Growth

It's then,

Beyond deepest depth of despair

You'll find meaning,

And all that felt worthless

Becomes worthwhile.

And where there was no reason

A purpose begins to grow,

And that which came as failure

Becomes success and victory.

It's then and only then,

At that very point in time

You begin to grow,

When you've mastered all the pain

And you face it no longer with fear

You'll find yourself - and more.

Marge Mason, Newton Aycliffe.

The Garden

They gave me a garden

Small and bare

Perhaps I could sit

And ponder there.

But sit and ponder

I could not,

For what I could see

Was not a lot,

So with a spade

Fork, rake and hoe,

I said right

Let's have a go,

I dug and raked

With all my might,

'Til I was sure I got it right,

Then with plant and seed

I'd go over every inch

Of soil, you know,

And now, what was once

Small and bare. I see

Flowers everywhere.

Now, with the flowers

Came birds and bees. Now

I just sit and take my ease.

Walter Sinclair, Darlington.

Impossible Dream

The fruit of Eden, dust in the wind,

The Holy Books, have long since gone,

The search for greed that ruled the mind

Is overcome, all life is one.

The truth of God, we're all divine,

Eternally written with his intent,

Service to other, a soothing rhyme,

Thoughts of fear are truly spent.

The conquered shades of hate have fled,

Buried in a heavenly scene,

Which fades, I wake, I'm still in bed,

With memory of an impossible dream.

Ken Beetham, Newton Aycliffe.

Clearance

They came today to clear a space

A place for housing cars and things,

And leaving not a trace

Of the plants and shrubs once growing there.

Birds and creatures lost their space

In that frantic materialistic race,

Gone was the blossom that crept over my wall

And the colourful leaves I enjoyed in the fall.

Today it is tree stumps and tangled roots

Tomorrow the explosion of soil and earth,

Later the concrete and timber and stone

The earth replies with a hideous groan

And sadly submits to the desecration of life.

Merle Westgarth, Castleside, Consett.

Stockton In My Youth

When I first came to Stockton

I was 15 years of age,

It had England's finest High Street

And pubs were all the rage.

There were the Vane Arms and The Black Lion

And Royals big and small,

And the Grey Horse and the Phoenix

I have drank in one and all.

We had the finest market

In all of the North-East,

To walk round took you half a day

It really was a feast.

We had the Empire and the Odeon

And the Globe with all its stars,

You had dances at the Maison

And little coffee bars.

We had lots of supermarkets

In the centre of the town,

Then along came their planners

To pull the whole lot down.

Presto, Hintons, Duncans

And Asda in West Row,

Even Walter Willson's

But the whole lot had to go.

In my view the High Street

Is really in a mess,

Do you look left or right

Is anybody's guess?

So let's turn back the clock once more

To Nineteen Fifty Seven,

And walk through Stockton town again

We'll all be back in heaven.

Derek Robinson, Stockton.

To MAFF

Blot out screams and block out cries,

Stifle their groans and avert your eyes,

Scrub hard, wash away their warm smelling blood,

Authority's right and knows what's good.

Shoot them! Shoot them! Ignore their eyes,

Astonished, accepting, they drop like flies.

But in among the grisly heap

Of bloodstained carcasses, a sheep

Still moves - what horror she must feel,

Her heaven becomes hell and hell becomes real.

And you walk past, just bow your head,

How can you sleep at night in bed?

JEM Lonsdale, Chester-le-Street.

Missing You

Did you mean it when you said

That you loved me with all your heart?

Did you hear the words I whispered to you

The day we had to part?

Oh, why then do these negative thoughts

Go whirling around my brain,

Like the thunderous crash of the sea on the rocks

Or the roar of an express train.

But then I see flowers blooming

And remember a sweet bouquet

Or hear the church bells claiming

Someone's happy wedding day.

It's then that the negative thoughts

(Foolishly allowed to darken a day)

Are immediately forgotten

And gladly washed away.

Olga Ramshaw, West Rainton.

So Long Ago

Some time ago I went to see the house of my "teenage" years

And when I gazed upon it my eyes were full to tears,

So many memories it brought back of days when I lived there,

A house that was always filled with joy and mum cleaned it with much care.

I thought of happy times with friends, family parties that were fun,

The card games we often played and laughed if we lost or won.

I looked at the garden, where was the hedge that used to be at its base?

Alas now gone and there I saw a garage in its place,

For in those days we had no car, but we could always choose

To walk up all the hilly roads, or the tramcar we would use,

The garden gate was missing, it made me very sad

To think of how the garden was tendered by my dad.

The fields we used to look upon, always fresh and green

Now all gone and in their place more houses filled the scene.

People I knew had moved away, and the house atmosphere it did lack

Which proves the age old saying: "One never should go back".

But when I think about it, what did I expect to find?

I should have let the memory just stay there in my mind.

Jean Allaway, Darlington.