Christmas Cheer

So soon that time is here again

Of peace and goodwill to all men

The passing of another year

Church bells ring out the Christmas Cheer

Green holly hanging on the doors

The streets are filled with Santa Claus

You’ll find him there in every store

Surrounded by fine gifts galore

But this year will you spare a thought

For all the poor children with nought?

Or will you just repeat last year

And lose yourself in Christmas Cheer?

A Letter to Santa

Artwork by Caroline Quin©2011

A poem by Phil Gibson, illustrated by Caroline Quin, featured in both 'Apocalyptic Visions' and 'Apocalypse and Beyond...'.

You can find a plain text version of this poem here.

Waiting

I’m just killing time

While time is killing me

Remembering a time

That is yet to be

I’m just standing still

Going no-where fast

Waiting for a moment

Coming out of my past

I’m strolling on the brink

Of my sanity

Carrying the burden

Of humanity

I’m watching life bloom

Then wither away

Moments glitter briefly

But they never stay

I’m counting each grain

Of sand that is falling

Hearing all the ghosts

Of past lives calling

I’m feeling each grain

Bring me nearer the door

Waiting for the time

To shed this skin once more

Renewal

What is this pain within my head?

Am I alive or am I dead?

Why am I lost in endless night?

What is that blinding golden light?

Who is that distant silhouette?

Recalled from memories I forget

And why do echoes beckon me

To walk into that light I see?

But why am I now falling?

Whose voice do I hear calling?

It’s dragging me, I’m sinking

I feel as though I’m shrinking

What is that rhythmic thumping?
What is this fluid pumping?

Why am I filled with so much dread?

What is that pressure on my head?

It pulls me from my waking dream

I open up my eyes and scream...

God Save the Children

God save the children

From the troubles of this life

Shield them and protect them

From the heartache and the strife

God save the children

Dry their tears when they cry

When the world mistreats them

Do not turn a blinded eye

God save the children

Cold and lonely in life’s rain

Shelter them and feed them

They just don’t deserve the pain

God save the children

Do not listen to the lie

Of those who’d exploit them

Do not let the children die

God save the children

All our hopes they will fulfil

Some-one has to save them

As no-body down here will...

Paper Dreams

Two headed horses climb the walls

The panther stalks the bubbled balls

Dead flowers grow across my bed

Ten fingers crossed by hand that bled

Glass tigers gamble in the stream

The unicorn rides through a dream

Blue thunder clouds roll cross the sky

Beneath the watchful wizard`s eye

The bottled gold, unwanted stands

Untouched by mortal human hands

And silent standing all around

Toxic tubes rise from the ground

The light above will soon grow dim

The time will come to sink or swim

The dolphin smiled, the angel cried

Certificates for those who died

In crystal castles on the hill

They’re blind to all the blood they spill

In pidgeon holes, in shadowed rows

Where heroes hide between Death’s toes

And china lemmings on the edge

Stand in line to take the pledge

The infant smiling on the dead

The Devil bearing words unsaid

And on the moon the sleeping clown

Dreams of stars and falling down

Picture formed in empty air

Fades above the empty chair

White coat drifting through the door

Floating two feet from the floor

A fleeting pain beneath the skull

And once again the world grows dull

The face behind the glass looks on

Until this paper dream is gone..

Nemesis

Looming shadows drawing near

Darkness borne on wings of fear

Foot-steps echo close behind

Conjured spectres plague your mind

Lurking in the endless night

Stalking you as you take flight

As your nerve breaks start to run

Race of Death has now begun

Icy breath, spine-chilling touch

Blood runs cold, cadaver’s clutch

A tightened grip, you can’t break loose

You’re hanging in a rigid noose

Your chest is tight, your heart expands

You’re clawing at those vice-like hands

You know your heart can’t take the strain

You’re blinded by its bursting pain

You feel your soul is fading fast

Your life’s events are flashing past

There is no need to struggle now

You know this pain will end somehow

With open arms embrace Death’s bliss

You can’t escape your Nemesis

Waking Nightmare

I feel my mind is slowly lifting

Through hidden doors dark shades are drifting

Last ghosts of quickly fading dreams

Retreating forms of silent screams

In momentary silence lying

With unseen nightmare spectres dying

My drowsy sleep-thick mind is idling

Why is the air so warm and stifling?

