Walking from Appleby ...

We followed the path by the river -

The still water reflected oak and hazel - 

We brushed against fragile curtains of dog roses -

Glimpsed the blue sky through bright greenery - 

Amongst the rich grass of quiet meadows we saw buttercups - 

The air was still and filled with birdsong - 

June 30 2021

Near Appleby 

Northern light ...

I remembered the northern light -

How it fell on these lichened names -

Touched this bright grass - 

Joined earth to heaven - 

29 June 2021

Appleby 

This gentle afternoon ...

Swimming, I thought of the north -

High paths beckoned me - 

I'll remember this green shore - 

This gentle afternoon - 

28 June 2021

South Beach 

Studland 

Dorset

I hear bells ringing ...

I look at old photographs -

It's like listening to music played far away -

There I am -

I'm twelve years old -

I'm drinking Coke in Toni's Bar -

I remember the palms -

I gaze at the camera -

Later I swim in the sun drenched bay - 

I slip off the rocks to dive below the waves - 

I hear bells ringing when I come up for air - 

27 June 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Where will he sleep ...

Where will he sleep, this boy hiding his face -

How many small coins will he be given -

I think of the man with five surnames -

The honey on his tongue -

The necklace of bones he wears -

There are marble staircases in his gracious house - 

The pinched world casts no shadows on his flawless lawns -

26 June 2021

Weymouth 

Dorset 

I felt the chill of the wind ...

 

I found Chrome Yellow in The Crooked Book -

Chess players sipped black coffee -

Sunlight fell on a hat stand - 

I heard music composed in a forgotten shetl -

I felt the chill of the wind that blew it away -

There was no sign of the Polish girl -

I saw her empty glass -

I read the first page of my book -

25 June 2021

The Crooked Book

Boscombe 

Bournemouth 

A yacht with red sails ...

I saw a yacht with red sails - 

I thought of time passing -

Walking towards the dunes, Anne sang softly -

Tous les garcons et les filles -

We remembered our first loves -

We lay on the sand, salt in our hair -

24 June 2021

Studland 

Dorset 

You've hit a nerve ...

The CEO snapped his white cuffs - 

His tie was a thin snake - 

You've hit a nerve Deb said - 

24 June 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Listening to merengue ...

I'm reading Mario Vargos Llosa - 

I'm waiting for a blue Chrevolet - 

I've listened to merengue in the company of murderers - 

23 June 2021

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Those dark mouths ...

We felt the wind against our faces - 

Far below, gulls flew above the waves -

Rocks were white with foam - 

I saw the caves - 

I remembered the young gods they'd swallowed -

Those dark mouths, opening with the tide - 

21 June 2021

Durlston 

Dorset 

Secrets by the fountain ...

I waited for secrets by the fountain -

They came to me, one by one - 

They were like small birds with yellow feathers -

Each one sipping water from the fountain -

I remembered midnight kisses -

The smell of smoke in henna'd hair - 

Rich laughter -

A bronze bracelet round a perfumed wrist -

20 June 2021

The Walled Garden 

Moreton 

Dorset

Two stags ...

I saw two stags on the green shore - 

They were kings in their world - 

I saw their crowns wreathed with flowers -

Day become night -

I saw the moon fill the sky - 

The white goddess riding the youngest, her bare arms around his neck - 

17 June 2021

Shipstal Point 

Arne

Dorset 

Counting the fortuities ...

I'm reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being - 

I lay awake like Tomas - 

I count the fortuities that led me here - 

The forking paths that took me to this bed - 

19 June 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Marsh violets ...

Penelope said these were marsh orchids - 

Half hidden by leaves - 

Like finding pieces of a dream - 

18 June 2021

Middlebere Heath 

Dorset

Devil's haircut ...

Lorraine put away her instruments -

Languid vapers sipped coffees in Boscanova -

I saw where I could have a devil's haircut -

There, surely, bravos would sculpt my hair - 

I'd leave the parlour a blue-eyed boy - 

I'd wait for Mister Dark - 

I'd ride that silver stallion, right down this street - 

June 15 2021

Boscombe 

Bournemouth 

Early morning trains ...

I remembered early morning trains - 

I'd worn sad clothes -

When I'd looked into a mirror, I was no different from all those around me - 

The same white shirt - 

The same ashes in my pockets - 

June 14 2021

Wareham 

Dorset 

The bewitched sister's eyes ...

We went to buy tickets for a train to Appleby -

We wanted to see northern skies -

I longed to see the world through the bewitched sister's eyes -

June 14 2021 

Wareham 

I waited for her song ...

