Lucent Laces

 Lucent laces linger between us still

Worn words wager; of you I’ll n’er be healed

But when your heart bleeds... I must stop its spill 

Wanting to break free but not wishing you ill

Praying my Pandora heart... will stay sealed 

Lucent laces linger between us still

Your bonnie blues blind me to your cruel will

How heartless... heinous, is your appeal

But when your heart bleeds... I must stop its spill 

Wanted warm words... yours are sharpened to kill

Overt mine eyes but my love won’t conceal 

Lucent laces linger between us still

Angelic Adonis; your presence chills

Wounds split, re-open from hatred you wield 

But when your heart bleeds... I must stop its spill 

Dreams... delirium; unsurpassed your skill

I can still taste the blood as it congealed 

You were the hammer; I was your anvil 

Lucent laces linger between us still

But when your heart bleeds... I must stop its spill 

© Debbie Razey - Violet Moon Poetry 2020

Violet

 

Cottage garden... bees in the foxgloves

Pansies I picked for my Nanna’s grave 

Once was a child blackberry picking 

Cherub face and hands greedily stained

Lancashire Fells awash in heather 

Pastel waves in sunset, solstice skies 

Fingerprints I left on fine linen

After eating Grandma’s home-baked pies

Rich amethyst which is my birthstone 

Upon finger; a silver band, set  

Guitar painted and highly lacquered

Snuggling under my fluffy blanket 

My first pair of velvet Doc Martens 

My wardrobe transcends all of its shades  

Wrapper of favourite chocolate

Relief... aura as a migraine fades

My lips, when I’ve had too much Merlot 

Intoxicated... impassioned kiss 

Moonlight shines on our slumber’s satin

Where I show you how much you’ve been missed 

Milky Way and all of her wonder

Imbrued, violet majestic tones

A colour that tastes of my childhood 

Feels like... being naked, in your arms 

Smells of baking day and wildflowers 

Speaks of nature’s bounty... Summer skies 

Seen from my mind’s eye, at crown chakra 

Promotes compassion, peace and insight 

To me, it’s more than just a pigment

Or how I choose to furnish in tones

It’s a state of mind; a vibration 

It’s fond memories... essence of home 

It’s the name I gave to my daughter

It’s the accent of our wedding day 

It’s in painted words of poetry 

It’s how I’ll be remembered... someday 

©  Debbie Razey 2020 - Violet Moon Poetry.

Death Bell

The government says our schools will be safe 

Yet many a mistake they’ve made in haste 

Like the fiasco of exam results

Should we, to them, our children’s lives entrust?

Doctors are saying the guidance is wrong

Kids aren’t immune and they will pass it along

To the vulnerable, parents... teachers too

It makes sense to learn more, not act too soon

Our families are, our most precious gift

We only want to choose, without conflict  

Instead, we’re threatened with penalties... fines

Too late to repent when people have died 

It’s now proven COVID lingers in air 

That to safeguard ourselves, masks we should wear

That children will be infection drivers 

Implications of this... are not minor 

I know our economy’s suffered... but

Potential consequences make me shudder

Haven’t we already lost too many?

How many more loved ones must we bury? 

Aren’t you, our government, there to protect?

Your strategies so far have been inept 

Lack of PPE, dire Track and Trace 

Our country’s death toll... a shocking disgrace 

Please heed our cries, the vulnerable protect 

Don’t lead our teachers to an early death

Don’t make any more kids become orphans 

Allow parents their offspring to stay home 

Yes... children’s mental health we must protect 

But will it be, if their parents are dead?

Let’s learn from the tragedy in care homes 

Allow kids to thrive in COVID free homes  

So please let us now avert tragedy 

Let your names go down in our history 

As wise leaders, who saved us... were heroes

Don’t leave for all time this death bell to toll

©  Debbie Razey 2020 - Violet Moon Poetry.

     Both Poem and Photograph

CHAPBOOK Never Alone

Up in thermals I’ll always be 

With outstretched wings over sea sheen

In sunset hours of dusky tones

It’s there you’ll find I’ve made my home 

Fields aglisten in morning’s dew

Dawn’s still hours of gossamer hues 

Coins you’ll find when there’s been too few

In warmed hands curled around your brew

You’ll feel my light upon your face 

In twilight’s throng, my lost embrace 

In veil of night, laid at your side

Never alone we’re moon and tide   

Although no longer I’m alive 

Hear my echoes in all that’s life 

In crashing waves, a newborn’s cry

A crackling fire, in sweet rest’s... sigh 

In silk-spun notes, a rhythm’s beat

In autumn leaves under your feet 

When raindrops stick to windowpanes 

And all your efforts seem in vain 

For I’ll be there to will you on 

Breath, it ceased but my love lives on 

You’ll feel at times my hand in yours 

Kissing your wounds, healing your sores

I'll watch o’er you from stars above 

In slumber’s arms, you’ll feel my love

Remember... however long the years 

I’m in our children’s smiles and tears 

©  Debbie Razey 2020 - Violet Moon Poetry.

