ME isn’t real you know
ME is all just fake
I chose to give up work you know
To rely upon the state

ME isn’t real you know
It’s all just in my mind
I just fancied giving up
On everything in my life

ME isn’t real you know
ME is all just talk
I just chose to give up running
And use a stick to help me walk

ME isn’t real you know
The pain is in my head
In fact it’s also in my arms
My back, my ribs, my legs

ME isn’t real you say
It’s all just my pretend
You think I choose, my life to lose
As well as my final friend?

ME isn’t real you say
Laziness is in my genes
You say this though not knowing
That I’ve worked since just 13

ME is just fake you say
I really am ok
Do you really reckon, for just one second
I’d choose to be this way?

Lazy sod, it’s in your head
Wish I could just stay in bed
Shake it off, stop complaining
To be like that, you must be feigning

Just not possible, to have pain like that
And legs that just won’t go
To feel battered and bruised like you say you are
You’re a lying so and so……

To be this way is not by choice,
To hide from light, to hide from noise,
Friends don’t call, and that’s not all
They talk behind our back
They say we’re no fun, won’t go for a run
But then they don’t know Jack.

Hit with this, we don’t know why
Keep fighting on, is our battle cry
All we ask is for belief,
It’s taken our lives like a skulking thief

I ask for not a single pound
But when next the thought is going round
Let’s all do a charity run
What’s our cause, is there one?
Can I ask that you keep minds free
And choose to help those with ME.

By Bill Clayton

I want to Chat
And things like that
Like we used to do
It hurts to talk
It pains to walk
But I’ll get myself to you.

I’ll get there, it’s not that far
Travel by bus, too tough by car
Vibrations turn senses into mire
The slightest bump, the more I tire
Noise and sounds care not for bounds
Twist my senses and my blood
Turn brain cells into mud

So tired now my jaw grows numb
I slur my words, It’s so absurd
I sound like a drunken bum
Not there yet, a bit to go
Bus on time
But seems so slow
Traffic stops at another junction
More of my body
Ceases to function.

Came this way when we used to run
Used to chat, used to have fun
Another lifetime ago that was
We’d run for charity, we had clarity
And a noble, worthwhile cause
Runs became less
Health was a mess
You did them on your own
You’d keep in touch, then not so much
A quick chat on the phone

At least today
You’ve said we’d meet
The coffee shop
Bottom of the street
Bus pulls in
Feeling grim
But got here all the same
Feel so weak, hard to speak
The journey’s been a drain.

You’re not there
The chair sits spare
No message left, feel bereft
It seems you didn’t care

Of friends I had
You were the best
Through thick and thin
You stood the test
But somewhere through this tougher time
Somewhere it seems you lost your spine
One more thing to see decline
I thought you were a friend of mine

I haven’t lost you
You’ve lost me
You are just too blind to see
I will be stronger, will look back no longer
Through this, my fight with M.E

Life moves on
Now you’ve gone
I am stronger, not forlorn
We need real friends, not just pretends
To tell this beast, the war is on.

By Bill Clayton.

We try to get together on the third Wednesday of each month for a coffee and a natter in York.

Our next get together is Wednesday 19 October at 1.30 pm at a venue in York yet to be decided. This is due to the difficulties we have in finding somewhere that is suitable to our difficulty with noise, light etc. Please keep checking back here for confirmation when we find somewhere !

The Coffee Club is open to anyone either with ME, or friends and family looking for support from people who understand.

Due to the nature of the illness, there will be times when numbers are low, but if you'd like to attend, either just turn up on the day, or email me at bill@York-ME-Community.org.

The social element of this site has moved to a Facebook Group called The York ME Community.

This is available to people in the York area looking for help, advice and support, whether those diagnosed, family or friends. We are a close knit group who discuss more than just ME, as we like to think that we are not defined by this illness. We discuss every day things, have a laugh, and try to meet on a monthly basis if the beast that is ME allows us !

Please don't apply to join if you are promoting your preferred remedy. I'm happy to mention your company within the group, but it's for individuals to choose what they wish to try in their battle to seek an improvement in their health.

Hair’s a mess, can’t get dressed
Can I shower, that’s the test
Done Ok, the shoes are on
Now where the hell’s my energy gone?
Another day has been a waste
Another day just cut and paste.

Can’t get the hang of doing nowt
Want to do, wanna go out
Every day just the same
Precious life going down the drain
Another day has been a waste
Another day just cut and paste.

Made a plan, things to do
Gotta get out, meet with you
Head’s a traffic jam again
Cones are out, no working men
Brain’s just stuck in bottom gear
No way I’m leaving here
Another day has been a waste
Another day just cut and paste.

Another day down the drain
Another day, lots of pain
Shakes like hell, couldn’t yell, could hardly even speak
Words not there, people stare
Me feeling like a freak
Legs like stone, feel so alone
Need to be safe back at home
Another day has been a waste
Another day just cut and paste.

Politicians do your sums
We’re not a load of idle bums
Don’t just stand and bang your gums
Don’t just cut and paste

ME won’t let us live, for that sin I won’t forgive
It gives a little, takes a lot
But beware our souls can’t be bought
My inner strength will work tenfold
To leave M.E out in the cold
To this Illness I will lay waste
Spread the word……Just cut and paste…..

By Bill Clayton

I can feel the storm clouds forming
All around my head
I should have stopped my ‘doing’
And rested more instead.

The soft patter of the raindrops
That turn into a thud
As my mind it slows as the downpour grows
Turning every thought to mud.

My scrambled brain
Is like thundering rain
I cower from the merest light
Like a laser beam, that noxious stream
Makes me hide from its line of sight

The wind gathers pace
As it reaches my face
It locks my jaw in jail
Words cannot be formed
Nerve ends are stormed
In a batter of blistering hail.

The rumble of thunder
Soon drives me under
My senses are now so inviting,
The noise of a page, as it turns, causes rage
Like being hit by a bolt of lightning.

The darkening skies, have closed my eyes
Caused my limbs to spasm
From thought to deed,
My body concedes
Is forged an unbridgeable chasm.

Can’t take in the spoken word
Just makes no sense, so absurd
Simple chat I have to concede
Rolls over me, like tumbleweed.

Not just tiredness,
Not just fatigue,
This is in a different league
These storms are causing me to drown
I can feel my body closing down.

I know in time the sun will shine
We’ll see the shoots of Spring
But a wind of change is what we need
To help us beat this thing.

We won’t go under,
Without causing some thunder
A volcano of hot angry fire
We’ll rise as one voice,
making some noise
Awareness is what we desire.

I know that together,
We can change this bad weather
So let’s be in it as one
Let’s keep up the fight, with all of our might
And we’ll enjoy our day in the sun.

By Bill Clayton