This Place: An Anthology of Poetry, Prayers, and Prose

By Raphael Jon Hart

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Sep 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465302793

Raphael Jon Hart

Raphael Jon Hart has described himself as a story teller, singer/ song writer, poet, romantic, time traveler, flat cap model, real life super hero, evolution’s best kept secret, and the Lord of Swimming Trunks. When asked to comment on this description of himself, Raphael said he believes in the power of the under statement.

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Copyright © 2011 by Raphael Jon Hart.

ISBN:          Softcover                                 978-1-4653-0278-6

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4653-0279-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

0-800-644-6988

www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

[e-mail]

302144

Contents

1. For this New Day

2. The Last Tree on Earth

3. Ethical Living

4. A Bank with Ethical Talent

5. Imbeciles and Dopes

6. Is Education a Human Right?

7. Role Models

8. Power Before Principle

9. Because We’re Cheap

10. For those Who Serve

11. A Nation Without Conscience

12. Delirium Tremens

13. Wars of Aggression

14. Our Country Right or Wrong

15. The Blood Bank

16. Why Do I Take this Drug?

17. Fight the Good Fight

18. The Nazi Christian

19. Beyond the Shattered Roses

20. Pan’s Lullaby

21. I Love You

22. I Wrote a Song

23. She Has a Dog

24. Too Strong

25. Stop Getting Older

26. Two Little Sisters

27. Embers?

28. When We Are Old

29. Chasing Pirates

30. The March of the Diddy Men

31. Flats

32. An Alien Landed on Billinge Lump

33. The Flying Harley

34. The Rolls Royce

35. The Big Bang

36. The Flatulent Gibbon

37. The Flying Dwarf

38. The One In The Middle

39. Soccer Cindy

40. The Armenian On Love

41. Guinevere

42. Go And Tell Drake!

43. England Is Dead!

44. The Levellers Shall Not Die

45. I Am An Irish Briton

46. Around The Bonnie Earth

47. Clanship

48. Stand Over By Here

49. An Old Lady Commenting On A World War II Monument

50. A Home Nation

51. B.B.C. Gaelic!

52. The Greatest Of Britons

53. For Clifden

54. Liverpool Scouse

55. September 10th 1939

56. The Last American

57. St.Helens Platform

58. Wigan Pier

59. Where God Rested

60. Parting Gifts

61. For The Thirty-Five

62. For The Victims Of ‘9/11’

63. The Ballet Shoes

64. Lovers Can’t Be Friends

65. Every Prayer I Make

66. I Wish I Didn’t Miss You

67. In Your Peace

68. At The Coffee Pot

69. When You BrushYour Teeth

70. Tina Kissed Me

71. Belle

72. Lovely Linda

73. The Exotic Bird

74. Hey You

75. The Cavalier And The Dancer

76. The Rose

77. Did The Devil Hide The Full Moon

78. The Ice Princess

79. The Bright Eyed Barmaid

80. Where To Find Romance

81. A Heavenly Seal

82. Return to Eden

83. Gabriel’s Penny

84. Leanne

85. The Tyrant

86. Are You Proud To Be British?

87. The Great Betrayal

88. Persecution

89. The Plea Bargain

90. What Are Our Human Rights?

91. No Right To Privacy

92. I Have Rights Too

93. Like A Turkey

94. The Man In The Union Jack

95. Barry George

96. The Ego Of The Nation State

97. Political Refugees

98. I Am A Copt

99. You’re Just Another Me

100. In Days Of Yore

101. Beware The Callous Christian

102. For Our Right

103. Say Thanks To The Little Guy

104. That’s The Way It Goes

105. In The Buddha

106. For God And King Arthur

107. Good For Busking

108. Broylan

109. Ahhh…

110. This Night’s Lullaby

111. The Karaoke King

112. Stage Fright

113. Forever Blessed

114. This Place

115. I Had A Dream

116. Keep Looking

117. A National Hero

118. The Riots

119. In The Inverted Church

120. No Alternative Truth

121. Upon This Star

This book is dedicated to all of those struggling to

overcome breast cancer.

May God be with them in their endeavours.

Donations can be made to

The Association for International Cancer Research

online.

For this New Day

Dear Father In Heaven,

Thank you for life,

And for this new day,

And for all that makes life worth living,

Thank you for your love,

And for the love of your Son,

Thank you for your all powerful Holy Spirit,

Who sustains the universe,

Most Holy Trinity,

Without whom there would be nothing,

May we be eternally grateful,

For all glory and honour are yours,

Now and forever,

Unto the ages of ages,

Amen.

