Monday 30 April 2018

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 



Sunday 29 April 2018

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 




Friday 27 April 2018

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 



Thursday 26 April 2018

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


Tuesday 17 April 2018

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 

Sunday 15 April 2018

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