Monday, 28 April 2025

A bright eyed raguzzo


Wallace clasped the football he'd bought in the Piazza Trilussa -

Danced over the cobbles - 

A bright eyed raguzzo -

We'd heard salsa on the Ponte Sisto -

Soft rain fell - 


Trastevere
Rome

April 2025

Thursday, 24 April 2025

Sophie wore her shining hair


I felt as though I were still above the clouds -

Wallace had seen another jet, lost in the blueness of the sky -


Now he ate a noble gelato -

Sophie wore her shining hair -


Travestere 
Rome

April 2025

Wednesday, 9 April 2025

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



Tuesday, 8 April 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

Monday, 7 April 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 

Sunday, 6 April 2025

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

Friday, 4 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

Thursday, 3 April 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

Wednesday, 2 April 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.

Tuesday, 1 April 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