Pages

Sunday, 30 September 2018

Constructs

Yet someone built this
Somebody took enough care
To dig out a French drain
And fill it with shingle

Somebody painted the cladding
In Yves Klein blue
Perhaps to give
The place an international feel

An artist’s workplace
It would seem to say
Not a dwelling for lemonade
Or cakes, or croquet on the lawn


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Saturday, 29 September 2018

Found

I came upon a blue hut
And sat beneath its window
Upon this slice of a log

A Potter’s studio
Or a writer's place of solitude
With a stand-up desk

Outdoors the grass is untended
A roll of chicken wire
Lays moribund, in the centre

Of the five metres square patch
Of rural roughness, on its way back
To nature, freed of mankind's nurture


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Friday, 28 September 2018

Happened

In the dream you wished me well
Sent me off to my work
With a hug and a wave

That is after I had cleared out
All of the rubbish
From the old Ford Mondeo

You talked of parks
And ponds
Your day ahead

Almost exactly
As it was
Those twenty-eight years ago


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Thursday, 27 September 2018

Eventful

Where might those
Together afternoons
Have gone to

Would the colours
Have faded in the
Twice-weekly wash

Where might those
Tricky love words
Have moved on to

Would the essences
Have frayed, in the
Twice-yearly exposure


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Wednesday, 26 September 2018

Wishful

There is a modernist in me
Or at least a soul
Who looks out for good quality

Which is then named as neat
Or right, or appropriate
Or correct, or well placed

He, as himself might care to be
Named by those self-same words
Particularly well placed

Instead he halfway tells us
Of an old love story
Which didn’t run its course


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Tuesday, 25 September 2018

Describe

The rug is blue
With a wide orange border

Part in shadow
Part in bright sunlight

The two settees
And three armchairs

Are placed with their backs
Against the common room walls

The floor is wooden
A long way from its best


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Monday, 24 September 2018

Knowledge

Will I know more
By Sunday lunchtime
Will I know more
By looking back at these notes

Will I have captured
The stillness, the breeze
The beauty, the love
The altogether me, just being

And what of those
Who were here before
Where are they now
What became of those poets


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Sunday, 23 September 2018

Four Walls

Are these the trappings
A room to oneself
In the middle of the day

A room with French windows
Overlooking a garden
With birdsong and roses

I am also conscious
That I could have painted
The canvasses on these walls

I am though less conscious
Of my purpose; or of
What it is, which draws me here


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Saturday, 22 September 2018

Love

There was a table
Now there is no table
Was there a water feature
There is one now
But unkempt, and overgrown

There was laughter
Most supportive
And much appreciated

There were children
Playing hide and seek
Also other games too
Which they had invented
All by themselves


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Friday, 21 September 2018

Change Has Occurred

This time will be different
For now you don’t know
What you bring with you

You don’t know what you seek
Or how you might seek it
Except that contemplation

Yes, contemplating, meditating
That might help, and yes
The writing is a good contribution

So simply to be aware
To take notes, to write down
All of the possibilities


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Thursday, 20 September 2018

All Of The Why

Why be here
Why be drawn
To reflect on that time
Of thirteen years ago

Except that
That you believe that that time
Changed you
Took away some of your angst

They let you talk, let you play
Let you become someone
Who for so so long
You had forgotten to be


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Wednesday, 19 September 2018

Trappist

Cool cool water
Seasonal salad
Mother and daughter
With an Irish ballad

Through black Black Mountain
To pools so still
A spider in the fountain
The end of your rill

Out through the window
On the lightest of breezes
Lay your love low
Take care of the creases

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Tuesday, 18 September 2018

Stitching Detector

At the halfway point
Of Section One
The thinning line
In the weakest font

As if the rage does burn
When the one door closes
At the turn of the tide
Bless the blight of the roses

Still I go, slow and sure
Into the deeper obsession
Trapped; so wild, so pure
Without doubt, or oppression


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Monday, 17 September 2018

Dining Room (Nearby)

The noise picks up
As lunchtime begins
The gong surely sounds
For the love you bring

