Introduction
Death Sting
This is a subject of great importance as it concerns all of us. Most of us if we are honest shy away from this subject due to conditioning by our culture which in a lot of cases discourages any preoccupation with this subject. I can understand why, because it is such a tough issue to get your head round. Since the hip 1960’s there was an increasing emphasis on youth over maturity. That is an indisputable fact which is in my view beyond challenge. The consequence of that view widely bandied about is that today a substantial number of the population believe we will live forever in this world and never like the immortal Peter Pan ever grow old.
There is nothing wrong with being young footloose and fancy free. Of course not! But there is everything wrong with becoming obsessed with maintaining one’s youth at all costs irrespective of the cost to your body by cosmetic surgery and indeed to your pocket. No where do you see a good PR case being made in favour of death. I wonder why those of us who bought into the throwaway replace one car or computer with another mindset still think we can cheat death by insisting we can as of right with the power of science bring about cell regeneration to rebuild worn out body parts in perpetuity. At some point each of us will die. How and in what form is down to each of us and God whether you believe that spiritual philosophy or not. To tackle such a taboo subject in our selfish capitalist high speed society requires courage and a strong belief in the importance of the purpose of the message. Though we need to get on with daily living we also need a balance to our lives which encompasses a healthy non - obsessional attitude towards death. One good creative medium to use is poetry, which lends itself well as a literary device for the achievement of just that. It takes the embarrassment out of death as a subject which is hard not to be emotional over.
Each of my verses focuses on contemporary issues from drug addiction, to child cruelty all highly emotive areas of our lives, especially when death results from the deliberate cruelty perpetrated by those in positions of power and authority over others such as young children. Also our self deluded notion that we will on the physical world live forever. That just is n’t the case. Anything out of the blue can happen to each of us in ways which can be disorientating, unfair and not what we planned for. All I ask is that we don’t shrink back from death in dread, but welcome it as a means to understand more deeply who we are and our place in the grand scheme of things whether you are religious or not does not matter. Having an open enquiring mind does matter, as it helps see death as well as life from other perspectives. May I close by wishing that your death be an interesting experience, a journey of self discovery and reconciliation towards self fulfilment and lack of fear, as you see death for what it is out of which new beginnings can be born. Two new pieces of contemporary verse have been added. Both are topical in reflecting the current fallout which in reality most of us are experiencing since the economic crash of 2008. Read them both, see them for what they are, if you are in danger of becoming a hapless player in these dramas, controlled by the events that potentially could lead to your demise; take note of the message tucked away in the two verses and take decisive action so that does not happen, if you can. If that happens anyway reassert your authority through help from others, and you will live and ride out the storms that the two verses generate. They are aptly named Desperation and City Money Trader Crash of 2021.
Table of Contents
Desperation
City Money Trader Crash of 2021
2nd Anglo Boer War Concentration Camp 1901
Dagger
The Savage Sea
I lay myself down to die
Burned Alive
Street Man
Coma
Tragic Suicide
Choking
Death Dream
Perfumes of Mortality
Police Cell
Shoot-Out
Fumes
Torture
Whore
In Memoriam
The long distance runner
Car Crash
Child Tragedy
There was a skeleton called Mr Death
Polar Explorer
Transportation
Circus Maximus
The Fighter
Betrayal
Loan Shark
Druggie
Child Cruelty
Wife Beater – The drop