Another foxed treasure ...

I'm reading Alfred Duggan's Founding Fathers -

Another foxed treasure -

A reminder of my Kennedy's Latin Primer -

De Gallo Bellico - 

Kenneth Hastings, John Ireland - 

Mrs Lawford's heavenly twins - 

Lesbia's pet sparrow -

The classroom in the new comp - 

The bright world I longed for - 

Monday 29 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Look for our names ...

We came across the church -

Old trees hid lichened stone - 

Nearby were clear streams - 

New wheat in ancient fields - .

Others walked with us -

I heard their voices - 

Look for our names they said - 

Look for our names before they are worn away -

Sunday 28 June 2020

Turnerspuddle

Dorset 

Anne cuts my hair ...

Anne's cutting my hair - 

I remember my hair when it was long and wild - 

I wore my hair like a manifesto - 

I was reading Steppenwolf - 

Smoking Gitanes as if my small town were Paris - 

Thinking myself a poet - 

The wind in my uncut hair - 

Saturday 27 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Sunshine on my tongue ...

I'm drinking cider - 

Summer in a glass - 

Sunshine on my tongue - 

Friday 26 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

End of days light ...

I sit under the tree as if I were called Mallory - 

An enigmatic narrator -

Reading a raw bone satire in the Ballardian afternoon - 

The air filled with end of days light -

Strange birds singing -

The garden like a hothouse - 

Flowers like full lipped faces - 

Something about to happen - 

A yellow feather in my mouth - 

Thursday 25 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Foxed treasures ...

Postcards of Cornish sunsets -

My name scrawled on a yellowed page -

The menu of The New Bengal -

A poem I wrote - 

A Rizzla -

A message from a girl I kissed - 

A blade of grass -

A feather - 

I find them in my old books - 

Foxed treasures - 

Lost when my years were green -

Wednesday 24 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

On being a nogood boyo ....

I long sometimes to be a nogood boyo - 

Wearing worn chinos - 

Reading a salt stained book of verse - 

Drinking beer from joyous bottles - 

Swimming hungover in the forgiving sea - 

Tuesday 23 June 2020

South Beach 

Studland 

Dorset

A different light ...

I'm reading A Passage To India -

I remember the different light - 

The carvings in Marco's house - 

Gazing into the dark well - 

The Frenchwoman reading Colette in the garden - 

The bright boats with eyes painted upon their prows - 

The warm ocean - 

The palm trees, the white sand - 

Monday 22 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Dunstanburgh ...

I remember the surfers - 

Lean, fearless - 

Leaping into the northern waves - 

Bearded by spray - 

I remember the wind shaken walls on the headland - 

The ancient names -

The voices of the sea birds- 

The ghost ships on the sea road -

Sunday 21 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Wearing a golden coat ...

Tomorrow is the Solstice - 

The high point of the tide of light - 

There will be young kings amongst the apple trees - 

Foxgloves and sleeping birds - 

The swimmers will gather on the green shore - 

The sun will fill the sky - 

True words will come - 

I'll wear a golden coat - 

Saturday 20 June 2020

South Beach, Studland 

East Stoke

Dorsetv

.

Changed in a heartbeat ...

I'm reading A Ghost At Noon -

I remember the Maritime Station, the white island in the bay - 

The thimblefuls of espresso - 

The sinister churches - 

I remember, too, the silence in the room - 

The moment never forgotten, the world changed in a heartbeat -

Friday 19 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

My body will smell of smoke

Rain fell earlier this afternoon - 

Clouds lay heavy in the humid air -

I walk in the garden after the rain -

Already there are apples on the tree -

They will grow as this strange summer grows -

Brightness will keep on falling from the air - 

I will carry my memories like fragile gifts -

My body will smell of smoke -

Thursday 18 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Learning to swim ...

I remember learning to swim -

Being a boy - 

Balluta Bay - 

A sun still new to me -

The welcoming sea - 

The bright boats - 

Sunbathing on the rocks -

The taste of salt on my brown skin - 

Wednesday 17 June 2020

South Beach 

Studland 

Dorset 

The touch of the glassy sea ...

The gentle wind stirred the sea fret - 

Our fingers were chilled -

We towelled ourselves dry on the green shore -

Lay under the vague sky - 

Our bodies still felt the touch of the glassy sea -

Noiseless waves broke upon the sand - 

Tuesday 16 June 2020

South Beach

Studland 

Dorset 

A talisman in his dreaming hand ...

I need a shaman to open my eyes -

To journey with me across this wilderness - 

Like this shaman, guiding a bitter soul - 

Healing his hurts -

Showing him the hidden joy and terror - 

Placing a talisman in his dreaming hand -

Monday 15 June 2020

After watching The Embrace of The Serpent 

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

The sadness of cafes ...

The town beach was almost empty -

A few boys skylarked in the surly waves -

Towels were held down by flints - 

We walked past shuttered beach huts - 

I felt the sadness of lockdowned cafes -

Sunday 14 June 2020

Town beach

Swanage 

Dorset 

Shells in my hair ...

I dressed quickly on the windblown beach -

My heart was still leaping - 

Seawater pearled my skin - 

I brushed shells from my tangled hair - 

Saturday 13 July 2020

South Beach 

Studland 

Dorset 

Sudden sunlight ...

I walked in the garden after rain -

Each rose petal held a pearl - 

The wind blew away the clouds - 

Sudden sunshine fell like grace from heaven - 

Friday 12 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Sunrise over gentle fields ...

I'm reading Three Men in a Boat -

I feel uplifted by joyous artful glee -

Harris, knowing where to get two drops of Irish in Paradise - 

The tin of pineapple smiling mockingly - 

I shall wear a crazily coloured blazer - 

Travel with those dear to me on quiet rivers - 

Watch moonlight on water -

Wait for sunrise over gentle fields - 

Thursday 11 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Wearing tweed ...

I should be wearing tweed when I read these volumes - 

A green jacket worn last when climbing Blencathra - 

These were pages for antiquarians -

Delvers into tumuli - 

When I visit Neill I shall smoke a sturdy briar - 

I'll imagine I'm stepping into a shadowy hall - 

 A full moon in the sky above the rectory - 

Elm logs smouldering in the fireplace - 

Wednesday 10 June 2020

Wind Tops 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

The yacht turning on the tide ...

These moments swimming -

This clear water -

No words - 

Seeing only what is there - 

The ridged sand - 

The small fish like shards of silver - 

The green shore - 

The yacht turning on the tide - 

Tuesday 9 June 2020

South Beach 

Studland 

Dorset 

A bright country faraway ...

I'm reading Surprised By Joy -

The air from the lounge of memory clings to these pages - 

I can hear the waves breaking upon the sand - 

A robin dances for crumbs - 

I feel a sweet stab of joy - 

I catch a glimpse of a bright country faraway - 

Monday 8 June 2020

South Beach 

Studland 

Dorset 

Creech Barrow

Waist high ferns brushed against us we climbed -

Wild thyme flowers were tiny stars -

The barrow touched the sky - 

Beneath the windblown grass were white bones -

There were bright names buried amongst the flints - 

Pieces of song - 

Red kites flew above the valley 

Lichened stones remembered beardless kings -

Sunday 7 June 2020

Creech Barrow 

Dorset 

Wearing a torn shirt ...

Forgotten beach huts were half hidden by summer greenery -

Foxgloves veiled salt rimed wood -

Small waves broke upon the fine pale sand - 

Trees cast wavering shadows on warm decking -

I gazed out over the bay -

I pictured myself wearing a torn shirt - 

I'd linger here, watching shadows -

My heart healing as stars filled the sky -

Saturday 6 June 2020

South Beach

Studland 

Dorset 

Houns-tout ...

Clouds cast their serene shadows on the hilltops -

Behind me, dry stone walls enclose ancient fields -

From Houns-tout we could see white horses on the water - 

Waves broke upon untrod sand - 

Saturday 6 June 2020

Houns-tout, Egmont Bight

Dorset 

A slender Icarus ...

I'm watching Fades -

Dreamy spooky stuff - 

That boy's wings - 

Those desperate shapes -

I picture the boy flying - 

A slender Icarus - 

I see the dark places he flies over -

The beauty of his wings -





Thursday 4 June 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset 

Contagion ...

Sleek jowls on Channel 4 -

There they gesture - 

These hirelings, these mouthpieces - 

Their suits enfolding nothing - 

They leave holes in the air - 

Lies fill each hole - 

Wednesday 3 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

The hidden circle ...

I stood under the tall shining trees -

I stood where priests had stood

Every winter there was a sunrise - 

Sacred planets in rare conjunction - 

A bridge made in the dawn light -

Pale light joining the visible and the invisible worlds - 

Monday 3 June 29 2020

Rempstone Stone Circle

Dorset 

The rain may fall ...

The rain may fall on Wednesday -

The long afternoons will end -

Reading opulent Sci Fi under the parasol - 

Drowsy bees idling amongst the lavender - 

Dead heading languid roses -

Walking barefoot under the apple tree -

The rain may come - 

Clouds from my boyhood covering the sky -

Memories of glimmering streets - 

Raindrops pearling the windows of the lounge - 

Monday 1 June 2020

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Bathed in this brightness ...

We looked  down on the green world - 

Below us were fields and quiet villages -

A red kite lingered in the air - 

Its thin shadow passed over the grass -

We walked barefoot upon the warm hill - 

I remembered walking here one  New Year's Day - 

The day then cold - 

My loved ones with me -

I feared for them now -

Bathed in this  brightness from the sky - 

Sunday May 31 2020

Rollington Hill 

Corfe Castle 

Dorset