Don Holmes

I’ve tried so hard to understand The thoughts behind a killer’s hand How a young boy filled with hate Can murder, maim - not hesitate To kill his classmates, teacher, friends With no remorse for how it ends And we, society, have no shame By saying that we’re not to…

And even now I sit and dream Not knowing how it might have been Exactly where we two did meet Which hour, which second, on which street Perhaps in summer, spring or fall Or even if we met at all Eventually my dreams of you May one day prove to…

How easy To leave a bomb on a train How proud You will feel to kill and to maim How brave To leave your mayhem behind Such pleasure To read of the dead , injured, blind Praise Allah You murdered some Kaffir today Men, women, children who got in the…

CARAVAN HOLIDAY In regimented lines they stand On swathes of once-green farmers land From north to south and west to east Resembling herds of sheep or beast And where the ground is steep to rise Patio doors point to the skies The wooden stiles you loved to climb Are memories…

MOBILE TELEPHONE BLUES In cafes, restaurants and bars On buses, lorries, backs of cars It seems that people can’t leave home Without their personal telephone They’re walking down a busy street Oblivious to all they meet Chins tucked down against their chest As if conducting some great quest I don’t…

The wind blew leaves on pavements, cold They swirled in doorways, dim In desolation now she walked Her thoughts were all of him Though cold and wet she still walked on To where? She did not know She fought so hard to understand Just why he had to go A…

GHOST SHIP On tide awash with swirling mist She headed for the shore Her ghostly sails and creaking spars Would surely be no more No earthly being stood aloft To warn of what would be No grizzled sea-dog on his watch To tell the crew to flee Yet still I…