Guided Tour

Walking on wet sand

Sometimes even in the sea

Out to the old castle

Climbing to the lookout

Walking on wet sand 

Taking off our shoes and socks

To let the bare feet

Feel the waves of salty water

And slow-step into or over the rock pools

Sometimes even in the sea

Watching out for the surf gods

Also the less experienced

But equally jovial, belly boarders

Beginning as beginners do

Out to the old castle 

Once a first line of defence

Against the foreign invaders

From the shores of France

Or flotilla’s from further afield

Climbing to the lookout

Master of all we see

As we shield our eyes

From the afternoon sunlight

Which glistens on the crests of incoming waves

Available on Amazon

Nose For This

 Take the second exit

At the roundabout

Count the bare branches

On the winter trees

Name the winds

Which could blow through

Listen to Virginia Woolf’s story

Of Mrs Dalloway

Oh for the roses

With their velvet petals

And a scent 

Which any decent perfumer

Could turn into a veritable fortune

Available on Amazon

Removal Man

So so scared

By one's own anxiety

That I could crush

A lamp bulb

In my bare hands

Yet could not utter

A meaningful word

Previously

Driving for twelve hours

Collecting

What had to be collected

Half way along

Several hundred miles

Across umpteen county lines

Tarmac under the wheels

Grinding the cogs and gears

Of excruciating torment

Available on Amazon

Tread On

 One step after another

One leather shoe

Following one leather shoe

Shoes for many occasions

Solid, reliable

Soled and heeled more that once

You would buy them again

If you could find them

If you could get your money-memory working

How many backward steps

Would it take to reach

That shoe shop, where you bought them new

That would be quite some journey

Wouldn’t it now

How many stories would  be turned up on the way

Hadn’t they been to a wedding

And more than one job interview

Most of which you did  take on

One job then another

One intentional step

Following one intentional step

One monikered stocking

After  another 

Snug-fitting, monikered stocking

Available on Amazon

Manifesto

I walked along the cart track

Above and beside the potato field

I walked from the cottage

Behind the manor house at Mon Plaisir

Beauty may be in what you write

Or beauty may be in

What you think about, as you write

Beauty then is in your soul already

I walked into the farm-shop yard

Chatted to the workers and fellow shoppers

I ordered fresh vegetables, to be picked up later

Potatoes, carrots, peas and broccoli were packed

Taste may be imagined by the way that you write

Or taste may be in the growing and preparing

Yes taste caught by cooking and devouring

Taste then is in your soul already.

I walked down the hill to the Esplanade Road.

Then on, past the Catholic Church

To the newsagents & tobacconist, where

I bought a pack of filter-tipped, low-tar cigarettes

The faith may be in the words you write, whether

Or not you believe the smoke and mirrors

As you rub your fingers over the icon stonework

Faith then is in your soul already

Available on Amazon