Google Cardboard ...

It's Google Cardboard Paul said - you look through here - 

He adjusted the headset - 

I was standing in a hotel room with orange walls - 

I turned my head, wary and already half afraid -

There was a TV set with a hissing screen in front of me - 

Behind me I saw a vague shape covered with a blue sheet -

Suddenly, dark birds started flying around the room - a face appeared upon the TV screen, masked with snow - 

Thin fingers reached out for my face - 

With a gasp, I tore off the headset - 

It's like being inside Stephen King's story - 1408 I babbled - that orange light ! - 

I looked around the familiar room I now stood in - 

But what if things change, I thought - 

What colour light would then fill this house? -  

Whose voices would I hear on the telephone?

11.00

Wednesday 30 December 2015

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset

I smelt again the smoke of Senior Service cigarettes ...

Soon, all we heard were the siren songs of Jacobean settles, distressed step ladders and 1000 piece jigsaws - 

We wandered, like dazed mariners, amongst 1930s bric a brac - 

Anne bought a mirror, Sophie and Paul a chest and a brass poker - 

I gazed at the adventure stories for boys, with their daredevil covers - 

Trappers grappled with bears, sahibs quelled dacoits, plucky scouts showed true grit - 

I turned over the pages of thick damp paper, heavy with manly worlds - 

I remembered reading my own Boys' Book of the Royal Navy - 

I smelt the again the smoke of Senior Service cigarettes - 

15.30

Tuesday 29 December 2015

Dorset Curiosity Centre

Dortchester  

We left our long shadows upon the sand ...

This morning we ate bacon and fried egg sandwiches on Middle Beach - 

I forgot for a while the yellow feather in my hand - 

We left our long shadows upon the sand - 

Sophie and Paul wore their happiness like suits of flowers - 

The sea was dark blue - 

White yachts sailed into the sky - 

I waited for my phone to ring - 

It lay, like a cruel shiny creature, upon the cafe table - 

12.30

Tuesday 29 December 2015

Middle Beach

Studland 

Purbeck

Dorset 

Those terrible feathers would fill the lounge from carpet to ceiling ...

Listen to your family the paramedic said -

My dad buttoned up his shirt - 

Why does this happen to me? he said - 

Your sugar levels drop John - no, you shouldn't drink at all - 

Waiting for the ambulance, icy yellow feathers had brushed against my face -

My dad's eyes had been wild and fearful - 

Later, I found the ECG printout in the kitchen - 

I knew the moment was coming - 

Those terrible feathers would fill the lounge from carpet to ceiling - 

16.30

Saturday 26 December 2016

Staunton Road

Havant

24 hour Tesco Extra ...

This morning I went to the 24 hour Tesco Extra - 

My dad wanted a pack of four - 

I walked past Halfords and Screwfix - 

Seagulls flew overhead -

The wind blew away memories - 

I could smell the wild sea - 

The girl at the checkout asked about my Christmas - 

See you later she said - 

Back in the small house, my dad looked at a photograph of the Prince of Wales in The Times - 

Look at him he said - prancing about in his overcoat - parasites - get rid of the lot of them -

10.15

Saturday 26 December 2015

Havant  

Flying Monkeys swoop down from dark skies ...

I'm watching The Wizard of Oz in the lounge of memory - 

Yesterday I watched It's a Wonderful Life - 

There's Dorothy, waking up far from Kansas - 

My mum's watching Dorothy make friends with the cowardly lion - 

My dad's trying to remember who he sent Christmas cards to - 

Did we send a card to your brother Bern? he asks - 

My mum can't remember - 

Presents lie unopened on the bed in the box room - 

Flying monkeys swoop down from dark skies - 

16.26

Friday 25 December 2015

Staunton Road

Havant 

I'd gaze into a mirror, to see Christmases to come ...

Sophie gave wise counsel in The Salt Pig - 

Anne put down her Samsung - 

My dad had been restless this afternoon - 

Christmas isn't Christmas without whiskey he'd told one of the carers - 

The Salt Pig was closing early - splendid lobsters were reprieved - 

Walking up North Street, I gazed up at the Christmas lights - 

I saw chimneys outlined against the dove blue sky - 

Soon it would be dark - 

Back in The Old School House, we'd drink mulled wine - 

I'd read a ghost story by Oliver Onions - 

I'd gaze into a mirror to see Christmases to come - 

14.30

Thursday 23 December 2015

North Street 

Wareham

Purbeck  

I'll see beloved faces reflected in a crystal sea ...

