This Place: An Anthology of Poetry, Prayers, and Prose
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Raphael Jon Hart
Raphael Jon Hart has described himself as a story teller, singer/ song writer, poet, romantic, time traveler, flat cap model, real life super hero, evolution’s best kept secret, and the Lord of Swimming Trunks. When asked to comment on this description of himself, Raphael said he believes in the power of the under statement.
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This Place - Raphael Jon Hart
Copyright © 2011 by Raphael Jon Hart.
ISBN: Softcover 978-1-4653-0278-6
Ebook 978-1-4653-0279-3
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book was printed in the United States of America.
To order additional copies of this book, contact:
Xlibris Corporation
0-800-644-6988
www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk
Orders@xlibrispublishing.co.uk
302144
Contents
1. For this New Day
2. The Last Tree on Earth
3. Ethical Living
4. A Bank with Ethical Talent
5. Imbeciles and Dopes
6. Is Education a Human Right?
7. Role Models
8. Power Before Principle
9. Because We’re Cheap
10. For those Who Serve
11. A Nation Without Conscience
12. Delirium Tremens
13. Wars of Aggression
14. Our Country Right or Wrong
15. The Blood Bank
16. Why Do I Take this Drug?
17. Fight the Good Fight
18. The Nazi Christian
19. Beyond the Shattered Roses
20. Pan’s Lullaby
21. I Love You
22. I Wrote a Song
23. She Has a Dog
24. Too Strong
25. Stop Getting Older
26. Two Little Sisters
27. Embers?
28. When We Are Old
29. Chasing Pirates
30. The March of the Diddy Men
31. Flats
32. An Alien Landed on Billinge Lump
33. The Flying Harley
34. The Rolls Royce
35. The Big Bang
36. The Flatulent Gibbon
37. The Flying Dwarf
38. The One In The Middle
39. Soccer Cindy
40. The Armenian On Love
41. Guinevere
42. Go And Tell Drake!
43. England Is Dead!
44. The Levellers Shall Not Die
45. I Am An Irish Briton
46. Around The Bonnie Earth
47. Clanship
48. Stand Over By Here
49. An Old Lady Commenting On A World War II Monument
50. A Home Nation
51. B.B.C. Gaelic!
52. The Greatest Of Britons
53. For Clifden
54. Liverpool Scouse
55. September 10th 1939
56. The Last American
57. St.Helens Platform
58. Wigan Pier
59. Where God Rested
60. Parting Gifts
61. For The Thirty-Five
62. For The Victims Of ‘9/11’
63. The Ballet Shoes
64. Lovers Can’t Be Friends
65. Every Prayer I Make
66. I Wish I Didn’t Miss You
67. In Your Peace
68. At The Coffee Pot
69. When You BrushYour Teeth
70. Tina Kissed Me
71. Belle
72. Lovely Linda
73. The Exotic Bird
74. Hey You
75. The Cavalier And The Dancer
76. The Rose
77. Did The Devil Hide The Full Moon
78. The Ice Princess
79. The Bright Eyed Barmaid
80. Where To Find Romance
81. A Heavenly Seal
82. Return to Eden
83. Gabriel’s Penny
84. Leanne
85. The Tyrant
86. Are You Proud To Be British?
87. The Great Betrayal
88. Persecution
89. The Plea Bargain
90. What Are Our Human Rights?
91. No Right To Privacy
92. I Have Rights Too
93. Like A Turkey
94. The Man In The Union Jack
95. Barry George
96. The Ego Of The Nation State
97. Political Refugees
98. I Am A Copt
99. You’re Just Another Me
100. In Days Of Yore
101. Beware The Callous Christian
102. For Our Right
103. Say Thanks To The Little Guy
104. That’s The Way It Goes
105. In The Buddha
106. For God And King Arthur
107. Good For Busking
108. Broylan
109. Ahhh…
110. This Night’s Lullaby
111. The Karaoke King
112. Stage Fright
113. Forever Blessed
114. This Place
115. I Had A Dream
116. Keep Looking
117. A National Hero
118. The Riots
119. In The Inverted Church
120. No Alternative Truth
121. Upon This Star
This book is dedicated to all of those struggling to
overcome breast cancer.
May God be with them in their endeavours.
Donations can be made to
The Association for International Cancer Research
online.
For this New Day
Dear Father In Heaven,
Thank you for life,
And for this new day,
And for all that makes life worth living,
Thank you for your love,
And for the love of your Son,
Thank you for your all powerful Holy Spirit,
Who sustains the universe,
Most Holy Trinity,
Without whom there would be nothing,
May we be eternally grateful,
For all glory and honour are yours,
Now and forever,
Unto the ages of ages,
Amen.
The Last Tree on Earth
Fibreglass skyscrapers catching the light,
Of the orb that the old call the sun,
Synthetic newspapers herald the news:
‘A Discovery Second To None!’
Somewhere, somehow that the nuclear clouds
Could not penetrate,
An acre unchanged that acidious rains
Did not saturate,
There it grows,
Oh yes, and it knows,
And they say,
It’s the last,
Tree on earth,
Mother have you heard,
Have you read of it or seen,
How it’s big and green and leafy,
Just like the one that granpa
Used to talk about in dreams,
So long ago?
Remember, written in the bark is:
‘I told you so’?
And they say,
It’s the last,
Tree on earth.
Ethical Living
Sometimes I really wonder,
Where it ever will all end,
As ice recedes around the poles,
And savannah turns to sand,
As we struggle to find the means,
To cope with deforestation,
As coral reefs continue dying,
In the rising oceans,
What happened in Kyoto?
When will our leaders learn,
That much of this is down to us,
The fossil fuels we burn?
The hole that’s in the o-zone,
And rising temperatures,
If only we would take more care,
Replenish and preserve!
It’s all about ethical living,
For everyone on the planet,
It’s something to teach our children,
To fit in with their schoolwork,
It’s time to teach them ethics,
And their practical implications,
And contribute to a better world,
For future generations.
A Bank with Ethical Talent
When it comes to investments the choices we make,
Should surely be more than for just our own sake,
And something we’re morally obliged to consider,
Is just how our choices impact upon others,
Our dividends must not only benefit ourselves,
But the wider community and others as well,
The priority, I’m sure, is to avoid doing harm,
Don’t invest in a bank that buys nuclear arms,
Or in anything likely to damage another,
Directly, or indirectly moreover,
Try to avoid anything unethical,
Invest in a bank that has real moral principles,
And try to find one whose charges are low,
For unplanned overdrafts you’d sooner not know,
Because this is a problem for the poor and unwaged,
It perpetuates debt and prevents them from saving,
Excessive bank charges cripple the poor,
For just a few pounds they can pay ten times more,
And month after month they are kept in the red,
By unethical charges of banks that have said,
That they truly are ethical in every way,
When that’s not how they treat our unwaged every day,
Just in how they invest for to profit the wealthy,
Don’t charge the poor for a profit that’s healthy!
And do find a bank whose charges are naught,
For the poor and unwaged, the people they ought,
To help most of all keep a healthy bank balance,
Invest in a bank with real ethical talent!
Imbeciles and Dopes
When only the offspring of rich,
Can afford an education,
When the best and the brightest of us,
Are denied emancipation,
Are denied didactic nutriments,
And not taught how to think,
Will we truly be better off?
Is that what the government thinks?
When tuition fees shoot through the ceiling,
As they have and will no doubt again,
Will we be better off as a county?
Will the people have truly well gained?
Will this nation be seen as a beacon,
Of intellect and hope,
Or will this henceforth be a land,
Of imbeciles and dopes?
Is Education a Human Right?
Is education a human right?
Is learning essential for growth and for life?
Is one better equipped,
When one has been schooled,
For work, home, and leisure,
And given the tools?
Are we much more adept at social discourse,
When we’ve been to pre-school,
And finished the course,
And crammed in High School,
And Technical College,
And left with the insight,
That oft’ comes with knowledge?
Does uni’ and post-grad’,
Course work and degrees,
Enrich our culture, and society?
Or is it all nonsense, a waste of our time?
Is all of this thinking naught less than a crime?
Should we all be less studious,
And nonetheless hearty,
Like the rich and the thick,
Of the great Tory Party?
Or pick up a text book, a pad, and a pen,
And not vote for Cameron or Nick Clegg again?
Role Models
Why are our teenage boys going astray?
Where is the discipline of olden days?
Why are our lads so often undone,
With drink and with drugs, mindless violence and so on?
Where’s that restraining influence gone,
That served us so well for a millennium?
That wise old head and steadying hand,
Where have our fathers and grandfathers gone?
Divorce rates, we know, are as high as ever,
And with each broken marriage a young child might suffer,
Since the rights of this country’s dads count for nothing,
And a child’s right to both parents naught but a dream,
Upon separation there surely should be,
Equal access to parents, and then we would see,
That wise old head and steadying hand,
A sorely missed influence o’er boys and young men,
Often my own Dad did not need to speak,
But I knew my own role just by watching him keep,
To time honoured rituals and standards of conduct,
He unconsciously role modelled, conducting his business,
And it didn’t stop there, we had other things too,
The stories we