Feelings From The Past.

A hidden corner
by the sea
A restaurant of secrets
No electricity, just bottles of gas
a pot of Basil
and me

I sat on a rocky chair
weathered and worn
Tablecloth of check
old and torn

The aroma of local cuisine
mingled with the air
A symphony of flavours
beautifully prepared

Just for a moment
I lost the sense of time
a feeling of the past
a look of 1939.

The mountains unfurled
like the backbone of dreams
into a timeless world
where lovers intertwined
their souls alight
as laughter echoed
on endless nights

The scent of herbs
on salty air
and a bounty from the sea
I sipped on wine
while all the time
waves crashed upon the shore

Intoxicated with the view
sensors Infused
Each bite is a culinary embrace
Then, time stood still once again
Upon the wall, brown and old
a photograph taken
just before the war

Its edges frayed, its colours faded
a relic from the past
Of days gone by
when love did last

He stands tall
a soldier brave
she is by his side
As I looked closer
her eyes still bright
followed me around the room
He is a little older
magnificent, almost Nobel

For him, she did crave
her soldier brave
A love unbreakable,
through thick and thin
A bond so strong
it could never dim

In their eyes
a glimmer of hope
A promise to each other
that they would cope
with a world at war
If they stood strong,
fighting battles
short and long.

Time marches on
as it always must
Their lives evolved
through ashes and dust
Yet their love endured
untouched by strife
An eternal flame
a beacon of life

The photograph holds
their timeless gaze
A tribute to love
in its tenderest days
A reminder to cherish
to never forget
The power of love in a world beset.

Steve Halstead.

Abuse.

A little bit too much too soon
Used to get me in trouble
I was never a wealthy man
And I got into some fights
I got busted on the music scene
Then juiced in red wine

I still don’t understand why
You have to be so understanding
You can’t do anything to stop me
You can’t fight a serious fight
You ought to hide those bruises too
Or ill get the blame again

You are ablaze with those eyes.
You can’t keep them to yourself.
Got to get it right, take it right?
Then keep quiet
You used to call me sonny Liston
In your diary, I read those notes
You didn’t say what the reason was
Bet you could use a man like me now.

CAPTURED IMAGE.

I gazed beyond your lovely face,

Lit by smoky candle light,

To an orifice of starry night

Where a meteor burnt out its life

To leave an incandescent trail,

Dissipating into timeless void,

A nameless little planet

Was dying in the night.

Its light was captured in your eyes,

Reflected in the ruby wine

Sipped from crystal glass.

And that life will linger on

In the crystals of my memory,

For I will hold that image,

Reflected in your smoky eyes,

A dying light from distant skies,

Until the day I die.