Along with reams of short stories, and longer attempts at fiction, I’ve written countless poems over the decades. The bulk were written in my teens and twenties and I literally have folders full of handwritten and typewritten compositions.

I’d been threatening to put a selection into print since the mid-90’s. I remember discussing it with an old girlfriend in ’95 but a number of things always seemed to stop me. Part of that was not really being sure if I wanted to share them with the world, part was never having the time to go through what was amounting to thousands of bits of paper – ranging from typed and formatted finished compositions to hand written stanzas on the back of paper bags, or anything I had at hand when inspiration hit.

A few years ago I finally got round to sorting out a collection and published them under the title “Wild Card Symphonies”. Consisting of three smaller volumes of my work, “Wild Card Symphonies”, “Cry To Me”, and “This Graveyard Heart”, the book totaled just over 120 poems. You can buy a copy (plug plug) through Lulu on one of the links at the bottom of the page if you like what you read and want to have more.

A Different Kind

Help me to recover

The self-assurance that I’ve lost.

Come and say you want me

And want to remain so close.

Close my eyes and make me forget,

Give me a different kind of pain,

One not born out of memories.

I can forget what I’ve felt

I’ve learnt that on previous occasions,

I can replace my failed emotions

I’ve done it many times before.

Just stay with me a while longer

And take my mind off

The things that should no longer

Be causing trouble in my thoughts.

I need someone to help me recover

The self-assurance that I’ve lost.

Please come and stay with me

And stay so close tonight.

I close my eyes

And try to forget previous faces

That are causing me my pain.

All I ask is for a different kind,

One not born out of memories,

But when I finally open my eyes

I just see another face staring back

To join the others in their games.

(A DIFFERENT KIND; By A R J Abranson; 10-08-95/22:00 & 11-02-96/10:09)

My poetry anthology, Wild Card Symphonies, is available to buy now on Lulu in both Softcover and Dust Jacket Hardcover.

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Wild Card Symphonies, Cry To Me & This Graveyard Heart are Copyright ©2015, Angus Abranson. All rights reserved.
Cover design by George C. Cotronis (Ravenkult Studios, www.ravenkult.com) Copyright © 2015 Angus Abranson
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
No reproduction in part or in whole without prior written permission from the author of the copyright owner.