Blue In Green ...

I'm listening to Blue In Green -

I can see through a window pearled with raindrops -

There's a street that touches the end of the world - 

I can see your shape and hear your words - 

Your long coat is made of feathers - 

I walked with you for a while - 

Each note of the music fills the street with memory - 

Not bitter, but heartfelt, and true - 

Tuesday 11 May 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Jimi in my head ...

I waded out through ribbons of seaweed - 

I felt my heart soothed by the motion of the sea - 

Mist spilled over Old Harry - 

I heard Jimi in my head - 

Wore his hair - 

Heard his anguished guitar - 

Sunday May 9 2021

South Beach

Studland 

Dorset 

Heartlands ...

Talking heads float in lounges - 

There's talk of heartlands - 

The Baron of Barbados shoots his cuffs -

Staffies bark in dingy hallways -

Numbing rain falls on pinched streets - 

The liar eyes a decade in power -

Friday May 7 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

We were innocents .

Neill saw the adder first -

Alyson held back Murphy - 

Wicked and beautiful, the snake looked at us - 

We were innocents caught by that merciless gaze - 

Saturday May 8 2021

Hartland Moor

Purbeck 

Dorsetv

Polling Day ...

We wore rosettes - 

It was polling day - 

Pensioners clasped their walking frames - 

A Tory Councillor smiled his foxy smile - 

The blue leaflet crackled with lies 

George spoke with his golden voice - 

Friday May 7 2021 

Swanage 

Thatcher's Children ...

The bungalows had name like Rivendell and Bishop's Corner -

The gammon stood before his Qashqai -

I don't know what he stands for he said -

My children were Thatcher's Children - 

Thursday 6 May 2021

Swanage 

Dorset 

Japp's Wolseley ...

This was a car for Inspector Japp -

Those running boards -

Those leather seats -

That terse number plate  -

I could picture Japp arresting a beautiful murderess -

The Wolseley taking her to the gallows -

Tuesday 4 May 2021

Swanage 

Forget Me Nots ...

The Forget Me Nots reminded me of Prendy's lawn -

The beautiful disordered garden - 

Drinking red wine that afternoon -

The sadness behind his smile - 

Monday 3 May 2021

Binnegar 

Dorset 

A soft rain fell ...

I heard peacocks calling in Bowling Green Wood -

I could smell wild garlic flowers - 

A soft rain fell - 

2 May 2021

Bowling Green Wood 

Lulworth Castle 

Dorset 

A ghost in corduroy ...

A ghost in corduroy stood before the door - 

I heard his voice - 

I saw the cobwebs in his hair - 

The mark on his brow - 

2 May 2021

Bowling Green Wood Lodge

Lulworth Castle 

Dorset

Lost Steps ...

I'm reading The Lost Steps -

I fly from.a city of stale towers to a primeval land - 

I breathe thin air high above a pathless forest - 

I travel by canoe along unknown rivers -

I see strange flowers - 

I escape from there - 

I see the mark of the earliest gods -

I see trees dancing - 

I hear the Greek talking - 

She no Penelope - 

Saturday 1 May 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke

Dorset

.

Walking to Ravenscar ...

A yacht with red sails matched our pace - 

Knapweed bordered the clifftop paths - 

Harebells brushed against our feet - 

White butterflies were blown by the wind across the fields -

The sky promised both rain and sun - 

*

Later, we would climb steps worn down by patient footfall - 

Cliffs would hide pristine coves - 

The mile wide bay would reflect the clouds - 

The hotel would wait for us on its high hill - 

The day's walk would end under gentle trees -  

18.23

Tuesday 1 August 2017

Ravenscar

Yorkshire

Discarded skins ...

After swimming, we sat in the green deck chairs - 

The clear sea had welcomed our slender bodies - 

The sun had cast its fleeting light upon the water - 

Each moment of swimming was a casting away of secrets - 

Our clothes were like discarded skins left upon the sand - 

13.00

Friday 18 August 2017

Studland 

Dorset

Bright mornings ...

