“Where there is humanity, there is doubt.” HumansHumanityDoubtHuman NatureUncertaintyHuman ConditionDoubtsLack Of ConfidenceDoubting MindDoubting Thomas Author:Stewart Stafford
“Storytelling makes the human animal unique: Our ability to step back from existence, fictionally reframe it, and learn is a profound faculty.” PhilosophyWisdomHumanityExistenceCreativityLearningReflectionInsightStorytellingNarrative Author:Stewart Stafford
“Apart from masochists, if everyone treated others the way they would like to be treated, the world would be an infinitely better place. We should dedicate an international EKT Day to this principle, a day to celebrate empathy, kindness, and the transformative power of treating others as we wish to be treated.” PhilosophyHumanityCompassionKindnessEmpathySelflessnessGolden RuleTreat Others With KindnessTreating Others Like YouInternational Days Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Reluctant Guest by Stewart Stafford My hand extended to an off-the-grid stray; Yet, still he scowls, And smacks it away. Near-gone from the world, His blindfold horizon quails, That veteran heart stiffens, As frozen asphalt exhales. A ghost at his own funeral, Thwarting hopes of a life— Institutionalised in cement, A fold in warm cardboard strife. Frontal assault to backdoor pivot: Dinner in his mother’s memory. A toothless grin at my tactic, A bridge to nourishing festivity. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” KindnessEmpathyRedemptionSocial IssuesHomelessnessHuman ConnectionContemporary PoetryVeteransChristmas DinnerVagrant Author:Stewart Stafford
“Samaritan's Path by Stewart Stafford On a solo trek on a dusty road, A volunteer picked up my load, Heavy things of weight and idea, Hoisted aloft, a relaxing panacea. We ran the clock down without ennui, With songs, jokes, and inflated history, Scenery and animals to comment upon, Stones kicked as the sun still shone. In dusk's bowing light, a reticent parting, A trip over, happy memories restarting, With a last handshake, wave, and smile, We headed for home on the closing mile. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.” KindnessWalkingCompanionHikingCompanionshipGood CompanyGood SamaritanGood SamaritansA Walk In The WoodsYou Ll Never Walk Alone Author:Stewart Stafford
“My maternal grandmother died on December 21st, and her only concern was that we wouldn't find the Christmas gifts that she'd hidden away for the family. Right then, I understood why my mother was such a kind woman - she followed her mother's example and passed that compassion on to her children. My grandmother's example in life became her shining example of a noble death - selfless and caring until the end. While some choose the path unilaterally, for me, kindness is a learned behaviour: teach your children humility by your words and actions, and they will give something to this world and not just take from it.” KindnessLife And DeathRaising ChildrenGive And TakeSetting An ExampleLearned BehaviorChristmas PresentsLiving ExampleLearned BehaviourNoble Death Author:Stewart Stafford
“When kindness is your compass, you will find guidance to the right path in this life and the next.” KindnessKarmaGuidanceCompassKindness QuotesKarma QuotesKindness To OthersKindness CompassionCompassion WisdomKindness Quotations Author:Stewart Stafford
“The privilege of living a long life comes at a price -the increasing loss of those we know and love around us.” LonelinessLife And LivingPhilosophy Of LifeGrief And LossLong LifeGrowing OldLoss Of FamilyLoneliness Of LifeLife And LossLosing People Author:Stewart Stafford
“A life well-lived is not measured by material possessions or the size of the funeral turnout. The quantity and depth of laugh lines on the face of the person lying in repose in their coffin reveals a life's true worth.” Life LessonsFunLife QuotesLife PhilosophyLife And LivingMaterialismDeath QuotesFuneral QuotesLaugh Lines Author:Stewart Stafford
“A live well-lived is not judged on a post-mortem stocktake of material acquisitions. It is based on the number and depth of the laugh lines on the face of the person lying in repose in their coffin.” Life LessonsFunLife QuotesLife PhilosophyLife And LivingLife Lessons QuotesMaterialismDeath QuotesFuneral QuotesLaugh Lines Author:Stewart Stafford
