Reassured by Java ...

I climbed the hills holding the brave words -

Letter boxes bit my fingers -

I caught brief glimpses of pinched lives -

Maisonettes with the curtains drawn -

Mattresses left in a front garden -

A Jack Russell barking behind a door -

A man with a face carved out of bleached wood -

Shoes left out in the rain -

Notices saying no doorstep traders -

Morning television's shiny faces -

I needed the reassurance of Java -

Flowers in a vase -

A silky cappuccino -

Ambient music -

Angela Carter's Nights in the Circus -

I remembered Anne's words in a different place -

This is a place of haves -

Here everyone is someone who has -

Two Nations, I thought -

I sipped my cappuccino -

I wrapped myself in a corduroy coat -

I thought of buying a pork pie hat -


Thursday 28 February 2019

Swanage
Dorset

The welcome ...

There it is -

The welcome from the gentle town -


Its lampposts -

West Street -

The weather vane of Lady Saint Mary -


Ghost Ship -

Neil behind the bar -


19.03
Wednesday 27 February 2019

The Rex
Wareham 

Looking for jets ...

I gazed at the moonlit rooftops from the quiet terrace -

I was barefoot in the warm night -


No wind stirred the palm trees -

The dark sea was still -


I counted  the hours left me -

I looked for jets in the starless sky -


19.48
19 February 2019

Corralejo
Fuertaventura

Will there be music ? ...

Will there be music ? -

Anne smiled an English smile -

We looked at the guitars on the wall, the paintings of the musicians -

A jazz dude in silhouette played a long blue note -

The waiter flicked a glass with a haughty napkin -

No -

Tomorrow ? -

No -

But it says Bar Cantante -

But there is no music -

Why then does it say Bar Cantante ? -

The waiter smiled a Canarian smile -

There is no music -

That was before - 


11.36
Thursday14 February 2019

Corralejo
Fuertaventura

A shadow crossing the water ...

I read of a shadow crossing the water -

I'd read this story before, a world ago -

I remembered a pinched street, a girl's long black hair -

There, on the sun drenched terrace, I remembered her name -

I though then of my own shadow -

Perhaps I'd find it in the Calle la Ballena -

I'd hold my shadow close -

I'd feel the hurts I'd caused -

I'd wear them like an icy coat -


Tuesday 19 February 2019

Corralejo
Fuertaventura

The same voices ...

I watched the surfers carry their boards across the sand -

They were like young gods from the north -

Blonde, bearded, lean -

They swept across the wild turquoise sea -

I remembered colder waves -

The same sun in the sky -

The same voices from the sea -


14.45
Tuesday 19  February 2919

Corralejo
Fuertaventura

Almost a full moon ...

The chess players briefly left their game to roll a spliff -

I lolled on the red cushions, listening to trippy blues -

I opened The Divine Comedy -

I knew that dark wood, I thought -

We were drinking Vermouth -

The chess players came back -

A woman with a scary mouth was laughing -

There was almost a full moon in the sky -


20.54
Monday 18 Febuary 2019

Babel
Corralejo
Fuertaventura

The shy smile of the Italian girl ...

We would lie on the yellow sand -

The white waves marking the reef of Los Lobos -


Later, we would watch the kite surfers -

We would put on our clothes, cover our salty skin -


There would be tamarisk trees -

Surf boards -


We would walk down the Calle la Iglesia -

Glimpse dimly lit interiors -


See sunlight fall on dazzling walls -

Hear music in the Zazamira Cafe -


Each morning -

The turquoise sea -

The shy smile of the Italian girl -



February 2019

Corralejo
Fuertaventura

La Oliva ...

The church tower rose above the wind swept square -

We were far from the sea -

Beyond the stony fields were bare hills -

There was a painting of heaven and hell inside the church -

Saints stood on clouds -

Devils glowered -

Sitting at the bark we heard Grace Slick singing -

One pill makes you larger she sang -

One pill makes you small -


12.57
Friday15 February 2019


La Oliva
Fuertaventura

Perfecto ...

