Silent treatment

I’m listening

but you keep it in

in the constant din

of this noise we’re in

The silence is deafening

and still you’re keeping it in

You got my head in a spin

when you say nothing

How we gonna win

if you keep it in? 

Steve Wheeler © 27 February, 2021

image by Nuno Martins

Broken souls

I want to hold you 

You want to hold me 

but we're separated by 

a sea of pain 

I would kiss you 

You would kiss me 

and our lives would never 

be the same again

The same sad story 

pain and glory 

with hearts so sore we 

could not find a way 

It's a constant 

kind of torment 

knowing we went 

our separate ways

I want to see you 

You want to see me 

but we're both too 

cold to feel 

I would touch you 

You would touch me 

if we thought 

our hearts could heal

The same conclusion 

there's no delusion 

no consolation 

to bestow 

We reach the end 

we cannot bend 

no way to mend 

our broken souls

Steve Wheeler © 28 February, 2021

image © Steve Wheeler

[Ever since Berlin]

[Ever since Berlin]

I’ve been calling you

Since we shopped in KaDeWe

I’ve been dreaming you

Strolling down Kurfürstendamm

or above a busy autobahn

you and I are there again

inside my mind

[Ever since Berlin]

Life’s been a mystery

I can’t seem to win

hope seems so lost to me

The Checkpoint Charlie blues

make me feel like I might lose

my smiling little muse

in the rain

[Ever since Berlin]

and the Brandenburg Gate

I’ve been mouldering in

a melancholy state

Are we going to the Wall?

Are we heading for a fall?

Are we going to lose it all?

Is that our fate?

[Ever since Berlin]

Ich liebe dich

I’ve been feeling pretty down

and I need a kick

So back there I will go,

sip some Glühwein in the snow

and I’ll dream of what we know

and you’ll be there

Steve Wheeler © 25 February, 2021

photo © Steve Wheeler 2020

Have you seen the moon?

Have you seen the moon?

Have you really looked?

A harsh mistress or a dainty maid

A balloon deflated and then remade

By day or night in light or in shade

A pockmarked elusive renegade

Have you seen the moon?

Have you really looked?

Have you seen the stars?

Have you really looked?

A string of iridescent beads

A shiny scattering of seeds

A glowing carpet on the breeze

and all the wonder that it breeds

Have you seen the stars?

Have you really looked?

Steve Wheeler © 25 February, 2021

image source

Yasmina

I just recorded a reading of one of my new poems for YouTube. Yasmina is about the friendship between a young Syrian boy and a his little friend - a farmyard hen. The poem is taken from my new collection of short stories and poems titled Small Lights Burning. You can check it out and purchase a copy on either Kindle or in paperback via Amazon. 

Winter sky

The winter writes a shroud 

and imposes its embrace 

upon a cold and grey-white 

landscape. A solitary bird 

flits lost below the cloud 

and as I turn my frozen face 

to gaze upon its lonely flight 

the sun appears. Absurd. 

Steve Wheeler © 13 February, 2021

image source

Dirty knees

Yesterday I announced the publication of my new poetry and short stories collection, Small Lights Burning. 

Below is a poem from the book to give you a taste of what to expect if you buy it. 

This is a poem called Dirty Knees.

Dirty knees and nettle stings 

Climbing trees and angel wings 

Trousers ripped and growing pains 

Seaside trips and daisy chains 

Listening to Slade with sherbet dips, 

lemonade, newspaper wrapped chips 

Mars bars and Pick 'n' Mix, 

Matchbox cars and Scalextric 

Lunchtime bells, cold outside loos 

Desktop ink wells, new school shoes 

Silly nicknames, monster munches 

Playground games and packed lunches 

Moon rockets, ice cream van 

Sand filled pockets, Action Man 

Top of the Pops and Airfix glue 

TV cops and Doctor Who 

Space hoppers, Meccano sets 

Teeny boppers, cuddly pets 

Marble scrambling, Noddy lamps 

Weebles wobble, swapping stamps 

Paraffin heater, skipping ropes 

Blue Peter, Kaleidoscopes 

Spirographs and Etch-A-Sketch 

Lots of fun with Armstrong (Stretch)

Muddy knees and foolish ways 

Buzzing bees and endless sunny days 

Fields of corn and buttercups 

Trousers torn but slowly growing up

Steve Wheeler © 12 February, 2021

In the UK Small Lights Burning is available here:

Amazon UK: Paperback £6.99 Kindle £1.99 

The book is also on sale at the following worldwide locations including:

Australia: Kindle A$3.99 Paperback A$21.76

Brazil: Kindle R$13.61

Canada: Paperback C$11.99 Kindle C$3.49

France: Kindle €2.69

Germany: Kindle €2.69

Italy: Kindle €2.69

India: Kindle ₹195

Japan: Paperback ¥1099  Kindle ¥277

Mexico: Kindle $52.60

Netherlands: Kindle €2.69

Singapore: Paperback S$13.45

Spain: Kindle €2.69

Turkey: Paperback TL68.10

USA: Paperback $9.99 Kindle $2.99

Small Lights Burning

Over the years, I have written a substantial collection of poems about childhood, growing up and being young (because I was young myself once ... no, really). It was difficult to narrow down this stack of poems to just 50, but I managed to do it, and they have now been published in a new book called Small Lights Burning. The book also features several short stories - all about children and their imagination. I decided to publish this volume to celebrate the birth of my first grandchild, Norah Ruth Wheeler - who was born a few weeks before Christmas, 2020. Norah's arrival was one small light burning in a sea of darkness during the lockdowns, pandemic and other horrible things that were happening, and are still ongoing in the world today. The book also features some illustrations and images of children (mainly the mischief me and my cousins got up to as kids, or photos of my own children) that I hope will delight you.