“Be an evening general, content at manoeuvring the day’s skirmishes, and not a conscripted grunt griping about duty and suffering. At day’s end, plan tomorrow’s advances.” Inspirational QuotesPositive ThinkingPlanningPositive AttitudeLive In The MomentLooking ForwardLive In The PresentPlanning AheadMilitary PhilosophyEnd Of The Day Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Philosopher’s Weight by Stewart Stafford Philosopher in my peripheral vision, Pouring watery wisdom rapidly Into my ear, then stepping back, Smiling, he bid me go on my way. What he said made my way clearer, But added to the burden on my back, While lightening his own load, In guiding a stranger through the dark. What advice did the wise one give me? "Follow one step with another and live, My son, use any difficulty you find As a beacon on your journey to salvation." © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” InspirationalWisdomPoetrySpiritualityPhilosophicalSelf DiscoveryExistentialismMetaphysicalAllegoryShort Read Author:Stewart Stafford
“Yes, we all die but there's a tendency to focus on the end too much. Life can be a wondrous, sparkling comet trail that we leave in our wake for others to marvel at.” PhilosophyPositive ThinkingPhilosophy Of LifeLife And DeathCometsPhilosophical MusingsLegacy Life LessonsLife And Death QuotesCometLife Is Magical Author:Stewart Stafford
“Speed of execution often trumps perfection of plan.” PhilosophyWisdomInspirationActionLife LessonsLeadershipStrategyExecutionTacticsStewart Stafford Author:Stewart Stafford
“We need the help of other people to be born into this world and to leave it.” WisdomLife And DeathMortalityCooperationHuman ConditionSolidarityInterdependenceCollective ActionLife CycleCommunal Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Waiting Room by Stewart Stafford The waiting room lay empty, Gloom-prowled, leather-studded seats, A ceiling fan spun lonely circles above, Keeping no one in particular cool at all. Portrait of a rose in a shadowy alcove, A pair of empty street scenes framed, Mirroring the deserted room where they hung, Creating the vacuum of an infinity void. A wreath of hope on the door, The first patient of the day lumbers in, Where there's one, there'll be others, Smiles from all at the start of the day. © Stewart Stafford, 2021. All rights reserved.” HopeInfinitySmilesRoomVacuumAnthropomorphismPatient CareWaiting RoomEmpty RoomDoctor S Waiting Room Author:Stewart Stafford
“There are moments when disappointment comes to seek your soul as musicians do with notes, and the more these are wide and deep, the more a single word or gesture is enough to make music resonate within you that you would never want to hear.” MusicDisappointmentPossessionDisappointedFear Of FailureMusiciansSetbacksDisappointment QuotesMusical NotesResonates Author:Stewart Stafford
“Man's Utopian dreams get circumvented through compromise and disappointment into a tolerable reality.” DisappointmentUtopiaUtopianismNothing Is PerfectCompromise QuotesCompromisesReality Vs FantasySettling For LessUtopiasSettling For Second Best Author:Stewart Stafford
“Dark Child by Stewart Stafford Moondust down the fire curtain Carried Syd to the darkest side, Trespass became a prison term, A non-compos mentis dark child. From gambolling nymph with a lute, To an imp falling over instruments, A thousand-yard stare sucked in, Vacant eyes drew like a black hole. Riderless horse, a living déjà vu, The spectral shell of our brother, Ambled towards us at his nadir, We wept for the shuffling stranger. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.” ChangeFriendshipLossMusicDrug AddictionTrue StoryDrug AbusePink FloydSyd BarrettBad Trip Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Familiar Squatter by Stewart Stafford Stranger at a ranting roundabout, Changeling deep in a cranial fog, An infant brooked with abandon, The frail bitterness fumed within. Another dawn, the lid loosens more, Recognition dims, pleading for hints, Let me see my reflection in full now, Squatter with a thousand-yard stare. A planet downsized to an asteroid belt, Leave, and I surrender to disintegrate, Core melts inside this atrophying shell, Beyond repair, a journey of light ahead. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.” ChangeLossIdentityOld PeopleLosing YourselfDementiaElderly PeopleAlzheimer SAlzheimer S DiseaseSquatter Author:Stewart Stafford
“Forced Perspective by Stewart Stafford She unscrewed my eyeballs with daggers, as she had with her father before, no doubt. Fractured the irises so I saw things her way, jamming them back in so they wouldn’t pop out. It took time before focus felt no longer strange, as she asked if we were now lockstep viewers. I told her I’d let her know the moment I did — and suggested she take a walk in the sewers. She took umbrage at that, giving me black eyes, reverting at last to an optical divorce. She tapped out — project fail — and we drifted apart, mutually, of course. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” DarkPowerRelationshipPsychologicalIronyControlSatireGothicGaslightingReverse Engineering Author:Stewart Stafford
“In Delirio Familiari by Stewart Stafford He devoured radioactive pizza, eyes bulging to breaking point. Every riddle imploded in a flash, daymare fission without a joint. He, the man of conjured letters; she, his spark that moderates. Janus creature, clockface duo, oddballs, but fitting mates. With dollops of ambrosial agony, in frenzied closeness, but witty, The Brain Surgeon’s Cookbook, A bromide concoction served as ditty. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.” CreativityCreativeRelationshipNuclearAbstractCreative ProcessMuseSurrealSurrealismFunny Poem Author:Stewart Stafford
“It's bitterly ironic that we place astronomical value on the increasing age of inanimate paintings, antiques, cars, wines and memorabilia while failing to appreciate and adequately compensate the priceless life experience and wisdom that comes with human maturity.” WisdomValueAppreciationIronyMaturityLife ExperienceWorthSocial CommentaryAgeismDepreciation Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Dopamine Paradigm by Stewart Stafford Never so connected, Yet, never further apart, A crowded room's isolation, An aspic suitors' false start. Fear and hatred everywhere, When toxic ideologies stink, Lab rats of our own making, Reward hits go over the brink. Throwing away tomorrow, For a dopamine buzz today, Home fort, don't multiply, A eunuch future staggers away. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” PoetryDatingAddictionIsolationModern LifeSocial CommentaryProcreationContemporary PoetryThe Human RaceThe Digital Age Author:Stewart Stafford
“Marriage is the Rubik's Cube of the 21st Century - something young people are fascinated with but have no idea how to do.” MarriageDatingMarriage QuotesMarried LifeSocial SkillsMarriage HumorPuzzles Of LifeRubik S Cube21st Century LifeRubik Author:Stewart Stafford
“People will hunt obsessively for months or even years to find the right home to live in. When it comes to love though, they expect their future soulmate to appear out of thin air as they enter the next bar or club they go to.” LoveRomanceLove QuotesDatingPropertyDating QuotesReal EstateLove Quotes And SayingHomeownersHouse Hunting Author:Stewart Stafford
“I genuinely don’t know how the dating scene works now. People can manipulate their image totally with filters on dating sites, so you don’t know what they really look like. If you try to chat someone up, it’s seen as harassment. Society is fragmenting more and more at an alarming rate.” DatingIsolationFlirtingDating QuotesFiltersHarassmentSociety ProblemDating In Your ThirtiesPhotoshopped Author:Stewart Stafford
“For Having Offended Thee by Stewart Stafford A rebirth in my other kingdom, Deafening choruses of mute vampires, Stowaway's arrival not of my choice, Treading water on stranger's ground. The crunching gravel of past sins, Fine bone dust of wasted chances, Weighed down at Purgatory's door, The gatekeepers nod and admit me. A hurricane swirl of screaming souls, Housed within Infinity's planetarium, Whispers, pleas, a drowning outcry, Metaphysical smothering of bodily errs. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” JudgmentGuiltJudgementAfterlifeMetaphysicalSurrealPurgatoryDark PoetryPast SinsWasted Chances Author:Stewart Stafford
“Very often what we deem stupidity in others is their delusion or our inability or refusal to decode or empathise with that delusion.” WisdomPsychologyHumilityPerspectiveJudgmentEmpathyPhilosophy Of LifeDelusionUnderstanding OthersPerception Of Others Author:Stewart Stafford
“Tamper with Biology’s delicate balance, and you reap the whirlwind. For aeons Nature bore the heavy lifting, evolving a perfect, watch-spring equilibrium—until upstart humanity emerged from the primal soup, armed with ego and reason, to overrule every precedent. We know how the merest tipping of the ecological scales will unleash catastrophe, yet we persist blind—Earth’s self-anointed judge, jury, and executioner—refusing to humble ourselves before Nature’s Supreme Court verdict.” PhilosophyNatureBalanceJudgmentBiologyEcologyCatastropheConsequencesEnvironmentalismHubris Author:Stewart Stafford
“Going on stage always felt like being shot out of a cannon. My stomach would tighten as I got closer to the backstage area. You wondered why you put yourself through all the stress. Then BOOM! You're on, adrenalin pumping, and thinking: "THIS is why I do it!” StageStressPerformanceNervousnessStage FrightAdrenaline RushLive TheaterLive TheatrePerformance AnxietyAdrenalin Rush Author:Stewart Stafford
“The stresses and strains of life mould us into our mature selves. The key to life is to accept the wisdom of our later years while maintaining our youthful enthusiasm and curiosity for the world.” WisdomWisdom QuotesStressEnthusiasmMaturityWisdom QuotationsStrainCuriosity QuotesYouthful Optimism Author:Stewart Stafford
“Micro-managing creativity kills it. To encourage creative brilliance, foster an atmosphere where it can thrive and then step out of the way and let it happen.” CreativityDiversityCreative ProcessPolitical CorrectnessCreativity QuotesCreative ExpressionTalent ManagementMicromanagementMicromanagingInterfering Author:Stewart Stafford
“The modern world is the opposite of the aspiration expressed in Doctor Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech. In that speech, Doctor King stated his ideal vision of a future where his children would be judged not 'by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.' There is an even-greater obsession with race today and the external packaging we come in. Content of character is secondary, if not completely irrelevant.” CharacterDiversityCharacter BuildingMartin Luther KingI Have A Dream SpeechMlkI Have A DreamMlk QuotesMlk Martin Luther KingMlkdream50 Author:Stewart Stafford
“A Cephalopod Wish by Stewart Stafford O, to be an Octopus, Sporting three hearts, Two that won't break, To go on and love more. O, to have its nine brains, To spread a migraine load, Fogless coordinates clear, A tower fire, now contained. O, to have a boneless form, A body fitted to life problems, Not ail from a tumour's grasp, Flee to safety in inky clouds. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved” HeartWishNatureAnimalSeaOceanOctopusOctopiCephalopodsInvertebrate Author:Stewart Stafford
“That boorish man stole colour from a maiden's cheek to redden his ardour. She, with her prancing panther's gait and proud, undulating beauty, revelled in her existence and left him foolishly in her wake.” SeductionFemale BeautyGaitPrancingPantherMen And Women QuoteMen And Women RelationsWooing A WomanArdourColour In Your Cheeks Author:Stewart Stafford
“April's Fool by Stewart Stafford The fool of April enters bowing, Ritual humiliation's shameful call, A harsh harlequin's wooden stocks, Butchering "wit" to wound and maul. A victimless crime full of victims, Spring showers weep a jester's cheek, Reputations pilloried in estocada— Merciful gods spared us a week. By noon, the branding is over, The faux superior blunder on. Jokers think they're oh-so-clever, Booed offstage to oblivion gone. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” PainPowerSatireHumiliationAprilDark HumorJesterApril Fools DayApril FoolsShaming Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Sacking of Grief by Stewart Stafford Thou speaketh of grief as a funeral cowl lashed, When 'tis a thorny, haunting cuckoo's nest smashed, I wouldst cast it off, fain if choice be mine, And not necessity's wickedness stretched supine. Peace's changeling to restless beds doth creep, In conjoined prayer to restoreth salvation sleep. To crawleth awake in dawn's incessant weight, Can I tame this sleepless lion and walk it straight? I confesseth sins, but the blemish remains, Call it regret that stalks these guiltless brains, Would a surgeon's blade cut me free of it? And I in luscious orchards, the solaced fruits bit. O, in slumbering dusk the leonine roar doth cease, And the pathway home heralds sweet release. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” PainGriefSonnetSleeplessnessShakespeareanEmotional PoetryHealing PoetryHope PoetryShakespearean Sonnet Author:Stewart Stafford
