—love in a bubble always goes pop.

  * A Dozen Rocks—head down boogie along the highway.

  * Box of Love—songs of love and hope.

  * Howling For You—the sadness goes on and on.

   

  Poetry

   

  * Love Stages—Love affairs seen at different phases.

  * Love Begins—The thrill of the new, the nervousness and delight.

  * Love Ends—What do you do when things go wrong?

  * Love Hopes—How would you like love to happen?

  * Love Wishes—In an ideal world your affair would be like this...

  * Nature's Ways—Aspects of the natural world, happy and sad.

  * Modern Times—What it means to live in the 21st century.

  * Old Age Navigation—Ageing stinks, but it beats the alternative.

  * Darkness—Written from the endless night of the soul.

  * Darkness Darkness—We all have our dark side—how's yours?

  * Loneliness—The poverty of the soul, when you're alone.

  * Solitariness—The richness of the soul, when you go solo.

  * Poems To Ponder—Thoughtful and amusing poems for children.

  * Witches' Knickers—Silly and nonsense poems for young readers.

  * Hold Onto Yourself—Funny and warm poems for youngsters.

&n
bsp; * What Do You Like?—9 Erotic Poems

  * Building Story House—10 Poems on creating stories

  * Lost Among The Words—10 Poems about Writing

  * Friends And Other Confusions—10 Poems on liking others and yourself.

  * Chasing Big 'O'—9 Erotic Poems

  * Squeeze It—10 Poems on Creativity and Setbacks

  * We Stop Ourselves—10 Poems on Creativity, Doubt and Self-Belief

  * Love Scenes—10 Poems about love

  * Free To Fly—10 poems on getting through

   

  Novels 

  Coming soon:

  * The Perfect Murderer—a novel about a serial killer, who makes no mistakes.

   

  .

   * * *

   

  Connect with the author

   

  https://paulwhybrowblog.wordpress.com