The book is available in both paperback and Kindle, and I hope you will grab a copy and enjoy reading it. I hope it evokes memories of your own childhood, because that's all we have now - memories of the times we were small and innocent and full of wonder, and the world was strange and unknown, and for exploring. The book contains some serious reflective poems, some funny ones that will make you smile, and even one or two nonsense rhymes. Please take a punt and read them. Then let me know what you think. As ever, I'm open to any feedback, positive and/or constructive, either on here or as an Amazon review. 

In the UK the book is available here:

Amazon UK: Paperback £6.99 Kindle £1.99 

The book is also on sale at the following worldwide locations including:

Australia: Kindle A$3.99 Paperback A$21.76

Brazil: Kindle R$13.61

Canada: Paperback C$11.99 Kindle C$3.49

France: Kindle €2.69

Germany: Kindle €2.69

Italy: Kindle €2.69

India: Kindle ₹195

Japan: Paperback ¥1099  Kindle ¥277

Mexico: Kindle $52.60

Netherlands: Kindle €2.69

Singapore: Paperback S$13.45

Spain: Kindle €2.69

Turkey: Paperback TL68.10

USA: Paperback $9.99 Kindle $2.99

Poetry for mental wellbeing

Many of us have found the last year tough. There has been a huge toll on mental health, with many feeling lost and hopeless. During the last few lockdowns I have spent much of my time coping with my own thoughts and emotions by writing poetry, and I know a lot of others have turned to the same art to express themselves. It can be very cathartic. 

In January I was delighted to be invited to speak on radio about my poetry, and how I coped during my own illness with Covid-19 back in November and December. This is a frank interview, and you will also hear me read one or two poems.  

Listen on demand at this link.

You and whose army?

Napoleon riding on his horse 

The British Expeditionary Force 

The Vikings and the Visigoths 

An Airforce flight of Tiger Moths 

Attila’s sweeping horde of Huns 

The French artillery at Verdun 

Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps 

The Russian Navy’s ships of war 

The Argentine Pucara planes 

Arabs attacking Turkish trains 

Hitler’s armoured Panzer groups 

Ten regiments of paratroops 

The Armada of the Spanish king 

The soldiers of the Emperor Ming 

A squadron of the boys in blue 

Every elephant that ever lived in a zoo 

America’s nuclear submarines 

All of England’s kings and queens 

and every army at their command 

none could pluck me from Your hand 

None of these is tough enough 

to trouble you at any hour 

None of these is strong enough 

to overcome Your resurrection power

Steve Wheeler © 10 February, 2021

image source

All that's rotten in this world

fat cats and plutocrats 

industrialists and autocrats 

billionaires and bureaucrats 

always on the take

racists and conspiracists 

terrorists and narcissists 

fascists, white supremacists 

never take a break

web hackers, corporate frackers 

rioters and truth attackers 

hijackers, anti-vaxxers

they don’t feel no shame

sociopathic conscience lackers 

psychopaths and people whackers 

drug abusing gun attackers 

we know who’s to blame

crooked politicians lying 

while there’s people out there dying 

line their pockets, not resigning 

lead a merry dance

sea polluters, oil spillers 

arms dealers, serial killers 

living in their luxury villas 

in the south of France

wall scaling stalkerazzi 

member of the paparazzi 

he’s a telephoto Nazi 

breaking every code 

broker playing kamikaze 

in his shiny Maserati 

texting mates while drinking latte 

menace on the road 

fanatic climate change deniers 

culture gods and false messiahs

reprobates and other liars

excuse me while I hurl

narcotics dealers and their users 

pornographers and cheating boozers 

bullies, thugs and child abusers 

all that’s rotten in this nasty screwed up world 

Steve Wheeler © 4 February, 2021

photo by Steve Wheeler

Twice the hero

Old man 

centenarian 

marching to victory 

for a second time

His steps this time less steady 

but just as steadfast 

as the first time he strode forth 

to serve his country 

Old man

determined man

in a time of global crisis

pushing body to its limits 

His resolve no less diminished 

with the passing of the years 

as he recalls his service 

and the duty he fulfilled 

Old man

selfless man 

thinking not for himself 

but always for others 

makes us admire 

makes others aspire 

makes him twice the hero 

Steve Wheeler © 23 May, 2020

This poem first appeared in Ellipsis: The Lockdown Poems, 

published by Wheelsong Books in 2020

image source

A shot in the arm

I’m test-driving vaccines. They’ve caused me no harm. 

I’ve had twenty-six now, they’re a shot in the arm. 

If I venture outside, please don’t be surprised 

when I step back inside I’ve been immunised.

I’m protected from viruses prolifically. 

The best one’s the flu jab (which is annually). 

When the ampule is drained and the needle injects 

I’m never concerned about side effects.

There’s a long list of vaccines they’ve given to me 

such as Hepatitis vaccine (both the A and the B).

They’re given in jabs, they don’t come in a tube 

but the Polio vaccine takes the form of a cube.

Thanks to the vaccines I’ve taken in jabs 

Yellow fever can’t touch me, nor typhoid, nor crabs. 

Meningitis won’t harm me and nor will the Dengue. 

Those dangerous viruses won’t take me away 

I had my first vaccine before I could run 

Mumps, Measles, Rubella as a three in one. 

Tetanus and Whooping Cough are also no threat 

and I know that Diphtheria won’t make me sweat. 

Today I was immunised for Covid-19 

(they seem to have skipped the previous 18). 

I will be quite ecstatic if they develop a shot 

to make anti-vaxxers disappear on the spot.

 

Steve Wheeler © 1 February, 2021

image source