What will this future look like
Will it be a shelter
In the style of
The Paper House
If so
Yes, if so
Should I read that book again
Before I begin my constructions
The Paper House is on order
As also is Springtime in a broken mirror
For they are both translated
By Nick Caistor
Which makes some sense
As my idea for a shelter
Is also a shelter in translation
A sort of cobbled together composite affair
What does this collaboration mean
Is it as
That between you
And your diving instructor
Is it that total trust
In someone other
As if as in yourself
To go somewhat deeper
This sea is one vast space
Even without knowing its depth
That we even dare to think
Of a shelter of such enormity
Says much about our belief
Of all of those rails
That we are yet to travel
Or mention in despatches
Tuesday 10 March 2020
Monday 9 March 2020
I have it in mind
I have it in mind
That during September or October
I would merge
The present shelters for my poetry
So that all would become one
One shelter for all of my work
With all sensitivities
In the one place which is I
That is to say
A shelter without compartments
Without ledges or shelves or badges
To help ordering or cataloguing
A shelter
Perhaps with more explanations
Perhaps with photographs or tokens
If appropriate, or if of importance
There would be space also
For meditation
As if an holy shrine
To visit with some reverence
It is easier to think on this
Having just visited
The chapel and the beach
To write a few poems
Now, from this vantage point
High above the villas
And the swimming pools
It is easy to cast out the idea
For a poetry shelter
A veritable hybrid of a vessel
For my donkey’s years worth
Of indiscriminate, or indistinguishable poems
That during September or October
I would merge
The present shelters for my poetry
So that all would become one
One shelter for all of my work
With all sensitivities
In the one place which is I
That is to say
A shelter without compartments
Without ledges or shelves or badges
To help ordering or cataloguing
A shelter
Perhaps with more explanations
Perhaps with photographs or tokens
If appropriate, or if of importance
There would be space also
For meditation
As if an holy shrine
To visit with some reverence
It is easier to think on this
Having just visited
The chapel and the beach
To write a few poems
Now, from this vantage point
High above the villas
And the swimming pools
It is easy to cast out the idea
For a poetry shelter
A veritable hybrid of a vessel
For my donkey’s years worth
Of indiscriminate, or indistinguishable poems
Sunday 8 March 2020
Our new shelter has a maid
Our new shelter has a maid
Who makes the bed twice daily
And clears the floors and bathroom
She is dutiful and thorough
Most pleasant in her way
And says goodbye as she leaves
Did the waves of the Aegean
Deliver her to this place
Or are her parents
Also from this island
Of friendly folk
Who show the basis of all humanity
That this might have been
A foundation for shelters
That the sea and mountain
Should forge
A settlement of souls
Who appreciate life’s goodness
Such that now
They transfer this well-being
To all nations of the world
To join them for moussaka
Also with dancing
To Zorba the Greek
The horizon is
Where the horizon is
Yet my horizons
Of complicated stealth
Are being opened up
By new forms of shelters
Who makes the bed twice daily
And clears the floors and bathroom
She is dutiful and thorough
Most pleasant in her way
And says goodbye as she leaves
Did the waves of the Aegean
Deliver her to this place
Or are her parents
Also from this island
Of friendly folk
Who show the basis of all humanity
That this might have been
A foundation for shelters
That the sea and mountain
Should forge
A settlement of souls
Who appreciate life’s goodness
Such that now
They transfer this well-being
To all nations of the world
To join them for moussaka
Also with dancing
To Zorba the Greek
The horizon is
Where the horizon is
Yet my horizons
Of complicated stealth
Are being opened up
By new forms of shelters
Saturday 7 March 2020
Four metres by two metres
Four metres by two metres
Of floor tiles
Followed by the same area
Of wooden decking
Before I reach
My own private pool
Which from two days ago
Became my vacation shelter
The water is clear
And not too too cold
To the bare body
Beyond the pool
A pair of villas
With clay-tiled roofs
And climbing plants
All around their doors
Over the rooftops is the Aegean Sea
Or perhaps it is the Mediterranean
Either way
A vast expanse of blue
To the subtle horizon
Where water meets with sky
Where shelter is just beyond
The expanse of my experiences
A place of vaporisation
Where on occasions
From a place
Such as this locale
Men believed the world was flat
And today who would I be to argue
From the shade
Of my breeze blown shelter
Of floor tiles
Followed by the same area
Of wooden decking
Before I reach
My own private pool
Which from two days ago
Became my vacation shelter
The water is clear
And not too too cold
To the bare body
Beyond the pool
A pair of villas
With clay-tiled roofs
And climbing plants
All around their doors
Over the rooftops is the Aegean Sea
Or perhaps it is the Mediterranean
Either way
A vast expanse of blue
To the subtle horizon
Where water meets with sky
Where shelter is just beyond
The expanse of my experiences
A place of vaporisation
Where on occasions
From a place
Such as this locale
Men believed the world was flat
And today who would I be to argue
From the shade
Of my breeze blown shelter
Friday 6 March 2020
Today the beach bar is my shelter
Today the beach bar is my shelter
Only sand and sea
Between me and the horizon
Where sunlight shimmers
On the surface of the Aegean
A breeze on my knees
Sufficient
For me to take off my hat
Whilst looking at the decorative fishnet
Which adorns the curved stone wall
Beside and behind me
The divers
Receive their diving instructions
Exactly correct says the instructor
As one student responds
To his purpose of oxygen enquiry
Shade is the big thing
In this endless sunshine environment
So thanks to the umbrellas
In sky blue cotton and bamboo
Which are placed ever so strategically
The tiny sparrows
Hop on sand and pebble
The, dressed in white, waiters
Carry drinks on a tray
To the mid-morning sunbathers
The instructor, who is still talking
Says they will be in the water by twelve
So still three-quarters of an hour away
Before my beachside shelter settles
Before my coffee-bar shelter quietens
Only sand and sea
Between me and the horizon
Where sunlight shimmers
On the surface of the Aegean
A breeze on my knees
Sufficient
For me to take off my hat
Whilst looking at the decorative fishnet
Which adorns the curved stone wall
Beside and behind me
The divers
Receive their diving instructions
Exactly correct says the instructor
As one student responds
To his purpose of oxygen enquiry
Shade is the big thing
In this endless sunshine environment
So thanks to the umbrellas
In sky blue cotton and bamboo
Which are placed ever so strategically
The tiny sparrows
Hop on sand and pebble
The, dressed in white, waiters
Carry drinks on a tray
To the mid-morning sunbathers
The instructor, who is still talking
Says they will be in the water by twelve
So still three-quarters of an hour away
Before my beachside shelter settles
Before my coffee-bar shelter quietens
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