Made of sky ...

I'm waiting for coffee in The Ilminster Arms - 

The village is a nest of warm stone -

Martha and the Vandellas are singing Dancing in the street - 

Anne remembers dancing in Montpellier Blues -

I remember wearing a shirt made of sky - 

27 March 2022

The Ilminster Arms 

An end to dreaming ...

I'm reading Stradloper -

I walk along the edge of the spirit filled world -

I see the cloud coming over the water -

My white skin is an end to dreaming -

27 March 2022

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

Cool melancholy gunslinger ...

I'm listening to John Dowland -

Flow my tears -

He's a cool melancholy gunslinger of a composer -

26 March 2022

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset

Old shells ...

The narrow street was a salty ribbon -

Fishermen had lived here - 

I saw their shadows on the bright pavement - 

They would anchor their boats in the wide bay below the hill - 

These small houses held their ghosts -

There were Old shells amongst the flowers -

22 March 2022

Fortuneswell

Isle of Portland 

Dorset 

Different stars ...

Mariners lie here -

Their bones remember storms and fragrant islands -

Dark skinned women gave them pearls -

There were different stars - 

Now they lie here - 

Their church is roofed by sky -

I hear their songs -

I taste the strange fruits they shared -

Their names are worn away by the years -

Yet I can feel those warm smooth pearls against my skin - 

22 March 2022

St Andrew's Church

Church Ope Cove

Isle of Portland 

Dorset 

Once there were many ...

The man looking for butterflies walked towards the sea - 

Pale waves broke against the shore of stones - 

A narrow stair had led me to this cove - 

I had  been drawn to this place - 

The white stones reflected the March sunlight -

Water flowed from a spring into a basin -

A drowsy bee rested on salty greenery -

They bask in the sun, the butterflies -

I turned to listen - 

Once there were many, now there are few -

The man looking for butterflies smiled a sad beautiful smile - 

22 March 2022

Church Ope Cove

Isle of Portland 

Dorset

Two guitars ...

Charlie shakes his hair - 

Jake opens his eyes -

The two guitars wait for songs - 

21 March 2022

Salisbury 

Filled with wonder ...

When I woke; brightness filled the air - 

I saw a sky filled with wonder -

Angels walked in the garden -

19 March 2022

The Old School House 

East Stoke

Dorset

Tulips ...

The pale sky waits for night - 

Shadows dim the bright grass -

The church tower is bathed in the last of the sunlight -

Soon bats will dance above the water  meadows - 

The sun will be a memory -

Yet there will be tulips in this vase - 

This moment will be a gift of stillness - 

I will watch the women circle around me - 

Hand in hand, they will sing their song - 

I will drink from the cup held by the knave -

19 March 2022

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

New music ...

Soon I will hear new music - 

A new light will fall from the sky - 

My heart is torn between love and fear - 

17 March 2022

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset

Journey by Moonlight ...

I'm reading Journey by Moonlight -

Nick Lezard's right, this book is wonderful -

Hunter's Moon was my house of Ulpius -

Russell was my Tamas -

Like Mihaly, I'm walking in nostalgia -

Every step I take is towards my past -

March 16 2022

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Maps are yet more madeleines ...

The maps in this book are yet more madeleines -

When I smell the pages I smell the air of Palmyra Road - 

I'm looking at delicate coastlines with the eyes of a twelve year old boy -

I hold my first transistor radio against my heart - 

I turn the dial, still amazed to hear voices and music -

I lie in my pure bed, seeing islands and mountains with beautiful names -

16 March 2022

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset

The White Beach Hut ...

The white beach hut overlooked the quiet sea 

It was hidden away, reached by a salt rimed stair 

There would be healing here 

The tides would wash away hurt 

Catkins would promise spring

In summer, the bright sand would be a timeless kingdom 

14 March 2022

South Beach

Studland

Dorset 

Being Harry ...

I'm watching The Ipcress File -

Harry is a pale laconic angel - 

He says little -

That cool, unsettling, deadpan gaze is enough -

Harry sits next to the blonde in the MG -

He crosses The Wall -

He knows the secrets of the dark streets -

Later, Harry makes Eggs Benedict for the blonde -

He remembers Colchester -

It's not your fault he says - 

15 March 2022

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Awakening garden ...

We walked through the garden -

I felt its pulse quicken - 

Its beautiful green body was stirring - 

It shook itself from its winter's dream - 

13 March 2022

The Walled Garden

Moreton

Dorset 

The rooks ...

