A cure for melancholy ...

Swimming, as ever, was a cure for melancholy - 

We shed our clothes as though they were memories to forget - 

The gentle sea held us up under the bright sky - 

We swam towards the white yachts - 

I felt as if each wave would wash away my years - 

I would stretch out on the sand as a boy again - 

Another sun would shine above my head - 

Those who were gone would be with me once more - 

I remembered the stone house, the cool floors of the high ceilinged rooms - 

I heard the bells ringing in the evening - 

The moon and the stars were newly made - 

A soft voice in my ear drove away all darkness - 

11.00

Monday 28 May 2018

South Beach 

Studland 

Dorset 

 

Adil's song ...

Adil put down his cigarette -

We listened to his song - 

All his strength, all his longing, were in that song -

He stood before us, his soul open to our gaze - 

19.55

Saturday 12 May 2018

Kapikargin

The Monaghan Jig ...

Walking in the twilight garden, I heard the music of Irish whistles - 

The swallows fell from the sky - 

The air was still and golden - 

Jane and Katie were playing The Monaghan Jig - 

For a moment, I felt the soft rain of Kerry against my face - 

Waves broke upon the ancient shore - 

I saw three bright fish upon the dawn grass - 

Thursday 17 May 2018

Karabortlen 

Remembering swimming at Winspit ...

New born lambs explored their green world - 

We breathed air scented by Elderflower blossom - 

A deer watched us with gentle wary eyes - 

A yacht sailed on the calm pale sea - 

Winspit lay below us - 

A cool breeze stirred the bright flowers - 

I remembered swimming here, slipping off the rocks into the water - 

I'd looked back at the land, then up at the twilight sky - 

11.00

Friday 25 May 2018

Winspit

Dorset 

Richard's flying to Manila ...

Richard's flying to Manila -

He's reading the noble verses of an imprisoned poet - 

The Air China stewardess offers coffee - 

Rain is falling upon the wounded city - 

Fragile children sleep on its pavements - 

The dangerous islands are beautiful - 

The lights of the city net the stars -

May 2018

The first sentence ...

I'm back once more amongst my friends - 

I run my fingers down their spines - 

I read the first sentence of a book my father loved - 

In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains - 

19.51

Wednesday 23 May 2018

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

English sunlight ...

I woke up in English sunlight - 

Beyond the window were fields of buttercups, a quiet wood on a hill - 

Under the hazy sky there was a church tower - 

Birds sang amongst tender rooftops - 

I lay with Anne upon the high bed -

She wore her brown skin unaware of its beauty - 

Around us were wonders - 

A young Alexander rode naked into legend - 

A minotaur pushed against a mirror, searching for a golden thread - 

A lute waited for the touch of subtle fingers - 

The white walls of each room had been blessed to keep out sorrow - 

This deep valley was a place for dreams and gentle magic - 

09.32

Tuesday 23 May 2018

Compton Martin