“Posed In Vein by Stewart Stafford O Stephanie! In your cruciform puppetry, Bloody veins stretched out wiry To relive in a bondage diary. Subject mapped as inked skin she wears, Decorating, desecrating olden snares. Each needle kiss, a line defined, A pinprick story rushes her mind. By candlelight, in her coven deep, Secrets webbed flies must keep, Spelled out straight in her hexing book, Consort Lenore gives a cryptic look. They tug the strings, the marionette, Caught in her captor's welcome net. In artificial light, a social moth's mien, A wrought, posed, fetishistic scene. The knots are tight, the ropes defined; Bodily and in private mind. This mutual art, a supplicant's plea, Cut into her Kinbaku diary. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” PainBondageEroticGothicOccultBdsmDark PoetryBody HorrorBody ArtKinbaku Author:Stewart Stafford
“B.S., I Luv You by Stewart Stafford Bite that lying tongue in your cheek, Shaman's mask to play hide-and-seek, A whirlpool vortex being, so deluded, Tarantuled me in, my senses denuded. Checking blood banks - Yes! You got paid! A sociopath's shameless, sick parade, In sycophant shade, carrion crows convene, Alibis caw over a cadaver's gangrene. Botox sessions ended frowned, Dredge up memories when you're around, Bury your drained victims, vampire creep, From oozing floorboards, vile secrets seep. Communing with nocturnal revelry, Hog feast at a bonfire of hypocrisy, Scapegoating ends in mirrored past, In tumbling runes, flaws naked, cast. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” PainMetaphorBetrayalIronySatireManipulationToxic RelationshipsSociopathDark PoetryLies And Deceit Author:Stewart Stafford
“This Elixir Smites by Stewart Stafford How dull the rose's painted lustre, As bees gossip, all mistrust her, Window taps on stormy nights, Aphids swarm as suckling mites. Once buds entwined at Nature's hip, Now cleft in two and water-dipped, Glass-twisted strangest shape, Mauve-petalled mausoleum draped. Neglected drops in muted drought, The bloody thorns scratch about, A lush finger in withered point, Pruned stem of glum conjoint. Cataclysms from petty faults arise; Reflection pardoned in imperfect eyes. © Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved.” LoveNatureForgivenessGardenAnimalsLove PoemLove PoemsLove PoetryRoses Author:Stewart Stafford
“A Garden Epitaph by Stewart Stafford From a verdant birth, Two roses entwined together, A union withered from the earth, Root quest in envenomed weather. Green fingers pruned with ill will, Each barb taken to wounded hearts, Cut natures freed of earthly swill, Two crimson blooms, beyond scars. Master gardener, just hear me, If you see devotion, leave it be, In silent witness, wonders see, Lest you hasten obsequies. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.” GardenRoseGardeningGardenerLove PoemLove PoemsLove PoetryRosesGardensGardeners Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Night When Fear Strays by Stewart Stafford Each Hallowtide, all monstrous shapes do quail, No balm for wounded wretches feeling frail, Spectators as charlatan mortals filch frights, Appropriated skins on haunted nights. With bonfire’s glow ablaze in dauntless eyes, Children’s fun quelled by strangest sighs, A hulking shape, once fierce, wails tainted, Its fearful gaze in phantom mists attainted. Small, tender hands caressed its sodden fur, A trembling growl betrayed its lonesome blur, “Peace, gentle shade, what sorrow stirs unfed?” “November’s dawn shall call me home,” it said. Their kindly-shared oat cakes eased its pangs, A webbed claw from veiled night to munching fangs, It feasted with a hunger born of striven years alone, Stroked the child’s cheek for the kindness shown. When parents called, it whispered, soft and torn, “At midnight’s knell, this thicket heralds morn— Go, kindred babes, I’ll linger in this glade. Each Halloween, I’ll mourn my fear remade.” © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” LonelinessEmpathyHalloweenDark FantasyAppropriationFrankensteinGothic PoetryMary ShelleyMonster LoveLost Identity Author:Stewart Stafford
