Each winding stair ...

I lost myself once more -

I'd followed the sign saying To The Openings - 

The worn steps led upwards -

Each silent house had its story -

Each winding stair led me further in - 

22 April 2022

Robin Hoods Bay

Yorkshire 

Watched by herring gulls ...

I wear my tweed cap, first worn in Grassmere -

We stayed in a gracious house -

There were slim boats on the lake -  

Now I sit above the pale shining sea - 

The Scars were revealed by the ebbing tide - 

I read The Yorkshire Post watched by herring gulls - 

22 April 2022

Robin Hoods Bay

The artist's bright gaze ...

The artist's bright gaze bought magic to the northern town - 

He turned lobster pots into delicate melting snares -

He walked on the harbour wall, chanting his joyous spell - 

The fishermen wore the bright cloaks he gave them - 

The fish in the nets were half human with fluttering hands - 

20 April 2022

Woodend 

Scarborough 

Cellar bar ...

I'm listening to a saxophone in a cellar bar - 

I drink the wine in my glass- 

I forget everything listening to this music - 

20 April 2022

The Cask

Scarborough 

White hotels ...

The white hotels faced the sea - 

They still had their glamour - 

They were elegant and sad - 

They hid their secrets - 

They could be hotels glimpsed in dreams -

19 April 2022

South Cliff 

Scarborough 

William Scoresby's Bear ...

We walked through twisty salty alleyways to The Jet Black Pearl -

We saw the abbey above the narrow harbour -

Gulls flew above tangled rooftops - 

Whaling captains had lived here - 

A polar bear had been taken from the ice to walk these streets - 

If I closed my eyes, I would see William Scoresby -

He'd whisper words in the bear's white ear -

The bear would hang its head and speak words only Scoresby knew - 

22 April 2022

The Jet Black Pearl

Whitby 

The steampunk prophet ...

He looks at the invisible world - 

He's dressed in black - 

His gaze is both furious and wary - 

He knows the spirits and the cracks in the sky - 

He clasps his silver topped cane - 

Soon he will see us - 

A prophecy will sear his tongue - 

20 April 2022

The Jet Black Pearl 

Whitby 

The Reading Room ...

I saw the torn books in the Robin Hoods Bay Reading Room -

Soldiers of The Queen - 

The Story of Johnny Bertram - 

On the window sill, there was the feathery jewel of a dead bumble bee -

Somewhere, a rough hewn clock ticked -

I thought of the lives once lived in the small wind shaken houses - 

I breathed their damp air -

I shared the grief of mothers - 

22 April 2022

Robin Hoods Bay 

The curator ...

The museum was at the end of a narrow lane - 

Below us was the village with its winding stairs - 

There were mariners' ghosts in Silver Street - 

A fisher wife haunted Tommy Baxter Street -

Sea frets chilled The Square -  

The low tide revealed a shore of rock and sand - 

The curator wore a navy blue gansey - 

He'd fished these waters since his first beard grew - 

He told us his father had been nearly lost in The South China Sea - 

He was the last of a line of seafaring men - 

For moment, I heard the wind - 

I was held fast by the curator's glittering eye - 

22 April 2022

Robin Hoods Bay 

Tender light ...

I left the shining garden -

It was Easter Sunday -

The small house was filled with tender light -

The first apple blossoms blessed the tree -

17 April 2022

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Sad pavans ...

The garden welcomed me -

I was beguiled by its gentle melancholy -

Birds sang unseen -

Sculpted hedges bordered serene lawns - 

There was an astrolabe - 

I saw its rain washed bronze under a slender tree - 

I caught a glimpse of the house -

Its rooms were rich with memory -

I should have been wearing black velvet -

My musicians should have been playing one of John Dowland's sad pavans -

12 April 2022

Avebury Manor

Gimlets ...

