Webs of hair ...

Anne took my mum and dad to the day centre this morning -

We would be staying in their house overnight -

Aunts in wedding photographs would watch over us whilst we slept - 

In her dreams, my mum would dance with the handsome captain - 

My dad would see a fragrant shore - 

When I hovered the carpets, I would gather up fine webs of hair - 

17.55

Tuesday 31 May 2016

Havant

The long afternoon fills the lounge ...

The long afternoon fills the lounge - 

The clock on the mantelpiece is spilling sand -  

My dad's put down The Times - he's now reading yesterday's Mail On Sunday - 

My mum's asleep on the sofa - 

On our walk to the level crossing gates, my dad stared, amazed, at a hand car wash - 

Boozy voices floated out of The Prince of Wales - 

Lots of cars today my dad then said - 

16.15

Monday 30 May 2016

Havant 

Her thoughts were like gentle birds ...

Putting the mower and edging shears away, I lingered for a while inside the garage - 

Cherished garden tools were arranged against the wall, a rake, a fork, a spade - 

My mum had watched me working in the garden - 

Sitting in her chair, half asleep, half awake, her thoughts had been like gentle birds - 

They were carried by the wind to brighter gardens - 

There, she walked with a precious sister - a beloved teacher held her hand - 

17.25

Sunday 29 May 2016

Havant 

Their worn clothes were dusted with gold ...

In the tea gardens, I'd see the old men read their technicolor newspapers - 

They'd sit under a mulberry tree, sipping chai from a teardrop glass - 

Their lives would be written in their strong hands - 

They'd walked like gentle prophets through the village world - 

Their worn clothes were dusted with gold - 

May 2016

Karabortlen

Turkey 

The blue jets ...

The blue jets on the night runway are still robed with cloud - 

The ice of heaven shines upon their wings - 

Soon their captains will talk to the stars - 

The moon will keep pace with the sleeping earth - 

The dreaming wheat will welcome the dawn - 

21.26

Friday May 27 2016

Dalaman Airport

Turkey

Wild thyme and gentle bees ...

We walked this morning to Memiser Mahallesi -

We rubbed wild thyme between our fingers, followed the flight of gentle bees - 

The air under the tall pines was scented with resin - 

An old woman from the lonely village wished us well - 

From the high slopes we could look out over our new world - 

Lake Kocegyz was on the edge of seeing, a pale blue mirror under the flawless sky - 

12.20

Thursday 26 May 2016

Memiser Mahallesi

Turkey 

Stratonikeia ...

Below us curved the stone seats of the amphitheatre - 

Dark butterflies wavered over worn marble - 

Olive trees were growing now in the temple precincts - 

We'd climbed up from the ruins of the city named after a prince's lover - 

Shattered columns marked Hecate's sacred path - 

Ancient walls were clothed in fragrant earth -  

Eternal dramas were once performed here, truths spoken under sultry younger skies - 

11.24

Wednesday 24 2016

Stratonikeia

Turkey 

My skin was golden, my life a song ...

I left my sad clothes by the side of the pool - 

A shy wind barely stirred the water - 

I watched three swallows fly through the drowsy air - 

When I swam across the pool, I felt my heartbeat fill the world - 

Burning tigers lived in the garden - 

My skin was golden, my life a song - 

17.00

Monday 24 May 2016

Karabortlen 

Turkey 

Mugla Old Town ...

We walked uphill, away from the new mosque and the carpet shops - 

We left behind the berbers, drowsing in their tiny salons, the waiters, deftly placing teardrops of chai before languid idlers - 

Soon we were in the Old Town - 

Mysterious doors guarded fragrant courtyards - 

White walls cast deep shadows in mazey alleyways - 

Stone houses kept safe the stories of families - 

An old lady toiled upwards, leaning upon her stick - 

Her smile was as fresh as spring flowers -

A fragile minaret touched the bright sky -

11.57

Monday 23 May 2016

Mugla

Turkey

We looked out over the valley, washed clean by the midnight rain ...

I'll go for a walk if Jane comes Anne said - 

She knew how terrified I was of the dogs guarding the herds of goats - 

Jane, though, had dog knowledge - 

She had silenced Pasha with a pepper spray - 

He runs away now when he see me Jane said - 

We walked along the old Izmir Road - 

Camels had once stalked past these oleanders - 

The warm cobbles remembered gentle sandals - 

Behind us, I heard the faint sound of bells, hung round the necks of silken eared goats - 

Jane quickened her pace - 

We made our way up the fire break - 

Blue wild flowers were framed by thorns - 

We looked out over the valley, washed clean by the midnight rain - 

11.18

Sunday 22 May 2016

Karabortlen 

Turkey 

At the Pastane Cafe ...

I bought some navy blue Converses in Gokova Market for twenty five lira - 

Anne bought some blue Vans - 

Women from quiet villages sold artichokes - 

Trays of chai were carried to idling husbands - 

An old bent woman pushed an antique wheel barrow - 

Wrinkled fingers counted worn coins - 

We ordered coffee and borek in the Pastane Cafe - 

The Expatriates gathered here every Saturday - 

Paul from Elmali came over to speak to me -  

I remembered his stories, as polished by the retelling as pebbles by the tide - 

The coffee and borek was placed upon our table - 

Long time no see Paul said - 

12.27

Saturday 21 May 2016

Pastane Cafe

Gokova

Turkey

The herdsman ...

Driving back from Akyaka, we went through pious villages, past drowsy tea houses and burnished mosques - 

Names were written upon marble in small cemeteries - 

Stray dogs ran after the Kia -

Just before Elmali, we came upon a herd of goats - 

They looked at the evening world with their unsettling eyes - 

Behind them walked the herdsman - 

I imagined him walking from day into night, hand in hand with his forgiving shadow - 

17.26

Wednesday 18 May 2016

Elmali

Turkey 

I saw in their faces beautiful traces of their younger selves ...

We lunched today at Osman Aydin's place - 

Swags of red mulberries were stirred by the wind from the bay - 

Lorries from Datca headed down the melting road for Antalya - 

Anne and I ordered lentil soup and a dish of white beans - 

I watched a dark skinned boy scoop a pide base out of the scorching oven - 

Fountains scattered pearls of water - 

A family from Kizilyaka were shaded from the sun by tangled greenery - 

I thought of Ayup, rasping on his sick bed  - 

We'd visited him last night - 

I'd kissed Bedyr's wrinkled cheeks - 

Neighbours sat with her in the small bare room - 

I found a photograph of her and Ayup - 

She was a slim girl, he a lithe bravo with a pencil moustache - 

I saw in their faces the beautiful traces of their younger selves - 

21.00

Wednesday 18 July 2016

Karabortlen

Turkey 

Ken sets out breakfast ...

Ken set out the breakfast - 

We'd got up late after dreams of airports - 

Set out before us were dishes of olives, ravishingly juicy tomatoes, fiery rocket, feathery slices of village bread, yoghurt, walnuts, boiled eggs with bright yellow yolks, fig and whiskey marmalade, cups of black dizzying coffee and jugs of milk from Aytin's cow, Papatya * -

We feasted like sleepy pashas and dreamy sultanas - 

The warm day before us would last forever - 

* Daisy 

19.26

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Karabortlen 

Turkey 

"The shape of the fruit is timeless ..."

We walked in the cherished garden, picked oranges from the dark fragrant trees - 

The well house was shaded by tall pines - 

We'd heard Pasha barking in the mukhtar's garden - 

Swallows sipped water from the shining pool - 

Jane showed us a pomegranate tree -

The shape of the fruit is timeless she said - 

 

16.00

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Karabortlen

Turkey 

I can taste the young wine upon my tongue ...

I'm zinging with airport electricity - 

Sparks are shooting out of my fingers - 

The blue jet waits on the runway - 

I can already see the moon rising over the dreaming village - 

I can smell the perfume of orange trees - 

I can hear the call to prayer - 

I can taste the young wine upon my tongue - 

12.19

Monday 16 May 2016

Bournemouth Airport

"I think, how did I get here? I can't go back ..."

Some of the ladies sit there like babies my mum said - 

We'd asked her about Malmsbury Lawn - 

Some of them say they've been there a long time - 

They're alright to look at - 

Still my dad said perhaps they're on their own - 

You've got to be recommended by your doctor - 

I sit there reading the books - 

Malmsbury Lawn, it's a nice name -

You only came today didn't you? - 

 

My mum then said I think, how did I get here? - 

I can't go back -

15.30

Sunday 15 May 2016

Staunton Road 

Havant 

Now every moment would bring its gift ...

We lay upon the beach at Shipstall Point -

Anne dug her toes into the fine sand -   

Two long limbed canoeists peeled off their wet suits - 

Tessa remembered beautiful words - 

The gentle tide rose higher as we watched - 

Quiet islands were unvisited - 

Earlier, I'd smelled May blossom - 

I'd seen knotted oaks in bright leaf - 

Now every moment would bring its gift - 

13.30

Saturday 14 May 2016

Shipstall Point

Arne 

Dorset 

Golden saints and angels waited for the moon ...

I felt as though I were in someone's dream, a shape in a darkening street - 

Above the rooftops was a dove blue starless sky - 

I looked up at bright windows - 

I could hear a choir singing inside the church - 

Golden saints and angels waited for the moon - 

21.15

Thursday 12 February 2016

Church Hill

Swanage 

Dorset 

Reading The Big Sleep ...

I was reading the first page of The Big Sleep -

I'd called in Earthlights for lunch -

The German playwright stared at me as I came in through the door - 

He was wearing a crazy shirt - 

I heard him being passionate about Brexit - I am just a German he said - 

I'd walked through the small seaside town - 

I'd seen pensioners, hand in hand, making their way to Funland - 

The gorilla in Institute Road wore his poncho - 

Ice cream cones were being sold on the esplanade - 

Toy trains welcomed kiddies - 

Low cloud covered Nine Barrows Down - 

The sultry air was like that in General Sternwood's hothouse - 

Later, I thought, there would be a violent thunderstorm - 

I read the opening lines of the novel - 

I regretted not wearing a powder blue suit - 

I wondered if I'd ever call in on four million dollars - 

13.15

Thursday 12 May 2016

Earthlights 

Swanage