Considerations

Will the pond be full by the morning
Will it be full by October
Is the overgrown greenery
Ever to be calmed

Might the sound of the waterfall
Keep evil spirits at bay
Such as my dark sides
Such as my depressive depths

Are the pebbles simply pebbles
Or do they bring
The energy of the oceans
Their stories of the seas

Such that as the day turns on
We will turn on with it
As waves rising and falling
As tides ebbing and flowing

Knowing full well
That it is we ourselves
Who transport we ourselves
Back and forth as we choose

Wearing whatever we wish
To suit the tremulous times
When all that we hope for
Is almost within our reaching

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Christopher's Collected Works Website

Launch

I don’t approach my own unease with any certainty, more I let the weight of the occasion set me towards a standstill or a standoff.

Grey sky
Lively swallow
Or swift
Grey sky
Calm fellow
With this gift

One happy insect
Among perhaps a billion
Takes off from my page
Into the great grey yonder

Excepting
That the sun breaks through
Summer returns
Yet hardly with a vengeance
Instead we have twenty-one degrees
And no sign of the blue sky

My standstill, or my standoff, or my simply doing nothing comes at me with ease, the weight of this occasion you see is so so easily borne.

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Christopher's Collected Works Website

Those Who Have

This is, a mother and daughter
Or a sister and sister
Or a friend and friend
Or a partner and partner occasion

This is middle-class England
Though with quite a few
Who attempt to carry off the style
Without the ways and means

Strawberries for elevenses
Champagne and caviar for lunch
Be caught by the mobile TV cameras
In our silk and linen low-cut frocks

Too busy for relaxation
Too relaxed for work
They pull the pull-along baskets
Taking their flowers home

Yes it is pretentious
The North’s version of the South
Yes it is contemptuous
When it is still Love on the Dole

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Night And Day

Swans coast on the water
In front of the Imperial War Museum
We are in the heart of Media City
But it is raining
And the forecast is for heavier rain

She studied to be an actress
In our home county as it happens
But, due to the lack of opportunity
She returned home after graduation
Now she serves pre-theatre dinners

Today we are at Tatton Park
For the RHS Flower Show
Already I have an idea
For a strip of water
In front of our neighbour’s wall

The lady sat opposite
Was thinking in her head
Or at least
That is exactly what she said
As she sipped another Pimms

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Step In Now Why Don’t You

I am too often misunderstood
Also way too often
I do not understand myself

Why don’t I know
Where my keys are
Or my glasses, or my watch

Though I agree that
This is more about being misplaced
As opposed to being misunderstood

Yet today
As I was trying to explain
The authenticity of the writer’s voice

A snipe was made
That only I could interpret
After my claim that the monk had said so

In that instance then
Not only misunderstood
But also cut short

Before my explanation
Was allowed to run its course
For full understanding to be reached

Once again I was found to be
Halfway to nowhere, neither
Really clear, nor thoroughly confused

Available on Amazon

Christopher's Collected Works Website