The Wall painting ...

We ate almond croissants in a room reached by a narrow stair - 

Above the fireplace, barely visible, a wall painting caught our eye - 

I traced the faint shadow on the stone -

I wondered what would remain of the shadow I cast - 

Some words, my face on photographs, the memory of my voice - 

13 May 2022

The Winchester Bakery 

Winchester 

The Extraordinary Everyday ...

All of the paintings were lit with tender light - 

A vase of flowers glowed in a kindly house - 

A biplane flew over a radiant field - 

A white horse graced a hillside - 

The submariner saw clouds and a calm sea - 

I felt sorrow darken the light when I thought of that last flight - 

I murmured the names of icy places - 

I saw the words death presumed stamped on the formal page -

Eric Ravilious Exhibition 

Extraordinary Everyday 

The Arc

Winchester 

Walking to Evensong ...

We walked through the Cathedral Close - 

I'd walked here on my way to Evensong - 

I wore a jacket made of dreams - 

I'd read lines from Christabel under the darkening trees - 

Smoke wreathed my hair -

Inside the Cathedral, the boys' voices touched the edge of heaven - 

13 May 2022

Winchester Cathedral 

The bookshop ...

A man wearing a long coat shuffled from reef to reef of books -

We heard him muttering to himself - 

He fingered the foxed Orange Penguins - 

At the foot of the narrow stair, there were dusty Wisdens - 

I thought of buying a thrilling yarn - 

The floorboards created beneath our feet - 

I glimpsed tall chimneys and clouds through a window in the topmost room - 

13 May 2022

Winchester 

The Wykeham Arms ...

My heart raced when I saw The Wykeham Arms -

I remembered gaudy nights - 

The smoke inside the blue car - 

The words Annick whispered in my ear - 

13 May 2022

Winchester 

The window seat ...

I sat in the window seat -

Below me was the statue of William Barnes - 

I pictured him, walking, in capel cloak, down Cornhill - 

Behind me were the drowsy books - 

The sunlight fell on green cushions - 

I dreamed an antiquarian's gentle mazy dreams - 

4 May 2022

The Library 

Dorset County Museum 

Dorchester 

Filled with light ...

A fish leapt out the water - 

We caught a glimpse of it, twisting and silver in the air -

I remembered the girl, laughing in the water, urging the two boys to join her -

They had swum across the lake - 

Reeds parted for their flawless skin - 

Their young bodies were filled with light - 

29 April 2022

The ornamental lake

Lulworth 

Dorset 

A new heart ...

I gazed at the snaky roots of the tree - 

We'd swum here, off this green hidden shore - 

We'd sat on these roots and brushed the sand off our skin - 

Now a soft rain fell from a gentle sky - 

An oyster catcher dipped his head -

The rain was washing away my old world - 

I wore a shirt made of summer - 

A new heart was beating next to mine -

11 May 2022 

Shipstall Point

Arne

Dorset

The sundial ...

The writing on the sundial said make time save time while time lasts -

I had walked through the bright garden - 

There were new leaves on the trees - 

I heard water falling into the basin of a fountain - 

I felt each moment pass through the hourglass of my heart -

I would find my Eden amongst these flowers -

I would hear new music -

There would be sunlight on a warm sea -

A secret smile -

A swallow flying above a golden shore - 

8 May 2022

The Walled Garden

Moreton 

Dorset 

Here Boanerges threw his rider ...

Here Boanerges threw his rider -

He roared and twisted his beautiful fiery body -

A stone marks the place -

Here the rider fell -

I can hear Boanerges roaring his utmost -

Birdsong now -

The road empty -

The sky the colour of his eyes -

8 May 2022

Moreton

Dorset 

The Search Warrant ...

I'm reading The Search Warrant -

I feel again the unease and fear of the dream which has always haunted me -

Throwing a letter from a train - 

The police waiting in a familiar street - 

There would be the journey to the nameless place - 

Not waking up, becoming air - 

7 May 2022

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

Top Medal Whitby Barber ...

Here, salt rimed chins were shaved -

There were cut throat razors - 

Scrimshaw glimmered - 

April 18 2022

Whitby 

Jet Black ...

When I return, I'll wear a long coat -

I'll carry a gold key in my pocket - 

I'll drink a Jet Black when the moon fills the sky - 

18 April 2022

The Jet Black Pearl

Whitby 

Bluebells in The Crescent ...

There were bluebells in flower in The Crescent -

The northern sun warmed the April town - 

High windows shone - 

I walked past this curving reef of serene stone -

I imagined music filling high ceilinged rooms -

A book open on a distressed table - 

A painting of a pale shore -

20 April 2022

The Crescent 

Scarborough 

Dark wings brushing against my heart ...

I hoped to see goths in the bookshop -

A pale girl reading an icy page - 

A jet necklace - 

I found a story - 

I held it in my hands - 

Its dark wings brushed against my heart - 

18 April 2022

Whitby Bookshop

Whitby

Sophie in Woodend ...

Sophie's in Woodend - 

She sees something I can't see -

How many things are there to be said ? 

The words fly through the house -

The day will come - 

The words will be taken from the hollow tree - 

They were once whispered - 

They will be be sung -

20 April 2022

Woodend 

Scarborough 

Years were lost ...

I would remember this bright garden - 

Here, stories were told - 

The gate was left unguarded -

Years were lost in the light cast by my grandsons' smiles - 

19 April 2022

Grosvenor Road 

Scarborough 

A golden frame holds him ...

A golden frame holds him, this worthy with his sour, worn, gaze - 

He's almost a ghost - 

His villa still faces the sea - 

Somewhere, his name is written in copperplate - 

There are accounts in a ledger -

There's a garden - 

A stone near a fountain - 

Under it, there's a bright boy, wearing summer colours - 

April 26 2022

Woodend

Scarborough 

The doors of silent houses ...

I stood before the doors of the silent houses -

Invisible people walked through me -

They turned keys in the locks, or stood there, casting their dim shadows -

I felt their movements inside my skin - 

Robin Hoods Bay

22 April 2022

Jack still reads the wind ...

I read the words written on the benches -

Each bench remembered a beloved mum, or a grandad who loved this view - 

Here, near the lighthouse, Jack still reads the wind - 

22 April 2022

Scarborough 

Watching Dinotrux ...

After winning pirate gold, Wallace watches Dinotrux - 

He relaxes on the leather sofa, drops his cutlass - 

Shipmates, blood brothers, we look out for ships with black sails - 

Now screeching pterodactyls draw our gaze - 

Their metal wings fill the screen - 

We count our doubloons - 

21 April 2022

Grosvenor Road

Scarborough