Distanced

Would I send a card
or could that be
misconstrued

Should I be better
with a letter or bouquet
to break the news

Stood, as in
the junk shop yard
my fettered blues

Set in diamonds
and spades
heavenly laid

No chased affray
undue
The recluse of truth


Could in
time or space
be found to lose

Then let my absence choose
unabashed confused
Secure, survived in suits

Stood in
line or race
we be joined to part

Fret not
my ace of hearts
we may taste again

Your
stolen kiss
somewhere dark


a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Macgregor

The bitter taste still lingers
Even for the dead
The bitter taste is fingered
With all the socialist read

An obituary -
Let’s have a celebration
The bitch and he
They at one who split a nation

I twitched to see, sat beside me
The dab old hands undimmed reaction
In suit, shirt and tie; somehow freed
From deep drift, dark light contraction

He sought no mitigation, no balance
No desire to find a fairer view
“She led the boys a stiff haired dalliance
While he culled the cutting crew”

The bitter taste still lingers
Even for the dead
“I hope he counts on countless fingers
Of all the lies he’s yet to tread”



a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Misinterpretation

Gold ring
telephone conversations
Lunchtime sings
apart
we make our reservations

Can you
pick the kids from school
Can you
give them supper, you fool

Of course I will be home
aren’t I always
Yes I am alone
aren’t I always

Your signal is weak
(and so are you)
It’s an embarrassment to shriek
at Zombie Zoo

Look
I’ll catch you later
Yes I love you
but no I don’t hate her

That was
a long time ago
Her office has moved
we hardly ever; say hello

My credit is running out
(and so is yours)
I didn’t mean to shout
only to even the scores

Gold ring
late night consolations
supper time sings
Together
we forego our contemplations

Dreams are things
(I’ll share mine too)
For deep without
no love accrues



a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Relief

I so wanted to let go
in that moment of pure…
Worked up into such a state
O yes, I wanted to let go completely

Earlier, the chilled Mediterranean white wine
Escallopes of pork, slow grilled
with hints of Dijon mustard
The unsteady walk home, from two doors down
along the street of coronation

Kisses on strapless bare shoulders
stripped laughter dances across the moonlight
Other couples canoodling, sat on the steps
of Georgian terraced houses; we say goodnight, they
say good morning, we turn the key and climb the stairs

Worked up into such a state
with nothing left to question
I so wanted to let go
in that moment of penultimate release




a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Scattered

The easy words
arrive so easily
Measly
the tricky stuff, believe me

It’s the background see
council estates
cutting up rough
a wasteful education

Today the ploughman talks to me
a ring upon his finger
he talks of articulation
in the modern age of farming

He talks of the dust clouds
just before the tilling
He paints redness in the sky
and gladly fills the filling

We see no sardines of sadness
rake no artichokes of anguished memories
He says the easy words; he says them easily








a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Refuse

Dust
Corn stalks
frayed and broken

I am woken to be with you
hand into the breeze
shaded from the sunlight

Want no more
for fair or faint attention
Strengthened, poured out
as the tree, surely shed believes

Two turns in the worn and token tarmac
two lines away to the horizon
far into late summer’s sunlight

Want no more
for fair or faint attention
lengthened, laid out
as the casket surely grieves

Bushels of the futures
fine grained
Dusk


a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Recovery

I might have to write of nettles
of hedgerows swaying by the trees
The flight is almost over
from deep lows; weeping on my knees

Words have been read and written
the smitten vows
burnt in small degrees
burnt, without the smoke of leaves

Aiming for the settled
the settlement found me ready
Remember how my mother fettled
in posh houses, old grates to grieve

The weights of her love and affection
On her soft skin, in her soft voice

I have to write of those nettles
of being rubbed better
The stinging settled
by crumpled fresh dock leaves







a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Gateway

Round bales
in rolling up and down fields
That’s the deal; real ales
photographs at dusk, for cinema reels

Peeled potatoes, picnic in the stubble
calling out over the garble
That’s the seal, our unsung couple
trust red brick, more so than marble

a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Exit Strategy

The ploughed field will break into soft soil
The seeds will follow the hollow men
The wicker men will dance by the maypole

It’s a year before the harvest
It’s a year gone by
Over and over again

Stepping away from rooftops
The treasure of pleasure
Once more to climb



a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Counter Claim

All our own private moments
O how to share them

Do you feel the breeze
as it rustles through the trees
Do you feel pleased
to be, for the moment, unburdened

The weight off your feet
as you skip into the stream
The young love that you meet
as you slip into the dream

All our own private moments
yes how to share them
Doors close, winds pick up
rain lashes, fires die away to embers

Do you feel disease
as it rustles through the trees
Do you feel displeased
to be freed of burden

The weight off your feet
as you slip into the dream
The young love that you keep
as you trip into the stream



a poem from the collection Some Trickier Poems - Love with Conflicts - available as a kindle download or library item by clicking here

Watercombe in the Mirror

That late May afternoon
Nineteen years or so ago
I climbed the five bar gate
Walked two thousand metres
Over the pipeline

I kicked stones down to the river
Whistled to the sheep
Who appeared to be reasonably settled

By the trout pass I took off my boots
Dangled my feet into the water

My laughter trapped in the bowl
Of the wrapped around hillside
Only now the laughter


a poem from the collection Watercombe - Love in Open Moorland, available from itunes by clicking on this link

I have taken a lot of pleasure

From this paper and this pen
Difficult to commence
Indefinable intent

In between: visions
Missions from black to gold
Lullabies, heaven sent

Pleasures taken for real
By the person
Not simply the pen lent

Wherever I began
Not to know
Whatever was meant

In between, loss of control
Flotillas of clouds
Windblown thoughts bent



a poem from the collection Watercombe - Love in Open Moorland, available from itunes by clicking on this link

Envelope

Twenty four pence
Boundless limitless value
A moment a minute a lifetime
No one not ever

Opened my heart or my pen
Opened and broken
Twenty four pence
A stamp to save our love



a poem from the collection Watercombe - Love in Open Moorland, available from itunes by clicking on this link

Against the Rain

Did I write of a white May moon
On this on a scrap of paper
Like a smooth boulder

I am your white May moon

Soon another train will rickety rattle
Tittle tattle on the radio home
I miss too too

You you you, I miss you my white may moon

We walked on sunrise seashores, held hands
Kept warm, touched life at the fingertips
Emotions recharged with energy explosions

I walk alone, against the rain

Elements to touch, to touch together
Pleasure, pleasure in this life
A gift of your unlimited ideals

I too too miss you our white may moon



a poem from the collection Watercombe - Love in Open Moorland, available from itunes by clicking on this link

Preamble

The bramble is in bloom
The yellow gorse there’s yards and yards of it
The rain speckled rambler
Walks smiling through

This pathway followed by monks of old
Today’s story told
Around last centuries newest abbey
Amongst the twisted vines and lavender

In the bookshop reading of retreats
Buying Aristotle's thoughts on happiness
The gentle people congregate
Smiling eyes, soft spoken voices

Back on the moors
Back among magnificent vista's
A thousand years
A million miles

The beauty brings alive the eyes and ears
The traveller thanks his lucky stars
Nature has many more surprises
The river rises in a flash spring spate

Meditation in stained glass surrounds
To a backdrop of glory and giving
Being your brothers keeper
Contributing for continuation

Sunshine and showers
Photographs of flowers
Reaching peace
Touching love

Being there
Just being
Immersed in absorption
Feeling alive


a poem from the collection Watercombe - Love in Open Moorland, available from itunes by clicking on this link