The Mirage Machine by Lord Bechard

The Mirage Machine by Lord Bechard

The Mirage Machine
by Rev Lord CM Bechard

I. The Spark Beneath the Skull

In the temple of bone where the neurons hum,
Where the pulse of eternity softly drums,
There stirs a storm, unseen but bright—
A prism birthed from the absence of light.

A whisper crawls through synaptic seas:
“Suffer not from the world, but from your dreams.”
And lo! the fabric of reason tears,
Spilling colors that never were there.

The mind begins its mirrored climb,
Through the fractal folds of thought and time,
Where nightmare, memory, myth, and muse
Collide like gods with no excuse.

II. The Kingdom of What-If

The dream unfurls—electric vines,
A thousand worlds in tangled lines,
Each one born of an anxious spark,
A rumor blooming in the dark.

There—castles built from phantom fears,
Their bricks are made of unseen tears,
Where kings of doubt wear crowns of smoke,
And laughter burns where silence spoke.

The rivers flow with thoughts untrue,
Reflecting skies of borrowed blue,
And every tree bears fruit of dread,
That feeds the ghosts inside your head.

O kingdom vast! O mirror made!
By our own hand, by our own blade,
We forge the iron of despair,
And breathe illusions into air.

III. The Dream Architect

Upon the horizon—a figure stands,
Blueprints drawn in trembling hands,
A weaver of what-might-have-been,
The maker of pain that’s never seen.

He murmurs in pulses, soft, divine:
“I am your fear. You are my spine.
I borrow flesh from your belief,
I am the shadow of your grief.”

He bends the cosmos with his art,
Each thought a universe torn apart,
And from imagination’s womb,
He builds the walls that become our tomb.

IV. The Shattering

Then lightning struck the mental veil,
And truth rode through on a solar gale—
A comet voice of clarity spoke:
“The cage you fear is your own smoke.”

Galaxies cracked, the dream was torn,
The mirage collapsed where it was born.
The endless suffering, all so grand,
Melted to sand in my open hand.

The serpent of panic hissed and fell,
Dissolved beneath a golden bell,
And silence—pure, unbound, complete—
Kissed the dust beneath my feet.

V. The Awakening Beyond Thought

I rose through the rippling, radiant field,
Where the wounds of imagination healed,
Where every monster’s face revealed
The frightened child it tried to conceal.

Each doubt became a blooming sun,
Each fear—a truth already won,
And the void, no longer black and vast,
Sang: “The future’s fiction, not forecast.”

Through starlit corridors of mind,
I left my old self far behind,
The dreamer woke within the dream,
And drank from time’s kaleidoscope stream.

VI. The Return to Flesh

Back in the skull-cave—breathing, still,
The heart resumed its subtle will,
And all the chaos, all the flame,
Were fragments dancing in my name.

Reality sat, serene and mild,
Like a mother watching her restless child.
And I laughed, I wept, I finally knew—
The worst I feared was never true.

For imagination is both sword and key,
The chain, the fire, the alchemy—
It wounds, it heals, it blinds, it frees,
It’s hell, it’s art, it’s divinity.

VII. The Final Flame

Now, when darkness claims my sight,
I paint the void in liquid light.
No longer slave to phantom pain,
I dance with madness in the rain.

For Seneca’s voice still hums in me:
“Suffer not from reality,
But from the mind’s own masquerade—
A phantom war the heart has made.”

So I breathe in peace, exhale the lie,
And wink at the stars in the knowing sky,
For imagination’s not my chain—
It’s just the mirror of my brain.

And when it breaks, I clearly see:
The dream was never over me.

Listen to The Episode

Listen to the Mirage Machine on the Poetic Flows podcast

Number 1 Male Author in the UK

Number 1 Male Author in the UK

Who is your favorite Male UK author? do you love poems, drama, crime, thrillers, philospophy or are you into indie authors??? I guess we will find out in the comments below.

According to statistics there are 78200 writers, authors  and translators in the UK and 31200 of those are male authors..lets work with that

UK Male Authors

There are an estimated 31,200 male authors, writers, and translators in the UK, making up 40% of all writers in that field. However, this number varies depending on the specific category, such as theatre or primary occupation

The Number 1 Male Author

Drum roll please…….announcing the all time favorite British Male author….

William Shakespeare is considered the number one male author in the UK, recognized as one of the greatest writers in the English language. He is credited with a prolific body of work, including 38 plays and over 150 sonnets and poems, and is known for his significant impact on the English language.
  • Legacy: Shakespeare’s work, like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, is still studied and adapted worldwide today.
  • Impact: He coined many words and phrases still in use today and his influence on English literature is immense.
  • Recognition: He is often listed as a top or greatest British writer in various rankings and is widely considered one of the most famous writers in history
    About William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare (23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon” or simply “the Bard”. His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays154 sonnets, three long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

    Best Selling Author in the UK

    Best Selling Author in the UK

    Julia Donaldson is the UK’s number one author by volume, having sold over 48.6 million units. She overtook J.K. Rowling in 2024, who is now the second-bestselling author by volume with 48 million lifetime sales. 