I came across an angel in The Walled Garden -

She spread her wings for me -

I'd walked past a fountain in a secret arbour -

Water fell on lichened stone -

She held me in her wings -

I waited for her song -

June 12 2021

The Walled Garden 

Moreton 

Dorset 

Becoming our summer world ...

Oak trees shaded the narrow beach -

We threw our clothes onto the sand -

A yacht's sail caught the wind - 

I imagined the creek becoming our summer world - 

Swimming with the tide - 

The waves pearling our tawny bodies -

June 13 2021

Shipstal Point

Arne 

Dorset 

Bright birds caught in our hair ...

I looked back to the green shore -

There were white shells on the ribbed sand - 

The waves held me in memories of summer - 

Feeling a sun warmed body against mine -

My heart racing - 

Bright birds caught in our hair - 

June 12 2021

South Beach 

Studland 

Dorset 

Bright stars ..

In this garden my dear parents wore their green coats - 

There was birdsong - 

There were daisies like bright stars - 

June 11 2021

Warblington 

Hampshire 

Any moment I expected to see something strange ...

Each silent bungalow had a flawless garden -

Small trees cast their shadows on bright lawns -

Cherished SUVs reflected the sun -

I walked like a film extra through the Lynchian vistas - 

Any moment I expected to see something strange - 

10 June 2021

Ferring

West Sussex 

The ocean in my bones ...

Today the waves were higher -

Their bright blueness fell upon me - 

I saw a yacht with a red sail amongst the white horses - 

I felt the water take hold of me -

I was carried to shining pebbles - 

I still felt the ocean in my bones -

9 June 2021

Ferring Beach 

Ferring 

West Sussex 

I thought of nothing but the sky ...

I threw myself into the dazzle of the sea - 

I wore a green necklace whilst I swam - 

I thought of nothing but the sky - 

9 June 2021

Ferring Beach

Ferring 

West Sussex 

Turner whispered in Jane's ear ...

We gazed out to sea - 

Ben wore his Barbour cap -

His stories were his secret treasure -

Flash remembered chasing hares across ancient fields -

Turner whispered in Jane's ear - 

7 June 2021

Ferring beach

Ferring

West Sussex 

I felt like a murderer ...

The dewy grass was ankle deep - 

Buttercups and forget me nots bared their necks to my oily blade - 

I felt like a murderer whilst I mowed - 

June 5 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Lost captains ...

A sea fret veiled the old town -

Smoky air hid pearled doors -

Each mazy lane led to a hidden garden - 

Shells glimmered amongst pale beds - 

Lost captains came from the sea to The Grand Hotel - 

2 June 2021

Sca5

Pale magicians ...

We walked past the church in the dreamlike silence -

I thought of the words like small birds above the grass - 

The sisters who were pale magicians - 

31 May 2021

St Mary's Church 

Scarborough 

A shining path ...

On Marine Drive we looked out for dolphins -

Golden light fell - 

There was a shining path on the twilight sea - 

31 May 2021

North Bay

Scarborough 

Patronised by royalty ...

I was drawn by the tawdry sign - 

Your hand is the mirror of your life -

Every line and mark on your hand means something -

We'd walked past the pub where once I'd had a midnight Laphroaig - 

It was low tide - 

Herring gulls circled masked visitors eating Magpie Cafe fish and chips -

I could see the Abbey on its spooky hill -

I peered into the fortune teller's den -

Open - 

Patronised by royalty -

The fortune teller was on her phone - 

She held her Samsun to her ear -

Spirits veiled her armchair - 

In a nearby arcade the claw held up a silver hare - 

May 29 2021

Whitby 

I can still feel her hand ...

My mum once read my hand -

She traced my life line, held my hand in her's -

I can still feel her hand - 

Hear her gentle voice - 

30 May 2021

Scarborough 

Filey sands ...

I walked across the sands -

They went on forever - 

The distant sea was a dark blue - 

Behind me was the white reef of The Crescent - 

Each flawless villa was bathed in light - 

27 May 2021

Filey

Yorkshire 

Beautiful weirdness ...

I ordered a bacon sandwich in Lily's Bar -

I gazed at the dark red wallpaper - 

I heard Peter Gabriel singing wind was blowing, time stood still - 

Lily's husband held up a glass -

No one said a word -

27 May 2021

Lily's Bar

Filey

Yorkshire 

Beneath the skin of the world ...

