Saturday, 15 March 2025

Haden hill park

Take me to the park you frequented as a child
Tell me of the games you played, and the first time you grazed your knee
Tell me what you dreamed of and how much you enjoyed life
Tell me about the trees and how this park felt like the whole world

As we walk along the path that you used to walk up on a Sunday afternoon 
Tell me about the tiredness in your legs at this steep hill
At this family tradition of Sunday walks and then Sunday dinner
The dinner bubbling as we got home 
Our stomachs rumbling

As we walk along this lake, and you point out the ducks and tell me of the rat race that once scared you and your mum
That the swamp below used to have this smell and that you can still remember it

As we arrive at this castle, although a once famous household, tell me about how you remember it before the remodel; that it used to be a presence and look stunning every year, that you could imagine the families that would occupy it; and as you got older you would learn about the love story from two very different households

Firework night was always your favourite, the beautifully lit skies were vibrant in lilacs and whites and golds 
Some noises that came from them were screechy but the night just filled you with magic
It felt like you lived in a Disney film 
And that this night still remains deeply important to you

The bonfire nights, and the hot chocolate, to the cricket club and the beers 
To that plastic flooring covered in mud and warm cans of cider
But still the best firework display for miles

As we approach the gates, you tell me of being stuck in here once, that you outstayed the times and you got locked in
That you were never a good climber and struggled to get out
But you were able to drag yourself up and over, banging and bruising your knees in the process
The park wardens house always so quiet and peaceful

The road was opposite a pub that you would go on to work at when you turned 18.
This job would go on to be the making of you 
It gave you spirit and confidence and the potential to believe you could and would achieve higher education
The people you met have never left your memories and although there were some tough experiences and scary times overall it was your safe space
It was also the place that linked to the house in that park, the tunnel underground, the meet up of two people in love 
Creating a love that was forbidden, a lot like the story of Romeo and Juliet 


Now its no longer and although the building has been gone for over 10 years, I still see it when I think back to that road 
I still see the summer nights and football games, and parties,
The karaokes and the music
The regulars and the carefree times
The fun and ease of life was just so real 
That young girl had so much to learn

But now as we make our way to a front door that’s changed and the house no longer in our name
You tell me you loved this place 
That is brings with it such positive happy memories 
That the times just flood in and bring a tear to your eyes
That this was a time in my life I will hold onto forever


Moving on has always been a tough game to play
The unknown always frightened me
The need for expectations to be met and the same old to be stable was always my path
That consistent routine that didn’t change
That inability to be spontaneous a deeply rooted trait

Look at me now
That young girl running up that steep hill in the park of such adventures
She’d never believe me 
Not for a second
That this is the life I am currently living
That all those changes and times happened and that my health did suffer
But whatever the experiences I have had
Whatever the pain I have felt and the loss I have had
I will always be that young curious girl
The girl who felt safe in that park 
The girl that ran fast and with purpose
Who won the race
Who captured moments and saw the beauty in the most random of places
Who felt the flowers grow and the ground below her soften 
The young girl with high hopes and big dreams 

Tuesday, 4 February 2025

Cancer Day Rambles

You know how relentless this all is 
Who gives a fcuk about how frigging much we weigh whilst we do it 
Yes don’t become morbidly obese
Yes don’t affect your health with weight 
But societal pressures can go fuck itself as far as I’m concerned
All this “journey” BS 
This is relentless and changes our psyche in ways only us as individuals will ever really know
We can’t scream or shout about it
It won’t make any difference
It is a disability
I feel disabled by it often and there’s not a thing I can do to stop it 
I can’t just throw in the towel 
I can’t give up
It just rolls on and on like a payday in January
Just heavier and heavier on my heart and soul 

Family are grieving, but it’s not the same as it is for me 
Not one bit 

If I was ever honest enough like I am now, about how hard it really is?
I’d break their hearts
I already feel guilt for it
Like I chose this
Like the buffet option was breast cancer and I put it on my plate
Like I put a bid on it 
The higher the price the worse it became
It took everything really 
The carpet from under me and the reality as I knew it 
Not the same walls 
Not the same country 
Not the same company 
Just all new and different 
Can’t go back 
Can’t get back there 
No way back
No way back whatever I tell myself
No new normal
No “normal” at all 

It was caught early they said 
It would be over in six months they said 
Biggest lie 
Biggest scam 
Biggest challenge 
Not just with the medication or the side effects or the loss of my body parts, or hair, or dignity, or relationship, or realising the truth about my friends and family, 
and who is REALLY there but also to keep going 
To carry on carrying on because I had dreams 
I had plans 
I had ideas for my life 

