All at once I saw you

All at once I saw you
Like in a dream
Some vague notions of forgiveness
Mixed in an unrighteous stream
But its all on the dark side
Cold in the shadow of a mountain
Those mountains of youth
That just do not move
And won't allow you to love

So I brought you back to that mountain
and gave you a shovel and spade
And told you to start digging
A hole for forgiving
One tunnel that will let light into the shade

Some nights it seems so distant
That train whistle in the grove
The darkness in the valley of the thistle
Where the wild heather grows

Some nights it seems so invisible
Like ghosts, revealing themselves
Through the eves of the past
To make your love last
Down among the sleeves of book shelves

All at once I saw you
Like the moon from behind the clouds
Like I knew you were there
Some forest with a bear
Some trees with the thickness of crowds

Sahara Sarah

The day that I saw you in a single's bar
Was one of the happiest I must say so far
You had on a dress the colour of Ivory
I had a bone to pick with you
It was the elephant in the room
But I wasn't the poacher, there is the irony
Because when you spoke I lost my tusks
To your Savannah robbery, your African musk
Your Leopard skin hide, and the thorn in your side
I just couldn't pull out, like Daniel and the Lion
I tried to save you from dying, and you did the same
For me
When they threw me to the wolves, and the wolf whistles
and calls you had to endure, but you were sure-footed
And True
As the sky turned blue, and we could see through
All their games to the horizon

The Sun never sets, on our relationship, like the moon it gets
Wet in the ocean of night, and sails like a ship on the blind side
Of light, passing day hauled up at bay, then in the darkness
We pass, through the holes of each other's hearts
Like some invisible thread, like some camel that treads
Through the desert to the needle's eye

Emperor

Oh now don't worry he's an emperor
He'll burn up your heart
No don't forget his interior
Its a mansion's noble part

Now the Sun never sets on his empire
He spends seven lives on his art
For what he's created, he's destroyed in the fire
And it's burned several holes in his heart

Now Judas he was a liar, a deceiver right from the start
But he believed with all his desire
In the empire of his heart
Now silver coins they could buy him
And gold could turn his will
But what he conspired was for an empire
And a prophecy to fulfill

Yes now here is the empire
Here is the loquacious machine
And it turns a dark will, as a Satanic mill
And it makes a mockery of the heart

The Sun never sets on his empire
The sun will continue to rise
But the day will end
When he can't find a friend
And his empire will be his only prize

The falling stars

The stars are falling down
In the city, in the town
They're falling from the steeples
Like jewels from a crown
They're falling from the tower
From the lapels of those in power
The stars are falling down

They're falling from the Christmas trees
The stars are falling in the cities
They're falling off the flags
Like antlers off the stags
The stars of the city are falling down

You look up from the gutter
And see them glitter in the sky
You think of all the utter
Business of truth telling over lie
And try to reach beyond to pluck them
For your piece of pie
But they fall between your fingers
Like tears fall when you cry

The stars are falling down this Christmas time
They're falling like the fairy dust
On twinkle town
They're falling from the tree
The stars of the bold and free
Falling down on you and me
In our prime

They’re burning trees in Budapest -There’s a forest fire in Budapest

They’re burning the trees in city park

There’s a fire in their heart

There’s a smell of timber in the streets

And the logs are loading up the cart

There’s fungi eating up the wood

and a disease in the bark

There’s a war between the bad and good

And they’re burning the trees in city park

The branches are barren and bare

The fertility of the city

Is on fire, like Hell's lair

They’re attacking her womb

And from the rotten roots

Grow twisted trunks

So, they’re selling her shoots from car boots

Giving the dogs back their bites

While taking away their bark

Not letting them sleep with the drunks

They’re burning the trees in city park

There’s a canker in the heart

There’s a smell of bonfires in the air

There’s a pest eating us apart

There’s a worm in the pear

There’s a bug within the leaf

And a cancer eats at government

There’s the breeding ground for our grief

Corruption written on the walls of Parliament

Ballad of a Budapest Bicyclist

Releasing the inner bicyclist I set off down the street

Not yet sure of my direction nor of who’d meet

The road was long, with many obstacles in my way

The cars, pedestrians even other cyclists making hay

My sure foot in England counted for little here

The Hungarian green cross code, is less rules

More guidelines by which to steer

And very few obey the lights, that much to me was clear.

