Along the line
Of the silent windmills
Twenty-four in all
North to south
Flight hill
Is this a portent
Can you still hear me
Do you still listen
Would you care
If you could
Should I worry
Either way
Well of course
It would be rude not to
Isn’t that the whole point
Of our being together
I ought to be more methodical
Draw up lists of pros and cons
Perhaps even create a ratings system
I’ve done that in the past
For now Green Lane ticks the boxes
Quiet, rural, good internet
A café (this one) round the corner
A bucketload of past connections
But is it a good thing
Or even sensible, to return
To a place of your crucial years
Where once you fell off Jack’s motorbike
That last bit is absolutely true
I just couldn’t get around the corners
During my try-out ride
On the Moto Guzzi, or was it the MZ contraption
I am in the Carding Shed Café
At Washpit Mills, Holmfirth
I have just viewed and made an offer
To rent a flat in the old yarn store
My mother worked on the looms
And I drove a fork truck full of bobbins
In my school holidays
Now it’s a vintage car museum, sort of
There is a sign in the corner
Which points to Cartworth Moor
Which is where in will go next
Also it is where, as a youth, I played cricket
Is it nostalgia that draws me
Am I just another old romantic
This might not be the end of my viewings
But at least I’ve made a start
He works on the Humber Bridge
In his bright orange, slightly scuffed
Tradesmen’s overhalls
But right now he hangs his head
Over the railings
Seemingly deep in contemplation
Above the silt scoured
Sand coloured waters
Of the tidal estuary
I too, more than once
Approached the precipice
To question what the future offered
I met Dominic
In the Bow room
At Madhyamaka
The UK’s first centre
For Kadampa Buddhism
He was repairing
The four, large, sash windows
His tools, materials and dust covers
Were strewn all over the floor
Also around the temple cabinet
I asked if he was a resident
Or a contractor, to which he replied
That he was a Buddhist contractor
Oh I said, what does that mean
Well; he paused, I waited, he said:
Being fair, being honest
Not charging too much
Being prepared to work extra hours
Having the desire to do a good job
Not to be driven by profit
Dominic is from Norwich
Which has a small meditation centre
Out towards the coast
He came up with his girlfriend
But she fell off the bike
And, with a bruised face
She felt uncomfortable
Needed to return home
He thinks it will take another week
To complete the renovation
