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.
A theory on conscience
An intangible element common to human existence
A negotiator for good and evil
The epicenter of human concern
Our universal language that resonates within us all
This binding force unbreakable
For its sustaining impact builds resilience
Take it or leave it, for power it does not lust after
Ignorance has its own price tag
Even collective coercion cannot redirect
As simple as the shared goal for survival
One foot balanced out acts for the other
So the trail may be walked
With no short cuts, no way around
As the individual that is touched flourishes
Born from the offerings of good conscience
Humanity becomes their masterpiece
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. A theory on conscience speaks to conscience as a shared moral force — an inner compass that resists coercion, binds human lives together and makes ethical care the foundation of collective survival.
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.
Power of authority
To the power that is bestowed upon us,
forgo fear as questions may be asked of you
As power gives no absolution
Guilt creeps in through the holes,
setting up residence as a resolute companion
Until judgement too comes to knock
For the answer may not be yours to hold
springing from the seemingly unlikely
Hold tight to the power to empathize
May reciprocal respect be the answer for a new day
as corruption may lay in ruins to mark past dues
Truth will never be clear in the arrogance that is assumption
Handle with care a focus to heal all that are broken
Passing by pains fondness to blind us all
As a healing hand reaches out for restorative justice
So that no more silent victims may weep
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Power of authority speaks to the ethical burden of power — insisting that empathy, accountability and restorative justice must stand where arrogance, corruption and unchecked judgement once ruled.
Saying no
The thing that must be said
The answer that must resound
The explanation that will not follow is profound
For good company knows good reason
Do not tangle in the web,
of two stories told overhead
For nobody listens and everybody speaks
The retrospect reveals all reason
I am them and they are me
A fight I will not incite
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Saying no speaks to the quiet strength of refusal — recognising that dignity, self-knowledge and restraint can be more powerful than argument in a world crowded by noise and projection.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
Misfit
There is a time and place I am told
Out of time and in the wrong place
Fits like a glove of mine
A misfit of convention
Forming my own line
For the piece of mine, that is sublime
This lone dancer finds her rhythm
I will not compromise to conjecture
That it is not fashionable,
To wear it on the sleeve
In the times that no fit is found, farewell
With a blessing and a smile while I walk a mile
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Misfit speaks to the freedom of self-definition — embracing nonconformity not as failure, but as a quietly assured way of moving through the world with integrity and style.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
A moment of clarity
The scene is empty at a glance
Rituals rule the day
Given way to fast-paced plays,
unimpressive ways
The heavy blanket
threatening to suffocate
Then the noise intrudes
A welcome moment?
The clouds clear
for the clarity is unexpected
Please move on now
peace is now realised within
Silent thoughts of the not so lonely
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. A moment of clarity speaks to the sudden arrival of inner stillness — that rare break in the pressure of routine where peace emerges unexpectedly and the self can finally hear its own quiet truth.
Further perception
Only ever a single part of the whole
Take a looking-glass view of another
Conscious thoughts move mountains
Alternative energy obtaining nourishment
Leading forecasters obligations are bound
Encouraged fights are false pretences
Do not fall to separate isolation
What cannot be held by one,
must too be freed from another
Cooperation is the insight of foresight
For power shared eludes corruption
Balanced out segments unify making whole
Never walked in your shoes,
this I know from quiet contemplation
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Further perception speaks to the moral and imaginative power of seeing beyond the self — suggesting that humility, cooperation and shared responsibility are what make a more whole and less corrupt world possible.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.
The social experiment
Take away the scales
Add a boy and a girl
Place one in front of the other
Blind the boy with sugar
Tie the girls hands
Bake the boy in golden sunshine
Beat the girl down and leave to rise
Measure only the material
Add judgement to the girl
Add praise to the boy
Discard cause and effect
Walk away from the results
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. The social experiment speaks to the manufactured nature of gender inequality — exposing how praise, restriction and bias are unevenly assigned, then falsely treated as proof of natural difference.
The rise of hope
Awakened by a fresh day of hope
Pass the shovel I have to dig
A daydream beckons me out
As I dare to defy the legacy of my flesh
Sweat and tears pass the day
The time has come
I’m getting out of here…
I shed divine depths of despair
I hand you back to whom you belong
Travelling now under my own direction
The ghosts are gone and the path is clear
One deep breath and the journey begins
It couldn’t be that easy could it?
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. The rise of hope speaks to the difficult courage of beginning again — the moment despair loosens its hold and a self-directed future comes into view, however uncertain the first step may be.
Sorrow
When the sun is shining bright
but all seems lost
muscles tire and give way
Is this how the cycle begins?
If only the movements could stop
so the rawness could heal
For every breath now feels a momentous task
and a step is a leap into depths unknown
Shattered into oblivion…
the pieces will never go back the same
-Camille Delaquise
This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Sorrow speaks to the physical and emotional disorientation of grief — that shattering inward experience in which even ordinary movement becomes difficult and the self is altered beyond easy repair.
This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.