About that bird that sings
Bold and true
Beautiful abandonment
Belonging to just a few
Behold its sweet song of sorrow
Whistling at winds of change
The spotter on the lookout
Shot down by denial
Such is the disgrace
The hunter’s rifle smokes
As it chokes out that flame
The fanfare never arrived
For that song bird that whistled so true
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. About that bird that sings speaks to the silencing of truth-tellers — those rare voices whose beauty and courage unsettle a world more comfortable with denial than change.
The unknown
From our small speck of stardust
I must confess how little is known
Not even enough is known of the speck
That travels in this vastness
We once traveled to the moon
But alas only as a contest
Once the game was won
The fun never began
Directed towards the inconsequential
On an unsustainable speck
In a world that explores destruction
No glory will be found
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. The unknown speaks to humanity’s failure of vision — our tendency to pursue conquest over wisdom, even as we remain profoundly ignorant of the fragile world we inhabit
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
Constantly entertained
How often do you hear
The wind whirl
See leaves swirl
As thoughts go unremarked
The engine searches at speed
While the mind slows to stop
Switched on to switch off
Images dance across as fairytales
What happens next?
Record, play, pause, stop
What was just missed?
Constantly distracted life goes on
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Constantly entertained speaks to the erosion of presence in a distracted age — a life so saturated by noise and motion that the quiet intelligence of the world passes by unnoticed.
Nothing new
In the games we play
Boring and restrictive
With dramatic endings
How much time is wasted?
The meaning of it all
Is only the meaning you give
Played out all over the world
Practiced ‘time and time again’
Is it only to play big
in this large expanse?
To feel ‘larger than life’
or just alive?
Why not dance together
under the starlight?
For the small
Have quite a view
At this ‘game of life’
The game controller is universal
It will never be controlled by fools gold
So why play the fools game
When you can live a life of your own
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Nothing new speaks to the emptiness of inherited social games — urging a more conscious, self-directed life shaped by wonder, freedom and genuine human connection rather than hollow ambition.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
‘Rainbows and sunshine’
I live in this world at times
When it is quiet and I am inside
Joy floats by like a butterfly
Beautiful, small and fragile
Today is a good writing day
The air is fresh
And the coffee is warm
Even the chores help with their simple rhythm
Slow motion of nature
takes control
Resisting human nature
to hasten the pace
Everyday moments
Delight in
No meaning to find
Enjoy them
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. ‘Rainbows and sunshine’ speaks to the quiet abundance of ordinary life — those fleeting, restorative moments in which stillness, attention and gratitude become their own form of meaning.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
Evil does not know its own name
For it is not criminal
This act of indifference
Played out on the vulnerabilities of poverty
Denigration the skillful ploy
Cloaks, silks and suits have used it well,
to employ a popular notion
That filth clings only to the outside
But it seeps beneath skin
Notorious lack of empathy accompanies,
the misbelief of their own mischief
As opposed to our fight for survival
Recognise the fine monster
No apologies will do,
You must undo
The deed without understanding
Experience is fundamental to cleaning up this mess
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Evil does not know its own name speaks to the violence of structural indifference — exposing how power disguises cruelty behind respectability while leaving the most vulnerable to carry its human cost.
Consumed
Consumed by days without joy
waiting in the feeding line
thank God the day is done,
without a second thought
to thank God for this day
fall into line, stand straight
the goods will be delivered
in pieces with no goodness inside
assemble with deliberate precision to replace
the allure of escaping into addiction
teetering on the edge of extinction
contentment the infrequent visitor…
of more is less
Until more becomes no more.
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Consumed speaks to the hollow machinery of modern survival — where repetition, deprivation and false comforts erode the spirit until even desire begins to collapse under the weight of excess.
Blind obedience will not do
In the act of blind obedience
Do not be walked off the edge
For it is not disobedience
To watch your step
Just the simple formulation
Of a life of our own
Free to roam and reminisce
On those silly questions…
Only fools do not ask
The past reaches forward
In a soft whisper to awaken
You have been here before
Best to open your eyes now
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Blind obedience will not do speaks to the moral necessity of independent thought — insisting that awareness, questioning and historical memory are essential safeguards against surrendering the self.
