The Play Park

Tattooed dads watch their children on the swings -

Nanas hunch their shoulders against the wind -

The slow river winds past the Leisure Centre -

Clouds cover the sky -

5 Rivers

Salisbury 

August 2026 

Sunday with Jake

Still dizzy from the roundabout, Jake heads for the slide -

He calls out I can do it myself -

Whooping as he slides down -

He's wearing his spiderman sliders -

His world is young and full of joy -



5 Rivers

Salisbury 

August 2026 

More love

Walking barefoot in the garden -

My shirt wet from the rain -

Picking up windfalls -

I remembered all my summers -

How more love will cure a broken heart -

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

August 2026 

Beyond the bijou estate

Walking past a house called Tamarisk -

Pristine Volvos -

Beyond the bijou estate, the deep blueness of the waves -

 The ribbed sand -

The white bone of the hill above the bay -

Ballard Estate, Sheps Hollow 

Swanage 

August 2026 

Peter had heard the saint

Peter had heard the saint -

He'd told him my name is Cuthbert, this is my land -


I remembered the sand of the Pilgrims' Path -

The island, lapped by the rising tide, made beautiful and strange by prayer -

Swanage 

August 2935

Another precious Thursday

Jake chirruped with joy in the beach pool -

Later, there'd be Jenga -

A babychino -

The gift of his smile -

Another precious Thursday -

Five Rivers Leisure Centre 

Salisbury 

August 2026 

Drifts of windfalls

Drifts of windfalls on the lawn -

The long afternoon ending -

The sweetness of the apples a joyful surprise -

Like moments of happiness -

Like hearing a bird's tender song -

Knowing it was sung for me -

East Stoke

August 2026