What would you say to me now 
Now you know 
The reality of my heart and mind 
As I struggle to drag my beaten soul from my bed in the morning 
As I walk with tired painful limbs 
Bruised and broken from IV drips and blood tests and my weight going up and down 
Appetite is just done 
Eyes are sore and sting
From the daylight and the online research
Keeps me up at night, my personal insomnia 
All that scrolling through the reality I am faced with 
That group I joined 
That group I am a member of 
The life time membership 

But I’m not done 
I’m not bailing 
I have been loyal since my day dot and I don’t intend on changing that 
Yes my personality has changed somewhat maybe and my humour got darker and my eyes look heavy and my body is slower 
But I’m still here 
Still expecting the sun to shine down on me 
Even through the storms 
Even through the floods
Even through the fear and the pain 

Don’t ever underestimate me 
Or my ability 
I rose from the depths 
I rose from the fatigue
I rose from the ashes

Friday, 17 January 2025

Passing time

I could never ever really tell you the truth 
Not really 
I wanted to but my needs were far below yours 
Hidden under piles of rows and gaslit evenings where I started to lose my reflection 
I would sit in my room and think tonight I will say it but the moment would only roll on by me 
Like the time passing so slowly
I could never grab it and it was always a moment gone 

We met at a time I was becoming 
I was becoming me and it was scary
My past links were present and my confidence had grown 
My clothes were my choice as was my music 
My flat was rented but it was all me 
All mine and all as I had wished and dreamt it to be 
The one before had no front door so this was steps above 

Find the stump
Find the root cause of all this insomnia and pain 
Waking from drained feeling and emotion to start the new day
Emotionally exhausted before I ever start
All you 
All us 
Some true and some not 
Patching over the cracks we had made over and over
Not really sure why 
No regrets just time gone by 
No replay 
No way back 
You can’t change anything 

What’s funny is when I’ve sat in the feeling and searched for the meaning 
I have been met with reality 
Never been on a pedastal for anyone 
Never been someone’s obsession 
Never felt that special 
I half believed it once but I was mistaken 
When given time to really show it they were gone so fast 
The door didn’t even shut 

It’s my way 
It’s how i do life 

But now the blurred image in the mirror is getting easier to see
I see my deep look in those eyes and finally see me 
I want to do life my way and live life properly
I want to meet people who compliment me 
Who mean what they do and mean what they say
I want to have conversations that flow without being on a timer
I want to offload my day without fear of being ignored
I want someone to see my ASD as endearing and ok 
I want to be free to be me and for them to be there as part of my army
The army there to protect and let no one harm me 
To be my cheerleader when I lack confidence
Or to pick me up when I fall 

To know I have been through hell these passed 4 years but it will not be wasted
The lessons will forever be sketched into my memory
I am not looking for complete as I already have that 
I am hoping for friendship loyalty and love
That house on that street 
My own place 
Decorated for me by me
Persistence and resilience are traits I didn’t ever imagine 
But they’ve been my silent companion all this time 


Tuesday, 17 December 2024

As I look out

At the sea in front of my feet 
As that sea crashes into the coast like it always has 
I breathe in deep and I hold it 
I hold it for what feels like forever 
I close my eyes and I see all the previous year in small pictures in my mind 
Not in any order but all over the vast blank space
I delve into the images and zoom closer into the details 
I can see it all happening again like a rerun
Except this is not a film or a tv series
This is 2024
This was my last year and it hurts to see it 

It hurts to see the reality of decisions that I made 
The people that came in and out of my life 
The times I thought my life was getting better 
To see images days later where it hadn’t 
I can see the people who were mean and rude and toxic
I can see my feelings being hurt over and over
I watch as I cry myself to sleep
There are several of them 


What is my legacy for 2024
Is it to be focused on the pain 
Or the suffering 
Or the let downs

Or is it to be focusing on the strength 
And the ability to push on through 
To get back up each day and fight for my life
Not the cancer but the life 
To push on 
To continue to show up for myself 
To paint on my face get in that car and teach 
Meet people and build a rapport 
Put myself out for others
Even when they didn’t deserve it


These lessons are now scars
They cut me deep and I need to remember the pain 
I need to remember what caused the scars and stop just focusing on the healing 

Remember these people who led you in the dark 
And fcuk off anyone who doesn’t serve you 
Who doesn’t set your soul alight 
Not just bits of serotonin Kim 
I want the fcuking world to explode with it 

Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Graveyards and cemeteries

Here lies a person who tried 
A person who really wanted nothing more than acceptance 
Somebody who spent so many years adjusting to lll fitting clothes and people 
Personalities that kept me up at night 
Searching hopelessly in the fallen rain, not a glimmer of light to help as I foraged for signs of hope 
Lights arrived and used solar energy to light up the surrounding earth around our house 
But it didn’t bring real light nor any warmth 
Often with insomnia draining my soul I’d sit out in the open air 
And although unbeknown to me the extent of resentment she carried with her 
I was still able to exist in this broken marriage 
I was scared to really tell her of my fears of dying 
And my fears of losing who I’d spent such a long time becoming 
The woman she fell for, was slowly fading away with each infusion my body received 
The cells inside me were dying 
The health and disease were being boiled alive 
The aches and pains unlike anything I could ever explain into words 