“Whether it is rational or empirical, your approach to life must always be empathetic. Emotional intelligence is acquired when knowledge and empathy are combined and applied to situations regularly in everyday life.” EmpathyRationalPhilosophy Of LifeExistentialEmotional IntelligenceEmotional Intelligence QuotesExistence QuotesPerspective On LifeEmpathy QuotesEmpirical Social Psychology Author:Stewart Stafford
“Powder Burns by Stewart Stafford A lone boy prowls a murky sandbar, The cataract sky, judgemental kin, A wrecking-ball life's flattened vista— Any hopeful resolution growing thin. Alley dice swallowed all naïveté, Fixed or cursed, he remained unsure, Surreptitious bone-white erotic charge, Legacy besmirched by fame impure. A neon safari hunt of the vanished, Luring victims to his flytrap home, Murderous brief interval to loneliness, A purring predator refusing to atone. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” DarkCrimeLonelinessHorrorMurderNoirTrue CrimeSerial KillerPsychological ThrillerDennis Nilsen Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Storm Stranger by Stewart Stafford Were I to shed forty coats, Or forty layers of this skin, I'd stay an intruder in myself, At a crossroads in a storm. Stranger in my own country, Pariah to everything beloved, Organ rejection by my own body, A lantern wanderer in limbo. All foul, cast out by my lamp, Saving those mistreating me, Traversing sanity's outer rings, I turn my collar up and trudge on. © 2024, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” LonelinessMental HealthExistentialismAlienationSelf ConsciousnessWandererIdentity CrisisLimboEternal WanderingsJack O Lantern Author:Stewart Stafford
“Aftershock by Stewart Stafford Sitting by myself at the firepit, The dregs of last night's inferno, Still charcoal from vibrant flame, Charred bones of the festivities. Dropped food and empty bottles, A littering ring, now seen in light, The laughs and drunken banter, Distant echoes that bring smiles. Head throbs, chill morning breeze, Take two pills and zip up my jacket, Post-party blues gripping onto me, Happiness, revisit on swiftest wings! © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.” MemoriesPartyLonelinessHangoverSunday MorningMorning AfterPartyingHangoversComedownPost Party Depression Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Lingerer by Stewart Stafford Another lonely start, O shadow companion, My twin bereft of heart, On grief’s stormy galleon. Each step disbelief, Strangers pass in proximity, In motion an artist’s relief, Abstract as infinity. The quickening pulse of streets, Tears on cheeks reflective, This scarred heart missing beats, Damaged and defective. Home now just where memory sits, Perspective greatly shifted, This shapeless form no longer fits, The body it was gifted. And if, my love, you see me now, I beg you, look away, Love’s blush departed with a bow, Then withered and decayed. © Stewart Stafford, 2021. All rights reserved.” PoetryLossGriefLonelinessPoemGrief And LossDeath Of A Loved OneBereavementLoss Of LoveGrieving Process Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Night Watchman by Stewart Stafford Does the night watchman watch the night or does the night watch him? Is there anything in the darkness or is his eyesight growing dim? Does a beast growl in the shadows or is his stomach requesting food? Is his pay adequate compensation or is his boss just being rude? As he prays for the sunrise, does anyone hear his prayers? When he clocks out for breakfast, is anyone standing there? Does he creep home to his bed to count the hours down? Until he sits staring at the darkness once more with a quizzical and resigned frown? © Stewart Stafford, 2021. All rights reserved.” PoetryLonelinessPoemNight ShiftPhobiasFear Of The DarkNight WatchWatchmanNight ShiftsIn The Dark Of The Night Author:Stewart Stafford
“When great warriors get fooled, the fool must become a great warrior.” WarHeroBraveryBetrayalHeroesHeroismUnderdogStepping UpUnderestimating OthersEvery Dog Has Its Day Author:Stewart Stafford