Vestige

White screen, my mind, but I can hear churning behind

Taunting me with dust particles of memories  

They come fleetingly to me and then leave;

rewired, nerve nuclear-lined highways, 

all in the same surreptitious instance

This putrid deep pit, where my stomach once lived; 

muffles my pain, dulled by it's heavy set void of emptiness 

My echoed mute screams, erodes all my dreams

Vibrations... all I’ve left to feel, in this someone called ”Me”

who I hear whisper... dissociatively

Nausea chokes in my throat like an acrid, vile smoke 

My taste, paralysed with the sting of delusion I once willfully ingested  

My eternal thirst grows from my quicksand life’s hole

Each grain from the hourglass chimes...

reminds me of my precious time, squandered futilely  

Oh how do I find, my way out of this labyrinth of lull

This grotesque colourless light, which strips my eyes

of all the layers and layers of years’ sights; 

of things I can’t quite catch or recount to mention 

To evade, perhaps, was my plight... but to forget was never my intention

How then, can I not drown in this tear-drenched sound 

Abandoned to a destiny, shackled in dense air’s suspension 

Does anyone remember me back then...

as all I can recall is a sepia faint soul 

A painful burnt parchment, I was supposed to hold onto and cherish 

Dreams turned torture long ago... I was left to float 

Yet anchored by hope, to a lie in subterfuge sold;

that I’ve clung to for many a yesteryear, desperately 

Death would be a relief but numbness is a thief 

and refuses me the strength of will now to enter 

I can’t find my way back, through this matrix of clues

Past all the fake facades, swathed in self-hatred 

I’m now trapped and embalmed, begging for time to recant 

Motionless laid... within the fast lane 

Deafened, by my own tachycardic heart’s pointless beating 

So if you can remember me and I shared with you, dreams

Please, come walk me though my mind’s wilting vestiges. 

© Debbie Razey 2020 - Violet Moon Poetry.

Poem and art

Cosmic Love

You stare 

at my body

as astronomers, the night sky 

Drinking in every last detail, 

in awe

Saving  

to memory 

my shape’s constellation; 

my curves, peaks, falls... burn in your eyes

wildly 

Starlight, 

reflected back 

illuminates your form

Your moist bronze skin shimmers like jewelled

moonlight 

Red dawfs 

reawakened, explode 

at our cores... evoke primal need

wanting

Shooting 

stars through our veins

as earth’s gravity fails 

to keep us grounded... free falling 

The pull  

between 

overwhelming 

Two glowing comets   

quantumly entangled, we move 

as one  

©  Debbie Razey 2019 - Violet Moon Poetry.

Home Battalion

Shells underfoot at home... no longer war 

Our loved one’s fragile sanity left torn 

Years after; left to fend in no man's land

Alone at home at attention we stand 

Only our eyes witness their night terrors

Guttural screaming, still fighting... shivers

Whimpering and twitching, we're now on guard 

Poised to shield both them and ourselves from harm

For we are what is left of their squadron 

Without lacquered boots, caps or uniforms 

Without training on how to win this war

Whilst those who trained, look on... but still ignore 

Oh how we've tried to dig out of Hell’s trench

We've dug so deep with love we’re now entrenched 

Long given up on backup... no one comes 

Yet still, we beg for help, clamour for crumbs 

When will they see the Home Batallion? 

Army marching from sunset through till dawn

Soldier, spouse and their next generations  

When will they learn, trauma harms... just like guns 

Trauma a wound that festers; never heals 

Endless spinning misery-go-round wheel

One, their families hope one day to halt 

If they themselves survive... trauma’s assault 

Please keep your medals and your folded flags 

We just want back the peace we all once had 

Guidance to help our loved ones end their war 

Support for families... please heed our call

© Debbie Razey 2020 - Violet Moon Poetry.

    Art my adaption from Upsplash - Photofox

Tethered

I don’t want my life 

to be small,

a mere four walls;

bed and

an off-white ceiling 

Need my strength to grow;

reinforce

around my bones

Vine roots

bound tight... unyielding 

My head a millstone;

teeters alone

on a blade of grass

The breeze

grants me no mercy

A sword’s blade of steel,

I can feel;

yet it’s no scaffold

Fragile   

spine It mocks... cruelly  

Thunderclaps in head;

I wish death

Yet I long for life, 

free from

sound and light shielding  

My taut fire-cheeks split

Dampened wit,

as my brain spit-roasts;

churning...

stomach sickening 

To breathe is a chore; 

labourered call

Staccato heartbeat,

chest heaves...

weak and wearily 

I wish to stand tall,

feel... rainfall

Spread my arms like tree

branches;

deep roots to hold me 

So again can be one,

under the sun

To breathe with nature 

and flow

with the moon tides... freely 

I wish to just be;

untethered

so I may roam free

To drink

in all of life’s divinity 

©  Debbie Razey 2020 - Violet Moon Poetry.

The Day Of The Nurse (During COVID-19)

Armour of P.P.E.

