Already thinking of us meeting

Reading Chekov's story The Beauties, I thought of you -

How I gaze at your hair, your eyes, your smile -

Sitting next to you in Java -

Longing to see your beautiful body again -

Holding your hand for a moment -

Feeling how warm your hand is, how it clasps mine -

You saying we must meet next week, catch up -

How all I can do is say yes, yes -

Already thinking of us meeting, of what we might say - 

Of being close to you -

Java, Swanage 

March 2026

Words were spoken in an unknown tongue

I heard a beautiful lament -

Haunting music -

Words were spoken in an unknown tongue -

My hair was scented with cologne -

Ŵareham

The Turkish Barbers 

March 2026 

Falling upwards

I'm listening to Rock the Casbah in Billy Winters -

I've ordered sardines -

It's low tide -

Gulls swagger on sandbanks -

A kitesurfer dances over the bay -

A salty wind blows in from the sea -

The sky above is cloudless -

I imagine falling upwards -

Lost in the blue - 

Billy Winters 

Portland 

March 2026 

The welcome of their doors

Spring sunlight on white blossoms -

 The blueness of the sky -

 The quiet of St John's Hill -

The gentle histories of its houses -

Their low ceilinged rooms -

The welcome of their doors -

Wareham 

March 2026 

Watching Vera

Vera frowns -

She's had no sleep - 

On CCTV the suspect looks like a malign ghost -

March 2026

The apples he ate in Alma Ata

I drink coffee with Peter amongst his books -

He talks about Russia -

The circus in Moscow -

Pushkin -

The Field of Mars -

The apples he ate in Alma Atta -

Watching Colombo

Colombo chews his green cigar -

Narrows his crinkly eyes -

He's questioning the murderous sheikh -

You may have something there he says -

I have to ask some questions -

March 2026