One hundred and eighty

Wallace throws his darts - 

His eye is true -

He smiles - 

Turns to look at me - 

Mimics a fleshy champion of the oche - 

One hundred and eighty ! -

Number 53 Royal Avenue

Scarborough 

February 2025

A different sky

Anne and Sophie sipped coffee in Thackwray and Greensmith - 

Shared secrets -

I was back in the North - 

Under a different sky -

Scarborough 

February 2025

Cast up

We were soon swallowed by the airport maelstrom -

Led by our guide past yawning officials -

Cast up, at last, before our Gate - 

Cairo Airport 

February 

The last morning

The last morning -

Hearing the wind in the palm trees -

Walking barefoot by a silver sea -

Sharm el Sheikh 

February 2024

I walked there still

The gentle Syrian put down his scissors -

Happy he asked -

I looked at myself in the mirror -

I remembered Egypt -

The ancient sky -

The stars above the sand - 

I walked there still -

Yes I said -

Wareham

April 2025

There were wonders

There were wonders here -

The boy's beautiful golden mask -

The serene face of a god king -

A chariot light as air -

National Museum 

Cairo

February 2025

Dust on the rear window of a car

There had been shining villas -

The Military Academy -

Posters of the General lining the boulevards -

Here, there was a boy -

His apples -

Dust on the rear window of a car -

Cairo 

February 2025

A gulf of time

Walking past the camel drivers -

Their crouching beasts -

Hearing so many voices -

I stole away -

I stood before a gulf of time -

Reached out for what I knew I could never touch -

The Pyramids 

Cairo 

February 2025.

Being a milord

For one hour I was a milord -

There was dazzling linen, a girl with kohl rimmed eyes -

Waiters moved noiselessly - 

The Nile flowed beneath us -

Floating restaurant on the Nile

Cairo

February 2025

Cairo Policeman

He lounged against sleek metal -

Swept the street with his indifferent gaze - 

We felt the chill of those unblinking eyes - 

Traffic flowed past an opulent hotel - 

Cairo 

February 2025

The feast

Before dark we had our feast -

A vegetable tagine as hot as lava -

Rice as yellow as the sun - 

Bedu camp

One hour's drive from Sharm el Sheikh 

February 2025

Above the emptiness

A thin boy guided our camels across the sand -

We left the bedu camp -

There were barren hills, a single ancient tree -

We wore shemaghs, half masking our faces -

I stroked the coarse pelt of my camel's neck - 

Above the emptiness was the sky -

It was mid afternoon - 

The boy had dark sad eyes -

He turned to look at us, holding out his hand for small coins -

One hour's drive from Sharm el Sheikh 

February 2025

Hani

I'll remember Hani -

This canny scholar - 

His smile - 

His knowledge of the trickery of the streets - 

Of the names of the Pharoahs - 

Of the contents of Canopic Jars -

Of the ways of the Police - 

How he guided us past the wiles of the vendors - 

Bargained with the chief of the camel drivers - 

Showed us the wonders of his city - 

Only asked to be remembered -

Cairo

February 2025

Khufu

His face -

That of a god king -

Like an exquisite jewel, set in silence and light - 

National Museum 

Cairo

February 2025

This narrow doorway

This narrow doorway - 

Beyond it, the stifling  corridor - 

The vast weight of time -

The Great Pyramid

Cairo

February 2025

So many windows

I'd seen them from the sky -

The high rises - 

Now we drove past them - 

These eyries for a gentle people - 

I felt the weight of all their souls - 

Their words were on my tongue -

So many windows -

I could not count them -

Cairo

February 2025

Red Chrevolet driver

A glimpse of a thin brown figure - 

Like a twist of tarry rope in the cab of the Chrevolet -

The crumpled stalk of a cigarette between his lips - 

The steering wheel juddering in his hands - 

Cairo 

February 2025

As though I were flying from Casablanca

I saw the shadow of the propeller on the runway -

It was early morning -

I looked at my visa -

It was as though I were flying from Casablanca -

Sharm el Sheikh Airport

February 2025

Yella, yella

His deft hands steering us -

Ibrahim wearing his sunglasses like a chief of police -

Downtown Cairo -

Seething traffic -

The evening crowd in the pavement cafes -

Night falling -

Black coffee by the side of the road -

Yella, yella -

Cairo

February 2025

A winter's dress

We sip iced coffees -

Walk barefoot on newly raked sand -

I read some pages of The Go Between -

Anne slips off a winter's dress -

Sharm el Sheikh 

February 2025

A slender mast

The sun setting -

Glorious light on the darkening river -

A slender mast touching an ancient sky -

The Nile

Cairo

February 2025

The first morning

The first morning -

My faux panama -

Orange juice after cappuccinos -

Warm sunlight on marble -

Looking out towards the sea -

The wind from the desert in my hair -

Sharm el Sheikh 

February 2025

 

Being mute with wonder

How to recall this moment -

Being mute with wonder -

The flawless sky -

The serenity of that timeless gaze -

The Sphinx

Cairo 

February 2025

Mother of the world

I have a new city of dream and memory -

I saw it from the sky -

Gods had sailed on its river -

Um al-dunya -

Mother of the world -

Cairo from the air

February 2025

Three jewels of memory

Looking into the eyepiece of the telescope - 

There, in the serene depths -

Seeing three planets, our eyes guided by the stargazer -

Three jewels of memory in the desert sky -

February 2025

Near Sharm el Sheik 

The last week of winter

We heard the Simoom all night -

This was the last week of winter -

The tall palm trees bowed before the wind -

There were white horses on the dark blue dazzle of the sea - 

Sharm el Sheikh 

February 2025

In the Piano Bar

In the Piano Bar -

Whiskey and soda in a long glass -

Wearing a louche shirt -

Blue boat shoes - 

Cormac McCarthy -

A boy singing 

Coral Sea Sensatori 

February 2025

One hour to sunset

Tall palm trees casting longer shadows -

The sun lower in the sky -

A cool wind from the sea -

One hour to sunset -

My skin still salty -

Sand in my hair -

Sharm el Sheikh 

February 2025

Below the icy blue of heaven

A bright cloud world below the shining wing -

Listening to the engines singing -

Here in the white jet -

Just below the icy blue of heaven -

Above Egypt 

February 2935

A room still filled with memory

A room still filled with memory - 

Bentley -

A story of Africa -

A strong hand filling my midnight glass -

Ferring

February 2025

A white jet

A white jet waits for me -

Chilled by the air above the clouds -

It knows my name -

Touches the earth for just one moment -

Carries me into the dazzling sky -

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

February 2024

The last Jamesons

The last Jamesons -

Just before midnight - 

Memory in my glass - 

The Old School House

East Stoke 

February 2025

Hidden by clouds

The bay at night -

Sitting in the car, listening to the radio -

The stars hidden by clouds - 

Swanage 

February 2025

All those lost names

The trees reflected in the water - 

The white sky -

The sadness of the carnations -

All those lost names -

Arne

Dorset 

February 2025

Glimpsing the edge of the world

Tony Bennett singing The Very Thought Of You -

The gentle trees outside -

Remembering Geraldine - 

Her fearlessness and beauty -

Mel's wounded smile -

The handshakes, eulogies -

Nat King Cole singing Unforgettable -

Glimpsing the edge of the world - 

Dorset

2025

Invisible guests

I see invisible guests on the stairs - 

They brush past me - 

Waiting always for midnight -

Whispering in my ear - 

The Grand Hotel

Swanage

December 2024