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Best Poems Written by Neil Andrew Hornby

Below are the all-time best Neil Andrew Hornby poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

A Generation Lost

The ghost of Lincolnshire's Daughter
Tonight smiles from her grave
With the locking of iron gates
Ends a plan that she made

Every father passed to his son
A family craft that was unbroken
Doffing of peaks, kept in line
With the banksman's pit token

Then with questions of fairness
Would lead to great losses
They would stand toe to toe
With their betters and pit bosses

Westminster Right would revel
In a working class decline
Pomposity and misuse of
Yorkshire's Thin Blue Line 

So with lungs blackened with dust
A once strong Union's last stand
They walked out lamenting
To tunes of the colliery brass band

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

Salute Them Too

Salute them too.

As that old clock struck six, on that cold Winter's morn.
An unjust bullet ripped through his tunic bloodied, tattered and torn.
They said he should die, as he didn't have the heart.
But he wasn't born to kill, out of trenches so dark.

A call to arms would bring pals from his hometown.
Defense of the realm, their King and the crown.
It will be over by Christmas, they said, God Willing.
With a chest full of medals and a tarnished King's shilling.

Trumpet peels would give way to Reality's joke.
Boots seeped in mud and blackened lungs full of smoke.
Realisation of his place, on this battlefield he's a pawn .
He had no stomach for the fight, as friends he would mourn.

Rank and file were stirred, by an Officer's rousing speech.
But tears ran from his face, onto his gun's open breech.
His body would stiffen, as his bayonet eased from his grip.
And a gifted white feather would be added to the script.

Wrists cut by iron shackles, as he lays in his cell.
And he prays for forgiveness and release from this hell.
Stood before his betters, his fate he would learn
The black cap gave the verdict, comrades backs they would turn.

Now a hundred years on, can we finally understand?
A broken mind, doesn't make us a less of a man.
Despite history book text, I hope we can finally see.
Frail hearts that did fall, were still better men than me.

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

Goodbye

I gave you breath, you choked me.
I fixed you, you broke me.
I let you in, you closed the door.
You gave your love, but now no more.
I wiped your tears, I took your pain.
I made you strong, now I’m to blame.
We talked all night, with nothing to say.
I held you tight, you slipped away.
I gave you warmth, but now you’re cold.
I paid for love, now it’s been sold.
I know the truth will never deceive me.
But I prayed for lies when you said you’d leave me. 
Now as you walk, out of my life.
A scar will be left, by love's bloodied knife.

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

The Bloodied Beautiful

Poppies blossom in a field
Where young men once fought
Their stories now forgotten
As are the lessons that were taught

It's blood red petal
Is caught by the breeze
It's flight brief and glorious
Falling on Europe's leas

A mother's hopes come crashing
With fists knocking on the door
Grim faces hide emotion
Another casualty of war

A hundred years have now passed
With lives still being lost
Leaders chests still being beaten
Detached feelings of the cost

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

Glass Houses

Let he who is with out sin cast the first stone
A mother is worthless, because she lives alone
A young man is branded, because a name of a street
Sneering of food banks, and the need to eat
Just hate him because of his love of a man
Leer at the beggar, who earns what he can
Twisting of young minds, with religious belief
Or instilling hatred, with patriotic, grinding teeth
Blame the junkie because of choices that were made
Ridicule the old as their looks start to fade
Show disdain as they pour on to our shores
Forget how we stole, what was theirs is now yours
Have hatred for the man who cant pay his rent
Scorn on the bum who's youth was misspent
Question a man because of the colour of his skin
Remove hospital care, till the fat man gets thin
Don't question my values till you analyse your own, for
Let he who is with out sin cast the first stone

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

History Weeps

A country's lost crusade
Reparations stripped them bare
A nation once so proud
Engulfed with emptiness and despair

Evil's doctrine explained by "My Struggle"
Religious hatred bred belief
"The crucifier of our Lord
Is now a rapist or a thief"

As lies turn into hate
Their souls given absolution
Blame a stranger for all ills
Rationalisation for persecution

A number etched on an arm
An inked lasting identification
"A devil needs no name"
Was a mad man's vindication

A solution was made final
Vapours released by the Black skull's fist
Joy Division's melodies played on
For innocence concluding tryst

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

Stay Safe

Well that wasn't expected 
When I got out of bed
I'll not need my tea putting on
As I've ended up dead

That wasn't expected 
When I walked out the door
Would you tidy up my things
As I wont need them any more

That wasn't expected 
When I got on the bus
I guess there will be some tears 
But not too much fuss

That wasn't expected 
When I walked through the gate
This was my last day of work
And my bubble would deflate

That wasn't expected 
But I'm sure my boss knew
An accident waiting to happen
He should of tightened that screw

That wasn't expected
He should of been taken to court
But with seedy back handers
Greedy officials will be bought

Well that wasn't expected
A lesson learnt from my death
Take time and take care
Delay that final breath

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

The Fool

HE WAS HER KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR
BUT HE COMMITTED THE ETERNAL SIN
HIS ARMOUR WAS NOW SO TARNISHED
HE WAS, THE ENEMY WITHIN.
IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS SO CLEAR
HIS ACTIONS HAD MADE HER SMILE
HE HAD TAKEN HER BY THE HAND
LIKE A FATHER WITH HIS CHILD

IN TIME HER HAND GREW STRONGER
BUT HIS STRENGTH IT SEEMED TO FADE
NOW SHE WAS THERE TO PROTECT HIM
FROM THE DEMONS THAT HE MADE

SHE BUILT A HOME OF STONE
OF WHICH HE DID BELONG
HE SEEMED INTENT TO PULL IT DOWN
HIS EMPIRE WOULD BE GONE

SO NOW HE HAS TO WORK IT OUT
HE’ S GOT TO LEARN TO BEND
NOT ONLY WILL HE LOSE HIS FAMILY
BUT ALSO HIS BEST FRIEND

IN HIS HEART HE’ S STILL A HERO
THE SITUATIONS NOW SO GRAVE
BECAUSE WHAT USE IS A HERO
WHEN THERE'S NO-ONE LEFT TO SAVE

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

And the Sun It Still Does Shine

It was the land of our fathers
Life was hard, a daily grind
Though we had food in our bellies
And the sun it still did shine

Foreign soldiers came with promises
But their leaders were so blind
Our land became unstable
But the sun it still did shine

The black flag came with mad men
Holy books redefined
Bloodied streets flowed like rivers
But the sun it still did shine

With despair and with no hope
A new land must we find
Crushing bodies cling to each other
But the sun it still did shine

My child's hand it slipped away from me
With a surge of the salty brine
A watery grave now of so many
But the sun it still does shine

Details | Neil Andrew Hornby Poem

No More First Dates

Hair all bedraggled
And soaked to the skin
Stood there in odd socks
But a million pound grin
A plate full of food
Is eaten in a hurry
"Leave the washing up 
We're gonna miss Corrie!"

Sat in knickers and boxers
As we don't seem to care
We are what we are
And not what we wear

Child like giggles
Mask that we're grown ups
Chipped mugs full of tea 
As there's no china cups

I wake through the night
With questions in my head
Why someone so small
Would need so much bed

So now I'm on Facebook
With my status updates
I have the world's biggest smile
........There's no more first dates.