They bravely fight to set us free

Tight-fitting masks; sore faces marked

With tear-stained cheeks and broken hearts 

They walk the halls and tend the sick 

Through visors, hot gowns sewn thick 

All this kit weighs a ton

A nurse’s job is never done 

Days roll on... endless nights

Since they’ve been home; held loved ones tight 

Exhausted, but they don’t give up  

They soothe, hold hands through latex gloves

Holding phones when their patients can’t  

Last words they witness; haunt their hearts

Hear families’ final goodbyes

When loved ones can’t be by their side 

Their kindness we’ll not forget 

Their passings; we’ve mourned and wept

As like our loved ones, some have died

Now the angels, they stand beside 

For they are heroes of our time

Gave selflessly for your life and mine 

Let’s value them always

Toast “The Day of the Nurse” today

Two hundred years today 

Florence Nightingale’s birthday 

So our gratitude, through clapping let's show

Light a candle in all of our windows

In grave darkness, they share their light 

They give us hope when we lose sight 

A special kind of breed 

Helping us in our greatest need

©  Debbie Razey 2019 - Violet Moon Poetry.

     Image by Luke Jones from Upsplash

Lockdown Limbo

Lockdown limbo does you in

Lockdown limbo fuelled with gin

Lockdown limbo sheared, not trimmed

Lockdown limbo’s rather grim  

I guess it comes down to who you wanna be

I guess it comes down to what you perceive 

A chance to reflect or get lost in self pity 

A chance to be grateful or to wallow in negativity 

For God’s sake, let’s take stock... people are dying

If you pause a wee while you’ll hear their loved ones crying 

The earth maybe still but even she is sighing 

It’s time for transparency not for futile denying 

Yes, it isn’t our chosen profession, yet here we are teachers

No, it wasn’t in our plans for a global pandemic to feature

But life’s like that... it has its own mind 

Amidst the chaos, there’s still wisdom we can find

So use your skills to help one another 

Come together as sisters and brothers

Stay at home and save the life of another

Let’s bide our time, until we can all be together 

Let’s breathe in the sky with its new coat of blue 

Minus the scarred lines upon which we once flew

Let’s hear the birds and their cheerful song 

Let our hearts find peace and beat along

Yes, I know you miss the ones you love 

And that fashion’s changed to sterile masks and gloves

And I know you are scared... you ought to be!

But it won’t be long ‘till we’re all free

So raise your voices and glasses to those that strive 

That risk their lives... for yours and mine 

Let’s all channel our inner Colonel Tom 

Now let’s come together and work as one 

Life’s a gift, with which we’ve all been blessed

I know it’s been a while and we’re all stressed

But the heroes among us are all, still fighting on 

So it’s the least we can do, to just sit tight and be strong

Our children have painted the way in their rainbow hues

Yes, I know it’s no fun standing in two meter, spaced queues 

And that lockdown can be suffocating or you’re feeling alone 

But for many of us... our only job is to stay at home! 

There’s so many though that cannot stay safe

You see they’re needed at work and they do it with grace

So on Thursday nights let’s show our gratitude 

Be thankful we’re alive, to experience the Lockdown Limbo blues 

Hey, you’ve made it this far and one day life WILL resume 

Yet, we’re just past the peak; so be patient... it’s still too soon

To undo all we’ve done... we still NEED to keep ourselves safe! 

This war can only be won, if we do not now make mistakes  

So sing... “Lockdown Limbo, you’ll not win!”

Sing, proud, the Lockdown Limbo; come on... join in! 

Shout out the Lockdown Limbo... “Covid-19 we’ll take you on!”

Sing loud the Lockdown limbo... “we WILL stay strong!!!” 

So sing the Lockdown Limbo “Thank you key workers and NHS!”

Sing the Lockdown Limbo in your PJ’s... no need now to get dressed

So hum the Lockdown Limbo whilst watching your Box Sets

Let’s sing the Lockdown limbo in honour of all those lost... we’ll never forget!  

©  Debbie Razey 2020  - Violet Moon Poetry.

     Image from Unsplash by Jeff Hendricks

Lockdown Days

Days of lockdown; prayers are heard 

From fevered brows, doctors concerned

For loved ones missed, too far to hold

Socal distance... do what we're told

Playgrounds are empty, shelves are bare

Rainbowed windows; “thanks” clap... fanfare 

Tests, masks and gloves are hard to find 

The dead and sick weigh on our minds 

Invisibly we’re under siege 

Vulnerable, they are in need

Of food, of care, of medicines

Rescued by kindness... compassion

Our heroes risk their lives to help

Take care of us, not of themselves

In wards, in shops, in trucks, in homes

In ambulances... sirens groan

Many rally to help neighbours

Through windows, smiles meet lonely stares

Relief is felt that someone cares

Video calls make us less scared  

So although now the virus seethes 

Healing is growing with each need

As giving... gives to all profound 

The gift of selfless love resounds

©  Debbie Razey 2020 - Violet Moon Poetry.