Wednesday 21 July 2010

Chocolate


We all need a little chocolate in our lives.
Chocolate is the answer to everything.
Soft smooth milky delight
That’s melts on your tongue and sooths the soul.

Wicked hard dark exotic chocolate,
That takes longer and tastes stronger
But it gets to the parts
That need a lift.

Melted chocolate flowing in fountains.
Firm plump strawberries
Dipping delving diving;
Deep into pools of chocolate promise.

Doubly delicious,
With unexpected coolness that slides
Over your tongue and into your life,
Heaven!

Smooth rich rewarding hot chocolate in deep filled mugs
Slipping like silky seamless slithers of satin
Slowly down the throat.
Bringing warmth and inner comfort.

Chocolate equals life.

Val Cook 2009 

The Child I Use to Be

My brother William and I

Like the child I used to be,

In a timeframe that hadn’t altered
I meandered through the meadow
Knee high in grass, buttercups
Nodding as I pass, their
Tall and stately faces upturned seeking the sun.
The hedgerows heavy with blossom
Their distinctive perfume
Drifted by me, on the breeze.
The sun warmed my face.
The soft fragrant breeze
Toyed with my hair ,
Tickled my neck, buffered my face,
Kept me cool.
I almost felt weight against my hip.
My school satchel, once full of home made bread
Spread with butter and delicious strawberry jam.
A bottle of water that sploshed about as I walked.
How the memory brought back my childhood joy.
It was good to be wandering
Alone again, carefree and feeling at peace
Across this wonderland of memories.


But it is to change.
Over the hill is the motorway.
Cars and lorries racing along ,
An over powering and belligerent force
Against the beauty of the countryside.
The meadow is soon to go.
A slip road, another tentacle
That strangles and kills natures reserves.
Animals, birds and insects
Are losing the battle.
And it makes me I feel so sad.

Val Cook 2010

A Light in my Life

There is a light in my life
That is always on,
Shining just for me.
It comes from the ones I love,
Its in their eyes to see.

But I see fear in the world around me
In other peoples eyes
Generated by cold indifference
Bigotry and lies
I feel compassion for those
Who suffer
Humiliation loss and pain
Who are dragged down
To the depths, over and over again.

This glow in my life
Gives me the strength
To live from day to day
My many friends and family
Help keep these fears at bay

Life is a short passage
To who knows where we go.
This is the only time we have
So let your loved ones know
Give them the love that feeds the soul
And let your love light show.

Val Cook 2010

Bluebell Wood



When I saw the wood filled with bluebells.
A deep rich carpet of royal blue
Their distinct aroma filled my head.
Awakening memories of happier times.
That day when we gazed in amazement
Into this very wood, at a breathtaking view in vivid blue.
Praising Natures constant promise
To restore colour to our world.
After the dark bleak barren winter months.

I welcome bright spring days
Knowing that summer is fast approaching.
A new start brings hope too
That my life, may begin again.
But its hard without you by my side.
I sometimes catch the briefest hint of your aftershave
Enough to set my pulse racing,
Your voice, your laughter drifts by me on the wind.
A trick of the mind that my memory will not let go,
A deception that my heart will not accept.

The dreams we had, our future gone.
Your flame snuffed out
By the soft breath of your death,
Taking all your promises with you.
So I drift from day to day,
Hour to hour, minute to minute.
Waiting for something, someone to halt my progress
Down into the depth of despair.
Val Cook 2010


Monday 8 February 2010

The Fallen Tree




Once this fine tree graced a forest.
Natures noble green giant.
Birds nested and played amongst the leaves.
Searched for insects in the tough brown bark of the tree
Safe and secure in its green canopy.
Whilst berries and nuts in abundance during summer
Sustained many, through the harsh cold of the dark winter months.

Squirrels lived aloft, high above the forest floor.
Raised their young to race around its branches,
Scamper up and down the solid brown trunk,
Storing food in hidden places for leaner times.

Its base was shade for plants and flowers.
Lovers rested in the heat and haze
Of a hot summers afternoon.
Its roots dug deep into the earth
Seeking out moisture and providing shelter
And safety to small mammals ,
Who foraged for food and slept beneath.

Trees are the lungs that breathe for the earth.
Clarifying the air and purifying the wind.
Its roots prevent erosion
That steals the soil, that grows the food,
That feeds many

Now the tree is dead.
Killed by the swift blows of an axe.
Uprooted from its bed of rich warm soil
By the cold relentless pounding of the sea.
Carried across the ocean
And washed ashore, from who knows where.

Val Cook
February 2010
 

Wednesday 20 January 2010