Simon Ashcroft

Poet, pagan, former Christian turned rogue. Long time learner of Greek (γειά σας). Some people accuse me of having a very Welsh accent...!

This account is a backup for my Friendica instance (currently Libranet).

Public Key

npub1xz778s862r0mjpx4xd9u6sa5ndd58y82f27qmrc2u0nlqn7g37usu43p2l

NIP-05 Address

SJAsh_03_at_mastodon.sdf.org@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsrp00rcra9phaeqn2nxj7dgw6fkk6rjr4y40qd3u9w8elsflyglwgpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgnu7puz

Publishing to

relay.nostr.band

Author Public Key

npub1xz778s862r0mjpx4xd9u6sa5ndd58y82f27qmrc2u0nlqn7g37usu43p2l

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Last Notes

2024-11-13 10:50:48

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@npub18kv…6pnx
Even better. Saves you the effort of writing it...! Though editing brings its own challenges, I suppose

2024-11-13 10:35:06

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@npub18kv…6pnx
I take it this is a thought for a plot structure? Go for it.

2024-11-13 06:46:05

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@npub12s6…v20q
Well done

2024-11-13 00:21:54

Implacable Fate.
Do stars keep a place
where this life may be swapped, for
those we should have lived?
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-12 20:22:12

Unbreakable Promise
Of all vows, those that
unite torchfire, blood and night,
bind hearts, through ages.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-12 20:05:45

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@npub12s6…v20q
That which waits would seem to be hoping to be found.

2024-11-12 13:37:35

The Powerless
I wait, in silence,
though my heart, impotent, seethes,
raging at itself.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-12 13:18:34

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@npub18kv…6pnx
Arguably, I cannot, either. I can colour a page black with a lot of illegible (even to myself) scribbles, though

2024-11-12 10:44:15

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@npub18kv…6pnx
All that matters is that it works for you.

2024-11-12 10:43:23

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@npub18kv…6pnx
Chaos is good.
My professional writing is analysis ad argument. After 30 years, the structure comes easily – it's just the typos need attention.
Creatively, the funniest is when I use pen and paper. I end up having no real idea what I've written.

2024-11-12 10:25:00

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@npub18kv…6pnx
Take two Fukitol capsules and write what matters to you.

2024-11-12 10:23:09

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@npub18kv…6pnx
I do nothing but write in my work life, but it is a process of synthesis, not creativity. For reasons I am not going to explain, I ended up in a job I never liked. It pays the bills.
Poetry is the creative, expressive me, for what that is worth. I needed to do... "something."
I know dyslexics who find benefit from changing the background colour. One colleague prints everything onto pink paper. Have you tried anything similar?

2024-11-12 10:15:27

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@npub18kv…6pnx
No idea. It's one process.

2024-11-12 06:41:47

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@npub1r9y…hzy7
I still use it. It has a slightly old-fashioned feel – fairly simple interface, fewer "bells and whistles" (eg: no edit facility). I'm not aware of any character limit on posts.
You could try Friendica, as that gives cross-platform access, but at expense of more complicated interface.

2024-11-11 23:26:20

Winter's Gasp
My breath streams in night's
ice-cold, stabbing air; I hope
for Moon's silver smile.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-09 00:44:14

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@npub12s6…v20q
Found you!!!

2024-11-09 00:43:44

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@npub12s6…v20q
Don't you dare disappear.

2024-11-08 10:49:14

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@npub18kv…6pnx @npub1fze…pg3u
The blindness is pretty wilful.

2024-11-08 10:47:28

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@npub18kv…6pnx
Thankyou.
I have no problem hating an "...ism," particularly one so destructive. The people, I do not hate.

2024-11-08 10:45:13

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@npub1fze…pg3u @npub18kv…6pnx
I know the feeling. Glad you found your path out.

2024-11-08 10:30:15

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@npub18kv…6pnx
"I have been an evangelist, and it taught me to hate evangelism."

2024-11-08 10:26:59

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@npub1zwa…z2ya @npub18kv…6pnx
It has its uses when you don't want to field questions, yes – but that is different to being faced with meaningless assumptions. Most people ignore it, which is fine with me.