The queues slowly shuffle
As the trolleys pass by
Conversations start to rustle
As the poets quietly sigh

And still you avoid
The everyday invitation
Your words without shape
Are hurtful to creation



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Sunday, 16 September 2018

Common Room

French conversation
Overheard somewhere near
Did I ever doubt
That you knew I would be here

Rag laid, oranges and creams
With sculptures too
How easily you do settle
In anywhere remotely new

White clouds float by
Across those skies of blue
There is no longer any fear
As I write these words for you



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Saturday, 15 September 2018

& Buts

I wouldn’t have
You, I think you’ll agree
You would have
We, together or apart

We couldn’t have
Though, perhaps
In another life
Yes, maybe we could have



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Friday, 14 September 2018

Ifs

I most certainly would have
You probably wouldn’t have
I most absolutely should have
You quite likely shouldn’t have

I surely could have
You as it happens
Couldn’t have
I, looking back

Shouldn’t have
You, on reflection
Maybe should have
I, I hope you know



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Thursday, 13 September 2018

Darling, Winter’s Over

I didn’t really know
Neither did you say
I hadn’t seen the show
Nor felt the need to pray

I didn’t want to go
But wasn’t welcome to stay
It wasn’t for me though
For you to have your own way

I listened, to the song of the snow
By the American stray
When the blackbird said hello
And blue skies turned to grey


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Wednesday, 12 September 2018

Scents And Notes

From the scent of life
And the smiles of the faith
To the beauty of strife
And the needs of the waif
O to that place; so so far away

From the imagined mind
And the similes of lust
To the wondrous find
And the song of musk
O to that place; so so far away

To the scent of life
And the imagined mind
O to that place; so so far away



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Tuesday, 11 September 2018

Early Bird

As the day begins
And the night ends
With the start of sins
Become the best of friends

At the first of light
And the last of dark
To the shores of sight
With the morning lark

With breath to draw
Also cold water to wash
To the carrion crow
Before the life we squash


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Monday, 10 September 2018

Look

A lightness
And a darkness
With a selflessness
Which holds sway

A vagueness
And a sharpness
With a shadowiness
That simply will not  go away

A sureness
And a doubtfulness
With a hopefulness
At least for the rest of the day


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Sunday, 9 September 2018

Shop Till You Drop

In a deep velvet chair
In front of
A bloody great big mirror

Waiting, while
A new top is tried on
To match the recently gifted skirt

Of course
Neither the style, nor the fit
Or even the colour

Are quite to the liking
Of her best friend

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Saturday, 8 September 2018

Cube 7: Bottom, front, top, back, right, left

No change in circumstances
Yours, Amanda from Prudential
She reminds one of Georgina Clough (fifty years back)
Because Georgina’s father was also in insurance

And that’s the annual review over
A letter will be in the post
4% is the expected growth after charges
No change in circumstances

And that’s the annual review over
Have another good year
Be thankful for the last one
Be more thankful for the next one

Be more thankful for the next one
And may your health improve
May your frozen shoulder be cured
Because Georgina’s father was also in insurance

Be thankful for the last one
4% is the expected growth after charges
May your frozen shoulder be cured
She reminds one of Georgina Clough (fifty years back)

Have another good year
A letter will be in the post
And may your health improve
Yours, Amanda from Prudential


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Friday, 7 September 2018

Cube 7: Left, bottom, front, top, back, right

Bound up
In the dark dawn
Of deep introspection
Freed up

By the light-hearted
Freed up
By the blue-sky thinkers
Little fluffy clouds

Of outright avoidance
In the dark dawn
Where real stuff happens
By the light-hearted

Of outright avoidance
Bound up
Take to the hills
Take to the valleys

Take to the valleys
Of deep introspection
Where all might not be imagined
Little fluffy clouds

Take to the hills
Where real stuff happens
Where all might not be imagined
By the blue-sky thinkers


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Thursday, 6 September 2018

Cube 7: Right, left, bottom, front, top, back

On the home straight
Half a box of boxes to go
It’s been a fun journey
Not only for me

