Life’s Test

 Life’s Test

There are holes in me 

Holes that can't be filled 

Holes that can't be healed 

Grief that won’t congeal 

Hearbreak... I conceal

There are scars on me 

Scars that you can see

Scars just known to me

Hurt I’ll always feel 

Proof... my love was real

There's sadness in me

Pain ‘neath mask of clown 

Pain, harsh words resound 

Memories... that hound  

Loss... etched on my brow

There’s tearstains on cheek

Tears won't leave me be 

Tears others don't see

Pools... in which I drown

Heavy... regret’s cloud

There is love in me

Love for those who’ve gone 

Love embalmed in songs

Relations... gone wrong

Warmth... for them still strong 

There is peace in me 

Peace, I tried my best 

Peace, I loved... no less!

Through your love was blessed 

Fulfilled... now can rest

There is hope in me

Hope’s love shines in me 

Hope my love sets free

Kindness... is my quest 

Knowing... Love’s life’s test

© Debbie Razey 2021 - Violet Moon Poetry

Hallowe’en

 O therworldly spirits return on All Hallows’ Eve

’C ross death’s gossamer veil, which on e’en 

    opens between 

T he parallel realms of the living and the 

    deceased

O nce Druids welcomed, dead loved ones to 

   Harvest’s grand feast 

B efore Roman’s came ’twas Celtic festival, 

   Samhain 

E erie animal heads worn... sacrifices ablaze  

R eflected in trick or treat, masks, lit 

   pumpkins... today

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

R oman’s Ferella, commemorated their  

   dead

E nglish Celts, appeased by combining 

   Samhain instead 

B obbing apples a throwback to goddess

   Pomona   

O rigins, are also Christian - All Saints and 

   All Souls 

T he Halloween of today is about having 

   fun 

C ostumes, lots of bright candy, decorations, 

   lanterns. 

O ccult, spooky ghosts, vampires, 

   witches, cats and cauldrons  

 ©  Debbie Razey 2020 - Violet Moon Poetry.

Snakes and Ladders

 

Perpetual dawn, perpetual night 

Sewn on wing of terror’s bird; in full flight 

Fear it simmers, then as the frog, it... spawns

Dread, in abundance, as our hope’s furloughed 

Serpent sings and hisses... the sound’s the same 

Held in suspension; as the virus reigns 

Will vaccine’s ladder win back normal life?

Or is our game doomed... we’ll fall when it strikes?

©  Debbie Razey 2021 - Violet Moon Poetry.

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.