No integrity to their written word
For I have held it up
In black and white
Watched it disintegrate
Wept over its disservice
Pondered words without meaning
With their false sense of security
Armed to discourage outrage
These words of weightless blockades
The secret code to oppose
Any chance to correct
Destructive facilities are not serviceable
As the silent witness will testify
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. No integrity to their written word speaks to the betrayal of language under institutional power — when official words are emptied of truth and used not to repair harm, but to obstruct accountability.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
The truth cannot be forgotten
Stand it on its head
Spin it, until disorientated
Turn your back on it
Lay it down to die
Bury it in the paperwork
Lose it to carelessness
Throw it out with the trash
It still bobs to the surface
The cheerful friend…
Always ready to progress forward
The dignity of trust we all deserve
And the best companion of freedom
The truth cannot be forgotten
It is in memory’s service
Unless the mind is lost,
It will always be there
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. The truth cannot be forgotten speaks to truth as a force of moral persistence — suppressed, neglected and distorted, yet never fully erased where memory, dignity and freedom still endure.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
Solitary confinement of those left behind
Locked away on the viewing platform
Segregated from all that was known
The lawful deprivation of the marginalized
An immoral ruling of the hypocritical
The harm is well known
And so ignored
The inconvenience of innocence
Taken away to be justified
Finding a place to turn inside
The dark room of echoes
Is this all the best have to offer?
Poverty confines in structures of stigma
How is repeating the problem a solution?
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Solitary confinement of those left behind speaks to the institutional punishment of poverty — exposing how marginalised lives are isolated, stigmatised and harmed under systems that mistake cruelty for order.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
Apathy
It came from a cruel blow
This tough skin of the worn out
Cries went unanswered
Left alone to heal
Bitterness the scar tissue of the forgotten
This sharing pain ongoing
Holding in a desire to survive
While sinking the ship of humanity
The indifference that forms the divide
Built up around feeble resolve
Set adrift its sweet seduction
And raise firmly a familiar face
To ease the pain of you and I
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Apathy speaks to the emotional aftermath of neglect — how unanswered suffering can harden into indifference, deepening division while quietly corroding our shared humanity.
Not perfection
So many scars to hide
So many stories untold
The pretense of it all
The burden of the barely honest
Disassembled to hideaway
Drifting as a castaway
Labelled and classified
Not the perfect life behind glass
Leaving the neat packaging to decompose
Exposed mess of birth, growth and wisdom
Rough roads, scrapped knees
Burnt and blistered vanity
And the glorious comfort in worn souls
No applause please
Just self-satisfaction
I stood, I fell, I stood again
Then I walked free
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Not perfection speaks to the dignity of an unvarnished life — honouring the scars, failures and hard-won wisdom that make authenticity more powerful than any polished illusion.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
The beauty that is found
In the days that tire the bones
the mind looks to escape
step back, breathe slow
observe time pass by
Refocus, delve within
break free in the reflection
reopen your heart
let it guide your sight
Hear the rain fall,
drop by drop
feel the sunshine,
flush of warmth
feel the sand at your feet,
sink them deep
lay still in the gentle embrace,
hug tighter
watch the light rise and fall,
stars sparkle
as the moon illuminates
unwind as the water washes it all away
Give it a moment,
let the tears fall
pick up strength
radiant beauty shines through
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. The beauty that is found speaks to renewal through attentiveness — finding solace, strength and emotional clarity in the restorative presence of the natural world.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
Poetry lives
To ignite the spark
question the line
as an exploration of ideas
the thinking formation
How THEY must fear it,
to declare IT dead
losing passive box watchers
nothing to sell on false pretences
just a thought to provoke
Creative reflection
Critical outlet
Truth seeker
Soul feeder
Hear the rhythm
Feel the beat
Raise the voice
Watch the change
Poetry lives to contribute,
to the conversation
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Poetry lives speaks to poetry as a living force of resistance — a form that unsettles complacency, nourishes thought and keeps truth, feeling and change in active conversation.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
Eradication of absurd wealth
Donate money to charity they chant
never a whisper of halting welfare to the wealthy
as an industry is created
must keep the hordes busy and pacified
Addictions rule in this domain
of ‘false value systems’
blind to the deprivation of poverty
feeding a frenzy of over consumption
The game was rigged
rules made to manipulate
denial a fools platitude
redistribution from a good days work
Our dated fate to doom
all deceived by greed’s green goblin
sold out, sold up
the masters whip is weakening
Now imagine another way
no, rather recalculate a new way
initiate the necessary
a collective power to sway
As the pendulum swings, times up
we are the value, the power and peaceful
discarding dysfunction
as the starving are fed on surplus
and the sick healed by good conscience
Eradicate what does not serve
a matter of simple math
if you have too much
then I have not enough
take out greed
add in equality
the solution spreads out
an equal right to survive
a link between us and the mother that sustains us
Eradication of absurd poverty achieved
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Eradication of absurd wealth speaks to the moral and structural violence of extreme inequality — rejecting systems that glorify excess while denying others the basic right to survive, and imagining redistribution as both justice and necessity.
