The true meaning of Christmas
isn’t about presents –
the true meaning of Christmas
is about the bond shared
between family and friends
and the love that binds
children and their parents…
The true meaning of Christmas
isn’t about money,
nor about what other people have –
the true meaning of Christmas
is about rising above the trivial
and looking around at your life
and being grateful for the truest
and the purest gift of all: the gift of love…
The true meaning of Christmas
isn’t about where you are –
the true meaning of Christmas
is about who you are with
and what certain people mean to you…
When I think about what Christmas means to me
I look no further for the answer
than to my family, to my fiance, to my friends –
those who give me so much every day
without asking anything in return
and who to me embody the true meaning of Christmas.
family
My Poem “Thankfulness”
Thankfulness… Thoughtfulness… Hopefulness…
At this time of the year
it is everybody’s wish
to usher in a sense of joyfulness
like the feeling of youthfulness
that a happy child
experiences on a daily basis
when they are growing up.
It is good to be thankful…
It is good to think, to help,
and to give back to others…
It is good to marvel at
and share a source of glee
that shines when the clouds above are dull,
and it is good for one and all
to gather together.
So much of life is forgotten…
So much of time is lost…
So much of this world is beautiful…
So many people have
experienced something in their life
that they believe to be a miracle –
and though it can be hard sometimes
to see the good through the bad,
to see optimism through a cloud
of pessimism and scepticism,
each and every one of us
is lucky to have what we have –
because each and every one of us has things
both big and small that make us happy
and for which we are eternally
grateful and thankful for.
My Poem “Bonfire Nights”
I remember the nights
of the fifth of November…
I remember the times
standing around, feeling the heat,
and basking in the glow of a bonfire…
I remember being a child
and being completely hypnotised
by the flickering of the flames
and by the sound of the cracking
of the furnace that burned before my eyes…
I remember watching the giant behemoth
that brought light to the darkness
and warmed the heart of my family and I…
I remember being a child and reciting to myself
the rhyme “remember, remember, the fifth of November”,
and having my imagination filled with images
of “gunpowder, treason, and plot”,
and watching Guy Fawkes being burned in effigy…
it has been too long since I stood
and looked into the flames of a fire,
but I still remember and I will never forget
all those bonfire nights that were filled
with sights, sounds, smells,
memories and dreams that will forever
fuel the inspiration and the fire
of my occasional child-like wants and desires.
My Poem “The Pumpkin”
There is something wonderful
about watching children
and an entire family gather around
and participate in the carving
of a pumpkin for Halloween…
Everybody has an opinion,
everybody has an idea
about what image should be carved
into the skin of a ripe pumpkin
after its contents have been removed
and it now resembles an orange shell…
It seems as if it is only at this time of the year
when you actually get to see a pumpkin –
and they in themselves are what symbolize
Halloween as the season it has for longest time
been remembered for as being…
Halloween, like most public holidays,
is about family, about tradition, and
about enjoying the fruits of the world
that surrounds us…
Ghost stories, scary movies,
rides at fairgrounds that take us on
a rollercoaster of emotions is
what reminds people that they
are alive and kicking…
Halloween is the season that we are in,
and what better way to celebrate
this season of the human spirit
than to gather around and carve a pumpkin.
My Poem “My Basic Instincts”
My basic instinct is to love:
to love Melissa, to love my family,
to love life and all the gifts
and wonders that it provides…
My first instinct is to be optimistic:
to focus on the positive,
to look at things in a way that feels poetic,
profound, and as inspiring
as the sight of fire-light…
My basic instinct is to the think
about people and about things
and be inspired by them:
moments when a single thought
grows into the many words of an idea
are golden and they are as energizing
as a bolt of lightning
from the mysterious and inviting sky
that I see above me –
whether at night when it is dark,
or when the sun shines bright
and intensifies an already
beautiful blue sky…
In any sense of the word,
I am not a genius of intellect –
however, what and who I am
is a dreamer, a writer
and an artist who seeks out
and who follows the trails of breadcrumbs
and footprints that are there to be found,
until I find myself back where I began…
and it is then that I realize again
who I am and what are my basic instincts.
My Poem “Unconditional Love”
Everybody has a mother,
but not everybody is born
to a mother as beautiful,
amazing, and kind…
everybody is the best of their parents,
but not everybody is as lucky as I am
to have a Mum and a Dad as loving,
as caring, and as nurturing as mine…
my Dad is as strong in body as he is in mind,
and my Mum has the heart of an angel…
my Dad has given me the strength
to overcome every obstacle since I was a child,
and my Mum has given me
the life-long gift of love
and she has kept alive my creative soul
since I was boy – and together,
both my Mum and Dad have made me
the resilient and the loving person that I am,
and one of the greatest gifts of my life
has been to have been given from birth
the most caring, loving,
and amazing Mum and Dad,
and their unconditional love.