2024-11-08 10:21:31

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@npub18kv…6pnx
I have a background in conservative Christianity. Your response was commendably restrained, and far more funny, than mine would have been.

2024-11-08 10:09:51

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@npub18kv…6pnx
That, somehow, the word "pagan" is a sufficient explanation of who I am.
I've spent years on (now defunct - thanks a bunch, social media) pagan discussion boards. Herding cats doesn't come near it.
There are very few who realise how little the word tells them, I find. I don't mind if they are uninterested in knowing more – but I'd rather not be faced by assumptions that I am the popular image of a long robed Druid, or similar.

2024-11-07 13:24:04

Wslls
When discord has sown
an unfeeling heart, what words
may resurrect dreams?
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-07 07:34:49

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@npub12s6…v20q
Sometimes, dissolution back into starfire seems the more attractive option.

2024-11-06 15:22:57

Journey
Pharos, guide me back,
through storm, night, and howling waves,
to rest, and safety.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-05 17:53:06

Rituals of Silence
Trees, silhouetted
against cloud; waiting for Night
to chant psalms, again.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-05 13:39:43

Frustrated Lives
Lonely aeons, dark
with repeated loss; a sea,
heavy, with longing.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-05 06:48:37

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@npub12s6…v20q
You are more than either the product of a parent (something parents often forget) or the alchemy of a dead star's elements. You are the expression of a consciousness, of life itself, in a borrowed body.

2024-11-04 08:11:36

In Lonely Darkness
I howl nightmares of
loss, and pain, to a void, where
my dreams, yet, may hear.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-04 07:31:44

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@npub12s6…v20q
You have used similar imagery before, and I have tended to think the stars like physicians.
It has just occurred to me – at least, with enough force to seem clear – that they represent the flames of love.
A force that both wounds and heals, and, in this, you are both sacrifice and supplicant. I hope the one who wounded is also the path to healing for you.

2024-11-04 00:23:07

Temple Treasures
Clouds clear, revealing
beautiful stars; jewels, that
direct me homeward
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-03 09:50:57

Error of My Ways
When your dreams find you,
follow them; or know you steal
some other one's life.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-03 07:39:19

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@npub12s6…v20q
Keep going. You are stronger than you think, and the light will welcome you.

2024-11-02 18:09:22

Judged
Clouds hide the Moon's tears,
a veil to hide her grief, from
my unworthy eyes.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-11-01 21:25:03

Further Shores of Time
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#SJAshcroftsPoems #poems #poetry #PoetryCommunity #MyWordsMyWork
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/420/245/301/272/489/original/fabd192025091a0c.jpg

2024-11-01 09:39:32

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@npub12s6…v20q
Sorry that you have been hurt.

2024-10-31 21:00:18

Obscured
Light has faded in
the West; the stars are hidden.
I am so alone.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-31 07:43:59

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@npub12s6…v20q
The difficult part can be allowing yourself to be found. Loneliness is a beguiling refuge.

2024-10-31 05:45:37

Sleepless
Forsaken night turns
her back; now, with no dreams left,
I have a cursed day.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-30 23:23:01

Hammer
A quiet anger;
a thoughtless word; and a heart
unjustly broken.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-30 12:59:02

Visions of Millennia
From a distant past,
torchlit and shadowed, a face,
with haunting beauty.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-30 07:38:59

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@npub12s6…v20q
An offerring to memory, which we embody, and which remains ever imprinted on the silent darkness. Even when the flowers fade.

2024-10-30 07:34:36

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@npub12s6…v20q
I wish the day would let me be free.

2024-10-30 07:33:01

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@npub12s6…v20q
Our fragility, and our promise of "forever", then.

2024-10-30 07:28:24

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@npub12s6…v20q
The residents of the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobllllantysiliogogogoch are so exhausted, they call it "LlanfairPG".
And, yes, I can both spell and pronounce the full version.

