Wednesday 30 November 2016

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  



Tuesday 29 November 2016

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 






Monday 28 November 2016

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 - 

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






Sunday 27 November 2016

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 


Saturday 26 November 2016

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  




Friday 25 November 2016

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 

Thursday 24 November 2016

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 





Wednesday 23 November 2016

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  

Tuesday 22 November 2016

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 



Monday 21 November 2016

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  

Sunday 20 November 2016

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 

Saturday 19 November 2016

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 

Friday 18 November 2016

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

Thursday 17 November 2016

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



Wednesday 16 November 2016

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 




Tuesday 15 November 2016

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 







Monday 14 November 2016

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 



Sunday 13 November 2016

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  



Saturday 12 November 2016

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  


Friday 11 November 2016

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 

Thursday 10 November 2016

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