No, others have joined in
Taken the idea to their hearts
Shoehorned in their old poems
Even begun anew; completely fresh stuff

Or older stuff on a new canvas
Even begun anew; completely fresh stuff
Not only for me
But in the spirit of collaboration

In the life of the moment
Taken the idea to their hearts
Half a box of boxes to go
Or older stuff on a new canvas

In the life of the moment
No, others have joined in
On the home straight
To loud applause and cheers

To loud applause and cheers
Shoehorned in their old poems
It’s been a fun journey
But in the spirit of collaboration


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Wednesday, 5 September 2018

Cube 6: Bottom, right, top, back, left, front

Too sensitive by half
Way too insensitive to boot
The introverted extrovert
The pessimistic optimist

The caricature of character
The player of many parts
The part of many players
The introverted extrovert

The disguise of disappearance
The re-appearance without thought
The caricature of character
The expression of express reaction

The expression of express reaction
Slow down now why don’t you
The part of many players
The pessimistic optimist

The re-appearance without thought
Let be what will be
Slow down now why don’t you
Way too insensitive to boot

The disguise of disappearance
Let be what will be
The player of many parts
Too sensitive by half

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Tuesday, 4 September 2018

Cube 6: Front, bottom, right, top, back, left

The reality is here
And he is the only one
Even in the chattering silence
Which cannot be denied

Which cannot be denied
Even if
Even if no one reads this
Or no one is thinking anymore

About the good old days
Even in the chattering silence
Even with left-field thinking
Even if no one reads this

The reality is here
Here, deep in self-denial
About the good old days
Or hopes for the future

Or hopes for the future
With footsteps on warm beaches
Even with left-field thinking
Or no one is thinking anymore

Here, deep in self-denial
And he is the only one
With footsteps on warm beaches
Even if


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Monday, 3 September 2018

Cube 6: Left, front, bottom, right, top, back

Listening to Richard Hawley
Do you remember Coles Corner
The fence is left leaning
The clematis being such a weight

And Tonight the streets are ours
Do you remember Coles Corner
When The Old Stables
Were not even a dream

Were not even a dream
The clematis being such a weight
Yet we chose the Velux windows
To let in the light

To let in the cooler air
When The Old Stables
They did not have their new roof
Yet we chose the Velux windows

And Tonight the streets are ours
Listening to Richard Hawley
To let in the cooler air
But only when opened

But only when opened
The fence is left leaning
They did not have their new roof
To let in the light


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Sunday, 2 September 2018

Cube 6: Back, left, front, bottom, right, top

Another day for freedom to begin
Past items moved into storage
Hurtful words also shelved
As though in their darkness they might set him free

In between that day and this
As though I may try to explain it
Past items moved into storage
A void of a man, a gap of a man

A traveller without expression
As though I may try to explain it
Words of love, yet so well hidden
As to become words of something quite different

As to become words of something quite different
A void of a man, a gap of a man
A man denying his own closure
As though in their darkness they might set him free

Open his face up to the four winds
Words of love, yet so well hidden
Hurtful words also shelved
A man denying his own closure

A traveller without expression
In between that day and this
Open his face up to the four winds
Another day for freedom to begin


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Saturday, 1 September 2018

Cube 6: Top, back, left, front, bottom, right

Nothing is there now
Except the certainty
The absolute meaning of nothing at all
Nothing should be certain

Nothing should be certain
Is itself worthy of repetition
Is itself worthy of dwelling upon
Take a few moments longer to ponder

Accept the certainty
Welcome the faint new light shining
Is itself worthy of repetition
Yes, so so worth looking again

Nothing is there now
Welcome the faint new light shining
A smile which tries to say I love you
An enigma, of the enigmatic kind

An enigma, of the enigmatic kind
Yes, so so worth looking again
If you have read any or all of those books
Take a few moments longer to ponder

The absolute meaning of nothing at all
A smile which tries to say I love you
Is itself worthy of dwelling upon
If you have read any or all of those books


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