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