Lost, Not Found

I retrace my steps
Perhaps
If I had bought a blue pencil
Or an orange pencil
Then the lost cap
Would have been easier to spot

I will buy a blue pencil
Or orange
Or whatever bright colour they have in stock
I won’t buy another black one
That would only seem to compound the error

Available from Amazon

Lost And Found

I slow down
In search of my pencil cap
I hear the singular warbler

I hear
And then see
Another aeroplane

I hear
But don’t see
The cars on the coast road

This is a well trod path
One day a little child
May come across my pencil cap

And may ask its parents
What sort of person
Might have left this here

The child’s parent
If mindful, and imaginative
May tell a story

Of the old man, from far away
Who came here one day in winter
To write, and take photographs

In his excitement, also due to
His inability to do two things at once
He lost the pencil cap

And no matter how slowly
He walked the muddy path
The cap was not found, until today

Available from Amazon

Lost Again

One might call it graceful
Except for its sound balloon
Some way behind
Some way to the side

Should one write
Of still finding the sound
Should one write
Or take photographs

This place is nineteen minutes
From my home
As long as I too am prepared
To add to the urban traffic noise

Once again I have lost the tip
Off my favourite pencil
This time though I fear
However lateral my exploration

Or thinking, the top is gone
My peace is shockingly shattered
By a scruffy little dog
The owners words not mine

Available from Amazon

Direction Not Yet Decided

One side is at peace
One side is a riot
Straight ahead
Lies the pathway to the sea

Down below is sodden earth
Up above is aircraft sky
Straight ahead
I’ve heard the curlew fly

Available from Amazon

I Will Not

I woke, with I will not
On the tip of my tongue
Now all that is required
Are the applications:

I will not give up
I will not go on
I will not be silent
I will not be strong

I will not be tearful
I will not be wise
I will not live in fear
I will not wear disguise

I will not be unhappy
I will not simply go along
I will not be timid
I will not, not belong

I will not take care
I will not share the ride
I will not pay the fare
I will not ask for you at my side

I will not wait for tomorrow
I will not lose today
I will not bathe in sorrow
I will not forget how to play

I will not mistreat the parish
I will not lift up the gun
I will not be way too lavish
I will not set out to run

I will not carve without purpose
I will not waste away the time
I will not profit from the purchase
I will not commit the merest crime

I will not be an agnostic
I will not be an arbiter of faith
I will not doubt my belief system
I will not become as stray, or waif

Available from Amazon