Above even the meanest roof was an ageless world ...

I left no footprints on the shining sand - 

Clouds were reflected in the water left behind by the falling tide - 

  

Two seagulls picked at seaweed - 

Foreign students huddled in the dunes - 

I walked for a while with my eyes cast down, looking at the reflected sky - 

I could hear the sound of the distant waves - 

I was thinking about my parents, about my dad's tender smile -

I felt sad and emptied out of words - 

I looked up, tilting my head backwards -

I was soon lost in the strangeness of clouds - 

Above even the meanest roof was an ageless world - 

 

13.30

Monday 7 March 2016

Knoll Beach

Studland 

Dorset 

 

My blue suit would be wrapped around a handful of bones ...

Sometimes it seems a long way to walk my dad said - 

He clung to my mum's sholley - 

You don't come down every Sunday he said - we don't have people looking after us -

I knew it was useless to say anything -

I tried to imagine what it would be like to walk in his world - 

Brothers and sisters would lose their names - 

My hands would become cold - 

My blue suit would be wrapped around a handful of bones - 

09.30

Sunday 6 February 2016

West Street

Havant

We stood on Shipstal Hill ...

We stood on Shipstal Hill, above the beach of windblown sand - 

The tide was going out - seabirds gathered in reedy channels - our faces were chilled - a stag lowered its head, its antlers like dark knives -

We sat upon a bench dedicated to the memory of a beloved wife - 

I thought of the benches I'd seen on walks, all those small precious lives remembered by wood or iron - 

Each footstep summonsed a tender ghost, each breath a memory - 

12.00

Saturday 5 March 2015

Shipstal Hill

Arne

Purbeck

Dorset 

Politics is all about stories, I thought ...

Brexit would be cataclysmic Ben Bradshaw said - the referendum is a once in a generation event - 

He spoke like a tribune of the people, lean and fervent - 

The party members listened to every passionate word - 

But as he spoke, I thought of the yoga ladies - 

I pictured their gentle yet wary faces, their heartfelt questions - 

They're worried about terrorists and immigration Anne said - they need simple answers - 

Politics is all about stories, I thought - 

21.00

Friday 4 March 2015

Littlemoor Community Centre

Weymouth 

Just the usual Paul I said ...

Early this morning I went to my club - 

As soon as I shut the door I felt at my ease -  

Shaggy crocks were reading Carpworld - 

I hung up my quilted coat - 

I heard Carly Simon singing on the radio - 

The road sweeper who wears the cowboy hat went by - 

Inside The Black Bear across the street, breakfasts were being served - 

Paul greeted me with his clever scissors - 

What can I do for you dear boy? he said - 

Just the usual Paul I said - 

09.10

Thursday 4 March 2016

Paul's 

Wareham

Purbeck 

Dorset 

He poured himself a double whisky after he wrote that ...

Jane rang today to say my dad's got impetigo -

He's told her that he can take the tablets himself - 

The carers only come for Pegs he said - 

I'm not a child he's told us - 

When Dr Melville said he shouldn't be drinking at all, he said he'd get a gun -

Beer isn't alcholol he said - a little glass of white wine doesn't hurt you - 

He pointed to Dr Melville's letter - 

He poured himself a double whisky after he wrote that he said - 

16.53

Wednesday 2 March 2015

The Old School House 

East Stoke 

Dorset

The strange charisma of rogues ...

I'm reading Richard Holmes' Dr Johnson & Mr Savage - 

The Great Cham was beguiled by the gifted murderous scribbler - 

I pictured myself, walking beside them through the Whitehall night - 

All the money they could raise was less than sufficient to purchase for them the shelter and sordid comforts of a night cellar * - 

Like Savage, I walked with split shoes - I cloaked myself in Johnson's horse coat - 

I shrank from the bloody riot in Robinson's Coffee House - 

I reflected upon the strange charisma of rogues - 

I recalled the Hells Angel who had greeted me so courteously under a spiders web of ring pulls - 

He'll know what music you want Annick had said - 

The bearded colossus put on Peaches En Regalia - 

This is you he said - 

Note

* Sir John Hawkins, "The Life of Samuel Johnson, Ll.D", 1787, Page 18

15.14

Tuesday 1 March 2016

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset