The Clock
3, 4 & 5 Sandbeck Arcade
Skegness
Fish, chips, mushy peas
Tea, bread with butter
‘We do not do fast food
Only good food as fast as we can’
Up the road
At the Grosvenor Hotel
My partner conducts a wedding
For someone who hasn’t yet paid
Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Water Features
I constructed a rill
Beside Devonport Leat
With my life now complete
I ventured downhill
Every day another pill
To reside in defeat
My surrender so so replete
I look out over the windowsill
No more salmon with dill
Nor dancing lively to The Beat
My future then is in walking feet
I looked back, and look back still
Beside Devonport Leat
With my life now complete
I ventured downhill
Every day another pill
To reside in defeat
My surrender so so replete
I look out over the windowsill
No more salmon with dill
Nor dancing lively to The Beat
My future then is in walking feet
I looked back, and look back still
Monday, 29 October 2018
Second Cup - IV
It seems it’s photograph time
Is this what they call
Community policing
The Muslim chap
Slots his wife
In between the two officers
After the shoot
There are thanks all around
Who knows now
Who has a photograph of who
Except that the Colombian girl
Kept her face covered
Is this what they call
Community policing
The Muslim chap
Slots his wife
In between the two officers
After the shoot
There are thanks all around
Who knows now
Who has a photograph of who
Except that the Colombian girl
Kept her face covered
Sunday, 28 October 2018
Second Cup - III
The girls seem uncomfortable
It is a facial expression thing
That, and chewing gum, with a
I will stick my tongue out attitude
As I flash my bosoms
And my heavy eyelids, straight at you
The lady police officer
Appears unmoved by events
The game is nothing new to her
Only by close observation
Do I notice the length of the peak
On the policeman’s helmet
It is a facial expression thing
That, and chewing gum, with a
I will stick my tongue out attitude
As I flash my bosoms
And my heavy eyelids, straight at you
The lady police officer
Appears unmoved by events
The game is nothing new to her
Only by close observation
Do I notice the length of the peak
On the policeman’s helmet
Saturday, 27 October 2018
Second Cup - II
Should you like to take things
Out of context
Let me tell you
About the two women on the sofa
Oddly, almost exactly where
The police force move to
Now, if you thought that those
Shamefully made up girls
Were in any way on the game
Then the fact that PC Brightside
Took a clandestine photograph
Maybe confirms your prejudice
Out of context
Let me tell you
About the two women on the sofa
Oddly, almost exactly where
The police force move to
Now, if you thought that those
Shamefully made up girls
Were in any way on the game
Then the fact that PC Brightside
Took a clandestine photograph
Maybe confirms your prejudice
Friday, 26 October 2018
Second Cup - I
Coconut chocolate flapjack
Americano - Black - Regular
One for the diabetes
One for the cure
Then, in walk the police
Uniform - Cap - Automatic rifle
One for the photograph
One for the terrorist
Do they get special treatment
Do - They - Have - To - Pay
One for the Englishman
One for the Muslim
Americano - Black - Regular
One for the diabetes
One for the cure
Then, in walk the police
Uniform - Cap - Automatic rifle
One for the photograph
One for the terrorist
Do they get special treatment
Do - They - Have - To - Pay
One for the Englishman
One for the Muslim
Thursday, 25 October 2018
Outerness
Between circle and square
Between light and dark
Between love and loss
Between apart and together
Words on a page
Posted as a letter
Between black and white
Between hard and soft
Between near and far
Between apart and together
Words as a thought
Posted as a wish
Between light and dark
Between love and loss
Between apart and together
Words on a page
Posted as a letter
Between black and white
Between hard and soft
Between near and far
Between apart and together
Words as a thought
Posted as a wish
Wednesday, 24 October 2018
Innerness
Instinctive reactions
Fuelled from who knows where
Avoided interactions
Also fuelled from there
A patch of grass
In the midday sun
Miles drives by
On his invalid scooter
His story has been a gift
To our small Dharma Family
If ever I feel hurt
I will try to let it diminish
Fuelled from who knows where
Avoided interactions
Also fuelled from there
A patch of grass
In the midday sun
Miles drives by
On his invalid scooter
His story has been a gift
To our small Dharma Family
If ever I feel hurt
I will try to let it diminish
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
Don’t Begin
To go there
Today, as a memory
To feel the rusted church gate
Slowly open
To gently lay the flowers
To quietly say the prayers
To have loved is to have known
Today, as a memory
To feel the rusted church gate
Slowly open
To gently lay the flowers
To quietly say the prayers
To have loved is to have known
Monday, 22 October 2018
Don’t End
I hear a story
Of a lost unborn child
I once was taken to the grave
Of a lost unborn child
Nothing is stolen
Nothing is given
To have loved is to have known
To have shared
Was an honour
Such privilege
May not now be discarded
No one is innocent
No one is guilty
To have loved is to have known
Of a lost unborn child
I once was taken to the grave
Of a lost unborn child
Nothing is stolen
Nothing is given
To have loved is to have known
To have shared
Was an honour
Such privilege
May not now be discarded
No one is innocent
No one is guilty
To have loved is to have known
Sunday, 21 October 2018
Gifts Of You
We are led to tears
By our own exposures
Exploring our personal sufferings
Gives food for our thoughts
Sit in the warm sun
Sit in the cold snow
Sit with the breeze to your back
Sit with the light in your eyes
We are led to our smiles
By our very own discoveries
Witnessing our lives
Gives energy to everyone’s day
By our own exposures
Exploring our personal sufferings
Gives food for our thoughts
Sit in the warm sun
Sit in the cold snow
Sit with the breeze to your back
Sit with the light in your eyes
We are led to our smiles
By our very own discoveries
Witnessing our lives
Gives energy to everyone’s day
Saturday, 20 October 2018
First Base
This is a seat
Where to be
Is to belong
This is the track
To the storytelling cabin
Where I might sign up
I could learn to understand
Then explain, just how
This magical place came to be
That may be
A most worthwhile undertaking
But one I could work on, at home
Where to be
Is to belong
This is the track
To the storytelling cabin
Where I might sign up
I could learn to understand
Then explain, just how
This magical place came to be
That may be
A most worthwhile undertaking
But one I could work on, at home
Friday, 19 October 2018
Give What You Can
We are drawing to a close
Although the last session
Ends late tomorrow morning
But this is our final Family Dharma
Where deep issues are brought
To the surface, to be opened out
Today I will tell of a letter
Which I wrote to my father
More than thirty years ago
It is for Karen
Who is thinking, maybe
Of writing to her father
Although the last session
Ends late tomorrow morning
But this is our final Family Dharma
Where deep issues are brought
To the surface, to be opened out
Today I will tell of a letter
Which I wrote to my father
More than thirty years ago
It is for Karen
Who is thinking, maybe
Of writing to her father
Thursday, 18 October 2018
Pit Stops
Nothing in life
Needs to move too too quickly
Even the Formula One
Grand Prix races
Are only once a fortnight
So the cars could, in fact
Go much more slowly
I did walk
To the farm shop, and back
Thinking of a few poems
Along the footpaths and the tracks
But I did not settle for long
And that impatience
Tinges the corners of these words
Needs to move too too quickly
Even the Formula One
Grand Prix races
Are only once a fortnight
So the cars could, in fact
Go much more slowly
I did walk
To the farm shop, and back
Thinking of a few poems
Along the footpaths and the tracks
But I did not settle for long
And that impatience
Tinges the corners of these words
Wednesday, 17 October 2018
Tobacco Road
Thirteen years ago
I smoked a pack of Camel Light
Almost every day; they were
My defence mechanism
Nowadays I write poems
With about the same frequency
And, or so I begin to believe
For much the same purpose
They prevent intrusion
They facilitate introduction
Could have been the death of me
Could be the death of me
I smoked a pack of Camel Light
Almost every day; they were
My defence mechanism
Nowadays I write poems
With about the same frequency
And, or so I begin to believe
For much the same purpose
They prevent intrusion
They facilitate introduction
Could have been the death of me
Could be the death of me
Tuesday, 16 October 2018
Deep South
The father, after a little persuasion
Bought his son, the waiter
A latte coffee to drink outside
Meanwhile the American guy
Buys another shot of expresso
And sits down beside me
We talk of money
Doctors, and lawyers, o yes
And we talk about boxers
All of these types you see
Have to have a ruthless streak
They are not always to be trusted
Bought his son, the waiter
A latte coffee to drink outside
Meanwhile the American guy
Buys another shot of expresso
And sits down beside me
We talk of money
Doctors, and lawyers, o yes
And we talk about boxers
All of these types you see
Have to have a ruthless streak
They are not always to be trusted
Monday, 15 October 2018
Time Out
Today I walk the same path