Here, the man who loved fast cars drank gimlets -

He'd listen to ragtime on the gramophone -

In the evenings, his second wife put on her pearls -

She'd rearrange the teddy bears on the sofa -

The bell would ring for the servants in the kitchen - 

A new wife would soon call for cocktails -

April 12 2022

Avebury Manor 

Return to Avebury ...

The last time I saw these stones, I was made of smoke -

The cold wind blew through me - 

Now I had returned to Avebury - 

I was healed -

When I touched one of the stones, I was part of their dreaming -

I saw the stars dance -

I heard the songs which shaped the hills - 

I felt the ancient heartbeats of the world -

12 April 2022

Avebury 

I would run with the hare ...

Tess held Jake close to her heart -

She smiled her dazzling smile -

The cafe was empty save for a boy talking to himself -

We ate lemon polenta cake - 

Next door, there was poignant vinyl - 

I wore my Harry Palmer glasses -

Today was my birthday -

The path before me was bathed in light -

The edge of the world was closer -

I would run with the hare under the golden moon -

11 April 2022

Salisbury 

More love ...

I walked down the bright lane -

Angels walk with me -

The birds sing more love more love -

10 April 2022

East Stoke 

Dorset

I climb the high hill ...

I remembered the Heavenfield -

I uncover my word hoard -

I follow the poet whose name is lost -

I see the sparrow fly through the mead hall -

I murmur the names of the martyred kings - 

I climb the high hill - 

The years gnaw the wondrous houses of giants -

The hares dance where gold bright warriors lie beneath the grass -

11 April 2022

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset

All the songs which lived in my heart ...

The louche mazy streets drew me in -

I walked with my former self - 

I knew these doorways -

In the cafes, faces floated above cappuccinos -

I crossed a sad square -

I heard all the songs which lived in my heart - 

There were red lanterns -

The young were beautiful -

I remembered a secret smile -

4 April 2022

Soho

Kashmir ...

This was a book for a library with an oriel window -

Late afternoon sun would fall on exquisite maps -

There would be wonderful names -

When it grew dark I would hear nightingales  -

4 April 2022

Charing Cross Road

London

I learned my true name ...

I gazed at the sky disc -

There was the moon -

There were the Pleiades -

I had seen many wonders -

I had heard a shaman's song -

I had worn bone in my hair -

I had flown to the invisible world -

Spirits spoke to me - 

I learned my true name - 

6 April 2022

The World of Stonehenge Exhibition 

British Museum 

London 

The haunted architect ...

I stood in the silence of the nave -

There was no sound from the teeming city -

Above me, were tongues of flame carved in stone -

Below me, nine hundred souls had been heaped up in the dark - 

There were beds waiting for the meths men -

A vast chandelier was a tarnished sun -

The haunted architect had raised these pillars -

This was his dark geometry - 

His spirit filled this place -

His hand reached out to touch my own -

April 4 2022

St George's Church 

Bloomsbury 

Dreaming of swallows ...

I heard a peacock calling -

The wind stirred the laurels - 

At the Castle, I dreamed of swallows -

I looked up to see faces in the clouds -

3 April 2022

Lulworth Castle 

Dorset 

At Fisherton Mill ...

I heard a nimble fiddle -

A blue hare heard a song -

A serene head held dreams - 

2 April 2022

Fisherton Mill

Salisbury 

The admiral's house ...

I stood outside the admiral's house -

Sunlight fell on calm stone - 

For a moment, I heard the sea -

I saw a man wearing a fine coat - 

I heard bells ringing - 

I saw a frail boy being carried through a great city -

There were powder burns on my brow - 

I remembered that last pale kiss -

27 March 2022

Portesham 

Dorset 

Ghosts wearing corduroy ...

We walked through quiet fields to Abbotsbury -

Pine trees shaded the old railway line - 

We passed a platelayer's hut made of tarry sleepers - 

I saw ghosts there wearing corduroy -

I heard their soft voices -

I warmed myself before their coals -

29 March 2022

Abbotsbury 

Dorset