I lingered by the installation in Woodend - 

I read all the lost names - 

Andrzej Zadraski -

Amelia Zak -

Ewa Zdrojewska -

The belongings taken from a suitcase - 

A girl's shoe -

A vodka glass - 

I heard a woman singing in my head - 

I saw a place with a terrible name - 

A colourless sky - 

I saw beneath the skin of the world - 

28 May 2021

Woodend 

Scarborough 

The Ichthyosaur

In The Rotunda, the ichthyosaur waited -

Its eye glared down at me - 

Its mouth opened to swallow the world - 

26 May 2021

The Rotunda 

Scarborough 

Touching the moon ...

There were rain clouds above The Grand Hotel - 

I gazed upwards at the high windows -

The dark reef of the attics - 

From one of those gothic eyries I could reach out and touch the moon - 

May 25 2021

Scarborough 

A borrowed crown ...

Terry Skingles would sing Heartbreak Hotel  this August -

He would shake his hips - 

He would wear his hair like a borrowed crown - 

24 May 2021

Ramshill 

Scarborough 

Under a Sunday sky ...

After crazy golf at Captain Jack's, there were chocolate ice creams at Flamingo Bay - 

We watched the beach near the harbour -

Bare legged girls bought cockles at Molly Malones -

Open topped buses headed for The Spa -

I ate my ice cream -

The Ferris Wheel turned slowly beneath the Sunday sky -

23 May 2021

Scarborough 

We don't do small ...

I queued in the rain for four medium cod and four regular chips -

We don't do small the girl had said -

I waited with wiry men wearing trackies - 

I'd walked past Flames Kebab and The Coffee Pot -

Wheezing Skodas waited at the lights - 

22 May 2021

Ramshill

Scarborough 

Come close and hear your fortune ...

I saw The Claw -

Beneath it were geegaws and cuddly toys -

Wallace launched the Scarborough Submarine -

Masked boys played games deep inside the arcade -

Zoltar waited - 

His voice was golden - 

Come close and hear your fortune -

23 May 2021

Scarborough 

Anna's teapot ...

Anna bought an antique teapot here -

It was hidden behind bakelite telephones, widows' vases and sinister toys -

Anna sings sea shanties -

She sings of selkies and lost sailors -

Nearby was The Grand Hotel - 

The pavement glistened after rain - 

22 May 2021

Scarborough 

Sailing with my name ...

The Boy Christopher was in the harbour - 

I pictured myself an oilskinned Northerner - 

Tattooed and canny - 

Skippering this boat that sailed with my name - 

22 May 2021

Scarborough 

The dream I had in the attic room

Rain fell from a bleak sky -

The wide bay was hidden from my sight -

Raven Hall was a dark shape on the hill -

I remembered the art deco lamps in the lifts -

The dream I'd had in the attic room.- 

21 May 2021

Ravenscar 

Yorkshire

Robed in kelp ...

I climbed the winding stair between silent houses - 

Mazy paths led to secret gardens - 

Low ceilinged rooms were filled with the relics of storms - 

Smoke rose from driftwood fires -

I heard the voices of captains robed in kelp - 

20 May 2021

Robin Hoods Bay

Yorkshire 

A narrow house rimed with salt ...

A few yards from the sea, I found a reef of foxed Penguins - 

It was high tide - 

Gypsy gulls were in the sky - 

The narrow house of books was rimed with salt - 

20 May 2021

Robin Hoods Bay

Yorkshire 

Their gentle spell ...

The donkeys were led across the beach -

I felt the power of their gentle spell - 

Their kind eyes -

.

Their quiet souls - 

20 May 2021

South Bay 

Sca5

I walked upon the same grass ...

I wondered who Noel Hughes had been - 

Who had loved him -

I walked upon the same grass 

I heard his footsteps close to mine - 

19 May 2021

Scarborough 

I walked where the poet had walked ...

I had returned to Scarborough - 

I walked now where the poet had walked - 

I saw the sky he had seen - 

19 May 2021

Scarborough 

I saw summer ..

I had returned to The Italian Gardens -

I felt its weight of gentle memory -

I heard the heartbeat of the young naked god - 

I saw summer when Otis smiled - 

18 May 2021

The Italian Gardens 

Scarborough 

At the Clock Cafe ...

We ate glorious scones whilst looking at the waves - 

I was half asleep after fitful dreams - 

The Clock Cafe still had its framed photographs of Edwardian flaneurs - 

Above us, the empty hotels were like beached Cunarders -

18 May 2021

Clock Cafe 

Scarborough