With every word

Walking by the river -

Under the plane trees -

Listening to you telling me about your life -

Loving you more with every word you said -

London 

March 2026

Wanting the march to never end

Being part of this vast joyous crowd -

Hearing songs and wild exultant drums - 

My feet urged to dance -

Reading the brave words on banners held up by faithful hands -

Filled with the desire to turn the world upside down -

No longer just one voice -

Or a mute tongue -

Being with you, my comrade, in this city of memory and dream -

Wanting the march to never end -

London

March 2026

,

Two memories

Seeing Marylyn in The Bear, I remembered Porchy -

Marylyn's quiet voice when speaking to some wild dad -

My years there -

Wearing a dark suit -

Two memories -

Coming to me as I listen to her - 

Cappuccinos being taken to our table - 

Waiting for the frangipane -

Mark Raven White swollen with banjo fury -

Wanting to sort out Pollit -.

The shining faces of Year Seven boys -

The gentle Mike Winkworth saying you can only do your best -

The Bear 

Wareham 

March 2026 

At the Baptist Church Playgroup

Jake sculpting an orange worm from play doh -

Volunteer nanas serving coffee -

Small hands burying monster trucks under sand -

Mobilo -

A plucky grandad -

Young mums wearing leggings -

Singing the wheels on the bus go round and round -

The Welsh Baptist minister re-telling the Parable of The Loaves and the fishes -

The boy who shared his sandwiches -

Salisbury 

March 2026

Jane's flowers

Jane's sent us flowers -

I remember the Birthday Weekend -

The tipsy dinner in The Bear -

Rob's story about the winter -

The terrifying cold -

Jane planning a trip to Rome -

The affogato -

Anne wearing her green dress -

I wrote in her card you are the commissar of kindness -

I thought of her first wild kiss -

We'd just met in a Brighton drenched in summer -

Jane's flowers summoned memory -

I remembered the garden -

Its perfumed air -

How beautiful we were naked -

The flower she wore in her hair -

March 2026 

This magic hour

Golden light on the church tower -

This magic hour -

The river running through gentle fields -

The catkins, haloed in heaven's light, hanging from the tree -

March 2026

East Stoke

Dorset

Saying my name

I'm thinking of Chekov -

How each story stayed with me -

Like the memories of kisses I'd once had -

Of beautiful moments never forgotten -

Of hearing you say my name -

March 2026