The words, poems, stories and thoughts of award winning writer and journalist, Nic Outterside
Oh to leave behind this
Feeling
The lost souls are still
Bleeding
I watched you
On the beach
The white horses
Crashed Vein hopes
Dashed
But in my dreams
You were calling
But still
Out of reach My Shannon
Oh to leave behind this
Feeling
The lost souls are still
Bleeding
The years
The fears
The broken raven
Dies
At my window
While time
Ticks
The years passing
But not love
Without you
My Shannon
Darling Great Queen
Blonde and blue-eyed
My darling great queen
Your gentleness
Shines out before you
I made a life promise
The day you were born
That never could I
Dare to leave you
Clever and caring
My darling great queen
Your gentleness
Shines out before you
I watched as you grew
And started at school
I never thought once
I would lose you
Learning and loving
My darling great queen
Your gentleness
Shines out before you
Ten years now have passed
My heart beats too fast
To think of that life
Gone without you
Searching and seeking
My darling great queen
Your gentleness
Shines out before you
A grey life lived on the rim
Because my love never dims
A broken heart reaches
Northwards to you
Time is an Ocean
Windward…
The spring day dawned warm
Wrapped in riggings of love
Hope bloomed eternal
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
Into my strong arms you were born
Wrapped in sheets of love
Hope bloomed eternal
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
I cuddled your tiny body close
Wrapped in a spinnaker of love
Hope bloomed eternal
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
My promise to you was bonded
Wrapped in a stay sail of love
Hope bloomed eternal
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
I watched you grow in beauty
Wrapped in a helm of love
Hope bloomed eternal
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
Your first word was ‘daddy’
Wrapped in a lateen of love
Hope bloomed eternal
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
We watched you laugh and play
Wrapped a genoa of love
Hope bloomed eternal
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
Leeward…
You were snatched from my arms
Wrapped in a beam of love
My hope never dimmed
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
Tears flowed and lies were told
Wrapped in shrouds of love
My hope never dimmed
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
They blew out my candle
Wrapped in a foremast of love
My hope never dimmed
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
They could not blow out the fire
Wrapped in a main sail of love
My hope never dimmed
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
Cos then the flame began to catch
Wrapped in a halyard of love
My hope never dimmed
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
The wind whispers words of truth
Wrapped in a luff of love
My hope never dimmed
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
Now you must sail your way home
Wrapped in a lashing of love
My hope never dimmed
On an ocean of time
All those years ago
Don’t Look Away
Sionnan I love you dearly
Don’t look away
I never left you
Sionnan I long to see you
Don’t look away
I am still waiting
Sionnan I long to hear you
Don’t look away
I still need you
Sionnan I long to hold you
Don’t look away
I am not leaving
Sionnan I long to kiss you
Don’t look away
I am not running
Sionnan I long to sense you
Don’t look away
I am still pleading
Sionnan I will not leave you
Don’t look away
This is your father
Shannon
Your blue eyes linger
With your impish grin
Your dark hair wavers
The joy that’s within
5,000 days is too long my daughter
Much too long
So please come home
At the end of this song
You play in the meadow
With sun in your hair
You shout at your sister
With barely a care
5,000 days is too long my daughter
Much too long
So please come home
At the end of this song
Your voice resonates
In the caverns of my mind
Your tears wash away
What was left behind
5,000 days is too long my daughter
Much too long
So please come home
At the end of this song
You run over the sand
Your buckets to fill
We sit and watch blithely
From the side of the hill
5,000 days is too long my daughter
Much too long
So please come home
At the end of this song
We walk the old wall
Along by the farm
You scream with laughter
Safe in my arm
5,000 days is too long my daughter
Much too long
So please come home
At the end of this song
Now the years have passed
The memories remain
It’s time to come home
It’s the end of the game
5,000 days is too long my daughter
Much too long
So please come home
It’s the end of the song
Rhiannon
In this garden of weeds
Your flower still blooms
Like a memory of a time gone by
I can still hear your voice hang in the trees
And see your face in the clouds in the sky
Rhiannon, Rhiannon
My beautiful child
Named after a song
In times so wild
Dance in the meadows
And sing by the stream
Here in my heart
Where you’ve always been
In this room full of wonder
Your shadow still slips
Like a memory of something so fine
I can still hear your laughter rolling like thunder
And feel your heart beating next to mine
Rhiannon, Rhiannon
My beautiful child
Named after a song
In times so wild
Dance in the meadows
And sing by the stream
Here in my heart
Where you’ve always been
In this world full of grace
Your truth is an arrow
Like a memory of what used to be
I can still feel the touch of your hand on my face
And sense your spirit in the raging sea
Rhiannon, Rhiannon
My beautiful child
Named after a song
In times so wild
Dance in the meadows
And sing by the stream
Here in my heart
Where you’ve always been
Precious memories of my beautiful daughters Rhia and Shannon captured in this single YouTube video:
No Time to Think 