Summer haunted my footsteps ...

I watched the sea -

Waves broke against the deserted esplanade -

Gulls flew past empty cafes -

Summer haunted my footsteps - 

Salt rimed my timeworn tweed -

20 December 2021

Swanage 

Dorset 

I looked out for three ships ...

The fisherman brushed back his dreadlocks -

He cast his subtle line - 

He wore a coat the colour of Autumn -

Mist came up the river - 

Two blackbirds followed us along the path -

Yachts waited for summer -

Feathers of breath left our mouths - 

We heard the church bells call in their tower -

The knight lay in his stone beneath the bells- 

I looked out for three ships - 

I longed to see their bright sails on the water -

I remembered the Christmas mornings in the warm house -

I longed to hear those dear voices again - 

19 December 2021

River Frome

Wareham 

Dorset 

There was no knowing ...

I saw the moon, low in the twilight sky -

I stood in the silent garden - 

Every moment was precious - 

There was no knowing what would happen - 

My breath might be caught by the leafless tree -

My voice carried far from here, unheard in the darkening air -

18 December 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Take this book ...

I'm about to read The Travels of Marco Polo -

I've measured my shadow in The Corte del Milion -

I've woken, my eyes brimming with tears, in a dark room above water -

Now, when the tree is bare in the garden, I think of golden names - 

Circassia, Cathay, Karakorum -

I hear the story teller's voice - 

Emperors and Kings, Dukes and Marquises -

Take this book and have it read to you -

17 December 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Walking down Daryl Street ...

Rob's saxophone brightens the air -

Spells are cast by this beautiful wand -

We're walking down Daryl Street -

We're wearing suits made of yellow feathers -

We're dancing in a sunlit courtyard -

There are swallows flying over the rose red city -

What must it be like, to be a magician like this ?

To brighten the air - 

16 December 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Here they are afraid of truth tellers ...

Here they are afraid of truth tellers -

Old men hate these fearless prophets - 

They punish them with what they call The Law -

They throw open the doors of their prisons - 

They shoot their cuffs whilst the sun burns up the earth -

They wear suits woven from young bones -

14 December 2021

Shire Hall 

Dorchester 

A soothing balm ...

I'm watching Heartbeat -

A soothing balm - 

Drystone walls -

Honest coppers - 

Ventris saying all cars in place -

13 December 2021

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

Searching for pirate gold ...

I was beguiled by an Austen Seven -

Its louche driver wore torn tweed - 

The leather seats were scuffed -

The running boards invited brogues -

I pictured myself at the wheel - 

My headlamps would lasso owls - 

I'd drive down midnight lanes - 

I'd be dizzy with petrol and dark ale - 

I'd have a tangled mane of hair - 

I'd be searching for pirate gold -

12 December 2021

Wareham 

Dorset 

Reading Borges ...

I'm reading Borges -

I'm in a library without end -

Gauchos drink cane brandy -

There are knife fights across the river -

Sscholars read ancient texts - 

They recite the ninety nine names of God - 

I take no notice of the flow of time -

I treasure strange names - 

I dream a golem - 

I see with a tiger's eye - 

I cross a treeless plain at sunset - 

Someone, scornfully, pulls a trigger - 

11 December 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

One more off the list ...

I had a haircut at Bonds Barbershop -

Lean bravos sculpted cool cuts - 

I heard Wonderwall -

The clippers whispered above my head -

This your Christmas cut my bravo asked - 

One more off the list -

10 December 2021

Bonds Barbershop 

Wareham 

Dorset 

We heard voices where there was only air ...

I'd not seen this cobbled alley - 

These fragile weathered rooftops - 

These silent mews - 

It was as though Margaret held a thread -

I held onto it -

I followed her through this mazy secret Wareham -

There was a face at attic window - 

We saw where a door had been in a lichened wall - 

We heard voices where there was only air - 

December 9 2021

Wareham 

Dorset 

Feathered with silence

This was a cafe for night hawks -

They'd come here when it was dark -

I saw them -

Feathered with silence -

Bleak light falling -

Their shadows dancing - 

8 December 2021

Leaves and Beans

Winton

Bournemouth

Strange kind of heaven ...

I thought of getting  Fat Bob to cut my hair -

I'd sit in his chair and watch the scissors dance -

There would be bantz and Johnny Marr on Radio 6 -

I'd remember Brighton -

The sky rippling above my head -

Fat Bob would shut the door -

He'd turn the radio loud -

He'd put down his scissors -

He'd sing along with Johnny -

Strange kind of heaven in the danger zone - 

6 December 2021

Fat Bob's

Winton

Bournemouth 

I put down my cup ...

I read Goblin Market in The Crooked Book -

A Bangkok rain fell on Christchurch Road -

I thought of lost friendships -

Coffee in Vientiane -

The rain kept falling -

I put down my cup -

6 December 2021

The Crooked Book

Boscombe 

Last night in Soho ...

