Category: Life

Posted in Life

thirty five turns of the sun

Posted on by Charlie Alford 
thirty five turns of the sun 
lingers on my horizon  
mind floats
why am I? 
how am I? 

it's dark in here
im hiding under the bed 
my eyes are shut 
and i feel... yeah... 

i was going to be a cartoonist 
i was going to be a traveller 
i was going to be a creator 
i was going to be 

have you ever done those quizzes 
things to do before 
insert an age or die 

the internet says 
know the glue can come undone  
know not all hearts beat together 
know your friends have your back 
know it's okay to go off track 
know 

thirty five turns of the sun 
i'm playing the game 
and i'm far from done.
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Posted in Australia, Family, Friendship, Life, Writing

What have you been up to since high school?

Posted on by Charlie Alford

I’ve been doing that thing called learning.

Every day I have begun again.

My life is like a candle burning.

In the fires, I have found my Zen.

 

I live in a world filled with anarchy.

I have battled the front lines of darkness.

I have stood with my friends in unity.

I have fought to bring back their sparkle.

 

I have studied Durkheim, Weber and Jung.

Travelled the world with Mr Bryson.

Found Shakespeare in a crowded room

and Chesterton in darkest London.

 

I’ve climbed atop Arthurs Seat (Scotland),

and rode a plastic cart down the Great Wall.

I’ve drunk Champagne on the banks of the Seine

and got lost in a Kowloon mall.

 

I’ve driven along Australian highways

in my beautiful Red Capri,

I’ve swum about Port Phillip Bay

and watched the stars on the drive to Sydney.

 

I’ve felt the emptiness of waiting rooms

and drunk coffee that tastes like piss

I’ve felt the skies roar with thunderous booms

peace and miracles are my Christmas wish.

 

I’ve worn different characters and costumes,

they have called me Chum, Alice and Red.

The weirdest one was in a ballroom,

and like Cinderella, I danced and fled.

 

I have laughed until I’m blinded by tears,

and cried till I couldn’t breath

moments made memories through the years

of my friends, my family and me.

 

What have I been doing since high school?

Well, simply put, it’s just like this

I’ve been playing the game, learning the rules,

creating memories to reminisce.

Posted in Life, Writing

Inside an Introvert

Posted on by Charlie Alford

Everything has a story,

the who, what, why and where.

I spend my life journaling

and watching them, over there.

Our stories come through music,

through books and on the screen,

they make us laugh out loud

and sometimes even scream.

I’m trying to find my story

but I’ve been locked away by time

I never really grew up

so there’s nothing on this line.

These hazel eyes feel empty,

the tears I’v been holding back

what’s the use in crying?

I don’t know how to react.

Who is this blank person,

glaring back at me?

Is there anything inside her?

I find, I can’t breathe.

I drive the road, unchartered

my past clings to the mirror

I don’t know what is out there

I can’t see what’s in my future.

I see the tree’s sparkle,

and there I find my peace

Crackling bacon and laughter

snug in a winter fleece.

I tell myself I don’t need them

I’m happy driving alone

but all my dreams include them

I think of them as home.

How do I break down this wall?

How do I engage?

I just want to wake up.

I want to be on their page.

This soliloquy could be endless

I could write from dawn to dusk

But the world is outside waiting,

and I have to try, I must.

Posted in Life

An Untitled Life

Posted on by Charlie Alford

 

 I like to live the way I want to live

in my own company, completely free.

My choices. I don’t ask you to forgive

coz I only answer to one person. Me. 

I’ve been cleaning out yesterdays wardrobe,

my boots and pack are asleep on the shelf

neighbours to treasures from across the globe

above the costumes, that make me myself.

I bought sunflowers because they make me smile.

I have Frankie for when I want to escape.

My Sharpies are defenders of my creative trials

as I colour the pieces of my landscape.

My Chinese lanterns hang over Big Ben,

reflecting my memories of magical Earth,

collection of moments; who, what and when,

my friends as I descend, from birth to hearse.

 

Posted in holidays, Life, Time, Writing

Composed upon a hill

Posted on by Charlie Alford

Breathing out my thoughts,

words formed upon Queenstown Hill;

“I am. I am here”.

Diagonal steps

long before the beginning

my road keeps growing.

Moments, I can

say goodbye to past me

just remember to breath.

Benches are made for rest

as I ascend the valley

dodging the boulders.

An iron gate creaks open

I follow ancient steps

in the winter chill.

The road changes

from forest to jagged rocks

the mountains are my compass.

The sun will keep time moving

but forever will wait

it’s just another moment

it’s just another story

it’s just my journey.

 

 

Posted in Life

Journey

Posted on by Charlie Alford

Inspired by Thomas Moore ‘The Journey Onwards’

The plot was marked above the earth

gravity she was breaking

her tail pointed towards her birth

and her eyes towards her dreaming.

It’s always hard to leave our friends

the people that define us

but on we go around the bends

away from those who think they know us.

The tapestry of all our years

tell the tales of our growing

we look back on them with happy tears

with memories overflowing.

Reliving moments way back when

affirm the threads that bind us

enrich our love again, again

for those we left behind us.

And as she breathes each foreign shore

and wanders every street

she thinks on love for evermore

and looks for it, in those she meets.

Another scene marks another weave

older chapters start to fade

but the light of love never leaves

and so her story is made.

So, when the road comes to an end

and her tapestry is complete

she’ll think of those from way back when

her people, she will greet.