The bells will summon angels ...

I've just ordered a late breakfast special in Poppins - 

The gentle Bangla boys are greeting new diners - 

Pensioners unzip car coats - 

Soon there'll be Christmas Carols in The Meridian Centre -  

Poundland brims with gifts - 

The Radio Times will promise Yuletide fun - 

Canon Tom will stand before the altar - 

The church bells will summon angels -

13.06

Wednesday 30 November 2016

Poppins

Havant 

Hampshire  

The red top hat ...

For a moment, I thought I was a dweller in Neverwhere - 

I saw a tall thin man in a black coat walk down St John's Hill - 

He wore a red top hat and carried a cane - 

The sky was an icy blue - 

Any moment, I thought, I'd see the Marquis de Carabas waiting for the X53 - 

11.45

Tuesday 29 November 2016

St John's Hill

Wareham

Dorset 

Paul Nash at Tate Britain ...

Jane asked me to tell her about the exhibition * -  

Jane I'll say - this afternoon, I saw wonders -  

I saw trees upon whose shining foliage angels might gather - 

I saw two girls walk hand in hand through a secret garden - 

I saw cruel stars above a withered land -   

I saw a terrible sunrise, the birth of a new world - 

I traced the course of a road across an unspeakable landscape - 

I saw a hawk gaze into a mirror upon a familiar headland - 

I saw strange interiors, corridors leading to hidden worlds - 

I saw a warship sail into a hotel room -

I saw hooded figures upon a shore, the shadow of an archer upon the spellbound grass - 

I saw a pillar set before an avenue of trees under a white moon - 

I stood next to a dead sea - 

I saw sunflowers like great wheels turning in the sky - 

I was able to hold a flint in my hand and to feel its heartbeat - 

* Paul Nash at Tate Britain

14.30

Monday 28 November 2016

Tate Britain

London

Remembering reading The Beano ...

Would you like a copy of The Beano? the lady in the Oxfam bookshop asked - 

It's a sort of consolation prize - 

Yes I said - 

The gorilla across the street wore a tinsel crown - 

I remembered reading The Beano when my mum and dad ruled the world -

I'd stretch out upon my innocent bed - 

The Bash Street Kids would seize the day - 

Dennis the Menace would take me by the hand - 

12.00

Thursday 24 November 2016

Swanage

Dorset 

A perfectly acceptable affordable home ...

Debbie showed me the letter that Richard Drax had written - 

He said that he, too, was extremely concerned -

He'd written immediately to the Clinical Commisioning Group - 

I remembered the way he'd shot his cuffs at the hustings - 

I pictured the wall enclosing Charborough Park - 

I heard him say, once again, that a caravan was a perfectly acceptable affordable home - 

13.00

Saturday 26 November 2016

Swanage  

Seeing Charlie Newman ...

On my way to The Salt Pig, I saw Charlie Newman - 

I wondered if he ever took off his black beret - 

The last time I'd seen him had been in The Square and Compass - 

Boys were drinking cider watching a wild band - 

Charlie was wearing a magnificent shaggy jersey - 

In the museum along the passage were exquisite ammonites - 

Girls were laughing under the starless sky - 

Charlie acknowledged the greetings of well wishers - 

The night lapped the shores of his louche kingdom - 

11.30

Friday 25 November 2016

Wareham

Dorset 

I sat in the company of poets ...

I ordered a half English - 

Beavers was nearly empty - 

I'd looked in vain for the gorilla - 

Perhaps, I thought, he might be ill, or resting - 

Grey waves broke upon the colourless shore -  

Gulls flew over the salt rimed rooftops - 

The toy train was closed for winter - 

Earlier, I'd bought The White Goddess - 

I remembered the scorched graveyard in Deia - 

I closed my eyes to see a pagan sun - 

I sat in the company of poets - 

My pen was a yellow feather - 

I knew the secrets of the moon - 

12.00

Thursday 24 November 2016

Beavers 

Swanage

Dorset 

Waiting for the comrades ...

Waiting for the comrades, I stood by the telephone box of invisible callers -

Darkness hid the leafless trees - 

The glistening road was silent - 

Floodwater was covering the emptied fields - 

I wondered whether to enter the telephone box - 

If I picked up the receiver, whose voices would I hear? - 

I saw them all, the lost people of my life - 

I heard their voices - I felt the warmth of their smoky bodies - I smelled their skin - 

18.08

Wednesday 22 November 2016

East Stoke

Dorset  

The secret alphabet of birds ...

The footprints looked like a message written in a primeval language, some lost cuneiform - 

There, before me, surely, was the secret alphabet of birds - 

What words, I wondered, had they left in the sand ? - 

What futures were written there ? - 

The shadows of pines were like the pillars of an invisible temple - 

The calm water reflected the rain clouds - 

16.07

Tuesday 22 November 2016

Arne 

Dorset 

The raindrops washed summer from the grass ...

 

The rain had stopped - 

Water dripped from the branches of the apple tree - 

Disordered clouds filled the sky - 

It was dark by mid afternoon - 

A blackbird feasted upon a windfall - 

I watched it carve the apple into a fragile crown - 

It became aware of my gaze and flew away - 

The rain fell once more - 

The raindrops washed summer from the grass - 

14.45

Monday 21 November 2016

The garden

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset  

He's a case ...

