Outward Bound

It is eighty miles, just about

To Dersingham

A steady Sunday afternoon drive

Check-in is from four PM

Boston, unusually

Is quiet and easily navigated

There appears to be little or no

Police presence thus far

I think to shop at Sainsbury’s Kings Lynn

But change my mind, no, not today

Instead to press on; turn up the stereo

I pull into Lavender Barn at four-fifteen

Apparently, so my host tells me

We are on the flight path of the pink-footed geese

Also close by there is the Sandringham Estate

Although it was closed last time I called

Now that the courtesies

And the bonhomie are over

I can make a pot of tea

Then run a bath

For one must be adequately prepared

If one is to write productively

And that is the intention

For these few days in Norfolk

Locked Up

They were married in prison

He said

What about conjugal rights

She said

Good to know

How the male and female minds flow

In the dinner-party conversations

Bringing a lightness to life

That I did not contribute

Says more

About my introversion

Than about

My holding no point of view

Make yourself good first

Before you work on others

Might have been my contribution

Progressions

Distilled into the Day

Four AM - evening primroses

Six AM - Artists Words

Eight AM - bathing with Pavarotti

Ten AM - writing in the Poet’s Salon

Instilled with the Light

White Waves by LS Lowry

The White Album, by The Beatles

Shopping in White Stuff

A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procul Harum

Made still by movement

Dance of the sugar plum fairy

Charge of the light brigade

Rage against the machine

Tip toe through the tulips

Emotive with song’s emotions

One Red Rose Forever

The Last Of The English Roses

I’ll Pick A Rose For My Rose

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

Sonar Sensibilities

This is the day for the smile to return

The day for a clear mind with clear thoughts

This is the day when the sensitivities return

The day for a finer feel, to feel with

A vale with a stream of cool, clear, sparkling water

A willow tree, with adequate cover for tranquility

An open collared shirt, with unbuttoned sleeves

A pathway which leads to quiet open countryside 

This is the day for a rill, or a zen garden

This is the day for a bench, or a meditation seat

This is the day for full-on blue skies overhead

This is the day for whispers on the cool breeze

A beach, with a wave of azure-blue salt water

A machair with an uneven track beside the dunes

A flag with a sign that says; yes, you are welcome

A gallery where the artist tells you his own story

Flip Side

That fine line

Between seeing people

And being entirely lonely

That small immeasurable distance

Between a welcome hug

And a goodbye kiss

Those careful, yet harsh words

Contrasting love

With friendship

Those difficult looks

Between may I join you

And please stay away

Then the happiness

In bright sunshine

Or incessant pouring rain

Then the joy

In peaceful mind

Or ever present mind