Life & Reflection
Poems that explore the journey of living — its milestones, memories, and moments of introspection. From birthdays to personal turning points, these verses invite readers to pause and reflect.
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From Silence, We Turn
The world hums.Phones glow.Everyone’s talking —but no one’s listening. A mother pleads, unheard.A neighbour’s grief drifts past like static.Sirens blur into laughterfrom somewhere else.We keep walking. “Are you there?”“Do you listen?”The questions echo off glassand fall into silence. Even out in the fieldsyou can still hear it —that low, electric buzz.Engines. Screens.The hum that never stops. This is what it’s come to:so much noise,and yet nothing worth hearing. Then—a pause.A light through the door.Blue and gold.Warm hands.A chair pulled out for someone new. Here, people listen.Really listen.No filters.No noise.Just space. A wheel turns —not the metal kind,but one made of kindness,steady and shared. This is Rotary.Not power.Not pride.Just people showing…
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Are You OK?
“Are you OK?” asked the nurse, as machines hummed and lights glared. The patient, yellow-tinged, weary, lay silent while the world hurried around her — fluids, paracetamol, antibiotics, needles and scans, the mystery of illness written in her blood. And what of her husband? Inside: fear, exhaustion, despair. Outside: armour of calm, the warrior, the rock at her bedside. Is he OK? She is not ordinary — if such a word belongs to anyone. Her body a puzzle of conditions that weave together into fragility, into fight. Is she OK? Days blur into nights. Corridors become home, moved from ward to ward, sleep fractured by monitors’ beeps, by rubies of…
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Are You There?
We’ve all been there—drifting into the abyss,slipping out of place,until reality claws us back,kicking, screaming, unwilling. And what a reality it is. A world that hums,a world that races,people trapped inside their own little bubbles.Obsessed with drama.Drowning in demands. Your voice bounces,echoes,lost in the hollow chamber of noise.And you ask yourself—“Does anyone even hear me?” Meanwhile—someone lies in a hospital bed.Alone. Mum.Dad.Nain.Taid.Aunty. Uncle.Brother. Sister. Too far to visit.Too busy to call.Are their families there for them?The answer? … No. And when a stranger collapses in front of you,are you there? When someone is dragged to the ground,their voice cut short—are you there? No. Most turn their faces away.Most step over…
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Do You Listen?
Do you listen? I’ve spoken before about voices —how it’s hard to be heard in a sea of noise.But I need to ask again:Do you listen? Do you listen to your wife,your husband,your partner,your children? Did you listen to your parents?Your grandparents?Your aunts and uncles? Do you listen to your colleagues,your students,your friends? I do. That’s what I do —I listen.I’m someone to rely on,to laugh with,to tell your story to. But let’s turn the tables for a moment. Would you listen to me? You’re listening now, I know.Reading this.Following along. But are you really paying attention? Society doesn’t want people to listen.We’re all too wrapped up in our own…
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Change of Pace
The world today moves far too fast,You can’t tell if you’re first or last.Everyone’s in a race to the end,But we all meet the same fate, my friend. So hear me out—let’s lower the pace,Life’s not meant to be a hare’s race.Remember the tale where the tortoise won?Slow and steady outpaced the run. It’s time to step back, let the roundabout slow,Life’s rushing by, just a chaotic flow.But when we breathe and take it slow,The blur clears up and starts to glow. We’re stuck in a rat race, losing our grace,We all need time—just a little more space.The world’s out of breath, it’s starting to fade,It’s time we slowed down,…
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Thirty-Eight Orbits
They said I’d never walk alone, That wheels would carve my path in stone. Yet fate had plans they couldn’t see,A fire inside was guiding me. In Year 10, with steady stride, By Jackie’s side, I walked with pride. Llyn Brenig stretched so vast, so wide—Eight miles, then nine, defying tides. For all my days, through joy and strife, I only sought to honour life, To make them proud—my blood, my kin— A legacy that glows within. At Henshaws, where my dreams took flight, I found my heart, my guiding light. Natalie’s love, so pure, so true, Through trials fierce, we forged anew. Yet shadows fell, dark whispers came, At…