For I was no longer an us 
I was an I and with that lost 
Battling on land I’d never seen before for a life I didn’t recognise 
A life that hadn’t been started 
The happy family drama series had been axed
My marriage cancelled
And my health in tatters 
Like the hair that I found fallen all over my house 
The sullen look in my eyes as I woke in the morning and sat in front of my bedroom mirror which had once reflected smiles and laughter 
Now reflected pain and sorrow
There was no longer a big plan for our future 
For the our was now just a me 
And this room was no longer lived in but sold and belonged to some other family 
And we didn’t sent messages of love and affection but of divorce agreements and money chats

No more football days out 
No more holidays abroad 
No more marking or gaming Sundays 
No more laughter 
No more memories to retell or love cherished moments to frame 
Nothing left
The vows are not forever 
They lasted just 5 years together and 6 as it counts down to the end 
The final lap of our marriage and of our commitment 

Grave stones surround this village 
Buried below are lost loved ones
Married till death does part us
Not me 
Not I
Not with this one 
Grief has become my shadow 
But even in the dark it haunts me 
It strangles the reality out of me 
What I was saw as reality is now merely a dream 
Of a long forgotten life that I used to live
Grief is teaching me the ways of the world 
And I need to listen to the lessons 

Friday, 25 October 2024

Never another day

Never another day like that day I found you please
I can barely fathom the stages it’s so hard to believe 
Never another day like that appointment looming on that treasured final night of the year in 2022
Never another day like that one that took my breath away with it, and the person I was in that moment stopped, and this new one took over 
Never another day like that one before the operation lying in bed knowing you were growing inside me
Never another day like that birthday that felt oh so flat and painful as I caught those tubes on the sofa as I walked away
Never another day like the one I thought she’d not make it to, a taxi and alone for my first chemo but luckily she made it through 
Never another day like that one I realised how bad this was, how sick I felt, and how scared I really was

Never another day 
Never another day like that one when I realised my marriage was truly over and that I’d never return to my job of 6 years, 
Never another day like that one when I sat in my house knowing that would be the last time ever and all those dreams and plans up in smoke 
Never another day like that one I met all those people in that residential stay at the hospital, suffering with awful tumours and learning of the life they so very much hung on to 

Never another day
Never another day like the times I’d catch my reflection and think how did I get so sick, so pale and so bald
When did I become a long term patient 
Never another day 
I can’t keep up with the days and weeks and months that have been before me as I sit typing this 
I can barely process the angst, the tears and the loss of so many parts of my previous life
My previous life where for granted was so real, time seemed endless and future planning was my hobby 
I have changed forever and in some ways I’m so glad I have 
Too many months of real unhappiness, needed a reason to end them 
Needed a reason to leave 
My situation was not serving 
My life was not enough 

I can remember the reaction when I spoke those words, “I will never be the same again, I won’t be returning to normal…” never a truer statement 

Forever changed 
Never another day of that woman, this life started in that moment on that Friday afternoon, 10th Feb 2023. 
Never another day wasted 
Never another day taken for granted 
Never another day of unkindness to myself, or blame… as 2024 people say “it is, what it is”  


Saturday, 19 October 2024

Like this

It hasn’t always been like this, has it?
It seems if I really focus it has 
Maybe there were times I wasn’t this way but too few to remember 

I know it wasn’t the same with the serious one though 
The one I’d committed to
Not at first
Because she was so different 

What do people even talk about these days ?
I know I can fill an empty space and fill it with pointless nonsense 
Is that what communication looks like?
Is that what I’m looking for or should hold out for?

Can it not just be the looks?
I think I know it can’t as that’s not worked 
The looks far outweigh the person 9/10
And I don’t need the personality with my brain 
Like AI I just make it up
I put everything I like into one big bowl and mix it up
I spend time without consciously noticing the invention I am working on
So that when I do chat with them I’m so sure that minds creation links I lose the boundary
I can’t see the line between the reality and the fiction 
And I say I don’t like fiction?
Well maybe because I envelop people so deeply rooted into this interactive universe 
One they didn’t ever enter
But one I can never leave 

So to put my theory to the test 
An app without pictures 
Just personality 
Love is blind or should be 
To be shallow is not my choice 
But my pattern to be so hyper focused on the exterior 

I mean jeeez who ever said don’t judge a book by its cover
Seriously had multi meaning to that cause 
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