The sun broke through the mist -

I remembered bright mornings -

The taste of salt on my tongue -

Tuesday 2 March 2021

Studland 

Dorser

Frank Coopers Vintage Oxford Marmalade ...

Every morning my dad would walk to Spire News -

He'd climb the bridge at Bedhampton Gates -

Waver along the pavement like a wounded bird - 

A bit fresh he'd say when ice lacquered windscreens - 

He'd gaze at a ziggurat of Daily Mails -

Times please he'd say, handing over coins warmed in his pockets -

They know him well there -

Back home, he'd have his rasher -

Then toast with marmalade - 

Frank Coopers Vintage Oxford Marmalade -

When I have my toast, I make sure I have this marmalade -

I remember him - 

Turning the pages of The Times - 

The brightly lit room - 

My mum bringing him his rasher - 

His tweed jacket hanging on its peg in the hall -

Sunday 28 February 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Dark mirrors ...

Sometimes we walk through the dunes -

There are birch trees on the shore of The Little Sea - 

Dark mirrors behind white trees - 

February 2021

Studland 

Dorset 

Wainewright the Poisoner ..

I'm reading Wainewright the Poisoner -

I've been taken inside his head -

I've worn a beautiful blue surcoat -

Irons have torn my ankles -

I've broken stones -

I've been a multitude of selves - 

Wednesday 3 March 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorsert

Blueness ...

I saw the small blue flower -

Nameless to me, like a beautiful face glimpsed unawares - 

Its blueness like piano music - 

Simple, spare, pure -

February 2021

Binnegar 

Dorset 

Secret garden ...

.I always dreamed of being invited to a secret garden - 

Of a clock striking thirteen above my books -

Wearing a green coat in moonlight -

Picking golden apples -

Monday 1 March 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

The MP wears a rakish tophat .

The MP wears a rakish tophat - 

Shares an icecream with another millionaire - 

A high wall encloses his park - 

His fine house is hidden -

He's proud of our island story -

They say he has exquisite manners -

Thursday 4 March 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Treasure Island ...

I shall read Treasure Island -

My dad loved this book -

He'd tell me the names of the characters -

Jim Hawkins, Squire Trelawney, Israel Hands - 

In my nightmares, Blind Pew clutched at my throat - 

My boy's narrow bed floated on a crystal sea -

Long John Silver handed me a golden coin - 

I can still hear my dad, even now - 

Putting down his midday glass -

He drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste -

I'd hear gulls cry in the sunlit lounge -

Friday 30 April 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Canvassing ...

We knocked on the door of a house saying Life Is A Beach - 

There was an opulent Tiguan on the drive -

A man wearing a blue polo shirt opened the door - 

I'm George George said -

Friday 30 April 2021

Swanage 

Dorset 

What words the mouth would whisper ...

I wondered what dreams were inside this head -

What strange birds flew against those closed eyelids - 

What words the mouth would whisper -

Thursday 29 April 2021

The Walled Garden 

Moreton 

Dorset 

Waiting for Margaret ...

The river was high -

The water reflected the poplar trees -

A  Sunseeker nudged the Town Quay -

I wait for Margaret -

I imagined the river rising still further -

Cobwebbed attics becoming islands - 

Coracles moored to the weathercock of Lady St Mary's - 

Pikes sleeping amongst the pews -

Tuesday 27 April 2021

Town Quay

Wareham 

Dorset 

I think I'm going back ...

Java was open -

Dusty Springfield singing -

I sipped coffee amongst louche greenery -

There were dinosaurs near the beach -

I'd heard them roar -

Kieran crafted salads -

There were unsettling mannequins inside the coffee shop -

Shapely torsos were draped with velvet - 

I remembered sitting here with the comrades -

My heart racing - 

The thought of a cool hand holding mine -

Dusty was still singing - 

Her voice amongst the greenery

I think I'm going back -

Tuesday 27 April 2021

Java 

Swanage 

Dorset

A willow wand in a narrow bed ...

Sunlight fills the room -

I remember the first girl I loved -

Walking with her down Chantry Road -

I was a shy boy -

Slow to flower - 

A willow wand in a narrow bed - 

Monday 26 January 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset