Mercy mercy mercy ...

I've climbed the last few steps -

I've heard a drum -

Boro borombetta - 

I've seen death in a poet's eyes -

Mercy mercy mercy - 



Monday 31 March 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset

Lost in the linenfold ...

I put down The Mirror & The Light -

There were sad pages ahead -

A snarling duke -

A bishop's fangs -

A king lost in the linenfold -



Monday 30 March 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset 

Swallows shape an angel's smile ...

What fights with monstrous pike were recorded here - 

What encounters with eels - 

I wanted to write I've watched the river - 

I've worn a cloak of dragonflies - 

I've seen the mist cover the water meadows -

Dandelion clocks measure summer - 

Swallows shape an angel's smile - 

Sunday 29 March 2020

East Stoke

Dorset 

When you became air ...

Walking down the crooked corridor -

Opening the door -


A small wind, like a sigh -

When you became air -



Saturday 28 March 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset 

My garden hedged with love ...

I hold the small book with its torn yellow cover in my hands -

Gulliver's Travels told to the children by John Lang - 


Gulliver wearing a blue coat -

Marvels in Palmyra Road -.


My mum's writing on the flyleaf -

Christopher April 11th 1960 from mummy and daddy - 


My eighth birthday in a charmed world -

My garden hedged with love -




Friday 27 March 2020

The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset

The sky was tangled in my hair ...

Once I walked under a twilight sky -

I was a like young tree, walking -


My steps were fearless -

The sky was tangled in my hair -



Thursday 26 March 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset 

Walking like Blake in Lambeth ...

A path through laurel and blackthorn led to the lake -

A dragonfly was a zigzag of pale blue above the water -

Carp stirred the sand in the shallows -

Small birds sang in the awakening trees -

The air was warm and still -

I remembered those days waiting for the Kindly Ones -

Each moment became a gift of nowness -

So it was now -

I walked like Blake in Lambeth -

The sky a window of heaven -





Wednesday 25 March 2020


The lake
Lulworth
Dorset

Watching the bees ...

Shadows cast upon the grass -

The parasol, the apple tree -

Anne's shadow -


The bright lawn warmed by the sun -

Sipping the dark coffee -

Watching the bees amongst the rosemary -






Tuesday 23 March 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset

Cousin Michael rang me ...

Cousin Michael rang me just before midnight -

My uncle Dennis had passed away -

I remembered his dazzling smile -

His voice -

The afternoons in the welcoming house -

My two aunts -

Aunty Eileen, Aunty Sylvie -

Back, laughing, from Charlotte Street Market -

Wells Fargo on the telly -

My grandad and my grandma -

My mum and dad -

Uncle Dennis -

Memories whilst the apple logs smouldered -

My heart like a small boat on a dark river -





Monday 23 March 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset 

His life is measured by a smile ...

I'm reading The Mirror & The Light -

I'm wearing a dove grey coat -

Call-Me smiles his courtier's smile -

Christophe follows me up the winding stair -

Master Secretary remembers eating olives -

His life is measured by a smile -

Dusk falls on the garden -

I hear him singing as I climb the stair -

Scaramella fa la gala - 




Sunday 22 March 2020



The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset

Polar Wood ...

The wind blew through the wood -

Bare trees sang with soft voices -

Lichened stones enclosed hawthorn and elm -

Smoke from a bonfire rose up from the deep valley -

A kestrel flew towards the sea -

Here, in a few months time, there would be bluebells in the wood -

Mazy paths through the blueness -

The scent of the flowers -

Cool air in the shade -

The rich earth warmed by the sun -

Promises to be held close -

Tokens of innocent summers -




Friday 20 March 2020


Polar Wood
Swyre Head
Dorset

I wore no watch ...

There were two fishing boats in the cove -

Dark red ribbons of seaweed on the white shore -

A stream ran over stones -


I wore no watch -

Now was a time to remember precious songs -




Thursday 19 March 2020


Lulworth Cove
Dorset 

The taste of the sea ...

Beyond the leafless tree I saw the gentle flowers -

A field of primroses in the soft rain -


The hilltop touching the cloud -

The taste of the sea upon my tongue -



Thursday 19 March 2020


West Lulworth
Dorset

Birdsong from the saltings ...

I heard birdsong from the saltings -

Fragile music -


The fierce yellow of gorse flowers -

The mazy channels -


The sand -

The pale sunlight -


Every moment -

Walking on emptiness -




Wednesday 18 March 2020


Shipstal Point
Arne
Dorset

Invisible guests ...

The young Albanian served me tea - 

Is scone ? he asked - 

Logs smouldered in the fireplace - 

Through the window, I saw the  long icy sweep of the bay - 

The lounge was empty - 

There were only invisible guests - 

I remembered walking in the hotel gardens - 

The stone dog with lichen for fur - 

The sea at the foot of the cliffs - 

The sky full of dark clouds - 

The wind against my face - 

Wednesday 11 March 2020

Raven Hall

Ravenscar 

Yorkshire 

Miles ...

He was the prince of cool -

Sharp suited -

His trumpet a golden wand -


Later, a lithe angel -

Casting his enigmatic shadow -

His eyes, black pearls -





Saturday 14 March 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset.

A token to hold close -

The sky was troubled above the white hotels -

I followed the wind to the empty shore - 

I looked for a shell to hold in my hand - 

I thought of the words - 

Brightness falls from the air - 

The long waves broke upon the sand - 

Friday 13 March 2020

North Bay 

Scarborough 

Listening to Cripple Creek ...

A gentle wizard brought me my Carlos Montero coffee -

His silky beard glistened in the pale northern light -

I was listening to Cripple Creek - 


I remembered hearing The Band the first time, with Jay and Russell -

The three of us, still bright with promise -

Wearing shirts not yet torn -


The young wizard smiled -

Each sip from his exquisite cup brought back a memory -

With each sip, I walked down precious roads -




Friday 13 March 2020


Koda Cafe
Scarborough 

Joyous fish danced across the carpet ...

Paul was reading The Shark in the Dark -

Wallace listened, eyes wide, eating rice cakes -

Paul's reading carried Wallace to the bottom of the sea -


A shark with a mouth full of daggers swam into the room -

A wise octopus summoned a whale, chasing away the shark -


I saw joyous fish, dancing across the carpet -

I heard Wallace laughing -

I danced too, a fin in each hand -



Friday 13 March 2020

Scarborough

Taking comfort in mushy peas ...

We ordered  four medium cod four medium chips in the Ramshill Fisheries -

We remembered to queue against the range -

Here, we could warm ourselves -

Hear kindly voices -

Forget the wind waiting to blow through the streets -

Take comfort in mushy peas -


Thursday 12 March 2020


Ramshill Fisheries
Scarborough

Artemio in Woodend ...

I'm reading The Death of Artemio Cruz in Woodend -

I can hear languid saxophones -

I sip coffee from a fragile cup -


There's an exhibition of gentle posters -

Scarborough, the tonic holiday -


A penguin holds up a yellow parasol -

A golden couple loll on the perfect sand -


I look once more at the yellowy page -

There was a moonflower -

Artemio rode across the river -



Wednesday 11 March 2020


Woodend
Scarborough

Here, I might write my words -

The winding river flowed through the forest -

Catkins danced above the water -


Here, there were trees and ancient names -

Dry stone walls and hawthorn -


The air was empty of messages -

The wind from the sea carried no fearful auguries -


Here, I might write my words -

Take my joy from my grandson's smile -



Tuesday 10 March 2020


Dalby Forest
Yorkshire 

Oliver Francois Xavier Sarony ..

I gazed at the white reef of the Victorian stucco -

Here, the photographer had bedazzled his mutton chopped sitters -

He'd sported a beard and a tasselled smoking cap -

Conning the golden guineas -

Thrown upon the shore by a wild sea -.

Trying to save a lordling -

The icy rope torn from his hand -

The musicians still playing in the gilded ballroom -





Monday 9 March 2020

Scarborough

Waiting for sunset ...

Mazy alleys led us past salt rimed doors -

Gulls flew above attics shaken by winter winds -

I caught glimpses of small parlours through sash windows -

We climbed winding stairs towards The Square -


I imagined waiting for sunset in The Mariners Tavern -

I'd fill my glass with Dark Horse -

My clothes would smell of smoke from driftwood fires -

The moon would rise above the sea -




Sunday 8 March 2020


Robin Hood's Bay
Yorkshire

Half of my heart ...

I make a fire to warm my daughter's house -

My grandson sleeps above my head -


Half of my heart is here, by the northern sea -

The other half, where five rivers meet -




Friday 7 March 2020


Scarborough 

Wallace dancing in the joyous house ..

We rode the Peugeot northward -

Sleepy travellers in the motorway world -

The sky lightening above the slip roads -

Blue signs guiding us to Sophie -

Wallace dancing in the joyous house -



Friday 7 March 2020


Scarborough 

A bright star fallen from the sky ...

We looked out out across the cove -

Low cloud touched the hills -

The wind carried the rain to half hidden farms -

The stricken poet had once called in here -

A bright star fallen from the sky -




Wednesday 4 March 2020

Lulworth Cove
Dorset

Charlie held up his dark glass ...

There was a three pints of Harveys fire in The Kings Arms -

Logs, like fragrant bones, blazing in the grate -


I gazed at the optics -

Charlie held up his dark glass -




Wednesday 4 March 2020


The Kings Arms
Wareham
Dorset

Nursing memories of midnight Jamesons ....

Richard gave our orders to the waitress -

Scrambled egg with tinned tomatoes white bread -

The windows of The Country Pantry were veiled with steam -

We nursed our memories of midnight Jamesons -

Tony Leung, his suit soaked with rain -

Maggie Cheung's lipstick stained cigarette -

How we might whisper a secret to a hollow tree -



Monday 2 March 2020


The Country Pantry
Southsea 

Amongst headless angels ...

We walked past headless angels -

I wondered if I might find my grandfather -


I tried to remember his voice -

The blueness of his eyes -


I soon lost my way amongst the angels -

There were so many lost names amongst the trees -





Monday 2 March 2020


Southsea 

Another midnight taxi ...

Another midnight taxi -

The green jewels of the dashboard -


The half heard songs from the radio -

The rain falling on the empty street -



Monday 2 March 2020

Southsea 

What would Bruce do ? ...

Richard and I watched Diehard 4 -

Bruce drove a rig the size of The Great Eastern like a crazy rodeo star -

A cruel karate Amazon perished in a welter of flame -

A sneering villain unleashed his thugs whilst I drank a bumper -

FBI agents pursed their lips -


Bruce was a demi-god in a vest -

Unstoppable -

Wise-cracking -

Now, whenever I had doubts, there could only be one question -

What would Bruce do ? -




Monday 2 March 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Wareham
Dorset