Being Lafcadio

Reading The Vatican Cellars -

Being Lafcadio for an hour -

Having no heart -

Being beautiful -

Writing in my Russian note book -

Gave him twelve strokes -

Knowing the thrill of murder -

Knowing when it was time to launch the ship -

June 2026 

The weight of dreams

Counting the hour -

Longing for sleep -

For the weight of dreams -

June 2026 

The first cherries

The first cherries on the tree -

Ripening half hidden -

Shy gifts -

A memory of my birthday -

The two sisters in the garden -

The sunlight after rain -

June 2026 

White as bone

I'm reading The Drought -

I wake to see a bitter shore -

A sky white as bone -

June 2026 

More footsteps

Wind in the birch trees -

Fox gloves amongst bracken -

Water lilies in a dark pool -

Glimpsing a deer's delicate head, its gentle eyes -

Coming at last to the silent beach -

More footsteps behind me on the winding path -

Arne 

June 2026

See the history of our friendship in your face

I'm thinking of Richard -

How he's still part of my life -

How I hope he will forgive me for being silent -

I remember the glasses of Sancerre in The American Bar -

The poetry in The Square Tower -

Watching John Agard roll a joint in Joe Jackson's house -

The crates of Gales HSB in the boot of the MG Magnette -

Standing by the jukebox in The Red White and Blue with the lost boys -

All his adventures -

Moscow, Vientiane, Zanzibar -

And the years like a wave coming down  -

The scans, the vast hospital -

I must see you -

See the history of our friendship in your face -

June 2026 

In Jenny's soft play

Anne reads The Smiley Shark to Jake in Jenny's soft play -

Young mums sip coke -

There's bland boppy music -

A girl wearing a hijab brings french fries -

Rain falls on the five rivers -

The cathedral spire touches the clouds -

Salisbury 

June 2026