I see flowers in the verges
I see sheep’s wool on the fences
I walk faster than yesterday
For now I know where I am going
Because of my increased pace
I have longer to pause; to look
At the butterflies more closely
Such as the one of plain colour
A mousy-brown, yes perhaps
A field mouse, without any
Of those crazy orange patterns
I see flowers in the verges
I see sheep’s wool on the fences
I walk faster than yesterday
For now I know where I am going
Because of my increased pace
I have longer to pause; to look
At the butterflies more closely
Such as the one of plain colour
A mousy-brown, yes perhaps
A field mouse, without any
Of those crazy orange patterns
Sunday, 14 October 2018
Chiaroscuro
A clear blue sky
A still still tree
Light lilac flowers
Whose name I do not know
Though I do know someone
Who very well might
I do know sunlight
I do know shadow
I do know the sound of birds
And the aeroplane above
To say that this is a pleasure
Would be an understatement
Yet still I will say it
A still still tree
Light lilac flowers
Whose name I do not know
Though I do know someone
Who very well might
I do know sunlight
I do know shadow
I do know the sound of birds
And the aeroplane above
To say that this is a pleasure
Would be an understatement
Yet still I will say it
Saturday, 13 October 2018
Plain Gift
I thought I might pick a leaf
A great big leaf
From the great big tree
I thought I might place that leaf
On the Sangha table
With photographs and donations
Then I found this seat
In this gentle space
With sunlight and flowers
I read your message
I too wish to be at home
Yet there is beauty here
A great big leaf
From the great big tree
I thought I might place that leaf
On the Sangha table
With photographs and donations
Then I found this seat
In this gentle space
With sunlight and flowers
I read your message
I too wish to be at home
Yet there is beauty here
Friday, 12 October 2018
Stick With It
The discussion is over
But soon
The walking meditation will begin
But soon
The aircraft will have landed
But soon
Cars will reach their destinations
And already
The dog has stopped barking
And already
Church bells have changed peel
And already
The breeze, for what it was worth
Has become becalmed
But soon
The walking meditation will begin
But soon
The aircraft will have landed
But soon
Cars will reach their destinations
And already
The dog has stopped barking
And already
Church bells have changed peel
And already
The breeze, for what it was worth
Has become becalmed
Thursday, 11 October 2018
Kindness
There is a breeze
Yet it is ever so slight
Though sufficient
To move the taller flowers
The higher branches
The limper leaves
But not enough force
To dislodge the clouds
In the roof of the sky
Which have held their own
For much of the day
And may, for all I know
Be there again tomorrow
Let us all hope, that this slow
Slow stillness continues with us
Yet it is ever so slight
Though sufficient
To move the taller flowers
The higher branches
The limper leaves
But not enough force
To dislodge the clouds
In the roof of the sky
Which have held their own
For much of the day
And may, for all I know
Be there again tomorrow
Let us all hope, that this slow
Slow stillness continues with us
Wednesday, 10 October 2018
Card Or Cash Sir
It was the
Most expensive dinner to date
I don’t like to say how much
But service was fully inclusive
Yes I know, we did both
Choose the specials of the day
Rump steak - medium rare
Fresh caught sea bream - grilled
Served with those
Three times
Cooked chips
A delicacy of the house
Most expensive dinner to date
I don’t like to say how much
But service was fully inclusive
Yes I know, we did both
Choose the specials of the day
Rump steak - medium rare
Fresh caught sea bream - grilled
Served with those
Three times
Cooked chips
A delicacy of the house
Tuesday, 9 October 2018
Bar None
The tea mug is from Sissinghurst
The damned barking dog
Is from the other side of the trees
The stained glass windows
They might as well be in
Another county; o but they are
The Curious Brew lager
Is made by the Royal Couples
Winemaker from Kent
The deeply inebriated lady
She didn’t ought to be like that
Not by four, on a Sunday afternoon
The damned barking dog
Is from the other side of the trees
The stained glass windows
They might as well be in
Another county; o but they are
The Curious Brew lager
Is made by the Royal Couples
Winemaker from Kent
The deeply inebriated lady
She didn’t ought to be like that
Not by four, on a Sunday afternoon
Monday, 8 October 2018
Audience
The pigeon
For, as far as I know
It is a pigeon
Anyhow the pigeon
If that is what it is
The pigeon claps its wings
Yes madam
I did say claps it’s wings
I did not mean flaps
If I had meant flaps
I would have said flaps
