Splashed Water

I did not, would not, could not say no
Therein lies the impossible power of attachment

I pulled you close
Looked into your eyes
You laughed, yet you were quite unable
To look back into mine

I sat naked
As we dined
On the waterside terrace
Of my ex-wife’s sprawling cottage

You told of vacations
I began to understand
You ate easily of the anchovies
I struggled to find more abundant supplies

It was indeed unexpected for a neighbour to intrude
With pointless talk, endless conversation
Of troubles found
Both here & beyond the Horn of Africa




a poem from In & Out of Dream Space
Love Embellished by Visitations click anywhere on
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Doddle

Foul day
Strong winds, torrential rain
UA Fanthorpe telling of this thin strip of land

Earlier; gas flames set low, lights dimmed
Sat with a straight back, on a straight backed chair
I joined in a meditation with the Boys of Ampleforth



a poem from In & Out of Dream Space
Love Embellished by Visitations click anywhere on
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D Ream

Just to say, I could not have thought it otherwise
Yet now I can think of you more easily
Even to think that we could be friends
Though touch would be a fear
A fear that I might collapse into your arms
In search of all
That I have worked so hard to protect myself from

What brought me to this
It was a dream, less than a second I expect
An image of you with sparkling hair, a smile
A short nightdress
Your silken hair pushed forwards
Aching to be touched - I did not touch
To this day some fears remain





a poem from In & Out of Dream Space
Love Embellished by Visitations click anywhere on
the text for details

Limits

In search of beauty
What happened to the book
The one on Truth and Beauty
I found it out, then I misplaced it

As I do every now and again
I wanted to show it off
Expose my inability to search out beauty
Trick myself onto the unstable vehicle of truth




a poem from In & Out of Dream Space
Love Embellished by Visitations click anywhere on
the text for details

At the start of the day

He stands as I have stood
Smoking a cigarette, discreetly
While he waits for his business colleagues

His gaze is over the golf course
More distant; his thoughts sweetly
Take him back to the Paris of his youth

She was a dancer; artistic and full of beauty
With a passion and desire that he so wished to fulfill

My own interior fulfillment had me by the Seine
Strolled me down the Champs Élysées
Toured me through the pyramid of the Louvre

I sipped coffee at a café in the Place de la Republic
Picked at a deep china bowl of Moules marinières
Posed, as though affluent, in Pierre's Bastille restaurant

Alone on the hotel balcony
I blew smoke into a starlit sky
I smiled at the memory of the Mona Lisa

His hair is black, with flecks of silver grey
She wore reds and golds, emeralds and pearls
His suit is black, his shoes also
She skipped and ran, she kissed and chased

We remember it well, he lost his virginity
She tore it away, with the vengeance of age
We are uncertain of the immediate future
Her certainty was, with the immediacy of youth



a poem from the collection Into the Present Decade - Love with Droplets of Joy available by clicking on the link