Reading The Line of Beauty

I'm reading The Line of Beauty -

I remember the house in Highgate -

The beautiful manners of my hosts -

The boy with the Eton tie -

February 2026

Thinking of Josh

I remember you drinking with the comrades -

The fire in your voice -

How you longed for a different world -

Even then, perhaps, the devils were in your blood -

Taking you to this white bed -

Your young son lying next to you -

I've tasted this air -

It comes from beyond the edge of the world -

My eyes fill with tears -

February 2026

The smoke in your hennaed hair

Driving the rakish Dacia through the New Forest - 

Remembering a wild summer -

The smoke in your hennaed hair -

New Forest 

February 2026

Watching Hamnet

Watching the frightened boy walking towards the dark gateway - 

Trying his best to be brave -

Thinking of Jake, or Wallace -

My eyes filling with tears -

The Rex

Wareham 

January 2026 

Outside Java

We had coffee outside Java -

My heart raced when I saw you walk towards us -

I had to hide how glad I was to see you -

I thought of you resting your head on my shoulder -

Your tears -

How you had come into my life -

Java

Swanage 

February 2026

A rainbow above the dunes

The waves breaking upon the chill sand -

Riders passing on slow horses -

Girls with their boys outside the beach sauna -

Their hearts leaping in their beautiful bodies -

A rainbow above the dunes -

Middle Beach 

Studland 

February 2026

Promoted to glory

You'd say God bless when you gave me a War Cry -

Sitting outside Natwest on a folding chair -

You never had any doubt -

There were no shadows in your house -

Every room was filled with light -

Every window open to the sky -

Wareham

January 2026