Delicate

What is missing
Is what I choose
My way
Of keeping private

Those particular
Personal relationships
That in any event
Are difficult to transpose

From the significant
Insignificant airs
To the insignificant
Significant words

The girl, there with her mother
Trying on the Tyrian
Purple velvet coat, and floppy hat
Being one such moment

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Working

Canals
Steelworks
Railways
Collieries

And always the sunset
And always the dusk
Allowed days to close

Water
Fire
Wind
Earth

And always the trees grow
And always the sunrise
Allowed crops to prosper

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Trips

I talk of peace
But mostly I joust
I walk towards equilibrium
But mostly I steer clear of Proust

And between
The feistiness
And the emptiness
My thoughts are hand to mouth

I stroke those hands across the table
Shuffle these feet on the timber floor
I see that the wet sky is formidable
Take my duffle coat to the door

And between
The ashes in the grate
And last years almighty joyous flames
My thoughts turn back towards the score

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Stratagems

From the warmth
Of the womb
To the doubts
Behind the doors
That leave the room
From those whose love
We might assume
To the ones who explore
The fruits of our loom
Days and nights
Of aimless hope
Coping in the
Depths of thought
All those hours
Of exploring talk
By the end they
Came to nought
Shared with human
Sense of care
Asking each
How far we dare
Set the lights
Towards the stair
Reflecting on
The loss impaired

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Recovery

Many miles
And several counties
You, there in the North
Pouring over my heritage
And me, here in the West
Learning to be more than I am

Moonlight, rainstorms
Fast clouds in the sky
Is it the same for you
At The Alhambra
Is it the same for me
In The Bothy

Morning now
Yesterday’s hairdresser
Did I ever tell you
Her story
Did it really happen
To me

Several counties
And many miles
You, returning East
Over my hillsides
And me, returning North
Through your valleys

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