I open up my eyes to see

But all is black, how can this be?

How can there be no shred of light?

My god, could I have lost my sight?

Why do I feel so stiff and sore?

Why am I lying on the floor?

So hard to move my arms from rest

Why are they folded on my chest?

I raise my hand to test eyes flawed

My knuckles graze against rough board

My elbows knock restricting sides

With horror then I realise

Like half-remembered memories

Nghtmarish echoes surge with ease

From dark recesses of my brain

Where they were locked to save me pain

I hear the grieving mourners moaning

The distant solemn voice is droning

Of how life can be so unjust

Ash to ash and dust to dust

But these spectres are from no dream

No-one can hear but still I scream

My heart is filled with icy dread

They’ve buried me, BUT I`M NOT DEAD!

Runaway Train

Happy haddock, willow tree

Humpty dumpty, silver sea

Ping pong, bunny, apple pie

Singing haystack, purple sky

Little teapot, grinning cat

Talking horses, silly hat

Parcels, ribbons,tiny tots

Sky blue pink with polka dots

Roasted peanuts, candyfloss

Silver moonlight, springy moss

Rainy mondays, growing grass

Snakes in apples made of glass

Rocket, lolly, unicorn

Bugle, trumpet, rhino horn

Mary poppins, poppy seed

Bill and Ben and little weed

Wibble, wibble, blibble blime

Honey suckle, twist of lime

Silly sausage, carrot top

Pc Plod and Mrs Mop

Ivor engine, rousing song

Hanging baskets, Babylon

Wizard, fairy, crimson grape

Icy snowflake, sticky tape

Milky, milky, gooey cake

Yellow roses, frying stake

Choking laughter, falling star

Deafened by a bridge too far

Floating sofa, fishing gnome

Smokey bacon running home

Howdy doody Mr Spoon

Comfy ceiling, tiny room

Birdies tweeting, bouncing ball

River deep and building tall

Spotty toadstools, angel sings

Brainy badger, ravens wings

Giant beanstalk, puss-in-boots

Mother Goose in big black boots

Scented candles, ticking clock

Climb the ladder, on the block

Round in circles, chase your tail

Falling ashtray, sirens wail

Cabbage corner, smoking joint

Woven basket, needle point

Wedding bells for dusty bin

Bright confetti, creeping sin

Dancing oysters, pea green boat

Bright balloons, they bounce and float

Snowball fights in sylvan woods

Burning crosses, pointy hoods

Teeter-totter, swinging tyre

Metal monsters, spitting fire

Gaudy pennants, coloured plumes

Silent children, cloying fumes

Jingle, jingle, sleigh bell rings

Rising waters, acid stings

Test-tube babies, empty beds

Missing limbs and extra heads

Smiling faces, staring eyes

Crawling beetles, buzzing flies

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Mellow music, padded white

Baggy trousers, jacket tight

Platitudes, a bright new pin

Oblivion is closing in...

No Compost Mennis

There are toys in my attic

But the marbles have gone

There is no-body up there

But the light is still on

Though the lift is still working

It won’t go to the top

A screw has worked itself loose

And it made the lift stop

There are bats in my belfry

And their chatter has no end

So I climbed off my rocker

Up the pole and round the bend

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Now I’m free, out to lunch

All the fairies are there

We’re dining with the Hatter

And the rabid March Hare

The Jumper

I have out-lived my usefulness
Rejected to my loneliness
Discarded here upon the shelf
My only company, myself

It is a dreadful truth to see
To know that no-body wants me
Of this sad fact there is no doubt
Who’d want me now, I’m too worn out

Before me now my life is played
As I sit here with edges frayed
Each fibre of my being stretched
My misery in creases etched


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Unravelling, I wonder why

It came to this, I start to cry

I long for peace in endless sleep

With eyes closed, off the cliff I leap

Morbidity - A poem from my 1st book

I have a dream, a fantasy

Where all men live in harmony

An end to pain and enmity

A new birth for humanity

Each day I wake reluctantly

And come back to reality

I look around in misery

And see the true insanity

A world ruled by brutality

Supported by complacency

We`re in the grip of tyranny

Choked by our own misanthropy

The masses in obscurity

Condemned to live in poverty

A life of harsh severity

The cruelest immorality

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Each day a new atrocity

Will reach new depths of cruelty

We`re sinking into savagery

A slow death for humanity