Tessa is now a world away - 

She and Charlie flew to Western Australia last week -  

Their white jet carried them away from sad skies - 

There is white sand under their bare feet - 

Peacocks startle them with their weird beauty - 

On Christmas Eve, I'll throw more birch logs upon the fire - 

I'll think of beloved faces reflected in a crystal sea - 

15.38

Tuesday 23 December 2015

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

The ancient wheel turned, trailing lichen and bone ...

This morning we gathered holly - 

The pines were being shaken by the winds - fragrant needles fell upon our heads - 

Clouds raced across the solstice sky, their smoky bellies grazing the hills - 

The swollen river half covered the islet in the bend of the river - 

The holly berries were bright blood red - 

I remembered the colour of my own blood, its coppery terrifying smell - 

Anne made a wreath from the holly and ivy - 

The ancient wheel turned, trailing lichen and bone - 

11.30

Tuesday 22 December 2015

East Stoke

Dorset

There I was, at the wheel of The Whirlwind...

Before carrot and butternut squash soup in Reloved, I gave some money to a beggar outside Sports Direct - 

I heard his penny whistle as I walked up Cornhill -  

A white dog sat by his blanket - beautiful tweed jackets were for sale in Crew Clothing - 

Sloe eyed sirens whispered into their I phones - babushkas wheeled trolleys into Peacocks - 

A soft rain fell - 

Inside Reloved, Cab Calloway was singing Minnie the Moocher - 

Christmas decorations cast their ancient spell - 

I considered buying Adventures by Land and Sea - 

There I was, at the wheel of The Whirlwind - 

My speedboat would fly past the Cunarder, taking me back to my past - 

13.00

Thursday 17 December 2015

Cornhill 

Dortchester 

 

"The cat was called Whiskey" ...

My friends have gone my dad said - 

We were standing in the pub car park - Jane and Den had just left - 

Boys drove their souped up Corsas across the estate - 

Satellite dishes picked up 1980s movies - women with big hair sashayed into cocktail lounges - 

Stephanie and Teresa have gone with Jane and Den I said -

My dad sighed - c'est la vie - 

We'd had a Christmas roast in The Heron with the carers - 

Blue tinsel adorned the bar - girls carried shields of turkey slices to the tables - 

I had to help my dad push open the door to the Gents - 

We placed paper crowns upon our heads - 

I googled The Duke of York Den said - I said - John, did you know the Duke of York had a ship's cat? - he thought a moment - yes, he said - Whiskey ! - the cat was called Whiskey ! - 

13.00

Sunday 20 December 2015

The Heron

Leigh Park

"We need a good story" I said ...

Phil leaned forward, clutching his biro like a lictor his fasces - 

I was like that he said - I wanted things to get really bad - but they still didn't vote for Labour - 

Politics is about stories I said - 

They have a good story Avril said - people still believe the story - 

I looked up - through the window, I could see the bay - the beach was a crescent of windblown sand - white waves broke upon dark tangles of seaweed - 

The room was dimly lit - bookcases were filled with scholarly volumes of economics and labour history - 

A biography of Rosa Luxemburg leaned against a life of Proudhon - 

We discussed the wording of our leaflet - 

I spurned the proffered copy of Drax Direct - 

My father turned against the Party because of something that happened in 1929 Avril said - 

I thought of the mean doors not far from this well ordered house, the German Shepherds barking in narrow hallways, the mobility scooter parked upon the unkempt lawn - 

I remembered Richard Drax shooting his cuffs at the hustings, his ancestral hall, his hunting pink - 

We need a good story I said - 

16.30

Friday 19 December 2015

Swanage 

Dorset 

We all remembered the quiet voices telling us unspeakable truths ...

I'd given Jean a lift to the golf club - 

Jean wore a white trench coat - 

She'd sailed in her daughter's yacht from Tobago to Boston - 

I felt calm and happy in Jean's company - she smiled her wise ageless smile - 

Paul told me how he'd crossed the line - the Cook wore King Neptune's crown - 

The Fillipino crew loved karaoke - 

Angela had been Captain of Ladies Golf - 

This was my third Semi Colons Christmas Lunch - 

I loved them all, my fellow pilgrims - 

Each of us had walked with bright ghosts - 

There were patterns drawn upon our skin - 

We knew how to count innocent hours - 

We all remembered the quiet voices telling us unspeakable truths - 

13.00

Wednesday 16 December 2015

Purbeck Golf Club

Purbeck

Dorset 

There they were, all of my Christmases, hung upon one tree ...