In my head, I'm in Greek Street -

I'm dizzy with green years -

Girls are dancing - 

I'm smoking a menthol flavoured cigarette -

I'm made new again -

I've hardly any need to shave - 

There's longing and grief in the air - 

The moon is lost in the sky - 

I hear the boys singing - 

Last night in Soho I let my life go - 

5 December 2021

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset

Once more I heard stories to rend my heart ...

Once more I heard stories to rend my heart - 

Grandmothers waiting hours for the ambulance to call -

Dads' hearts stopping in the hallway -

The nightmare happening in the lounge - 

4 December 2021

Swanage 

The Magician's House ...

This was a magician's house -

There were strange treasures and marble columns -

A goddess held a golden apple - 

Mirrors reflected wonders -

A table was set for invisible guests -

In a high ceilinged room, I heard music -

Erik Satie's Gnossiennes -

Each note was pure and from far away -

I became smoke - 

I held a yellow feather and placed it in my mouth - 

1 December 2021

Russell Cotes Museum 

Bournemouth 

They turned out the light ...

We parked near The Miramar on The Overcliffe -

December light fell on the gentle facade -

 My mum and dad had stayed there - 

They'd left their chintzy room to gaze at the sea - 

They were still nimble then - 

They'd explored the salty town after their full English - 

I thought of them then - 

How they'd had sherry in the lounge - 

Turned out the light when it was dark - 

2 December 2021

The Overcliffe 

Bournemouth 

Beautiful animals ...

The Royal Enfield was parked outside The Inn On The Quay -

Its rider downed a heavy glass -

I remembered the Royal Enfields I'd seen in Kerala -

Their riders dodged gaudy lorries - 

Feverish greenery lapped mosques and temples - 

Bats circled the spires of a twilight cathedral - 

For a moment, the air was warm and full of voices -

I felt the warmth of a languid sun - 

The young men were greeting Marco - 

Their machines were like beautiful animals in his garden - 

30 November 2021

The Town Quay 

Wareham 

Dorset 

The narrow fields above the sea ...

Soon I'll light the wood burning stove -

The curtains will keep out the dark -

I'll think of Richard, writing his poems -

How I met him when we were both green boys -

I'll remember the fire in the ancient hearth -

The narrow fields above the sea -

Anne sang Me And Bobby McGee -

Sometimes I still walk under that same sky -

Anne holds both our hands - 

28 November 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Solace in a dark age ...

I'm reading Conan The Barbarian -

I'll find solace in a dark age - 

There will be sword play - 

Mighty thews - 

Atlantean steel - 

27 November 2021

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

Clobber's spell ...

There were sleeping uniforms - 

Trilbies - 

Quiet bowlers -

Extravagant brogues - 

Each suit here still held its wearer - 

Treasured their skin - 

Teeed cocoons of souls - 

I wore the Hebridean teeed as though it were a magician's coat - 

26 November 2021

Clobber

Boscombe 

Bournemouth 

Here it doesn't matter who you are ...

I walked past the chess players towards the reefs of books -

There was a piano -

A slim woman could have been painted by Gwen John -

She had calm grey eyes -

Neill wore tweed for Charborough Park -

He searched through foxed Penguins - 

Lucretius lay next to Conan The Barbarian - 

I found a smouldering Hemmingway -

The chess players ordered coffee - 

The woman with grey eyes wore a green dress -

Outside, a girl waited for her deadlocked boy -

A Hummer glowered -

This is Boscombe Neill said -

Here it doesn't matter who you are -

26 November 2021

The Crooked Book

Boscombe 

Bournemouth 

The wind from outside ...

I bared my arm -

Others were in line with me in the white corridor - 

I felt again the sting of hospital electricity -

I remembered the careful expression of the specialist nurse -

Looking at Dorset Life whilst waiting to be called -

The edge of the world showing - 

The wind from outside blowing through the walls - 

26 November 2021

Kings Park Hospital 

Boscombe 

Bournemouth 

Any moment I might become smoke ...

I've bought The Passenger -

I'd remembered my dream - 

Lies had been told about me -

My name was on a list -

My gentle town was the haunt of policemen - 

Any moment I might become smoke - 

25 November 2021

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Venetias and Candidas ...

It was time for coffee -

We'd walked next to the icy dazzling sea -

Posh girls had played leapfrog on the beach -

Candidas and Venetias - 

In my head I heard Jarvis Cocker singing -

I wanna live like common people - 

25 November 2021

Middle Beach

Studland 

Dorset

Reading The Possessed ...

I'm reading The Possessed -

It's late - 

Peter Verkhovensky spins his icy web - 

Stavrogin throws away a yellow rouble note - 

I see before me my own apparition -

A weeping girl with long black hair - 

24 November 2021

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset