Simply to see ...

I'm waiting for parsnip and apple soup in The Crooked Book - 

There's spooky piano music playing - 

There's a small dolls house with a red roof behind me - 

The members of the knitting circle are putting away their needles - 

The Polish girl tells me they have sourdough - 

Three young Germans wearing puffa jackets are drinking Americanos - 

I glance at the last sentence in John Gray's Straw Dogs - 

Can we not think of the aim of life as bring simply to see ?

13.27

Monday 30 April 2018

The Crooked Book 

Boscombe 

Bournemouth 

Longing for a bright world ...

I walked across Falkland Square - 

The east wind stirred the feathers of oily pigeons - 

A homeless girl waited for small coins outside Carphone Warehouse - 

I met up with Anne in Sports Direct - 

Anodyne pop was playing - 

I breathed in air scented by rubber - 

Wiry boys stood behind the tills - 

Girls in blue shorts guarded reefs of trainers - 

It was mid afternoon - 

Dads shuffled past - 

This grey town, I thought, could be the setting of a short story by China Mieville - 

Some dystopia in the near future - 

Pale creatures longing for a bright world - 

15.00

Sunday 29 April 2018

Sports Direct

Poole 

Foxed Penguins ...

I've taken to buying vintage Penguins - 

I seek them out in secondhand bookshops - 

I prefer the Penguins foxed, with thin yellowed pages - 

They evoke the shades of their readers. 

Sometimes there's a name, a signature or date - 

There's a mark of a forgotten summer's reading -

There's a scent of a hidden country - 

I think of those shades when I turn the pages - 

They're given voices by the words we're reading - 

16.56

Saturday 28 April 2018

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Silken nets ...

I'm reading Rouge et Noir -

My eyes brim with passionate tears - 

The world is just as wicked - 

The same wretches cast their silken nets - 

17.53

Friday 27 April 2018

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Let me tell you about Gravesend ...

Paul cut my hair once more this morning - 

I'd felt guilty spurning his scissors for Ian's - 

But Paul held no grudges - 

There was still the framed photograph of Sean Connery to look at whilst waiting for the chair - 

I thumbed through a vintage copy of Carpworld - 

Paul greeted me with his rasping laugh - 

How are you young man ? he asked - 

The blades of Paul's scissors were razor sharp - 

Let me tell you all about Gravesend he said - 

I knew that I was forgiven - 

11.18

Thursday 16 April 2018

Paul's 

Wareham 

Dorset 

A different time ...

Walking in the garden I had no need for words - 

I had no need of a shirt woven out of sorrow - 

I saw the blue sky above the trees in blossom - 

Last night's raindrops pearled magnolia petals - 

A cool wind blew in from the sea - 

A tiny lizard was a sly wonder - 

A still pond reflected clouds - 

The chapel stood alone upon its hilltop - 

My watch now told me a different time - 

11.00

Wednesday 25 April 2018

Abbotsbury Sub Tropical Gardens 

Abbotsbury

Dorset  

Smoke from the chimney touched the moon ...

We're listening to Nonsuch played by two squeeze boxes and an accordion - 

A fire of driftwood burns in the wide fireplace - 

The stately rhythm fills the room - 

A dog rests its chin upon my knee - 

Under my feet are worn stones - 

The dark ale fills Richard's glass - 

Outside, sea mist fills the valley - 

Smke from the chimney touches the moon - 

20.13

Tuesday 24 April 2018

The Square and Compass

Worth Matravers 

Dorset 

Walking with Jep

I'm watching The Great Beauty once more with Richard - 

We've talked about our youth and the angels who spoke to us - 

Now we drink red wine and walk with Jep Gambardella - 

The sunlight falls upon the ancient beautiful city - 

We are given the keys of midnight palazzi - 

We pick oranges from fragrant trees - 

We, too, will find redemption - 

We will remember a lighthouse, an island, a first kiss - 

21.00

Monday 23 April 2018

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

The Eldorado ...

The Cadillac Eldorado was a sleek pale yellow lizard - 

The white tyres would hiss as they devoured roads -.

I pictured myself at the potent wheel - 

I'd drive through the midnight towns - 

I remrmbered the song growled by John Cale - 

Well the girls would turn the colour 

Of the avocado when he would drive 

Down their street in his Eldorado - 

12.59

Sunday 22 April 2018

Bramble Bay 

Studland 

Dorset 

Birdsong filled the wood ...

Birdsong filled the wood - 

Sunlight, then shadow, fell upon our path - 

Oak and beech were in April leaf - 

I asked Penelope the names of the flowers we saw - 

Stitchwort, Red Campion, Wood Anemone - 

Each name was like a gentle memory - 

Once more I walked with boyhood friends - 

The world was green and filled with wonder - 

11 30

Friday 20 April 2018

Aethelhampton

Dorset

Those two words ...

Inside the house, the estate agent takes his photographs - 

All of the rooms are emptied - 

All are now pristine - 

I'm edging the two small lawns in the back garden - 

My mum used to watch me cut the grass - 

She'd sit in a chair by the patio door  

Sometimes she'd sweep bits of moss off the path - 

I pick up the cuttings - 

It's as though she's still by my side - 

Those long Sunday afternoons - 

Love and sorrow - 

Those two words - 

15.57

Friday 20 April 2018

Staunton Road

Havant 

Hampshire 

All my gardens ...

The new leaves on the apple tree shade me from the sun - 

I'm reading in the garden - 

The tree casts its shadow upon the warm grass - 

I'm barefoot - 

There are daisies - 

Many birds are singing - 

I remember Eduardo's garden - 

I'd look out at the sea from the white terrace - 

The carp would rise to the surface of their dark pool - 

IIn Jane's garden I'd watch the moon cross the velvet sky - 

Pine trees would scent the balmy air - 

A fountain would reflect a midnight lamp - 

I remember all the gardens in my life - 

I have found solace in the company of flowers - 

Each garden was a mirror if heaven - 

Last night there was a crescent moon - 

As iDrove homewards I pictured all my gardens - 

Tthe gardens of the sun - 

The silver gardens of the moon - 

15.49

Thursday 19 April 2018

The Old School  House 

East Stoke

Dorset 

Walking amongst snowdrops ...

We walked on the bright grass - 

Below us the sea reflected heaven - 

We heard skylarks on Ballard Down - 

We'd climbed the steep hillside - 

Thorny hedgerows were banks of dazzling blossom - 

Slender trees held up their shining buds - 

Drowsy sheep lay down in quiet fields - 

The chalk cliffs rose up from the white waves - 

I thought of Gareth, wanting to walk amongst snowdrops - 

His shadow followed mine under the cloudless sky - 

His story was carried by the gentle wind - 

11.28

Wednesday 18 April 2018

Studland Down

Dorset

Last songs ...

In June or July I'll wear a flimsy gown - 

I hear the bright voice on the answerphone - 

You're top of the list she says - 

I'll go to the small hospital - 

Anne will drive - 

I'll look out at the everyday world - 

I'll see again where it ends - 

This is a time for last songs - 

Already I'm becoming smoke - 

17.37

Tuesday 17 April 2018

The Old School House 

East Stoke

Dorset 

All of his steps: remembering Gareth

He heard birdsong in the garden - 

In his pocket there was a passport to another country - 

There were cities with beautiful names beyond the border - 

There were new stars in the sky - 

Pilgrims were waiting to cross the river - 

He stood amongst them - 

All of his steps had led him here - 

17.51

Monday 16 April 2018

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

The impossibility of bring old ...

I remember the Ferguson flickering in the lounge - 

I'm watching Top of the Tops with my dad - 

I like this he says - 

Who are they ?

The Move I say - 

Inwas then still at school - 

We were reading Portrait of the Artist - 

My dad was in the Drawing Office - he'd left the Navy - 

He was younger than I am now - 

I like the name he says - 

The Move - 

The memory stays with me - 

The armchairs in the lounge - 

Roy Wood's hair - 

The excitement of being sixteen - 

The impossibility of being old - 

17.41

Sunday 15 April 2018

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset  

I could still hear the music of a gentle song ...

The tree held up blossoms to the early evening sky - 

Long shadows were cast upon the precious earth - 

I could still hear the music of a gentle song - 

17.37

Saturday 14 April 2018

Warblington 

Our tears were pearls ...

Sandra read the ageless words - 

Gentle pallbearers waited - 

A bird sang - 

Our tears were pearls - 

Each one a memory - 

12.00

Friday 13 April 2018

Warblington

Havant 

Hampshire 

Each sister will bring her a white rose ...

In a few moments I'll be driving to the Premier Inn - 

Tomorrow Sandra will say Love is patient, love is kind - 

My mum will lie in her willow bed - 

Each sister will bring her a white rose - 

14.30

Thursday 12 April 2018

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset