Heroes of the neon city ...

Wallace leaned into the snarling curve - 

The Kawasaki spread its furious wings - 

They were heroes in this virtual city - 

They were stars in its neon sky -

21 February 2022

The Arcades 

Scarborough 

The telescope ...

I sat on the terrace above the sea - 

The mazy ways had drawn me back -

I wanted to see the secret salt rimed gardens -

I held the telescope to my eye - 

I saw bright sails upon the sea - 

I saw a shining path marked out upon the waves - 

25 February 2022

Robin Hoods Bay

Breathing the air of television ...

Oscar had poured dark ale here - 

I glimpsed Bernie Scripps' sideburns - 

Ventress was smoking an early evening Players - 

I'd driven into Heartbeat Country -

The air I breathed came from television -

I peered into Scripps' Garage - 

No distance was too far for David's taxi -.

The moor was like a sea - 

25 February 2022

Goathland 

Yorkshire 

There was a time ...

Walking to Woodend, I imagined living in The Crescent - 

I'd buy a greyhound -

I'd walk its exquisite shape in front of this serene facade - 

I'd listen to delicate jazz in Koda Cafe - 

I'd wear a green shirt - 

In the Italian Gardens I'd remember the first girl I loved - 

There was a time when Chantry Road had bordered paradise - 

23 February 2022

Scarborough 

Looking at a Grimshaw ...

I saw a moonlit beach -

Wives listened to the sea - 

Fires had been lit on the chill sand - 

The wives summoned their fisher husbands to narrow beds - 

Mermaids were tangled in salty nets - 

I heard their songs - 

There were church bells ringing above the stone harbour 

Pearls were cast up by the waves -

23 February 2022

Scarborough 

John Atkinson Atkinson Grimshaw 

"In Peril"

He took my few obels ...

I remembered these stories - 

The Life Buyer -

Death of an Earthman -

Day Million -

I'd read them when I'd longed to see spaceports on Mars -

I'd imagined a truer, less stained, future - 

The lean silver fox in the emporium smiled - 

I'd almost lost my way in his beguiling labyrinth - 

He took my few obels - 

These are classics he said - 

23 February 2021

Scarborough 

I see diamonds ...

Wallace peered down the shining microscope at grains of sand - 

He smiled his wonderful smile -

I can see diamonds he cried - 

23 February 2022