Forgetting the creaking stair

Delaying facing the night -

Watching the young football playing gods -

Forgetting the creaking stair -

June 2026 

Neill remembers reading Dennis Wheatley

Neill remembers reading Dennis Wheatley - 

Those shameless Arrow paperbacks - 

Their covers showing sneering obergruppenfuhrers - 

Parachuting heroes with savage names - 

Terrified women with wild manes of hair -

Laughing his dry splendid laugh - 

I was fifteen he says -

The Bear 

Wareham 

June 2026 

Gill and Frances

The tin of Rover Assorted Biscuits on the dining table -

The comfy lounge -

The pristine Renault on the drive -

June 2026 

Exquisite ghosts

Pete smiled his languid smile -

Maire cast her slim shadow -

They were like exquisite ghosts in our house -

Reminding us of gaudy nights -

The window overlooking the square -

The pier casting its light on the sea -

June 2026 

Casting its savage gaze

Shading my eyes in the sunlit garden -

Glancing upwards from an artful page -

Seeing a red kite, scything the air above me -

Outlined against the flawless blue - 

Casting its savage gaze upon the world -

East Stoke 

June 2026

With Jake

Jake paints a picture of an extraordinary cat -

Hurls himself joyously around in Jenny's Soft Play -

Hides a pound coin in his sock -

Steals my heart each time I see him -

Salisbury 

June 2026 

Splashing blue

Splashing blue on the page -

Painting with Jake -

My light in the darkness -

Salisbury 

June 2026