Planted Out

This house is not my house

This garden is not my garden

I do feel this

More and more each day

I do not have my own space

Nor doubt I ever will

I am always in a shared space

Even when you are still

I also am often still

For with no room to go to

And no row of beans to grow

I stay away from horticulture

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Tactile

I place an egg-shaped stone

On the arm of the garden seat

It is not a great or grand thing

Though it gifts me a smile

And as I write that

The sun comes out

To make the reflection on the paper

One of intense light, immense energy

Yet I press on

For I know shadows will arrive

Either from the clouds

Or from my presence within

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Clothes Horse

It is the middle of May

I am sixty-eight years old

I didn’t go to India as a younger man

Nor did I become a Buddhist

When the opportunity offered itself

I wear a sea blue polo shirt by Superdry

White denim jeans by Gap

And turquoise, colour-burst

Cotton socks courtesy of Sock Shop

My auburn hair is permed, though not yet

Washed or brushed or combed today

It is several days since I shaved

And it will be several more until I do

I have walked down the garden

To write these words

I hope you approve

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Let It Lie

There are other places to write

Yet, right now, in this Twombly book

Feels like the best place to write

Maybe it is because this book

Is nearing its end as a place to write

Soon I will have to start another book

Yet this book, it has been a good companion

I care for the feel of the cover

Also for the smooth pages within

There will be a sadness when it is over

When it is stored away

As another part of the year Twenty-Twenty

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Do Not Let It Be

The age of the bicycle is a surprise

Yet will the buyer see it in the same light

Does an object which has seen little or no use

Retain any other value than its age denotes

And if the screw should fit, when you are told it won’t

Is it simply defiance, or stubbornness which makes you try

Never to be defeated; was that, or is that your motto

And if anyone should ask, you won’t show off now, will you

We did take the bicycles to Scotland

To Fife, Anstruther to be particularly precise

We rode them on the coast roads, by the fields of gold

We also took them to the Hebrides, to ride in sunshine and rain

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