.

We heard the rooks before we saw them -

We looked up to see them, high in the leafless trees -

They were cruel orators -

When they flew, their dark wings clutched at the air -

13 March 2022

Moreton 

The cathedral over the water ...

We saw the cathedral over the water -

The day was ending - 

The river carried away all my words - 

We walked from one story to.another -

4 March 2022

Salisbury 

Sitting near the brazen head ...

I sat near the brazen head - 

The oriel window was a cobweb of timeworn stone and glass -

I wore my antiquarian's tweed -

I pictured the delving spades, opening the barrows on the high hill -

The bright bones had been lifted up from the dark  -

Later, the parson would sip his Marsala wine, the library warmed by a fire of sea coals - 

A clever pen would dart over the journal's page -

The skull was small in all its parts - 

8 March 2022

Dorset County Museum Library 

Being K ...

I'm reading The Trial -

These days I wake up afraid -

I have a different name - 

My face in the mirror is haunted and beautiful -

I know the terrible shape of the future -

Cars look for me in the streets - 

They hunt me down in this ancient city -

Policemen draw up lists -

Courts pass sentence - 

I hear footsteps on the stairs - 

9 March 2022

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

Shadows dancing ...

I looked up from the ribbed sand to see the Grand Hotel -

Silk gloved flaneurs had once idled there - 

Their exquisite vowels still linger, like exotic birds, in the shuttered ballroom - 

I walked in their footsteps towards The Spa - 

I heard the music of a forgotten waltz - 

I saw shadows dancing in the salty air - 

24 February 2022

Scarborough 

Only beauty and shining air ...

Only invisible people walked in the Italian Gardens -

The gates were closed to all others -

I wanted to see the fountain -

I remembered the water in the lichened basin -

I'd heard music in my head -

I saw names written in the water - 

The first garden cast a fragrant shadow here - 

All was made new -

There were pearls on my tongue -

I wore only beauty and shining air -

24 February 2022

Outside the Italian Gardens 

Scarborough 

Each step I took was into a story ...

I came to the hundred and ninety nine steps - 

Below me was the narrow harbour -

Gulls flew above the tangle of streets -

Fishing boats waited for the tide - 

Dark ale was served in cobwebbed snugs -

A stone pier marked where the Demeter had come to rest - 

I glimpsed old names in the churchyard -

I remembered the arch made by the whale's jawbone - 

Each step I took was into a story -

25 February 2022

Whitby 

The turbaned poet ...

Wallace looked out the window at the sunlit garden - 

A turbaned poet had once stood where he stood - 

Rings with green stones had adorned her fingers -

Her long shadow was just out of sight - 

She and her brothers walked unseen in these high ceilinged rooms - 

23 February 2022

Woodend

Scarborough 

The piano ...

I looked in the window of The Curious Sea Circus -

I saw strange toys -

There was no sign of the artist with her wild red hair - 

The piano was still not for sale -

24.February 2022

Scarborough 

Raven Hall ...

The hotel was still on the edge of the world -

An avenue of leafless trees led to wind shaken walls -

Stone dogs gazed out at the sea - .

Logs smouldered in the library fireplace -

I walked in the late afternoon garden - 

Far below, seals changed their skins - 

I remembered my dream in the attic bedroom -

I woke to see the moon fill a starless sky -

25 February 2022

Raven Hall 

Ravenscar 

The Clock Tower Cafe was closing ...

The Clock Tower Cafe was closing - 

A brawny girl cleared away cups and plates -

Gentle pensioners would order scones here above the uncovered sands -

I'd sipped northern tea here - 

I'd read The Yorshire Post -

I'd buttoned up my tweed against the salty wind - 

Now I looked down at the bay - 

Surfers in dark wetsuits found joy in the waves -

Their hair was pearled with spray -

24 February 2022

The Clock Tower Cafe

Scarborough 

Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start ...

The words of the song drew me to the winding street - 

Crooked ways led to the harbour - 

Whitby jet gleamed on the necks of pale girls - 

A young man was singing - 

He sang as though he only sang for me -

25 February 2022

Whitby

A shape made of memory ...

The abbey was roofed with sky - 

Broken stone cast long shadows -

I remembered walking under that roof of air -

I remember the clouds above the sea -

I was becoming a shape made of memory - 

I would be a voice carried by the air - 

25 February 2022

Whitby