The moon would light our dreams ...

After hearing the news, we walked towards Highwood - 

Sheep were grazing in the fragrant water meadows - 

The dark languid river flowed past waist high rushes -

Mayflies danced above the water - 

Soon bats would leave their secret lodgings - 

They'd trace their names in the darkening sky - 

Poppies would close their petals against the stars - 

We'd sleep under our lichened roof - 

The moon would light our dreams - 

20.45

Thursday 15 June 2017

East Stoke

Dorset 

Shelley would have a poem for it ...

I'm sitting under the apple tree, listening to the wind - 

I've put down my torn straw hat - 

Anne's stretched out upon the gentle lawn - 

I've been reading about Mary Shelley in the Villa Diodati - 

I'd forgotten for a while the horrors shown me by my I phone - 

I'd seen flames devour families in a instant, the London sky become a dreadful mirror - 

I'd heard stories too sad and terrible to be retold - 

I remembered then the evasive words, the polished jowls, of the men with blood dabbled hands - 

Shelley would have a poem for it, I thought - 

He'd describe the tears that became stones, the hearts that were fistfuls of dust and banknotes - 

16.27

Thursday 15 June 2017

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

The only songs ...

Above my head there was a roof of leaf and sky - 

Now the tall sycamores were rich with summer greenery - 

We walked towards the sea as if through a green cathedral - 

This avenue of trees was the nave - 

Invisible birds sang in side chapels of hawthorn and creeping buttercup - 

A cool salty breeze stirred hangings of ivy - 

A hidden stream filled green pools - 

Rich pelts of moss graced fallen branches - 

Here the only time was that of the seasons, the only songs those of the sun and moon - 

11.15

Wednesday 14 May 2017

The abandoned arboretum 

Ringstead Bay

Dorset 

My shoes were filled with sand ...

The oak tree cast its shadow upon the sand - 

Each shadow leaf was like a dark coin underfoot - 

White yachts were moored offshore -

Soon it would be low tide -  

Oyster catchers flew low and fast above the water - 

 

We stood in the shade of the tree, under the cloudless sky - 

I remembered the blue zig zags of the dragonflies, the deep pool amongst the heather - 

I tipped my torn straw hat further down my forehead - 

My shoes were filled with sand - 

16.00

Tuesday 13 June 2017

Shipstal Point

Arne

Dorset

Touched by wonder ...

Holding the eggshell in my hand was like holding something spun from air - too finely made for my coarse bone - 

I wondered what songs the young bird would sing - 

I wondered with what flights he would explore the sky - 

I saw his precious face next to mine - 

I saw the new come from the old - 

I heard the music of miraculous heartbeats - 

My life was touched once more by wonder - 

17.01

Monday 12 June 2017

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

He would run through the wild alleys with wings once more at his heels ...

This really annoys me my dad said - 

He reached out for my arm as we walked past The Prince of Wales - 

Each step he took was faltering and uncertain - 

The pavement's no help he said - 

Sometimes I hold onto the walls - 

We watched the London train pass through the gates - 

There's no cans in the house my dad said - not one - 

In the afternoon, he would dream in his armchair - 

The Sunday Times Magazine would lie unread upon his lap -

In his dreams he would swim in the creek off Rudmore - 

He would run through the wild alleys with wings once more at his heels - 

16.00

Sunday 11 June 2017

Staunton Road

Havant 

Hampshire

No longer would we have to wear careful colours ...

The house with high ceilinged rooms faced the sea - 

I stood in the garden, tasting salt upon my tongue - 

Waves broke upon the pale shore - 

Inside the house, activists sipped prosecco - 

I ate olives and cut myself a wafer of Manchego cheese - 

No longer, I thought, would we have to wear careful colours -

The zeitgeist had put on a suit of different clothes - 

19.00

Saturday 10 June 2017

Weymouth 

Dorset