Now and here

It is a while since I sat out in the garden

Even longer, since I saw the Cornish coastline

And never yet have I walked, or talked on Suffolk sands

How could I forget this place; only a few yards from our door

Here under the completely clear blue skies, for today again

I am a long way from an uncertain keyboard or computer screen

The last time, I remember, I was looking for the peach tree

In the dark wet nights of early August, when instead

Of this excitable place, we watched TV, with our dinner on our knees

See how easy to become disconnected, to miss out on or to forget

The wonder of the out of doors, yet still today I cannot be still

I am not yet in comfort, but sat anxiously stiff in the September sun

The trampoline beckons; I reckon that these few extra ounces

Will steady the bounce as my now longer locks flounce

In the summer sunlight; uncombed, unkempt, untroubled

The last few apples, which the early autumn winds cannot dislodge

They take in the last tastes of the summer

Their deep red satisfies the eye, that I do not deny

The curved and twisted boughs and branches and leaves

Which are golden and virgin will soon turn through youth to brown

Up and down the country, yes, this has been quite a summer

I dare say I’ve never been so happy, with time and place

To share and care and to be cared for, there is little desire today

To do much more than be ever thankful

To be here in the moment; and to know where it is that I am

And to know that you will join me, as we walk and talk

On the Norfolk and Suffolk beaches

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If silence cannot catch you

The lean

And thinner coppice

She holds no winds

Or taller stories

Of highwaymen masquerading

As tramps or clowns

Or troubadours

In silks and finest gowns

She’s mean

With rotten poppies

Rescinds gold tops

And Cornish toffees

Of children masquerading

As harlots or darling dares

Or harlequins

In diamanté and laced up squares

I’m keen

But have long forgotten hobbies

I see no cinders about to flair

Or street treading bobbies to care

Of adults masquerading

As lovers with slow light flashes

Or layabouts in sackcloth

And forlorn unborn ashes

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Summer sun descending

To turn you on

To pass you by

The leaves have gone

The sand is dry

Oh me oh my

What am I escaping from

The South West sky

And the dinner gong

It won’t be long

Neither now nor in time past present

The time ahead to turn somehow

And not be unwisely led

To turn you on

To pass you by

The leaves have gone

Is now the time to belie

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Inculcate

It is lunchtime

I have been out

To take a few photographs

Looking at the mist and trees

The small fruit and the fallen leaves

I am back indoors

The radiator keeps me warm

And Poppy Ackroyd’s immersive mix

Keeps my minds attention

Focussed on the lightness of touch

Using the IKEA wooden boxes “knagglig"

For speaker stands has worked a treat

Although I am considering yoga blocks

As an alternative, to allow the boxes

Once more to be used for art material storage

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Calculate

To wonder

How to reach

Beyond here and now

Yes

How to go

Into time

Those thirteen hours

Between your time

And my time

Or those

Fifteen-thousand- one - hundred and twenty

Back to the last time

Imagine

All of that time

Without you

Work it out for yourself

The numbers

Are the easy part

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