Paddle and Splash

I am in my brother’s garden
Alone
I am early
It is a mid June afternoon

My brother lives
I suppose you could call it country
But not an estate or a seat

Not in the grandest sense
Not a Chatsworth
Or a Balmoral
Or the old East Indies

Anyhow
Here I am
Here and waiting
And thinking

Could I ask you please?
Just for a moment
To choose
Your own favourite location

And
Then
For this moment
Listen to the wave’s splash

If your place is by the sea
Where you wander
Or paddle and splash

Back here
I sit on the wooden bench
A close fit two-seater
Listen - I can hear the birdsong

I can hear the flap of wing
Can you
I can hear the buzzing fly

This is a time
Unplanned
Here I am
Alone

With nothing needing to be done
Nothing at all
At this time of now
Is expected of me

Can you imagine such a time
When all that is to be done
Is that which comes
From within your own imagination

Imagine
Time for thoughtful recreation
Spontaneous blameless contemplation
Or action

I guess the grass was cut a few days ago
Anyway the shed is locked
No access to the mower

Unless of course I act against the law
Break
And enter

But why would I
When instead I can sit here
In the sun and the shadow

Sit here
And write for you
While I listen out
For my brother



From the Collection I Suppose You could Call It Country, available on Kindle

Luminous Intensity

The sun strikes from high above
Thirty years or more ago
At university or in love
We spoke of Lumens
His law and the afterglow
Of Luminous intensity

Immense then the
Density of the obnoxious teenager
Leaning against the bar in fair refrain
A peacock on the prowl
A scowl for all authority

Some things never change
And some things stay the same

Rising in the east
And setting in the west
Concave or convex
The arc between

Between the rise and set
Is blessed

Intense then the
Propensity of youth
Spent; fenced too far
In dares unfair domain
A hippopotamus with a growl
Cheek by jowl to remain

Some things never change
And some things stay the same



From the Collection I Suppose You could Call It Country, available on Kindle

Rossetti

The pen says Rossetti
The picture
In my mind is of a face
With an engaging smile

A closed door
An open space
Above the floor
Aside in place

A cry for more
Of love to taste
An open door
On Rossetti’s face


From the Collection I Guess You could Call It Country, available on Kindle

Philadelphia & Bagels

Mental morning callisthenics
Extend my thoughts to love
My lover

Railway wagons
Shuttle past
The window

When last
Did you take
Your lady out to tea

Or have a picnic
In the park
With Philadelphia & Bagels



A Poem from the collection In such a shabby, crabby way Available for Kindle from Amazon

Singularity

For a moment I had forgot
Or rather I had forgotten to remember
To be aware that life moves on
Around me

Engrossed in some singular occupation
I occupied myself beyond myself
And lost myself to those who had
Found me

With Pope Joan
& Lady Nijo
Marlene, Win & Louise
And my hero Joyce

The carer for Angie
The repository for life's troubles
Doubled up deep
Inside me

I lose my way
With words
Yet vow after today
To have more care

Over my singularity:
I will hear the raindrops
Outside
And your voice; once again



A Poem from the collection In such a shabby, crabby way Available for Kindle from Amazon