The Last Tree on Earth

Fibreglass skyscrapers catching the light,

Of the orb that the old call the sun,

Synthetic newspapers herald the news:

‘A Discovery Second To None!’

Somewhere, somehow that the nuclear clouds

Could not penetrate,

An acre unchanged that acidious rains

Did not saturate,

There it grows,

Oh yes, and it knows,

And they say,

It’s the last,

Tree on earth,

Mother have you heard,

Have you read of it or seen,

How it’s big and green and leafy,

Just like the one that granpa

Used to talk about in dreams,

So long ago?

Remember, written in the bark is:

‘I told you so’?

And they say,

It’s the last,

Tree on earth.

Ethical Living

Sometimes I really wonder,

Where it ever will all end,

As ice recedes around the poles,

And savannah turns to sand,

As we struggle to find the means,

To cope with deforestation,

As coral reefs continue dying,

In the rising oceans,

What happened in Kyoto?

When will our leaders learn,

That much of this is down to us,

The fossil fuels we burn?

The hole that’s in the o-zone,

And rising temperatures,

If only we would take more care,

Replenish and preserve!

It’s all about ethical living,

For everyone on the planet,

It’s something to teach our children,

To fit in with their schoolwork,

It’s time to teach them ethics,

And their practical implications,

And contribute to a better world,

For future generations.

A Bank with Ethical Talent

When it comes to investments the choices we make,

Should surely be more than for just our own sake,

And something we’re morally obliged to consider,

Is just how our choices impact upon others,

Our dividends must not only benefit ourselves,

But the wider community and others as well,

The priority, I’m sure, is to avoid doing harm,

Don’t invest in a bank that buys nuclear arms,

Or in anything likely to damage another,

Directly, or indirectly moreover,

Try to avoid anything unethical,

Invest in a bank that has real moral principles,

And try to find one whose charges are low,

For unplanned overdrafts you’d sooner not know,

Because this is a problem for the poor and unwaged,

It perpetuates debt and prevents them from saving,

Excessive bank charges cripple the poor,

For just a few pounds they can pay ten times more,

And month after month they are kept in the red,

By unethical charges of banks that have said,

That they truly are ethical in every way,

When that’s not how they treat our unwaged every day,

Just in how they invest for to profit the wealthy,

Don’t charge the poor for a profit that’s healthy!

And do find a bank whose charges are naught,

For the poor and unwaged, the people they ought,

To help most of all keep a healthy bank balance,

Invest in a bank with real ethical talent!

Imbeciles and Dopes

When only the offspring of rich,

Can afford an education,

When the best and the brightest of us,

Are denied emancipation,

Are denied didactic nutriments,

And not taught how to think,

Will we truly be better off?

Is that what the government thinks?

When tuition fees shoot through the ceiling,

As they have and will no doubt again,

Will we be better off as a county?

Will the people have truly well gained?

Will this nation be seen as a beacon,

Of intellect and hope,

Or will this henceforth be a land,

Of imbeciles and dopes?

Is Education a Human Right?

Is education a human right?

Is learning essential for growth and for life?

Is one better equipped,

When one has been schooled,

For work, home, and leisure,

And given the tools?

Are we much more adept at social discourse,

When we’ve been to pre-school,

And finished the course,

And crammed in High School,

And Technical College,

And left with the insight,

That oft’ comes with knowledge?

Does uni’ and post-grad’,

Course work and degrees,

Enrich our culture, and society?

Or is it all nonsense, a waste of our time?

Is all of this thinking naught less than a crime?

Should we all be less studious,

And nonetheless hearty,

Like the rich and the thick,

Of the great Tory Party?

Or pick up a text book, a pad, and a pen,

And not vote for Cameron or Nick Clegg again?

Role Models

Why are our teenage boys going astray?

Where is the discipline of olden days?

Why are our lads so often undone,

With drink and with drugs, mindless violence and so on?

Where’s that restraining influence gone,

That served us so well for a millennium?

That wise old head and steadying hand,

Where have our fathers and grandfathers gone?

Divorce rates, we know, are as high as ever,

And with each broken marriage a young child might suffer,

Since the rights of this country’s dads count for nothing,

And a child’s right to both parents naught but a dream,

Upon separation there surely should be,

Equal access to parents, and then we would see,

That wise old head and steadying hand,

A sorely missed influence o’er boys and young men,

Often my own Dad did not need to speak,

But I knew my own role just by watching him keep,

To time honoured rituals and standards of conduct,

He unconsciously role modelled, conducting his business,

And it didn’t stop there, we had other things too,

The stories we