I remember the fear
and tried to brush
it aside,
to put out of
sight,
of the images of Nuclear fire,
Mushroom
Cloud
column of the blister oozing
pus and gore;
I counted them out
that morning
as they crossed the line of death
in the sand,
my paper round
the following day, one
of a moment which I thought
would lead to death of millions, and yet
in Chernobyl a reactor
would create that chaos
for me.
I make mistakes,
I am human after all,
some are bigger than others
but none are meant,
sometimes
I just forget,
my brain fogs over
and all I can concentrate upon
is the next set of tablets,
the next pain killer
which gives the thrill
of living on
for another few hours;
I make mistakes,
It is who I am
and I have to deal with it more.
Ian D. Hall 2016
The glass bottled Menorah,
behind me on the shelf
now holds drumsticks
that once held beer
and the beat
of songs
that I kept up with
as they exploded in rhythm
on stage,
like burning butterflies
dancing hotfooted
on the candles
I displaced;
the glass bottled menorah,
with peelable slogan
and memorable image,
empty of foam
but full of meaning.
Ian D. Hall 2016
The spirit
of Oliver Reed, actor
supreme who passed away,
but never the opportunity
to drink,
sits quietly in the corner
in The Pub, Valletta
in serenity. It is a memory
I keep as I let my mind wander
as I watch Nathan pull
the local beer as the Maltese
songbird serenades the night;
Oliver Reed’s spirit shuffles
in contemplation
and all is quiet in
Archbishop Street.
Ian D. Hall 2016
Ferry
from the stone
walls of Sliema
may not have the same romance
as the one that rides
the waves
from Birkenhead
to Liverpool
but in the glare of red dust sun,
with the towering spectacle of ancient
Valetta still crumbling across the bay,
it is a sight that once seen
can never be forgotten.
Ian D. Hall 2016
Too much Oestrogen in my blood,
or a simple matter of genetics;
it is the only way I can explain
the osteoporosis that has lurked in my bones,
stolen my strength,
since I was a teenager and where I had to fight
against prejudice because of my age
and my gender.
Too many times I had to endure
the words that suggested happily
that it was all in my head,
that the disease of black discs
was nothing more than teenage attention…
…so I pushed myself harder, I tore at every fibre
Do you remember those Stadium Daze
A blue cloud of smoke in the purple haze
When the bands played louder than a Jumbo jet
Playing all those songs, I’ll never forget!
When the nights merged into the morning light
Staci with the Hawks , well that’s alright
Dancing to Space Ritual in the centre stage
Nutz as far as can see, where all the Rage!
They played in an Ampi-Theatre of electric sound
In a cauldron of noise , Decibels resound
Phil Lizzy bought the Boys back in town
Careers advice at school,
such a waste of time,
trapped in an office
with someone you had never met before,
like being stuck in a cramped lift
with a murderer looking
at you and wondering which part
to attack first, always settling
on the heart and the head
before dismembering anything
resembling individual thought…
“What do you want to do when you leave school?”,
the question raised over glasses
and hoisted eyebrow, sarcasm elevated
at the ready and the answer of, “Nonsense,
The height of bad boy expression,
fifteen years old and hanging
on the corner, holding your mate’s fag
in one unseen shaking hand
whilst casually sipping
on a can of cheap, devilishly sick
beer, brought from the off licence
as he looked over your shoulder
at every car that went past in case
it was an off duty policeman
ready to nail his arse to the ground
for supplying you with the means of courage
to talk to the girl who was flavour
of the month in your diary,
Beautiful photographs captured
with digital stillness in full colour
and without enhancement
of a county
I haven’t been able to see
with my own eyes since before
we worried about the Y2K bug
and the image of the end of days,
they all float before me,
my eyes growing damp,
of a county tattooed
on my brown like skin
and the cross of St. Piran
held high upon every rugged coast line,
another country, a different place
and one that I wish I could see