My Poem “American Dogs”
American dogs
of every size, breed,
fur length and fur colour…
American dogs of the countryside,
of the city, and of suburbia…
American dogs – wolves of the domestic era…
American dogs who grow up with,
who know, and who would
protect their owner
if they were ever in danger…
American dogs who have been
taught and treated in the right way
since they were a puppy
never forget who loves them,
nor where their home is…
American dogs are an important
part of the family
that they have been adopted into…
American dogs, like children,
love to be shown affection
by their adoptive parents…
American dogs adore their human parents
and they worship them
as if they were gods…
I have seen multiple times,
in multiple ways, face-to-face,
how truly loving, social,
thoughtful, and protective
some animals can be to their
family and their siblings –
and, in my opinion,
there is nothing like the love
that is shown and given freely
by an owner, which is then
reciprocated by
an American Dog.
My Poem “Flamingo”
Your passion is like a flame…
an indomitable spirit beats within your heart…
a fire can be found in the blood within your veins…
your strength is inspiring…
ever since I was a boy I have watched you grow
into becoming a striking model of grace and beauty…
to see you as you are now is amazing…
you are loving to those who mean the most to you…
you have seen so much, you have been to so many places –
and yet you have not changed since you were a girl…
I am so proud of who you are…
there is no doubt in my mind that no matter what happens
to you in the future, my sister, you will never stop continuing
to be a beacon of hope for those who you love
and those whom love you…
to me, it is no coincidence that purple is your favourite colour:
because purple is the colour of royalty,
creativity, dignity, devotion, pride, independence, and magic…
to me it is fate that you like flamingos,
because “Flamingo” means “Flame-coloured”,
and Flamingos symbolize love and happiness
and someone who is accepting,
someone who opens their heart for others,
someone who can’t stop giving, and that is you to a tea –
because you embody all that a Flamingo symbolizes.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister!
Happy Birthday, Clare!
My Poem ‘Plane-spotting’
There are things that I remember
from when I was a kid
that are still so full of colour
and still so vivid and clear…
there are places that are forever
preserved within my memory
from when I was a child
that I can always return to
within the blink of an eye…
there are times when you think back
on your life and your memory
can play tricks on you
and you can accidentally and falsely
remember things that never really happened –
but, when I close my eyes
and I think back to being ten years-old again,
on a summer Sunday evening
just before the sun went down,
and I can see my Mum, my little-sister,
my Dad, and I can see my own face
being reflected in the rear-view mirror
of our family car as we prepare to go home
after a busy afternoon of plane-spotting.
My Dad has always been a train-spotter,
a plane-spotter, a car-driver,
and when he was younger
he was even a motorcycle-rider…
my Dad has always been a music-lover…
my Dad has always been the best father…
my Dad has always been of a lover
rather than a fighter…
I learned from a young age
that when it comes to deciding
and knowing what the best thing to do
in any given situation at any time of the day or night,
then my Dad is the one who always knows better.
Everybody who has ever met my Dad
never forgets my Dad –
my Dad has one of those faces
that hasn’t changed that much since he was a school-boy
growing up in his home-village of Coleshill…
when I was younger, as a family
we were always going to airports and air-shows
so that we could see and marvel
at the aircraft that we saw souring through the sky,
and my Dad always knew what every plane was
and he could tell you what type they were
with a single look…
going to places with my family when I was a kid
are timeless memories that I will never forget
because they mean so much to me…
I will always remember those moments
when I would look at my Dad
and I could see the genuine joy
that he took from being with his family
who he loved while he did something
that he had been doing since he was a kid…
whenever I see a plane taking off now,
or whenever I am flying on a plane as a passenger,
I always flash-back to when I was a boy
when my Dad would pack up the car
and we as a family would all go
plane-spotting.
My Poem ‘Blind Love’
Love is blind…
blind love can be seen,
it can be felt,
it can be experienced,
by people, by animals,
by children, by pets…
someone and something
doesn’t even have to see you
in order for them to love you,
because they can see the real you
without having to use their eyes…
love exists in many forms –
it is bigger, deeper, and more meaningful,
and it can be said and shown
in ways more powerful than language.
If you own a dog, with every lick
that your dog gives you on your face
they are saying “I love you”…
with every look that your dog gives you
they are saying “you are the best thing
in the entire world”…
with every bark that your dog speaks…
with every spin and with every jump
that your dog does, they just want to show you
how much they would do for you…
when your dog protects you
and defends you against anybody and anything
that they think may cause you harm,
they are showing you that actions
do speak louder than words.
True love is unconditional…
real love is unbelievable…
love at first sight is physical,
but it soon becomes emotional
and something much more beautiful…
a love that lasts a life-time
is one that constantly sustains
and rejuvenates itself
by the fact that it feels so natural.
I believe that humanity can learn a lot about love
from observing how we are loved and appreciated
by the animals that we surround ourselves with…
during the early days of human evolution
many ancient cultures revered and worshiped
gods that took the form of animals of every kind…
some animals, in particular, have a reputation
for being a certain way, and by observing
how they act we can decode
what drives the engine of their psyche…
love is there to be found by everyone,
but “real love” should never revolve around
how much money someone has, nor where they are from…
we give our pets names, a home to call their own,
we give them food, water,
and a special place within our family –
and in return, if we treat them
as they are supposed to be treated,
they give us what each and every human being
hopes and prays to find in their life:
real, true, unconditional, magical, blind, love.
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