My dad's fallen silent watching Doc Martin - 

He's yet to drink his Laxedo - 

Earlier he was singing you'll get no promotion this side of the ocean - 

The doc is being brusque - 

He's a case my dad laughs - 

18.29

Sunday 20 November 2016

Staunton Road

Havant 

Hampshire 

Bright ships ...

One of my treasures is a small shell, worn smooth by many tides - 

I found it on a windswept beach - 

Pale waves cast driftwood upon the sand -

We'd sat in the shelter of the dunes - 

I'd looked up at the November sky - 

We listened to the gulls as darkness fell - 

We were bright ships upon a limitless sea - 

16.13

Saturday 19 November 2016

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

The gorilla in Institute Road ...

Whenever I visit the small seaside town, I look out for the gorilla in Institute Road - 

He was wearing a chullo yesterday - 

I was walking towards Rainbows End - 

I've seen him wearing a crown like a forgotten king - 

Once he wore the flying helmet and goggles of a steam punk aviator - 

One day of riots in the edgelands he wore a V for Vendatta mask - 

I pay him my respects with a courtly bow - 

He gazes at me with inscrutable eyes - 

He never moves - 

One day I'll hear him roar - 

13.45

Thursday 17 November 2016

Insitute Road

Swanage

Dorset

Oh, to be nothing ...

I'm reading an essay by Camus about Oran * - 

I think that I should be smoking a crumpled Gauloise -  

I treasure each sentence as though it were a beautiful sun seared pebble -  

I should be getting my shoes polished in the Boulevard Gallieni -

I'd watch Les Clarques promenade under the enclosing sky - 

I'd drink bitter coffee in an empty cafe -

I'd hear the anthem of long afternoons - 

Oh, to be nothing - 

* The Minotaur or The Stop in Oran 

16.00

Thursday 17 November 2016

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset

Perhaps, I thought, I should buy a homburg ...

I tried on hats in Rainbows End - 

Somewhere I've got a ticket to ride was playing - 

Gaudy shirts were scented with sandalwood - 

Fragile dresses were like gorgeous cobwebs - 

I looked at my reflection in the mirror - 

Perhaps, I thought, I should buy a homburg - 

I'd walk down Coptic Street like a mid European poet - 

The gorilla in Institute Road wore a chullo - 

10.34

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Rainbows End

Swanage

Dorset 

The yellow sun would shine in the flawless sky ...

The clear river ran over white stones - 

We'd stood on Damer Hill, looking down upon heathland and pasture - 

A bird with wide silent wings had flown into a wood - 

Two horses had walked across an emerald field - 

The trees wore marvellous coats of leaves - 

Lichened stones had been dressed for All Souls' Eve - 

The air smelled of smoke and memory - 

I thought then of summer - 

I'd walk through meadow flowers, past drowsy girls - 

I'd swim here, in the deep pool shaded by gentle branches - 

The yellow sun would shine in the flawless sky - 

11.30

Monday 15 November 2016

Briantspuddle

Damer Hill

Dorset 

The floor is still dusted with sand ...

We parked the silver Golf outside The Anglebury -

T E Lawrence would call in there for coffee - 

He'd ride his Brough Superior past St Martins on the Walls - 

The Simoom would blow through the quiet streets - 

A burning sun would fill the sky - 

There's his table, near the window - 

The floor is still dusted with sand - 

14.39

Monday 14 November 2016 

Outside The Anglebury

North Street

Wareham 

Dorset 

Birdsong filled the fragile world ...

November sunlight fell upon the water -

We skirted the reedbeds - 

An egret reminded me of a hanging judge - 

Birders shouldered powerful monoculars - 

Earlier, we'd walked through oak and birch woods - 

The fallen leaves were like gorgeous banknotes - 

Birdsong filled the fragile world - 

12.10

Sunday 13 November 2016

Arne

Dorset  

I'll fly above the clouds ...

I'm in The Rex, waiting to see The Queen of Katwe - 

In a few moments, Dougal will call out Ice Creams - Ice Creams - 

The gentle cineastes will take their seats - 

The auditorium will darken - 

The red curtains will be drawn back - 

I'll share each moment on the screen with shadows - 

I'll fly above the clouds with Phiona Mutesi - 

She'll ask me are we near heaven ? - 

No I'll answer - it's a little higher -

19.09

Friday 11 November 2016

Seat D11 

The Rex

Wareham  

Beautiful reptiles swam in seas of ancient memory ...

The pale sun was low in the November sky - 

We'd walked along the white path above the sea - 

Newly ploughed fields glistened - 

A small plane was a dark bird - 

Smoke rose from salt rimed chimneys - 

We made our way downhill, towards the calm bay - 

Marvellous fossils were hidden in the cliffs - 

Garlands of seaweed had been left by the tide - 

Beautiful reptiles swam in seas of ancient memory - 

14.31

Friday 11 November 2016

Kimmeridge 

Dorset 

Where in the cold Hells of Niflheim is my shield? ...

I'm reading Conan of Cimmeria to take my mind off Trump - 

Yesterday, we'd spent some time in The Seagull -

We'd just been shown round a care home - 

There was a wake in progress in one of the bars - 

The Crem was a few avenues away -

There, on the pub screens, was the face of the orange ape - 

Never again, I thought, would I watch the news - 

We drove back through the edgelands - 

Darkness was falling - 

When I sat before the crackling fire, I opened the foxed treasure - 

Conan was in no mood to linger -

Let's go he barked - where in the cold Hells of Niflheim is my shield ? - 

20.00

Wednesday 9 November 2016

The Seagull 

Portchester 

Before the fire

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset