The phone rings in the quiet room ...

The phone rings in the quiet room - 

The bright world is stripped of colour when I hear what's being said - 

This is the end game now my brother tells Anne - 

Already I hear hymns being sung by shapes in dark clothes - 

17.00

Wednesday 31 August 2017

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Reading Mrs Dalloway ...

I'm reading Mrs Dalloway under the apple tree, lolling sunburnt in a cane chair  - 

Above my head, the small apples hang from the branches - 

I walk barefoot upon its fallen leaves -

A wanton sun hangs low in the cloudless sky - 

Small birds fly across the garden -  

Our swimming costumes are drying upon the line - 

We can still taste salt on our fingertips - 

Anne is sunbathing, wearing a torn straw hat - 

Each day now, more leaves will fall from the apple tree - 

The carvers will leave the gentle town - 

Sultry afternoons will give way to mornings of pale rain - 

16.56

Tuesday 30 August 2016

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset

 

I carried my thoughts like worn stones in a basket ...

I climbed the steep slope to walk on Ballard Down - 

Below me were green fields - powerboats criss-crossed the shining bay - 

Yachts were moored close to the Bank Holiday shore - 

Dandelions were yellow stars upon the grass - 

I carried my thoughts like worn stones in a basket - 

13.00

Sunday 29 August 2016

Ballard Down

Studland 

Dorset

I heard their footsteps upon the patient stone ...

The gentle houses were warmed by prayer and sunshine - 

Bright lawns were shaded by pollarded trees - 

A cool river ran under mullioned windows - 

Our shadows touched uneven cobbles - 

Women once lived here, removed from the rude world, sheltered by high walls - 

Their soft voices still filled the quiet gardens - 

I heard their footsteps upon patient stone - 

Thursday 25 August 2016

Groot Begijnhof

Louvain

Belgium

The river was a dark serpent in a golden web ...

The small plane carried me above the city of canals - 

Below me, musicians played saxophones in the Vondelpark -

Poets gathered in coffee houses - 

Clocks ticked in beautiful rooms - 

Windows were thrown open to the warm night - 

Above the sea, I saw clouds reddened by the sunset - 

I looked down upon London like Damiel in Wings of Desire - 

The river was a dark serpent in a golden web - 

The thoughts of those below me rose up like fragile birds - 

20.54

Friday 26 August 2016

Above London

In a Schiphol Starbucks ...

May we have your attention for a Gate Change ? - 

The gentle voice echoes in the pristine labyrinth - 

My boarding pass is in my pocket - 

Two hours ago, I was listening to Americans in the Vondelpark - 

I'd walked there by way of the Herengracht - 

I was tempted to buy Salvia in a head shop -  

Now I'm looking at KLM jets - 

I'm sipping cappuccino in a Schiphol Starbucks - 

17.58

Friday 26 August 2016

Schiphol Airport

The Netherlands 

Walking in the forest ...

We were walking in the pine forests west of Someron - 

Each side of the path were the dark trees - 

Beneath our feet was fine white sand -

Allied pilots had been sheltered here -

One man in the village supported the Nazis Nellecke said - 

The Resistance asked the priest what they should do - 

The priest said execute him - there are so many lives at risk - 

They went to his house - 

The man was standing behind his door, listening - 

They shot him - they shot him through the door - 

13.07

Wednesday 24 August 2016

Someron

Brabant

The Netherlands

 

Everything is pristine ...

Bare legged girls cycled across the Butter Market -

Their lean boys dreamed of dizzying kisses - 

Couples shared dangerous ice creams - 

Shapely trees cast dappled shade upon the cobblestones - 

The market stalls were being cleared away - 

A fountain commemorated the young dead - 

Tall churches had dark interiors peopled with saints - 

A pale green Vespa was displayed behind a shop window - 

Ancient houses shone like gems - 

Nellecke ate a rich pastry - 

Everything is pristine I said - 

This is Germany Nellecke said - 

12.18

Tuesday 23 August 2016

Kempen

Germany  

Early morning in Lieshout ...

The room smelled of woodsmoke even though it was late summer - 

The moon was still visible in the early morning sky - 

There were apples on the trees outside - 

I sat at the head of the long wooden table - 

I remembered what Caspar had told me about Russia - 

The grandfather clock guarded its treasure of hours - 

Books waited to be read - 

Words waited to be found - 

08.34

Tuesday 23 August 2016

Lieshout 

Brabant

Holland 

Waiting to board ...

