The Actor

All we are doing
Is putting on an act
Our bodies stage props
Ancient and cracked
Our hearts the electricity pulsing...

Through sound monitors and stage lights
Mechanical doors and Camera flashes
The scripted lines of our life re-unites

And as we get up each morning
We reach into our very own actors’ wardrobe
To wear today’s latest trend
Worn all across the globe
So there is no individual cast
Of actors fighting for their part
Instead we divide them up
In class, intelligence, talent and art

Next comes our debut performance…
Do we want to be pretty or plain?
Strong, weak... a protagonist, a fool
A hero won or victim slain?
The choice is ours – they’ll never know
That we wrote the script
And sowed the very threads
We came prepared, equipped…

To be anything you want
To be the idol of your dreams
The flawed hero, handsome villain
Our faces forever on your screens
To pause and play and fast-forward
To your heart’s content
And when you are bored of us
There will be another to fill that boredom like cement

But all this acting, all this pretending,
Faking, bending-truth and fact
Isn’t at all that healthy
Perhaps it was all made to distract?
Maybe we should all open our eyes
And see that we are not standing upon a stage
We are standing on grass, beneath clear skies
We are not wearing any kind of cloak or disguise
We are here not to act but to improvise.

Waking Up

I recently put up a YouTube video of a poem I wrote, hoping to perform it 'Slam-Poetry style' but my performace style is awful! I have a looooot to work on (including being able to recite my poem infront of a camera)!
   So here is the video in all its mediocre glory (and poem below):

Waking Up

What happens when we wake up and realise
That we've been living all these lies
That good and bad stand side by side
What happens when we understand
That we're being fed right into their hand
Us 'the people' - the 99%
Forced to believe sin and made to repent
But it’s too late for any kind of formation
To replace the current system that beats half-heartedly to any occasion
There's no more truth to fall back on
There's no light to be shone
The darkness consumes any flicker any flame
But we're already too blind to see through this game
The fascists are just a disguise
The communists take pleasure in being their alibies
Republicans are harvesting oil
And the Democrats believe in earth and the land’s soil
Everything we've been told has turned upside down
There's no monarchy, no jewel-encrusted crown
And there's wall of apathy
Put up to control the victims in society
The ones who worked and slept and ate and wept
The ones who want money, a 2-bedroom house and job security
The ones who died of old age
Forgotten long ago when they succumbed to that rage
Years left to be alone
Their dignity ripped from them the moment they were put in a home
Their own family telling us they can't see what we see
Their mind has gone, there's no point in making conversation
They’re in a better place, their heads no longer capable of realisation
And then they die and their life becomes a tomb
Forced into a coffin, there's no such thing as death coming too soon
When you're 83 and put of sight
You were never quite right...
And now were all too susceptible
To be anything but replicable, predictable
It's too late to write on banners and walls
To speak against money and spam phone calls
So we all go back to our beds
Feeling drained from our hearts to our heads
Thinking is the last thing we need
I mean we've already planted the seed
What more do you want?
Red paint and your own debutante?
You need to go back to reality
You don't see through the eyes we see
We've had ours closed all along
There is no right and wrong
Good or evil...
Just money and people

'We'll sort you out' blues...

They say it'll all be over

In a month or two

You'll be much happier when

You stop feeling the way you do

It all takes time you see

I mean... what did you expect?

Your problems are only ours

When helping you is easy

And by that we mean pills!

Lots and lots of pills...

It doesn't matter if they

Turn your brain to mush

Until you forget your own free-will.

But it'll all be over

In a month or two

And then you can go back

To doing whatever it is that you do...

And then it may start all over again

And there'll be more pills to fix you up

And catch you out of the blue.

To All The Fools...

They splash out on fast cars,
Big houses with pools,
Think they can conquer anything
Because we’re the fools.
They try to make us forget
By doping us with media
The advertisements aren’t a coincidence
They’re not there to feed ya,
No, they’re not your salvation,
Just another damnation.
And we’re happy to live this life
In front of a TV screen
Not knowing how to get up
And realise what we’re missing.
There’s alcohol, cigarettes and drugs
To make us think we’ve got a choice
But they’re just another function
To stop us from having a voice.
Free speech is compulsory
If we pay the right price
Anyone can have it
So long as their freedom will suffice
Our eyes don’t see the things
That their ears hear,
Our hearts don’t beat the way
Their brains make clear.
How can we be of any use?
When war feats a territorial motion
That keeps us thinking we’re on the right side
While the business men benefit with promotion.
It fucks up my mind
To think of how we have been bred,
Brought up to believe anything
Lies since day one, we were all spoon-fed!
And it’s not gonna get any better
Till we stop this slave labour
And make them pay all their faults
And do it in our favour.
It was never meant to be like this
We are our own identity
They never should have stopped our instincts
And put up walls of apathy.
It can’t be helped they say
Just ‘one of those things’
Well I can’t help but wonder…
That we’re the workers in this hive,
And every time we use our sting
We lose our hearts and die.

The Nuclear Family

There once was a couple

Who had it all;

Money, fame and

Their own grand hall.


But their nights were restless

As they tried and tried,

But no child would come

Oh, how they both cried.


They were offered a contract

That would set them for life,

But only on one condition...

She was to become his wife.


She never believed in paper

Their love was simply enough,

But her name was changed

And she was tied to his cuff.


And thanks to science

A child was born,

Though their love had gone

And the contract was torn.


The court saw praise

And pittied them both,

No Bible was needed

No hand shake or oath.


The child grew up

He was big and strong,

Looked just like his father

And never did wrong.


But time passed by

His parents were gone,

They never were happy

Though their lives were long.


What was there left

To love in this world?

Five decades he lived

Before the lies unfurled.


He wasn't happy

He wasn't sad,

But he felt guilt

For his mum and dad.


It was his fault

They never did love again,

He reminded them too much

Of all their conflict and pain.


So he tied himself a noose

And took one last breath,

He thought of his parents

And embraced death.

The Idol

Do you smile with white, gleaming teeth?

And what about your hair... is it long and blonde?

Oh and you’ll have to be a size 4 – 6…

If not, then we can fix you up with pills and photo-shop!

Infact, we have just the job for you…

Become our puppet and we’ll hold you up with strings

But don’t worry; we can make you dance and sing!

Do you want to be a star?

Live in Hollywood and sleep in Egyptian cotton..?

Well then, why don’t you come with us!

They all do in the end…

We’ll give you a new sense of purpose

To match that new Gucci bag and Vera Wang dress

We’ll even throw in stiletto’s… how kind!

There you go… the perfect person for us!

Oh but wait, we’ve found someone else…

She’s much younger and prettier than you

I’m sorry but you won’t be back by popular demand.

The truth is… we’ve found someone new

And better still… she’s a size 2!

Sorry your trip has ended so quickly

No refund is available…

We’ll send out your résumé,

You really were helpful

Now go-on, it’s past your pay-day.

Good luck with the future

I’m sure there’ll be something,

Maybe a Panto

Or even your own reality TV show!

And we’ll have to cancel that contract

But your money will last you a lifetime…

Oh but you spent it all on that pad in LA!

Never mind, you’ll get it all back… someday…