To navigate, I must admit my method somewhat poor

I held extended to the front an open book as cure

with one hand I held the road list, with the other I did steer

And as I made my progress, my eye was half in the distance and half near

Few things come to mind about that dreadful morning

That now in hindsight might have given me a warning

Perhaps one was the traffic, and another the beeping horns

Perhaps the capricious nature of the zebra crossing more like a unicorn

For guidance as to how to be, I followed the cultural norm

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, be like St George who fights the Great Orm

I took as my example the cyclist in front,

She weaved and dived between the traffic

like her bike was made of magic

I likewise tried my hand, losing some sense of self

In the pursuance of an unreachable dream, what one may lack is mental health

So stopping at a lights at a meeting of two roads

One Erszbet tér the other Joszef Attila ut, is where I begin my ode

The cyclist ahead had seized the chance and crossed when lights were red

I felt this cannot be right so held my steed from rearing dread

As I waited, I looked around, uncertain of my location

And yet in the same moment perceiving its general commotion

The air was tense like in a tennis competition

We stood at match point poised until the lights changed our constitution

In my general perusal of the scene

I spotted a red-haired ruffian, looking large and rather mean

I decided in my mind he was one I should avoid

And so, looked back down at my book to follow the route I had thus far enjoyed

It seemed no clearer from the glance that I briefly took

And yet without another guide I did decide to keep out my book

At that moment the providential lights did change their hue

And I followed on the rolling traffic in its crawling queue

However, I did not make it very far before I had to stop

As the green man had signalled pedestrians across his shop

Most made their way quick with efficiency

But one man lingered on the pavement rendering my path unfree

If you have not guessed it, this was my red-headed foe

Who had beside his gym-built bulk his bull dog in tow

Since my own light would soon be changing back to red

I had to take my chances in the pedestrian flow now drip fed

The green man he was flashing, and the majority had crossed

Just this one hulk slacking, not even on the pied path tossed

So, I proceeded with a gentlemanly care

Slowly pedalling my bicycle in the crisp morning air

In one hand was my book

And my eye it fully did look

A clear path to my fore

And so, I advanced and seized my chance as if through

An open door

All at once I heard a pitiful yelp,

And to my surprise, the Bull-dog's cries preceded my own need of help

The impact of a stepping fool (the man)

Had caused me to unbalance nearly falling from my stool

This great Hungarian Hulk then proceeded to yell

‘You have run over my dog’ or something of the ilk, I could not tell

His face was mad and steaming, red as a raspberry fruit

The ginger hair upon it made his look a fiery hirsute

Before I even knew what was going on

He had grabbed my rucksack and from my bike I was being flung

I landed on the hard road, my lap-top laden bag nearby

My arm was cut, the shock like lightening strike from a blue sky

I picked myself up quickly and looked this man in the face

He was still yelling some Hungarian, his dog had run from its place

As I put on my bag, he left and turned to find his dog

I took that as my cue to leave the scene of this mad grog

Some onlookers stood and watched, but I had cycled on

I had no desire to face his mad fire, nor to gather a throng

Hurting from the bruising, but wheeling not in vain

I made my way to my destination, vowing never to cross his path again

Just the next street on, I met a couple of cops

And thought to tell them the incident so up to them I stopped

Luckily one spoke English and I explained my case,

However, his look and shrug dismissive,

Meant the criminal could not be traced

Looking back in hindsight, I reflect and trust

That this man lacked perception, his reality was rust

Imagine on the long weekend, he had filled his veins with drugs

And on this bright new morning he had slipped on reality's rugs

Then again perhaps the city drives such men berserk

As they go about their daily duties or see about their work

It must be a place of ditties, and this ballad is but one

Just another song of the city, and now my song is sung

Bonfire of Leaves

Fire plant, chameleon
Salamander roots, licking up
Burning in a purifying fire
Cleaning the old skin, dusting off old boots
Roasting in a midnight oil
A twilight toil before its rest
The candle burning low
At last goes through such beautiful
hues
Phoenix shrub and burning bush
In less than a month
It will be skeletal branches and ashes
Ready to rise again in Spring