Mum

(Picture Credit - Our Family)

Dementia took Mum in her final year

So I never got to tell her how

I loved her so.

Or that I appreciated all she did for me

Without condition.

Dementia damn you!

For months Mum could not hear

Or understand

Most things we said to her.

We lost her way before the end.

Last time I saw her she was in a panic

Afraid she’d soil her pants

The care-home staff tied up with other things.

They always did their best.

I hope my actions were enough

To show my love for her.

May she rest in peace.

Paul Butters

Time

(Cone Nebula by Space dot com)

Oh Time you trouble me.

You’re always on the move,

So Death can come too soon.

 

Without you, though, we never

Would be here to live this life.

Yes, nothing can exist

Without your all-pervading presence.

They say your mother was

The Big Bang:

From nothing, a singularity,

You emerged.

 

So now you keep on going,

Remorselessly bringing

A seemingly endless cycle

Of Life and Death.

Can we travel through you?

Nobody knows.

Will you ever die?

Perhaps when the Universe has spread

Too thin.

One thing’s for sure.

Dear Time, we never can

Ignore you.

Paul Butters

What's God got to do with it?

(Picture Credit - Tina Turner by Bubblews)

 

 

My reworked version of the great lyrics of Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, as sung by Tina Turner. The original of course was about “Love”.

 

What’s God got to do with it?

What’s God but a second hand devotion?

Who needs a God

Who can never be woken?

 

It may seem to you

That I love to blaspheme.

When you’re close to Him

All doubt is too grim.

 

Yet those whizzing racing cars are not

The only Formula One:

Big Banged Hydrogen atoms

Make Chemicals

The building blocks of Life.

 

Our universe runs to a pattern:

Countless Earths and Eyeball worlds

Round yellow, orange and red suns;

Tidally locked planets

(Each with one face to its sun)

In Goldilocks Zones:

And where there is water

There is Life.

 

A Force is with us:

There’s no name for it

Or phrase that fits.

But whatever the reason,

It does it for me.

 

I’ve been taken in a new direction,

But have to say

I’ve been thinking about my own protection

It so scares me to feel this way.

 

So what’s God got to do with it?

Maybe one day

He – or more likely She –

Will let us know.

 

Paul Butters

 

(C) PB 12\5\2013 in Yorkshire.

Kepler

(Photo Credit - NASA, Kepler Mission, Wendy Stenzel)

We once thought Hubble was the King of telescopes,

But now it’s Kepler reigning all the sky.

Discovering thousands of new worlds

Or exoplanets as they’re called.

This super viewer leads us t’wards New Earth,

But might yet show us all, in this new age,

The Reason Why.

 

Paul Butters

 

(C) PB 24\2\2013 in Yorkshire.

Nobody Knows

(Picture Credit - Antifan-Real)

Will We live forever?

Nobody knows.

Can we conquer cancer.

Is there life after death.

Will our Universe fade away at the last,

Or will it be reborn.

Will it expand for ever,

Or wax and wane.

Will we ever find the smallest thing,

Or the largest.

Could we really travel through time,

Even to the next star.

Is there a God,

Or race of Gods.

Is this reality

Or just

A computer simulation.

Is there a Heaven

Or Hell,

Or are we reincarnated

To live endless lives.

Can we live forever in flesh

Or just in spirit.

Are there really ghosts

And poltergeists.

What is The Purpose of all this?

Why do we exist?

Yes, why are we here?

Why?

Nobody knows.

Paul Butters

© Paul Butters, 27\10\2012 in Yorkshire.

Dream On

(Picture Credit - Tighe)

Dream on, my friend,

Like me.

Of a future Heaven on Earth,

Or even just a Heaven.

Peace to all Men,

And Women.

Nor more starvation,

Disease

Or Death.

A Paradise in full bloom.

Endless forest, savannas and parklands

Ringed by towering mounts.

Habitats for countless species:

Humanity united with Mother Nature.

Trivial pleasures too.

Leeds United World Champions.

British wins at Wimbledon.

Another World Cup win.

Girls Aloud joining me,

For a fish and chip tea.

More medals in Rio,

Than we got in twenty twelve.

Crank up that warp drive,

Or better still,

Open up that Uniscape

So we can go

Into a parallel universe

Of our choice.

A realm where fiction becomes fact.

Where Captain Kirk is real

And Shatner just a character

On TV.

Where Telletubbies really watch us,

And Father Christmas truly shows his face.

Golden pavements are mere trifles,

And God gives us his grace.

We have to keep on dreaming.

Our hopes must never die.

Just simply keep on dreaming,

No need to reason why.

Paul Butters

© Paul Butters 27\10\2012 (2) in Yorkshire.

Mirror

(Picture Credit: frenchantiquestexas; source Google Images)

Mirror, mirror shining bright,

Bathe me in your silver light.

Who’s the fairest of them all?

Only you can make that call.

You’re the one who shows the truth,

Better than the cleverest sleuth.

You might be a TV screen

Showing things just best unseen.

A doorway into Wonderland

Down routes without you, all unscanned.

A gateway into unknown realms:

I picture countless lofty elms.

Just walk right through that shimmering screen,

To places where you've never been.

Really, though, it’s but a reflection.

I thank you for that kind correction.

There is no monster lurking there,

No need for panic, sweat or prayer.

It’s just a mirror after all,

A pane of glass that can enthral.

The truth, I trust, is all we see,

An image that’s completely free.

Paul Butters