Manolo smiled his crazy charming smile -

No problem, no problem he said -

I drink the ocean ! -

Perfecto, Christopher -

Perfecto ! -


Wednesday 20 February 2019


Los Lobos
Corralejo
Fuertaventura

Come in October ...

Come in October she said -

Then, there is no wind -

She smiled -

This wind comes from the north -

Come in October -

The sea then is calm and warm - 

It is the best time to come -

It is quiet - 

She smiled again, her slow smile -

A wise goddess with dreadlocks -

Her dress the colour of the sky -


Monday 18 February 2019


Zazamira Cafe
Calle la Iglesia
Corralejo
Fuertaventura 

The angel in the narrow street ...

I gazed at the tarot card pinned to the white door frame -

I'd just heard that Bruno Ganz had died - 

The Italian girl handed us our coffees - 

I thought I saw an angel - 

There, in the sunlight - 

In this narrow street ending at the sea - 

11.30

Sunday 17 February 2019 

Zazamira Cafe

Calle la Iglesia 

Corralejo 

Fuertaventura

Cafe con ginseng ...

Before me is a tiny cup of cafe con ginseng -

A memory of yarrow sticks -


There's salt in my hair -

A stilled fan above my head -


In my pocket is a piece of coral -

Some sand from beneath the tamarisk trees -


I'll drink from the tiny cup -

I'll swim three times in the dazzling sea -


13.05
Sunday 17 February 2019

Zaramira Cafe
Calle la Iglesia
Fuertaventura

Vermouth ...

I'm sipping Vermouth -

There's no wind now -

Small birds fly over the twilight sky -

Gentle jazz falls from the darkening sky -


18.15
Friday 15 February 2019


Mojito Beach Club
Corralejo
Fuertaventura

Bright tables ...

We walked down the Calle La Iglesia -

The narrow streets ended at the sea -

Whitewashed walls cast deep shadow -

An ancient tree shaded a secret garden -

Bright tables were set outside a cafe -

I imagined myself, living here -

Far from cold skies -

Sitting, writing, at one of those tables -

Finding a few words that rang true -



14.23

Wednesday 13 February 2019


Calle La Iglesia

Corralejo

Fuertaventura

At the Zazamira Cafe

We sipped silky cappuccinos in the Zazamira Cafe -

Lion Fiyah sang Love Love -

White yachts danced upon the turquoise sea -


11.45

Thursday 14 February 2019


Zazamira Cafe

Calle la Iglesia

Fuertaventura

A feast of cava and raisins ...

I'm sipping cava in Stephanie and Lionel's house -

They're in India -

There's a moon in the sky with a necklace of stars -

I'm now eating raisins -

The wind from Africa stirs the bougainvillea -

I listened to Blue for you Johnny -


20.17

Tuesday 12 February 2018


Villa Kazabuenavista

Corralejo

Fuertaventurs

At the crematorium ...

We sang All things bright and beautiful -

Long black cars were parked under the trees -


I remembered a gentle smile -

Long years recast in laughing stories -


I heard Nat King Cole sing Unforgettable -

Then Glen Miller's Moonlight Serenade -


I've been here too often Paul said -

We saw familiar chairs now empty -


It would come to this -

An Order of Service -


Eulogies -

Dark shirts -


The drive to the final garden -

The pale sky above the trees -


11.00
Monday 11 February 2019

Poole Crematorium 

Something vast and miraculous ...

There on the pale sand -

Cast up by the  sea -

A small shard of blue china -

Perhaps from a bowl, or plate -

Smooth and cold to the touch -

I held it in my hand -

I put it in my pocket -

Placed it on the mantlepiece -

When I pick it up again -

Some night when my bones creak -

I'll remember the golden light of this afternoon -

This sea -

Being led here by a gull's footprints -

The sun low in the sky -

Every moment part of something vast and miraculous -


16.00
Sunday 10 October 2019

Studland
Dorset