I'm waiting to board the FlyBe flight - 

I'm zinging with airport electricity - 

I've ordered my pre flight cappuccino - 

I'll read my New Statesman in the frozen air - 

I'll search for meaning in the shapes of the clouds - 

I'll walk through Gate 3 to the waiting plane - 

The six bladed propellers will soon sing their potent song - 

13.00

Monday 22 August 2016

Departure Lounge

Southampton Airport

The wrong glasses ...

The long afternoon was almost over - 

I'd put on Country File - 

Soon we'd be driving home, thinking of sharing a bottle of Hopping Hare - 

My dad came in from the kitchen -  

Pegs he asked - are you wearing someone else's glasses? - 

17.51

Sunday 21 August 2016

Staunton Road

Havant

 

Waiting to watch Star Trek Beyond ...

As the lights dimmed, I remembered watching Star Trek with my dad -  

He'd turn on the Ferguson - 

We'd sit before the flickering screen - 

Scout ships would land on spooky planets - 

Strange life forms would menace Lieutenant Uhuru - 

Captain Kirk and Spock would fire their phasers - 

McCoy would pass his tricorder over a stricken crewman - 

Each character would sit with us in the brightly lit lounge - 

The Starship Enterprise would fly over the small town - 

We'd find wisdom and consolation in alien skies - 

Thursday 18 August 2016

The Rex 

Wareham 

Dorset

I'd bid the land farewell -

We were walking northwards, towards the Skerrs, when we saw the seal - 

A soft rain had fallen - 

Far from the sea's edge, the seal lay in his beautiful shining coat upon the sand - 

He turned his head - 

I felt the gentle strangeness of his gaze upon me - 

What would it be like, I wondered, to change your skin with the tide ? - 

I'd leave a track on the ribbed sand -

I'd bid the land farewell for the moonlit sea - 

14.19 

Thursday 28 July 2016

Chiswick Sands

Northumbria

Swimming in Worbarrow Bay ...

There were three yachts in Worbarrow Bay - 

I stood on the high chalk hill above the sea -

Lords with gold torcs around their necks had once held court here - 

Now yellow flowers girdled their stronghold -

A sea fret hid the beach for a short while - 

We scrambled downwards, half walking, half sliding, over the shining grass - 

 

The sea was smooth and still - 

We swam out into the bay, under the blue ageless sky - 

Waves broke upon the beach - 

Our voices broke the ancient silence - 

11.43

Wednesday 17 August 2016

Worbarrow Bay

Dirset 

Each stone still had a voice ...

Half a mile inland, we saw butterflies with dark wings -

White flowers were stirred by the wind - 

High dunes had overlooked the unmarked sands of Druridge Bay - 

Reed beds had fringed deep pools - 

Now we crossed a wide field - 

Before us were the ruins of Chibburn Preceptory - 

Gulls flew over the broken walls - 

Long memory gathered here - 

Each stone still had a voice - 

Friday 22 July 2016

Low Chibburn

Northumberland 

It was five minutes to midnight ...

We walked past the Jewish Cemetery to The Golden Eagle -  

Earlier, I'd told Richard about the legend of the Golem - 

Above the roof tops, a full moon hung in the starless sky - 

The small houses were silent, curtains drawn across dark windows - 

Young musicians played their music inside The Golden Eagle - 

A girl with yellow hair held the listeners spellbound with her song - 

Handsome boys played guitars - 

Richard and I leaned against the bar, drinking golden ale - 

The man who spends his winters in Kerala praised the singer - 

The musicians come from Budapest I said - 

I remembered the wide river, the snow falling upon the beautiful city - 

It was five minutes to midnight - 

23.55

Monday 15 August 2016

The Golden Eagle

Southsea 

Hampshire

My dad was then a hero ...

The high windows framed a blue summer sky - 

The hotel pool was empty save for myself and two long limbed women - 

I swam ten lengths, hardly stirring the water - 

The surface of the pool was quilted with sunlight and shadow - 

The two women climbed out of the pool, water dripping from their bodies - 

I swam one more length, remembering how I'd learned to swim - 

I'd slipped out of my red rubber ring - 

The bright salty sea had held me up - 

My dad was then a hero - 

Bells had rung in the mysterious churches - 

I'd walked proudly on the rocky shore, my thin brown body warmed by the southern sun - 

09.00

Monday 15 August 2016

Langstone Hotel

Hayling Island