Annie was becoming smoke

Annie was becoming smoke -

More and more of her blown over the edge of the world - 

Just her voice left -

Then the brightness of her eyes -

Swanage 

March 2026

The shape of her slender bones

The women read their poems -

Afterwards, Fiona opened her arms for me to hug her -

I felt the sly promise of her body -

The shape of her slender bones -

The Mowlem, Swanage 

March 2026

Reading Little Grey Men

I'm reading Little Grey Men by BB -

When I read it, I remember Elson Branch Library -

Walking there from the house in Palmyra Road -

Late afternoon, after school -

Wearing my duffle coat, fastened at the neck, like a hero's cloak -

I remember the librarian's desk -

The dim light cast by the lamps hanging from the ceiling -

The shadowy corners brimming with words -

Seeing the letters BB on the green spine of a book -

When I read the book now, I'm thirteen again -

I see my small hand turning the first few pages -

My thin freckled wrist -

I feel my heart beating quickly in my chest -

I see myself asleep, dreaming, in my innocent bed -

March 2026

Coffee with Mel.in Java

Coffee with Mel in Java -

Talk of the International Socialists -

Budapest, the Arrow Cross, the Hotel Gellert -

The Shoes on the Danube Bank -

 Mel saying how grief is hard -

Calling for another coffee -

Knowing the names of the girls -

Telling a story about Peter Cook at the football -

Then one of the docker who'd taken care of a revolver -

Whilst Mel talked, I breathed the air of Dagenham -

I smelled hot metal -

I marvelled at the lightness of his bones -

Java, Swanage 

March 2026

Playing pirates in Churchill Gardens

Playing pirates with Jake in Churchill Gardens -

Spring blossoms on winter's tree -

A girl running past us, light as air -

Salisbury 

March 2026

The navy blue Guernsey

I'm wearing the navy blue Guernsey -

Ken wore it before me -

He walked the Ilhara Gorge wearing it -

Braved mastiffs -

Wore it whilst pouring a midnight Laphroaig into a crystal glass -

I remember him when I wear it -

His smile, his courtesy -

His large gentle hands -

March 2026

Remembering Borges' words

Sunlight falling on bright reefs of books - 

Remembering Borges' words -

Paradise as a kind of library -

Swanage Library 

March 2026