Anthony Mark Andrews

28/03/2024

MOCKINGBIRD

Through a world of heartbreak she crawls,
Nails coloured crimson leave their mark on walls,
Her cries fall silent by a world that’s grown deaf,
Used and abused until there is not much left.

Like a mockingbird silenced by fate’s cruel hand,
Her voice unheard in such a heartless land,
All her life she’s been lied to, her trust destroyed,
Before being cast out like an unwanted toy.

The eyes of men have always been fixated on her,
The flames of desire leave a hunger unquenched,
For a piece of her they would sell their souls,
In exchange for their coin, her innocence spent.

The identity of the demons matters not in her plight,
Like hounds they tear at her flesh through the night,
Desperate to escape her reality’s suffocating embrace,
She seeks comfort in the poison as she fills her veins.

Through the cruel city streets she stumbles and falls,
A lost soul In deep despair with few friends at all,,
In a world proven to be cruel, where mercy is rare,
Her one desire is for someone to prove that they care.

Numbness tightens its grip, her tears long since dried,
Each day a fu***ng nightmare, where hope often dies,
Born a withered thorn in a garden full of roses it seems,
Desperate to blossom, escape the eternal tortured dreams.

As she continues to battle through her anguish so grim,
Her chance of survival is growing increasingly thin,
Like a bird caged, with her song remaining unheard,
In the depth of her anguish, her spirit deeply interred.

Written by Anthony Mark Andrews

15/03/2024

RESTLESS CITY

In the heart of a restless city
That never slept
Neon lights paint scenes
Of pain and neglect
Tales of desperation unfold
On sorrowful streets
Where the skies are tainted
By societies greed.

Hopes shattered,
Dreams destroyed
Lost souls dance
In a torturous void
In this concrete jungle
Weathered and broke
Clinging steadfastly
To those last strings of hope.

Queueing for foodbanks
To stave off the hunger
Glancing up to the stars
In agonised wonder
Hearts hoping desperately
That soon a change will come
Soaked by the rain
Burned by the sun

Desperation a staple
In their day to day lives
Embers of peace flicker dimly
Through their weary eyes
Bartering their own flesh
For the coin of the street
Hiding their pain
From the people they meet.

In the city’s cruel hustle
An all too familiar sight
Routing through bins
Scavenging every last bite
Oblivious to their circumstance
We continue with our day
As silently they cry
With heads bowed in shame.

Needlessly drowning
In an ocean of neglect,
Fighting for survival
With all the strength
They have left,
Their stories blend
With the city’s symphony
In the tortured streets
Of this twisted reality.

01/03/2024

TESTIMENT TO RESILIENCE

In the darkest hour across the vast blue sea,
a little girl cries for a fallen land, no longer free,
her once vibrant home destroyed by power's grasp,
a nations plight in this tempest, a somber grasp.

Bullets ricochet raining down like fiery droplets in flight,
no refuge can be found, nowhere to hide from this plight,
blood stained hands of soldiers, fighting on both sides,
pausing for a moment questioning why their lives collide.

Monsters of metal plough through a ravaged land,
explosions echo, the devils grip, a fearsome stand,
but amidst the chaos a glimmer of hope may yet arise,
a united spirit emerges, with steadfast resolve the darkness defies.

Let us mend the wounds with compassion as our guide,
hand in hand, we stand tall casting hatred aside,
for in unity lies the strength to rebuild what was lost,
together we shall overcome no matter the cost.

Illuminating a path to peace, amidst the shadow's gleam,
rekindling the flames of liberty, like a timeless dream,
until the fallen land once more shall proudly rise,
a testament to resilience where freedom never dies

01/03/2024

GONE

Her heart beats
one last time
laying there
on the cancer ward
family around her
tears in their eyes
praying for a cure
right up until
the last minute
doctors say
nothing more
clock strikes
half past four
silence falls

A hand placed
on her shoulder
a soft kiss
upon her forehead
a final goodbye
finding it hard
to believe
that she has gone
a cold breeze
a light shines
she transcends
from this world
to the next
she's taken
home

01/03/2024

THERE'S AN ANGEL

I know that there's an angel
That quietly watches over me
when I pause and close my eyes
Its her face that I see

I remember all the times
When by my side she'd stand
and the stories that she told
when as a child she'd hold my hand

We'd lean against the kitchen side
As we would put the world to rights
she always knew how to ease the pain
as she'd wipe the silent tears I cried

She taught me how to remain strong
although life could sometimes be tough
Even in those moments I felt alone
She provided me with so much love

Although she's been gone a few years now
She still visits me from time to time
I look and speak to her photo every day
that wonderful grandmother of mine

I know that when life becomes uncertain
As the answers I struggle to find
She will be there to help me find a way
she's never too far from my side.

01/03/2024

REALITY

Reality, aren't we living in the pages of some George Orwell novel?
Every soul becoming a trapped and tormented prisoner of society
As we fight for our existence, the corporations line their pockets
Leaving a pittance for us, as we break our backs for their industry
In their eyes we are nothing more than a mere name and number
Theirs to use and abuse until nothing but broken shells remain
Yearning desperately for the fresh, sweet taste of freedom

01/03/2024

VIRTUAL

Visions of reality and illusion swirl together in a violent symphony
Irrespectively blended, his fragile mind, observes no difference
Reflecting upon his life, he becomes deeply confused and upset
The faces become blurred, the voices echoing through his ears
Utterly destroyed by the confusion he considers ending it all
As the volume of the voices in his head grows ever louder
Laying numb upon his bed, he hopes for salvation.

01/03/2024

COLD

Chilled to the bones with no place warm to rest their heads
Outside those outcast from society fight stoically for their survival
Looking up towards the twilight sky they pray for a change to come
Determined, against all odds that one day things will be different.

01/03/2024

HOT

Heat rises from the glowing embers of this ancient fireplace
Our bodies frozen from the harsh winds of the winter snow
There, huddled together we feel her warm embrace.

01/03/2024

CARPET

Caught between the ageless passages of time
Always down-trodden until she became threadbare
Rugged now, although no longer walked upon
People she once knew, now ghosts of yesterday
Elegance faded, yet still she remains, remembering all
The stories she could tell, if only her voice could be heard.

01/03/2024

WALL

When they found Elisabeth Fritzl in 2008
Agonized prisoner for twenty-four long years
Love a word never within her father’s vocabulary
Laying there in desperation, until the demon came no more.

01/03/2024

FIRE

Furnaces roaring with the flame of industry
In factories, ferociously, workers toil day and night
Rich men look down from office windows
Every coin earned equates minutes of life

01/03/2024

BEE

Beautiful endearing emblem of a city United
Encompassing community through a crest of unity
Encapsulating the true heart of Manchester.

01/03/2024

01/03/2024