Tag: poetry

Posted in #NaPoWriMo

NaPoWriMo 2026 – 15/30

Posted on by Charlie Alford 
Language fashions the pysche I'm finding
words and music turn my pain into art
every ingredient brings magic
like the texture of batter in cupcakes.
Clothes exhibit my imagination 
every necklace and ring has a story
weaving colours and patterns through my style
like acrylic strokes across a canvas.
I know who I am through my ancestry, 
my archetype and personality
I know who I am through my studying
it only took me 40 years to get here.
Posted in #NaPoWriMo

NaPoWriMo 2026 – 14/30

Posted on by Charlie Alford 
We used to do a pub test
floating a conversation
taking a poll with our beer
the winner was the loudest.

Now I'm in my home office
a polished problem statement
is answered in online forms
and pre-formatted spreadsheets.

I give a voice to data
study all the ones and zeros
mining for insights and trends
to coax a conversation.

As the data grows louder
the pub test goes quieter.

Posted in #NaPoWriMo

NaPoWriMo 2026 – 12/30

Posted on by Charlie Alford 
Quiet above the cross-country roadways
a wall of beech and ash circle the view
lush green bursts from meadows and old forests
stitched together in a fresh golden hue.

A textured blanket of silvery clouds
sprays a dance of shadows across the valley
the sun breaks through with sparkles on houses
a transformative show changes hourly.

Silence passing from the dewey hillside
Her heart is filled with jam doughnuts and tea
The ghosts of Austen and Keats whispering
welcome to the finest view in Surrey.



Posted in Writing

NaPoWriMo 2026 – 4/30

Posted on by Charlie Alford

Colours of yesterday fade

Golden nostalgia changes

Summer falls to the shade

A filter on the Ranges.

A sheer curtain with the dawn

Life inserts its fade out scene

A sparkle across the lawn 

Warmth echoes last night’s dream.

A new world is beginning 

Khaki, orange, brown red hues

Glows where the sun is burning 

Beneath the cloth, we’re evolving. 

Posted in #napowrimo2024, Writing

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 2/30

Posted on by Charlie Alford

Side pony-tails and blue wellies

Found your red dusty rusty earth

Enchanting the young, wild and free

Behind the fences of Wentworth.

I loved hopping over the sty

Hunting the chestnuts on the ground

Scaling the Oak into the sky

Enchanted by the woodland sound.

You line the memories of my heart

A drop in the ocean of me

And although we are miles apart

I think of you often, happily.

Thank you for my magic childhood

My little patch of English wood.

Posted in #napowrimo2024, Writing

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 1/30

Posted on by Charlie Alford

I am a blade of short grass

Dancing along the river

Bubbled by the southern sun

And simmered by Sunday mass.

I’m not like the other hues

I only long for one step more

Springing from this tight pruned world

An adventure for the true.

Life took me from my woodland

Skipping, stumbling with the breeze

The passage of time followed

As I learned to take command.

I still have many rocks to climb

In my dreams along the Rhine.

Posted in Writing

NaPoWriMo – Day 29 – I am

Posted on by Charlie Alford 
I am a brown eyed unicorn
tip-toeing through this universe
afraid of my own echoes.
I want to find my voice and shine.
but I am a brown eyed unicorn.
I step to centre stage 
the spotlight burns my soul
intensifying the fear.
I don’t belong here.
I don’t know where I belong.
I am just a brown eyed unicorn.
There is a reason for everything
the carousel keeps turning
the mountain needs climbing
and I am always wondering 
why was I born, a brown eyed unicorn?
Posted in Writing

NaPoWriMo – Day 21 – Courage

Posted on by Charlie Alford 
Stop saying ‘my understanding is’
be active and straight with your words
Stop second guessing your position
say what you need to say, be heard.
I’m not going to be here.
I’m not going to answer.
I’m not sitting around waiting
I’m dancing like a sunflower.
Courage is not the absence of fear…