2024-10-30 00:03:27

Hourglass
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#SJAshcroftsPoems #poems #poetry #PoetryCommunity #MyWordsMyWork
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/393/435/563/107/838/original/11e8c58f5dab18b3.jpg

2024-10-29 17:16:00

Road
When will a pathway
shine across the night, to link
past, and destiny?
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-29 07:52:22

Hope through all Seasons
A bleak, grey morning;
the horizon waits for me.
I'll reach it, one day.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-29 07:28:47

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@npub12s6…v20q
Fears, that so often come to naught. Of course, things go wrong. But, as long as you keep going, very little is irretrievable.
One day, you will laugh at that apprehension. One day, you will achieve your desires. Keep chasing your dreams, no matter what.

2024-10-28 23:34:14

Constricted
As hours fall, time holds
my heart, a captive; its cords
cut deep, and draw blood.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-28 13:05:23

Imprisoned
Silent heart, tell me,
how can unseen bonds hold you,
a willing captive?
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-28 07:53:58

Somewhere
Morning cloud, shrouding
the West; my tired eyes, searching,
for hidden beauty.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-28 00:08:47

Territorial Waters
Even boundless sea
seems constrained, by shores that judge,
or claim possession.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-27 17:42:24

Evening Falls
A lonely river
weaves between banks, where darkness
threatens to hide us.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-27 11:17:47

Song for Ancient Days
#SJAshcroftsPoems #poems #poetry #PoetryCommunity #MyWordsMyWork
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2024-10-26 23:24:07

Unanswered
Waiting, on this shore,
for the night to fold, and bring
lost dreams together.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-26 19:31:21

Lost Reality
Reflections of light,
build worlds in water; which long
to feel a hand's touch.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-26 07:50:08

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@npub12s6…v20q
You think that is a pretence? We are all falling, and the sky is where our homes are to be found.

2024-10-26 07:47:27

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@npub12s6…v20q
You are here, in my reality. Therefore, you are real, in my universe.
Really...!

2024-10-25 12:29:06

The Promise
Though darkness hides me,
I will not turn and leave you
alone, in night's cold.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-25 11:01:07

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@npub12s6…v20q Are not we all?

2024-10-24 22:41:16

Chained
Ancient injustice
builds a wall of tears, to prove
there is no freedom.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-24 15:23:41

Stride
When mist cloaks the hills,
or clouds hide the moon, my soul
must walk on, blindly.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-24 11:47:10

Biding
Tension in the air,
as of a storm, unforecast,
which, yet, may pass by.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-23 09:04:38

Endings
As flames burn out, stars
fall to ash, are we condemned
to be forgotten?
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-23 08:57:56

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@npub1xym…nz48
Generally, it's a good idea. It's something I try to do regularly...

2024-10-22 23:25:25

Orbits
Silence 'mid the stars;
and night will prove its longing,
in unheard verses.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-22 16:57:11

Prisoner of Years
Hands, bound; cut by cords
that tighten, daily. When will
the bonds be broken?
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-22 09:34:40

Dagger in the Dark
My dreams hold a blade
to my throat, while demanding
surrender to night.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-22 09:07:13

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@npub12s6…v20q
The stars looking down on you? Each pinprick of light, an eye? Each eye speaking across æons, reminding your soul of times lost to memory?
This describes, to me, a sense of longing for all that is hidden; not really lost, but out of reach, through tracts of uncounted years.
Evocative.

2024-10-21 23:10:15

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@npub12s6…v20q Ouch. Painkillers, quick.

2024-10-21 21:12:52

Couple of hours work, Linux Mint 22.0 is finally up and running...
#Linux #BloomingComputers

2024-10-21 05:34:24

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@npub12s6…v20q – people can be so very tiring. Something the gregarious types cannot understand.
Rest a while and watch the stars. You'll be fine.

2024-10-20 22:35:28

Wistful Dreams
The wind is calling,
and some primæval response
fills me, with longing.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-20 11:31:37

Parc Cwmdarran
First ever visit. Top of the Rhymney Valley, an old coalmining site turned to a nature reserve.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024; CC-BY-NC-ND
These photos are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
#SJAshcroftsPhotos #MyPhotos
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/339/502/041/027/903/original/a27f4ef88dc834b6.jpeg
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/339/502/050/149/296/original/02dffa397e8ac4ba.jpeg
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https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/339/502/092/741/863/original/622d5ca1a01a6cbe.jpeg

2024-10-20 11:22:50

Three Lakes
Visited in yesterday, to take advantage of the sun.
Parc Cwmdarran, Parc Brynbach, and a panorama of one of the Garn Lakes.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024; CC-BY-NC-ND
These photos are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
#SJAshcroftsPhotos #MyPhotos
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/339/446/866/308/390/original/bce68664e0e438b6.jpeg
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2024-10-20 10:50:52

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@npub16kl…3wry
Take time to breathe...

2024-10-20 09:08:57

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@npub12s6…v20q
She felt the fear, and the loss.
She knew, in an instant, that they would search through aeons, to find each other again. Time, death, could fly to Hades. And maybe, one far day, when this place lie, forgotten, in the earth, they would meet again.
On a kinder shore.

2024-10-20 09:08:39

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@npub12s6…v20q
We would not recognise the ceremony, today. But it seemed to her natural, mystical. The Gods of ths place had blessed them both – forever. And, now, their home, on the hill, overlooking the village and the sea beyond. They were not wealthy, in this world's terms. But through time itself, they would be rich beyond words.
It was a cruel shore. And lawless. She saw the flames from the raiders torches, in the night. She heard the cries of pain and rage.

2024-10-20 09:08:05

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@npub12s6…v20q
It was a cruel shore. Idyllic its way, but the sun drenched beach was ringed with rock, and etesian winds raised breakers as high and powerful as the storm, in their season.
Trees hid inlets, and a steep hill rose to a village, built out of flinty rock.
They were a kind people. Surviving on the skills of ancient shepherds, fishermen, and skilled as potters. She loved them, even as she took her first step into that place. It held much promise. Her home, and her fated match.

2024-10-19 23:03:26

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@npub12s6…v20q
Go for it, girl.

2024-10-19 21:40:30

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@npub1gc3…jsqh Nooo...!!! Come back...!!!

2024-10-19 18:42:51

Undying
My mind, still, returns,
to a far shore of dreams; dead,
but reawoken.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-19 07:38:05

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@npub10mz…fm0x
Oooh, yes. Started yesterday and today with a Greek coffee...
Have a good one.

2024-10-19 06:19:20

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@npub12s6…v20q
To be buffeted and unable to move, freely, away, or to feel the wind and allow your mind to dance?
Either interpretation is possible.

2024-10-18 22:58:31

Listener
I, who sought silence,
for its comfort, now, must learn
to bear its burden.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-18 22:18:40

Straits
Hero, softly dare,
in grief's abandoned madness,
to seek your passion.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-18 19:28:16

Woodland Voices.
Amid autumn trees,
beauty and decay tell me
of lives – lost, through time.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-17 15:13:09

Garden of Sighs
Husbandman, your tears
may freeze, as wind-borne ice takes
the bloom you tended.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-17 12:49:05

Insurgent Soul
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#SJAshcroftsPoems #poems #poetry #PoetryCommunity #MyWordsMyWork
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2024-10-16 23:16:31

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@npub12s6…v20q
Haunting, then, are not to be feared.

2024-10-16 22:56:40

One Land
Do not far shores vow
their joining, through an ocean
that bears their desires?
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-16 21:21:47

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@npub12s6…v20q
As long as you keep breathing and producing poetry, to lend extra value to that oxygen...

2024-10-16 16:53:09

Sages
Folly of this world,
to ignore wisdom of those
who feel Earth's heartbeat.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-16 09:10:09

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@npub1uhn…2f8t @npub12s6…v20q
Might apply to all of us...

2024-10-16 09:08:54

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@npub12s6…v20q
🙈🙉🙊

2024-10-15 17:05:49

Enough
Scrolls of lives' records,
short or long, only unroll
into tragedies.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-10-14 19:14:41

Web of Unseen Days
Our lives, expanding,
fill ageless dreams; though apart,
we touch so closely.
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity

2024-09-07 20:30:46

Reinventions
© Simon J Ashcroft, 2024
#SJAshcroftsPoems #poems #poetry #PoetryCommunity #MyWordsMyWork
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