by Nick Gisburne
The box was labelled 'All my hopes and dreams'.
It hid among the clutter of the shelf.
A cardboard treasure, bursting at the seams,
She filled it with the pieces of her self.
The clippings, cut from glossy magazines.
Those perfect people, living perfect lives.
The distant places, rich, exotic scenes,
And all the perfect husbands, perfect wives.
She saved them, and she vowed to make it so.
For years she planned for nothing else but this,
And when the treasure had no room to grow,
She stored it, safely, with a final kiss.
Perfect people.
Perfect lives.
Perfect husbands.
Perfect wives.
All my hopes.
All my dreams.
It was bursting at the seams.
All her life she planned for nothing else but this.
On a shelf she stored it, with a final kiss.
They found a second box, the day she died:
'My dreams fulfilled'. But nothing was inside.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem Hopes and Dreams
Wednesday 24 April 2024
Monday 22 April 2024
Poison for the Pain
by Nick Gisburne
Addicted to the fame he cannot find,
Respect and recognition never his,
The perfect little dreamworld he designed
Is no escape, but nothing ever is.
A pinch of powder, poison for the pain,
Is freedom, light, the pathway to a land
Where colours, floating, fluid, fall as rain,
Where faces shape the shadows of a hand.
The echoes of his emptiness are filled
With emeralds and eagles, swans and smoke.
Reality, impossible to build,
Is nothing now, a false, forgotten joke.
But even these, the dreams, are soon destroyed.
Their colours crack and blacken, smoke and stain.
Surrounded by the visions of the void,
He blinds his mind with poison for the pain.
Beyond the crooked reach of what is real,
Reluctant to return, to fall, to feel,
The poisons, ever potent, ever more,
Are scattered where they find him, on the floor.
The poisons, potent, ever more,
Are scattered where they find him, on the floor.
The colours crack and blacken, smoke and stain.
A boy lies broken, poisoned by the pain.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem Poison for the Pain
Addicted to the fame he cannot find,
Respect and recognition never his,
The perfect little dreamworld he designed
Is no escape, but nothing ever is.
A pinch of powder, poison for the pain,
Is freedom, light, the pathway to a land
Where colours, floating, fluid, fall as rain,
Where faces shape the shadows of a hand.
The echoes of his emptiness are filled
With emeralds and eagles, swans and smoke.
Reality, impossible to build,
Is nothing now, a false, forgotten joke.
But even these, the dreams, are soon destroyed.
Their colours crack and blacken, smoke and stain.
Surrounded by the visions of the void,
He blinds his mind with poison for the pain.
Beyond the crooked reach of what is real,
Reluctant to return, to fall, to feel,
The poisons, ever potent, ever more,
Are scattered where they find him, on the floor.
The poisons, potent, ever more,
Are scattered where they find him, on the floor.
The colours crack and blacken, smoke and stain.
A boy lies broken, poisoned by the pain.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem Poison for the Pain
Friday 19 April 2024
All I Need Is Night
by Nick Gisburne
I bleed and burn the colour of my words.
They smoulder in the shadows, bloated, black.
Their tissues, torn by sacrificial birds,
Disease my dreams, a burden on my back.
As evil as the soul of any snake,
I twist in whispers, blasphemous, bizarre.
A crippled mind, a cancerous mistake,
I welcome every lesion, every scar.
What binds me to this bleak, appalling place?
The sight of it is sickening, obscene.
The painted shades of midnight flood my face
With dangerous delusions, cold, unclean.
When all I see, when all I need, is night,
In darkness I will never know the light.
As evil as the soul of any snake,
I twist in whispers, blasphemous, bizarre.
A crippled mind, a cancerous mistake,
I welcome every lesion, every scar.
When all I breathe
When all I feel
When all I want
When all I see
When all I need is night,
In darkness I will never know the light.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem All I Need Is Night
I bleed and burn the colour of my words.
They smoulder in the shadows, bloated, black.
Their tissues, torn by sacrificial birds,
Disease my dreams, a burden on my back.
As evil as the soul of any snake,
I twist in whispers, blasphemous, bizarre.
A crippled mind, a cancerous mistake,
I welcome every lesion, every scar.
What binds me to this bleak, appalling place?
The sight of it is sickening, obscene.
The painted shades of midnight flood my face
With dangerous delusions, cold, unclean.
When all I see, when all I need, is night,
In darkness I will never know the light.
As evil as the soul of any snake,
I twist in whispers, blasphemous, bizarre.
A crippled mind, a cancerous mistake,
I welcome every lesion, every scar.
When all I breathe
When all I feel
When all I want
When all I see
When all I need is night,
In darkness I will never know the light.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem All I Need Is Night
A Giant
by Nick Gisburne
A giant.
Strong.
Invincible.
A king.
Almighty.
Most magnificent of all.
Of him, for all of time, the stars will sing,
Though none of them were there to see him fall.
As equals, friends, defenders of the gate,
We laughed at those who stood and stared, below.
It seemed that no misfortune could frustrate
His quiet, careful, comfortable glow.
A giant.
Strong.
Invincible.
A king.
Almighty.
Most magnificent of all.
Of him, for all of time, the stars will sing,
Though none of them were there to see him fall.
Though none of them were there to see him fall.
A life we have no right to comprehend,
A force unequalled, even if we tried,
A legend far too big or brave to end,
We mourn as we remember him, with pride.
A giant wanders with us, even now.
To what he was, his memory, we bow.
A giant.
Strong.
Invincible.
A king.
Almighty.
Most magnificent of all.
Of him, for all of time, the stars will sing,
Though none of them were there to see him fall.
A giant wanders with us, even now.
To what he was, his memory, we bow.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem A Giant
A giant.
Strong.
Invincible.
A king.
Almighty.
Most magnificent of all.
Of him, for all of time, the stars will sing,
Though none of them were there to see him fall.
As equals, friends, defenders of the gate,
We laughed at those who stood and stared, below.
It seemed that no misfortune could frustrate
His quiet, careful, comfortable glow.
A giant.
Strong.
Invincible.
A king.
Almighty.
Most magnificent of all.
Of him, for all of time, the stars will sing,
Though none of them were there to see him fall.
Though none of them were there to see him fall.
A life we have no right to comprehend,
A force unequalled, even if we tried,
A legend far too big or brave to end,
We mourn as we remember him, with pride.
A giant wanders with us, even now.
To what he was, his memory, we bow.
A giant.
Strong.
Invincible.
A king.
Almighty.
Most magnificent of all.
Of him, for all of time, the stars will sing,
Though none of them were there to see him fall.
A giant wanders with us, even now.
To what he was, his memory, we bow.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem A Giant
Tuesday 16 April 2024
Fade to Black
by Nick Gisburne
I am old. I'm forgotten.
I am feeble. I am weak.
Time won’t peel away this rotten skin.
The future, mine, is bleak.
All my sisters, brothers,
Wives and children,
All of them are dead.
For this fragile, fading skeleton
There is no road ahead.
Not a part of me cooperates.
These limbs are stiff and numb.
My abundant flow of medication
Triggered by a thumb.
Eyes impossible to focus,
Faces may as well be wood.
All the rhythms of my voice
Are slurred and rarely understood.
I am powerless, a broken doll,
Imprisoned by a curse.
Sick of lying on this stinking bed
And waiting for the hearse.
I have had enough of living.
I am too old to pretend.
I am ready.
Close the gate behind me.
Fade to black.
The end.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem Fade to Black
I am old. I'm forgotten.
I am feeble. I am weak.
Time won’t peel away this rotten skin.
The future, mine, is bleak.
All my sisters, brothers,
Wives and children,
All of them are dead.
For this fragile, fading skeleton
There is no road ahead.
Not a part of me cooperates.
These limbs are stiff and numb.
My abundant flow of medication
Triggered by a thumb.
Eyes impossible to focus,
Faces may as well be wood.
All the rhythms of my voice
Are slurred and rarely understood.
I am powerless, a broken doll,
Imprisoned by a curse.
Sick of lying on this stinking bed
And waiting for the hearse.
I have had enough of living.
I am too old to pretend.
I am ready.
Close the gate behind me.
Fade to black.
The end.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem Fade to Black
Monday 15 April 2024
One More Round of Rum
by Nick Gisburne
The Barbarous Brigade of Buccaneers
Join forces on a winter's Friday night
For rum and grog and strange, exotic beers.
It's on: the salty shanties, and the fight.
A dozen crabby pirates, past their best,
Assemble, brains bewildered, blind with booze,
To dance around a dead man's treasure chest,
Resplendent in their ludicrous tattoos.
Perhaps a smidge too strenuous for some.
The has-been heroes falter on their feet,
But all it takes is one more round of rum
For every soul to stagger down the street.
A dozen crabby pirates, past their best,
Assemble, brains bewildered, blind with booze,
To dance around a dead man's treasure chest,
Resplendent in their ludicrous tattoos.
Perhaps a smidge too strenuous for some.
Ask any, "Will you come?" However far,
However old, they'll answer, always, "Arrrrr!"
Ask any, "Will you come?" However far,
However old, they'll answer, always, "Arrrrr!"
A dozen crabby pirates, past their best,
Assemble, brains bewildered, blind with booze,
To dance around a dead man's treasure chest,
Resplendent in their ludicrous tattoos.
Perhaps a smidge too strenuous for some.
Resplendent in their ludicrous tattoos.
Ask any, "Will you come?" However far,
However old, they'll answer, always, "Arrrrr!"
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem One More Round of Rum
The Barbarous Brigade of Buccaneers
Join forces on a winter's Friday night
For rum and grog and strange, exotic beers.
It's on: the salty shanties, and the fight.
A dozen crabby pirates, past their best,
Assemble, brains bewildered, blind with booze,
To dance around a dead man's treasure chest,
Resplendent in their ludicrous tattoos.
Perhaps a smidge too strenuous for some.
The has-been heroes falter on their feet,
But all it takes is one more round of rum
For every soul to stagger down the street.
A dozen crabby pirates, past their best,
Assemble, brains bewildered, blind with booze,
To dance around a dead man's treasure chest,
Resplendent in their ludicrous tattoos.
Perhaps a smidge too strenuous for some.
Ask any, "Will you come?" However far,
However old, they'll answer, always, "Arrrrr!"
Ask any, "Will you come?" However far,
However old, they'll answer, always, "Arrrrr!"
A dozen crabby pirates, past their best,
Assemble, brains bewildered, blind with booze,
To dance around a dead man's treasure chest,
Resplendent in their ludicrous tattoos.
Perhaps a smidge too strenuous for some.
Resplendent in their ludicrous tattoos.
Ask any, "Will you come?" However far,
However old, they'll answer, always, "Arrrrr!"
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem One More Round of Rum
Deep as a Dream
by Nick Gisburne
This is the ending of all I have known.
Weary and worthless, defeated, I die,
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Torn from a body of muscle and bone,
Death is upon me before I can fly.
This is the ending of all I have known.
Neither a grave nor a marker of stone,
Only a spectre, a shadow, a sigh,
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Sentenced to silence, too late to atone,
No one is waiting to wave me goodbye.
This is the ending of all I have known.
Destiny smothers the seeds I have sewn,
Lost to the wilderness, sold to the sky,
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Alone.
Death has no kingdom, no treasure, no throne.
Emptiness, knowing my life was a lie.
This is the ending of all I have known,
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem Deep as a Dream
This is the ending of all I have known.
Weary and worthless, defeated, I die,
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Torn from a body of muscle and bone,
Death is upon me before I can fly.
This is the ending of all I have known.
Neither a grave nor a marker of stone,
Only a spectre, a shadow, a sigh,
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Sentenced to silence, too late to atone,
No one is waiting to wave me goodbye.
This is the ending of all I have known.
Destiny smothers the seeds I have sewn,
Lost to the wilderness, sold to the sky,
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Alone.
Death has no kingdom, no treasure, no throne.
Emptiness, knowing my life was a lie.
This is the ending of all I have known,
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Deep as a dream, in the darkness, alone.
Lyrics by Nick Gisburne
Music and vocals created by Suno
Adapted from the poem Deep as a Dream