A bright eyed raguzzo

Wallace clasped the football he'd bought in the Piazza Trilussa -

Danced over the cobbles - 

A bright eyed raguzzo -

We'd heard salsa on the Ponte Sisto -

Soft rain fell - 

Trastevere

Rome

April 2025

Sophie wore her shining hair

I felt as though I were still above the clouds -

Wallace had seen another jet, lost in the blueness of the sky -

Now he ate a noble gelato -

Sophie wore her shining hair -

Travestere 

Rome

April 2025

One hundred and eighty

Wallace throws his darts - 

His eye is true -

He smiles - 

Turns to look at me - 

Mimics a fleshy champion of the oche - 

One hundred and eighty ! -

Number 53 Royal Avenue

Scarborough 

February 2025

A different sky

Anne and Sophie sipped coffee in Thackwray and Greensmith - 

Shared secrets -

I was back in the North - 

Under a different sky -

Scarborough 

February 2025

Cast up

We were soon swallowed by the airport maelstrom -

Led by our guide past yawning officials -

Cast up, at last, before our Gate - 

Cairo Airport 

February 

The last morning

The last morning -

Hearing the wind in the palm trees -

Walking barefoot by a silver sea -

Sharm el Sheikh 

February 2024

I walked there still

The gentle Syrian put down his scissors -

Happy he asked -

I looked at myself in the mirror -

I remembered Egypt -

The ancient sky -

The stars above the sand - 

I walked there still -

Yes I said -

Wareham

April 2025