Poetry - Lynn White

  A Blue Whale Look at them all   swimming round me taunting me   waving their legs at me   tickling me pinching me and swimming away constantly taunting me. No wonder I’m depressed. What a wheeze to make me the largest creature on the planet   need to eat one of the smallest. Well Joker, I’m not laughing. Forty million krill a day I need to eat according to Wiki. Yes, I keep up. I’m well informed but it doesn’t help me doesn’t make me feel better. To add to the insult I was given a tiny mouth, too small for the job. See, I’m hardly a basking shark swimming round all day with my mouth open so they can swim straight in. No, it’s open and close open and close till my jaw aches. No wonder I’m blue. https://litshark.com/issue-9-lit-shark-live/

  Rock Pool Just a small gap in the cliff side, dry and bare, unremarkable. Then in came the sea on a high tide washing over it, some staying   behind leaving a little pool of salt water, full of living. Like a pool of salty tears filling the gap, bringing it back to life temporarily. Tears can sometimes do that temporarily. https://litshark.com/issue-9-lit-shark-live/

  Found Objects On each beach they’ve been different. at home there washed up gently by lapping waves or thrown by high seas. Now they’re at home in my house. Each beach together, captured memories now. https://litshark.com/issue-9-lit-shark-live/

The Last Words Just a postcard enclosed in an envelope, enveloped for you as your love enveloped me. I expect no reply, there can be no reply when all that’s left are remnants, as worn and shrivelled as our love became. But I cannot quite let it go. https://www.lulu.com/shop/martha/the-soliloquist-spring-2025-issue/paperback/product-w4k8myg.html?page=1&pageSize=4

  Dizzy You turned my head so many times I felt dizzy in a permanent state of dizziness my head spinning round full of your sweet sayings, full of my sweet thoughts and I couldn’t deny them. I couldn’t deny you anything. I felt I was drowning in you, drowning in my own smiles which are turning to tears now as I hear your denials time after time   you deny me, denied you cared for me. I am encircled by your denials drowning in them now, turning this way and that till I’m dizzy still dizzy, holding on to your chair for support. I’m in denial, disempowered pretending you’re still there. https://www.lulu.com/shop/martha/the-soliloquist-spring-2025-issue/paperback/product-w4k8myg.html?page=1&pageSize=4

  Hey Joe Remember that you were once golden standing tall with dignity. Now the gold has darkened to sepia and dignity is dying. Sometimes the light shines through in flashes of the old gold when you remember but it’s less often now. Remember, nothing lasts forever so don’t be sad leave us now,  don’t be sad to leave us now we’ll try to remember  the gold, nothing lasts forever not even memory. https://chewersmasticadores.wordpress.com/2025/04/10/3-poems-by-lynn-white/

  Black and Blue Black and blue. Colours that go together  usually a perfect match usually. Red is different. It stands alone and shouts and screams and bleeds and bursts into flame. But there is black at the heart of the fire, black sticks  that make its bare bones.  And it needs air to burst into flame. Less air, though to burn with a blue flame to breathlessly consume  the black parts. Blue and black the remnants are lying there breathless memories. Black and blue. Beaten. Broken. Waiting for the red. https://chewersmasticadores.wordpress.com/2025/04/10/3-poems-by-lynn-white/

  Friday Mornings The Presenters interviewed the excluded boy. Their stated aim was to understand, to see what could be improved, how it could be made better for everyone. “How did he feel about being excluded,” they asked. “Don’t matter” the boy said. “Don’t go anyway, ‘cept for Friday mornings. Just mess about on the street. Used to wind ‘em up when I went, ‘ave a laugh that’s all bit of fun messing.” “Why?” an Interviewer asked. “Borin’ innit. Pointless waste of time apart from Friday mornings. And I’m a waste of space don’t wanna go won’t go.” “So you don’t mind being excluded?” an Interviewer asked. “Naw, rather be out with my mates, they keep getting excluded an’ all, there’s no point to it we can’t do it don’t want to try they’re all idiots don’t wanna go, ‘cept for Friday mornings. The questions came and went the answers repetitive but no one asked him what happened on Friday mornings. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/WhctKLbVljWtxprVcRFMSgXxhZTdZpwZBxXPvfLgThBjKqwFL...

  Jinxed By Jill She popped out of the vase like a Jill-in-the-box still holding on to the carroty snake she’d prised from the glaze inside. He’d rubbed the vase hard   to dry to clean her up   but it made her pop out like a Genie from the Arabian nights but with curses flowing from her forked tongue when he hoped for wishes. Jinxed by Jill, he thought darkly breaking the vase too late to break the spell. https://spillwords.com/jinxed-by-jill/

  Sacrifice The darkness enfolds me like a cloak, a good thick winter one with a deep velvety pile warm and comforting matching it’s shape to mine. The sky was blue earlier, then blue black turning purple purple black before came the blackness that I need to wrap me. Even so, up here on the surface it will always be broken   first by the harsh   pinpoint lights of stars glittery things pointlessly   breaking up my dark. Then   the breaking day splits it open cutting it with blue, grey, white, like a knife opening up a wound and slicing through my comfort sacrificing me to the sunlight. https://masticadorestaiwan.wordpress.com/2025/04/10/sacrifice-by-lynn-white/