Brightness in the rain ...

The sisters are beguiled by jigsaws -

They piece together a Miss Marple sky -

Pale light falls through the glass of the lantern roof -

Jane glances at her phone -

There are flowers arranged in the garden -

Brightness in the rain -

I still hear the voice of the singer -

The waves breaking upon the bar -

Ferring 

January 2023

Victrola music ...

I thought I heard Victrola music -

A sweet clarinet over the Zane Greys -

Mournful saxophones -

A chanteuse singing - 

Her perfume mingling with that of these yellowed pages - 

The stories of masked riders - 

Mysterious gunslingers - 

Her voice carried by a desert wind -

Sand stinging my eyes - 

Music from beyond the edge of the world -

The Crooked Book

January 2023

What if no words came ...

What if no words come -

If when I look up, I see an empty sky -

No birds in the tree -

No voices in the air - 

I'll remember a midnight kitchen -

The wine in the glass -

Your dangerous smile - 

The secrets you saw - 

January 2023

Another madeleine ...

The Peugeot's engine murmuring in the frosty air - 

The sharp fragrance of petrol -

Another madeleine -

My dad's first car -

A Vauxhall Viva - 

My dad putting on his driving gloves - 

The thrill of driving down Palmyra Road - 

January 2023

Time still left ...

Bright water covers the fields -

A blue sky carries memories of clouds -

There were days of rain -

Water dripping from trees -

I thought of Jehane -

That Judas, Godmar -

My dad, reading the words - 

The Haystack in the Floods -

Rain falling against the windows of the lounge - 

Time still left to hold his hand -

January 2023

The gansey ...

I'm wearing Ken's gansey -

Navy blue holding him close - 

His smile -

His courtesy -

If I close my eyes I can see the garden he never wanted to leave -

The moon above the orange trees - 

The bright stars -

The gentle shapes of fragrant pines - 

January  2023

Wearing sunglasses in the dark ...

I'm watching The Blues Brothers -

I'm dancing -

I'm shooting lights - 

I'm wearing sunglasses in the dark - 

I'm drinking beer from the bottle - 

I'm on a mission from God -

January 2023