So just clap, now, why don’t you
For, as far as I know
It is a pigeon
Anyhow the pigeon
If that is what it is
The pigeon claps its wings
Yes madam
I did say claps it’s wings
I did not mean flaps
If I had meant flaps
I would have said flaps
So just clap, now, why don’t you
Sunday, 7 October 2018
Go There
A bench
Dry dry wood
From an old old tree
Knots, and age rings
Or partial rings
Up to the sawn edges
Ants enter the crevices
Such an exploration
Yet for what purpose
Other than a desire
To know what it is
That is not yet known
Dry dry wood
From an old old tree
Knots, and age rings
Or partial rings
Up to the sawn edges
Ants enter the crevices
Such an exploration
Yet for what purpose
Other than a desire
To know what it is
That is not yet known
Saturday, 6 October 2018
Flutter
I walk
The butterfly flies
I walk a little further
Another butterfly flies
I walk a little further still
Yet another butterfly flies
I am reminded of the story
Of the tree falling in the forest
If no one is there
Does it make a noise
I walk a good deal further
Believe me
Another butterfly flies
The butterfly flies
I walk a little further
Another butterfly flies
I walk a little further still
Yet another butterfly flies
I am reminded of the story
Of the tree falling in the forest
If no one is there
Does it make a noise
I walk a good deal further
Believe me
Another butterfly flies
Friday, 5 October 2018
Absent Or Abstention
Deep on a countryside outing
Superficial in shallow thought
Deep though in calorie counting
Naught needed to add to fraught
Deep into an English summer
Philosophy far from my mind
No way could I ever be a runner
I am of a quite different kind
Deep down, with escapist action
Theories are left to dwell
I am among a minority faction
And I feel so so incredibly well
Superficial in shallow thought
Deep though in calorie counting
Naught needed to add to fraught
Deep into an English summer
Philosophy far from my mind
No way could I ever be a runner
I am of a quite different kind
Deep down, with escapist action
Theories are left to dwell
I am among a minority faction
And I feel so so incredibly well
Thursday, 4 October 2018
Not For Vehicular Traffic
I found a lane
A pond of open water
A gated road, securely closed
But with a footpath beside it
Indeed a well worn path
The grass having been cut back
With its remnants turned to dust
O what a magical summer
I am a little bit lost
Yet I can hear voices
So I step out, in that way
To find myself completely
A pond of open water
A gated road, securely closed
But with a footpath beside it
Indeed a well worn path
The grass having been cut back
With its remnants turned to dust
O what a magical summer
I am a little bit lost
Yet I can hear voices
So I step out, in that way
To find myself completely
Wednesday, 3 October 2018
Routes To Rest
The one-time communal benches
Are now overgrown
There are signs of a fire
Scorched earth, black ashes
It was, back then, a place for friends
Conversations, discussions
Likely over a glass or two of wine
With slowly-smoked cigarettes
Time, as they say, moves on
Lanes, and pathways which once
Took us to the places we needed
To go to, are now here no more
Are now overgrown
There are signs of a fire
Scorched earth, black ashes
It was, back then, a place for friends
Conversations, discussions
Likely over a glass or two of wine
With slowly-smoked cigarettes
Time, as they say, moves on
Lanes, and pathways which once
Took us to the places we needed
To go to, are now here no more
Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Noise Champion
Pigeons, crows, flies
Nature in all its glory
Trees, in for the long stretch
Ivy, as ever, running wild
The helicopter takes first prize
Did it’s inventor ever envisage
That it would make
Such a goddam racket
Thankfully the skies
Are not so crowded
The machine moves out of sight
As I return from my rant
Nature in all its glory
Trees, in for the long stretch
Ivy, as ever, running wild
The helicopter takes first prize
Did it’s inventor ever envisage
That it would make
Such a goddam racket
Thankfully the skies
Are not so crowded
The machine moves out of sight
As I return from my rant
Monday, 1 October 2018
Still Noise
The slightest, quietest
Of overheard conversation
Yet you do feel the presence
You are not alone here
You hear the aeroplane
Even though you do not see it
You are aware of highways
And shops in the town
This isn’t why you came
But, always there are distractions
Of overheard conversation
Yet you do feel the presence
You are not alone here
You hear the aeroplane
Even though you do not see it
You are aware of highways
And shops in the town
This isn’t why you came
But, always there are distractions
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