    Donaldson’s lifetime book sales exceed Rowling’s by 600,000, according to Nielsen BookData. While Rowling remained the bestselling author in terms of monetary value, her sales to the consumer market of 48 million books were surpassed by Donaldson’s 48.6 million, Nielsen BookData said

    julia donaldson

    Julia Donaldson is the UK’s number one author by volume, having sold over 48.6 million units. She overtook J.K. Rowling in 2024, who is now the second-bestselling author by volume with 48 million lifetime sales. 

    julia donaldson

    About Julia Donaldson

    Julia Donaldson is a children’s writer, poet, playwright and songwriter. She has written over 200 books for children and was the 2011-13 Children’s Laureate. She has collaborated with the illustrator Axel Scheffler on over twenty titles, including The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom. Julia has worked with many other illustrators, among them Rebecca Cobb (The Paper Dolls), Helen Oxenbury (The Giant Jumperee) and Nick Sharratt (Toddle Waddle). She has won numerous awards, including the Blue Peter Awards, the Scottish Children’s Book Awards and the Smarties Prize.

    Overall Bestselling Authors
    William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie are generally considered the top two British authors by total estimated global sales of fiction books, each with an estimated 2 billion to 4 billion copies sold.
    Bestselling Living Authors
    • J.K. Rowling, the creator of the Harry Potter series, has been the long-standing best-selling living author in the UK by overall sales value since records began (around 1998). Her book series is the best-selling in history.
    • Julia Donaldson (author of The Gruffalo and many other children’s books) has recently surpassed J.K. Rowling to become the all-time top author by volume (number of copies sold) in the UK. She consistently tops the list of bestselling authors in the UK on a half-yearly or yearly basis in terms of volume of copies sold
    Other Notable Authors
    • David Walliams is another highly successful contemporary author, known for his children’s books, which are also bestsellers.
    • Authors like Richard Osman, known for the Thursday Murder Club series, frequently appear at the top of weekly and monthly bestseller lists in the UK.
    • In terms of popularity surveys of contemporary fiction writers in the UK, Stephen King (an American author) is often ranked as the most popular, followed closely by J.K. Rowling. 
    Most Read Book in the UK

    Most Read Book in the UK

    The “most read book” in the UK can be interpreted in different ways, but based on popularity, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is cited as the most read as of a 2024 YouGov poll. However, based on all-time sales and other polls, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is often considered the favorite, with the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling being the best-selling book series overall. 

    By popularity (2024 poll)
    • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was the most popular fiction book, with 68% of adults saying they have read it
    By all-time sales and fan favorite
    • The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien was voted the UK’s favorite novel in the BBC’s Big Read poll.
    • The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling is the best-selling book series, with titles like Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone frequently topping sales charts. 
    Other popular and important books
    • Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a classic and a frequent contender for top spots in both popularity and sales lists.
    • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee remains highly read, partly due to its inclusion in school curriculums. 

    A Christmas Carol

    A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas PastPresent and Yet to Come. In the process, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.

    A Christmas Carol is consistently one of the most-read books in the UK, having been popular since its first publication in 1843. It is considered a classic and beloved Christmas tale, and the story’s enduring popularity is evident in its many adaptations and continued presence in literature lists and popular culture, note Amazon UK, Penguin Books, and The British Library

    • Immediate success: The novella was an instant success upon its release, with the first print run of 6,000 copies selling out within days.
    • Enduring popularity: A Christmas Carol remains a favorite with families and is frequently re-read during the festive season.
    • Cultural impact: The story is so influential that it is often cited as the most famous Christmas story ever written and has been adapted countless times for stage, screen, and radio.
    • Constant presence: It is a constant feature in lists of classic and festive books, such as those compiled by the BBC and Penguin Books
    Cross Poem by Langston Hughes

    Cross Poem by Langston Hughes

    My old man’s a white old man
    And my old mother’s black.
    If ever I cursed my white old man
    I take my curses back.
    If ever I cursed my black old mother
    And wished she were in hell,
    I’m sorry for that evil wish
    And now I wish her well
    My old man died in a fine big house.
    My ma died in a shack.
    I wonder where I’m going to die,
    Being neither white nor black?

    I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You Poem by Pablo Neruda

    I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You Poem by Pablo Neruda

    I do not love you except because I love you;
    I go from loving to not loving you,
    From waiting to not waiting for you
    My heart moves from cold to fire.

    I love you only because it’s you the one I love;
    I hate you deeply, and hating you
    Bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you
    Is that I do not see you but love you blindly.

    Maybe January light will consume
    My heart with its cruel
    Ray, stealing my key to true calm.

    In this part of the story I am the one who
    Dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,
    Because I love you, Love, in fire and blood.