Calling me her lamb

I saw the tower, lapped by the yellow rape -

The tall pines -

The Easter sky -

The memory I was born on Good Friday -

Hearing a sweet voice calling me her lamb - 

East Stoke

Easter 2024

A dream left inside my head

The heron came for the anguished boy - 

Lured him away to beautiful strangeness -

 

There were murderous pelicans -

A tower with doors opening to different worlds - 

A wild sea -

A granduncle with ancient eyes - 

A girl wreathed in flame - 

A stepmother on a snowy bed -

A final parting - 

A dream left inside my head - 

The Rex

Wareham 

A whiskey voice

Next to the hourglass was a globe - 

On our table, a black notebook - 

Pages of wild drawings -

From the radio, a whiskey voice - 

The Crooked Book

Boscombe 

March 2024

Neill knew this world

Neill remembered the bedsits -

The narrow stairs - 

The dim light bulbs - 

We sat in Boscanova - 

The chill rain fell on the louche street -

Neill knew this world -

Boscanova 

Boscombe 

March 2024

Seeking my reflection

Reading The Mist in the Mirror -

Walking in my dream London -

The narrow alleys between moonlit churches -

The dark river -

The white moon above a marble facade -

The labyrinth under the pavements - 

Then seeking my reflection -

Seeing a face that is not my own - 

March 2024

The gentle voice of Mr Richie

The narrow creeks of books -

The poignant cutlery from a steam packet's salon -

The gentle voice of Mr Richie - 

How many books? - 

Oh, thousands -

Books Afloat

Weymouth 

March 2024

The pale English sea

The blue eyed El Aurens -

Astride his Brough Superior - 

HIs gaze raking the dark hall -

Beyond the hotel steps, the pale English sea - 

Weymouth

March 2024

Marking all my hours

The turning year -

Waking the garden - 

The sundial marking all my hours - 

The Walled Garden 

Moreton 

March 2024

 

I'll carry your smile

I'll carry your smile with me - 

When you held me I was young again - 

Your heart was pressed against my own - 

March 2024

The worse cure for love

I'm reading Moravia's The Woman of Rome -

I see the beauty of Adriana's secret heart -

The wonder of her body - 

I see her kiss the slender boy -

The desire, then sorrow, in her gaze - 

Dorset 

March 2024

A new world

Suddenly there were blossoms -

A blue sky -

Delicate clouds above the church tower -

Jake smiling - 

A new world in his smile -

Salisbury 

March 2024

Once more in paradise

Listening to Waterloo Sunset in the Jurassic Rocks Cafe - 

Glimpsing the pale sea - 

Remembering being young, crossing the river - 

Once more in paradise - 

Jurassic Rocks Cafe

Weymouth 

March 2024

Watching Dune 2

A sloe eyed girl rides a sand worm under a sky with two moons - 

Cruel machines fly above the endless sands - 

The slender boy who is the lisan al Gaib drinks the water of life -

The Rex

Wareham

March 2024

At The Grand

A languid chanteuse is singing - 

I'm beguiled by her voice -

That heartbroken saxophone - 

March 2024

The Grand Hotel

Swanage 

Fleshy lords

Those carp - 

Sleek torpedoes - 

Fleshy lords of the pool - 

West Holme

March 2024

Blue balloon

A blue balloon - 

A marvellous stranger to her world -

Holding its blueness in her hand -

 

The Old School House

East Stoke 

March 2024

All I saw was them

Tess reading to Jake - 

Holding him close -

Love came down -

All I saw was them - 

Salisbury Library 

March 2024

All he sees

Jake holds a pebble -

For him a marvel - 

Walking in his new world -

All he sees strange and wonderful -

East Stoke

Dorset 

March 2024

Salisbury in the rain

A nana washed up near The House of Cards -

A wild eyed gaffer with a snarly coat -

The ragazzi drinking cider outside the Library - 

The watchful police car - 

Salisbury 

March 2024

Mowing the lawn

Mowing the lawn -

The fragrance of the cut grass -

The long shadows -

The dreaming apple tree -

The Old School House

East Stoke

March 2024

The wind carrying winter

The bones of trees held ghosts of summer -

Memories of leaves casting cool shade -

Mazy paths, birdsong - 

Sand now where there was bright grass -

The tide washing white roots -

The wind carrying winter - 

Studland 

March 2024

A whiskey for poets

A whiskey for poets - 

For remembering the Liffey -

For my dad saying here they are -

Buck M, Stephen D -

Leopard and Molly -

For my heart to feel the loss -

To lift my glass and hold his memory on the tongue - 

East Stoke

March 2024

A vermouth with Adriana

A cappuccino after the jacuzzi - 

Still soothed by those lascivious bubbles -

Imagining drinking a vermouth with Adriana - 

The Grand Hotel 

Swanage 

March 2024

Charlie's Moonshine

Charlie's moonshine -

To be sipped with a daring tongue - 

Salisbury Sunrise -

Moonraker's Revenge - 

Salisbury 

March 2024

Walking in a Grimshaw

I'm walking in a Grimshaw -

Soft rain -

Glimmering pavements -

Mysterious buildings -

The statue of a horse, pawing the cobbles -

Being in a dream - 

Dorchester 

February 2024

After the rain

After the rain, a hot toddy - 

Joyous capfulls of The Famous Grouse -

Dollops of honey -

A tart sliver of lemon - 

Logs blazing in the stove -

The beautiful strangeness of After Nature -

East Stoke

March 2024

Brownskins

Grafton leans forward -

He knew the bitterness of hateful skins - 

Brownskins are the racists now he says -

Isle of Portland 

March 2024

Jane's painting of Karabortlen

There was the village - 

 The terracotta tiles warmed by the sun - 

The chimneys above fragrant hearths -

The trees with their eloquent birds - 

The far off mountains - 

The place where I had spent precious hours -

Where there was a garden I still see when I dream - 

Ferring 

Sussex 

March 2024

Sudden wonderful light

I had heard the sea beyond the white bungalows -

The rain had stopped falling on their salty lawns - 

Sudden wonderful light fell from the sky -

Foam shone on dazzling pebbles -

I remembered how Ken had gazed upon this beach -

I felt him near me - 

The light drove away my sadness -

Filled me with love and memory - 

Ferring Beach 

Sussex

March 2024

Jane stands before her painting

Jane stands before her painting -

My dear ones conjured by the magic of her eye and hand - 

She smiles her shy smile - 

Later, she dances to slow salsa music - 

Another painting, she says, was painted by the wind -

Ferring

Sussex 

March 2024