DawningsUnderworldBy Nicholas Hooper It’s dark in the underworld. But is that necessarily a bad thing? I always thought of dark as a place where things can hide unseen and leap out at me. Fear the dark where ghosts and ghouls live. You can’t see. You don’t know. You have no frame of reference. But dark is night. Dark is sleep …

DawningsI cryBy Nicholas Hooper I cry for the world to which I belong I long to sing it a gentle song of relief from suffering, fear and starvation, from wars that break out between every nation. I cry for the victims for they are so many compared to the killers: the terrorists, the army. The ones who would live in …

DawningsA millionthBy Nicholas Hooper To see a millionth of another’s universe, to see past the barriers that protect her precious galaxy when all the doors have gradually opened and all the other people’s stories have been told. To hold that silence of eyes, that closeness that every being yearns for, that time of essence and untold joy. It is to …

DawningsWhat’s on my mind?By Nicholas Hooper What’s on my mind? What’s in my fingers? Words lose their flow Morning doubt lingers. Fight for the words Fight for the right To make every day A way to the light It sounds wild outside The wind’s sombre threat Distracts my thoughts Makes rhymes hard to get But just as the clock Shows …

DawningsWinter nowBy Nicholas Hooper Cold ice will slow all things down. Movement, building, any kind of chemical process. The time for winter is here and we must rest. Actually, I enjoy the chill and crunch of frosty grass beneath my feet. The clear moonlight and bright stars that allow such cold instead of the gloomy blanket of cloud that keeps …

DawningsInto my silenceBy Nicholas Hooper Into my silence, sounds are creeping, creeping. Thoughts like lumps of concrete crash onto the stage of my mind. The whistle in my ear is always there Reminding me, reminding me, reminding me. I am frail – my body has bounds, and Not everything will work. My blank sheet start is already populated With constant …

DawningsHopeBy Nicholas Hooper Hope is where the dreams are. Amidst the gravel and the grunge of daily life despite the gloom of a sick world there is a crisp dawn, a full moon and from the earth beneath my feet sparkles of distant planets that have taken a million years to reach us, rise and fill my lungs with the …

DawningsThe ladderBy Nicholas Hooper Building up out of a place that seemed hopeless, he felt a breath of fresh air, a glimpse of light, and like all things alive, he grew towards what would give him life. Dust had settled on his shoulders, grime was in his eyes and his bones creaked like a rusty gate. Up, take the next …

DawningsHow to find a placeBy Nicholas Hooper The place, that place, the place where your mind is still. The bodies and minds around you are moving, talking, persuading. But your mind is still. There is a tendency for your mind to assume that every other mind knows better. But nobody knows better than you what is going on in your …

DawningsPoints of LightBy Nicholas Hooper Funny how just as you neared a morning fraught with potential problems, this title came to your mind. The day after you had discovered that you had unintentionally hurt a good, good friend too. There are times when optimism sings through: things will improve, everyone is trying their best, so many mean well, and, and …