Hidden
They are given options
with no solutions
so they opt out
judicial system
bulldozer that we entrust
It may come as a surprise
when a child cries,
in a mother’s arms
gentle tears wiped away
thrown away with trust
so none may bear witness
Best to hush now, we will fly
bury it deep
as if the sight offends
pretend it never was
If only the fortune teller would appear
how dark the story becomes
hidden from the light
inescapable shadow that follows
Put it in the cycle,
spin enough times
and everything comes out
they need not the crucified to stain them
just a safe place to play
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Hidden speaks to the quiet brutality of institutional failure — exposing how vulnerable lives are obscured, dismissed and recast as inconvenience when what is needed most is protection, truth and care.
A time well spent
The time that flies
In the blink of the eye
The times we had
No money could buy
The pleasure and pain
My greatest treasure
No regrets granted
Humbling peace in this purpose
Raised with care,
By which only time can commit
Held so dear by the heart
May no human part
This will transmit,
As loves sacred sacrifice
Not to be passed up,
Just passed on
From birth to death
The love that carries you
Your whole journey through
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. A time well spent speaks to love as life’s deepest inheritance — suggesting that what endures is not wealth or possession, but the quiet, sacrificial care that carries us from one generation to the next.
Detached
There was a time when bare feet walked the land
A wrong step was felt, and quickly corrected
Discomfort brought the recognition of appreciation
Now artificial barriers block the critical thought
All senses safely muted as is all sensibility
Distortion of distance came through
first loud and clear in the earpiece fixture
a practical measure it seemed of some comfort
Then the message flickered through in neat text
“Sorry I’m busy, I’ll catch you next time”
as if time is an obedient slave, with a humorous side
Time consumption now barricades
In the decay of over-consumption
Pictures now flicker like text
no longer handled with care
Sitting here alone yet connected
Separation of the personal
Objectification of the non-personal person
Contact Us?
Us equals community
Community equals personal connection
So where is us?
An email address? Response within 24 hours
Desired comfort has dissolved us
the uncomfortable madness of it all
Dwells deep within true desire
As children talk on screens
A sci-fi dream it would seem
As the bikes stand still, an untouched shrine
the streets no longer beckon adventure
How far we have come to set ourselves
So far behind
The human image passes as unknown
As the unfelt step is taken
Unethical barriers drop on the unknown
The detached body has become
The detached soul
Lost in the wilderness of its own making
A nightmare surely to awaken
Even the dead
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Detached speaks to the spiritual cost of disconnection in contemporary life — tracing how convenience, technology and over-consumption can erode community until the human self grows estranged from both others and its own inner truth.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
Letting go
The body never fails to let us know
time moves in a forward motion
Never giving pause to the effect
the matter that will simply be
The mind, however may decline the invitation
the value of which strains at the seams of validation
Memories posing as a seductive comforter
Bittersweet transformation the final goodbye
laying aside the piece that no longer fits
Gratitude may be found in the service
The interchange is within sight
signals now flash at a lighter state
Encompassing all that was in progressive minds
looking forward, greetings to the new day
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Letting go speaks to the quiet grace of release — acknowledging that while the body accepts change, the mind must learn to loosen its hold on what no longer belongs in order to welcome renewal.