We walked under the dark leafless trees to Highwood - 

The river was fast flowing after the rain - 

Sheep, haloed in silence, grazed in the water meadows - 

They looked at us as we walked by, lifting up their heads - 

Twilight fell in soft scales from the sky - 

Birds called - 

We bought our Christmas tree - I carried it back upon my shoulder - 

I smelled its resinous breath - 

That night Anne decorated the tree - 

There they were, all of my Christmases, hung upon one tree - 

21.00

Monday 14 December 2015

Highwood

East Stoke

Dorset

My dad had cycled over the high bridge, outpacing the wind ...

This will feel like a bee sting the staff nurse said - 

Once the wound in my dad's scalp was numb, she stitched it up with three stitches - 

In the curtained bay next to us, an old lady whimpered as her dislocated shoulder was reset - 

No more, no more she cried out - 

I gazed down at my dad - 

Thank you for being here he said - 

It was two thirty in the morning - we were bathed in heartless light - 

I remembered when my dad had placed me upon the handlebars of his bike - I'd been eight years old, a dreamy smiling boy - 

He'd been taking me to the naval hospital - there was a blade of grass stuck fast in my throat - 

My dad had cycled over the high bridge, outpacing the wind - 

02.30

Tuesday 15 November 2015

Queen Alexandra Hospital 

Portsmouth

The last apples of summer ...

We filled buckets high with apples when summer ended - 

Their scent brings back memories of July afternoons, long hours of warm sunlight and laziness - 

Brown from the sun, I'd stretch out under the lichened tree - 

The apples would hang from the branches like promises of happiness -

I would shut my book, placing it face up upon the gentle grass - 

I would close my eyes - 

Watchful birds would sing their ancient songs - 

I'd dream I was walking in The Garden of Hesperides - 

Beyond the trees was an uncrossed ocean - 

Above my head were golden apples - 

16.30

Monday 14 April 2015

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset  

Crossing Texas ...

On the way home from Salisbury, we stopped in Wool for some fish and chips - 

It was the first time I'd ordered a small cod small chips in Skippers Fish and Chips - 

A Chinese boy heaped up cod in battered ziggurats - 

Grizzled oldsters joshed each other - 

They wore dark green sweaters - lurchers guarded their land rovers - 

I was given a large cod by mistake - 

I remembered the fish and chip shop in Palmyra Road - 

I'd take a small chips home and watch Wells Fargo - 

Later, I'd draw a map of Texas, treasuring the names I copied from The Readers Digest Atlas - Houston - El Paso - San Antonio - 

I'd go bed, dreaming dreams that I was an explorer - 

I'd cross blue deserts, ford mile wide rivers, pass through ruined cities - 

I'd wear a white hat and discover marvels - 

19.30

Saturday 12 December 2015

Wool 

Dorset 

 

 

Every carol was sung as if for the first time ...

Father Christmas is coming to Wareham tomorrow - there's a neon Bambi outside Gillys - 

Father Christmas will wear his golden boots - 

The Town Band will march down the High Street - bandsmen will play their brave trombones - 

Magic glitter will fall from the sky - 

Children will look upwards at the kindly stars - 

 

Choirs will sing lustily outside The Red Lion - 

Inside The Black Bear, the Muddlecombe Men will order pints of Blandford Flyer - 

They will remember Christmas Eves when they were smooth chinned guileless boys - 

Every moment then was golden - every carol was sung as if for the first time - 

15.45

Saturday 12 December 2015

North Street

Wareham

Purbeck 

There would be time when I would need that ancient comfort ...

Before the carols, we walked amongst the Christmas trees - 

One tree was bedecked with tiny silver Daleks -

I saw my favourite Doctors' faces, hanging like surreal icons from the spangled branches - 

One tree bore the heavy weight of children's wishes - 

Another carried remembrances of the precious dead - at rest and at peace in heaven - 

There would be a time, I thought, when I would need that ancient comfort - 

I listened to Anne's choir sing Gaudete - 

I pictured frost sparkling upon lichened stone, wood smoke drifting over a leafless orchard, the calm faces of angels in stained glass windows - 

14.45

Friday 11 December 2915

Emmanuel Church

Swanage

Purbeck

Dorset