I need a golden thread

I need a golden thread -

Delving amongst these perilous reefs of words - 

Finding a foxed Andre Gide - 

A fragile Sylvia Townsend Warner - 

Books Afloat 

 Weymouth 

August 2024

A hidden wolf

I'm reading Zola - 

La Bete Humaine -

I dream a welter of dark dreams -

My heart is a wolf hidden underneath my skin - 

August 2024

I was led by each page

I was led by each page - 

Back to my own guilt -

How I took thoughtless delight in your body - 

Your breasts, your tongue - 

How I never reached out to know you - 

But hurt you -

Left a sadness -

A cruel goodbye - 

August 2024

Your flowers

I'm sitting under the apple tree - 

There are your flowers -

My hat on the table -

Words waiting - 

I'm barefoot -

Wearing a blue shirt patterned with thistledown - 

I remember your heart against mine - 

Your eyes starting to shine with tears - 

East Stoke

August 2024

We need the love

There were no sour shirts -

No Union Jacks - 

Only the green of the park - 

Joyous music - 

A young man dancing and drumming - 

Calling out we need the love -

Dorchester 

August 2024

He takes brightness

Jake hands me a monster truck -

Stands back - 

His eyes are the bluest blue -

Tess carries her heart with gentle hands - 

She knows my stories -

He takes brightness into every room she says -

Salisbury 

August 2024

Just visible

A quiche in The Salt Pig -

Rain against the windows - 

A memory of my dad -

His smile - 

When he held his glass - 

Sitting at that table - 

Like a small bird - 

Just visible in a limitless sky - 

The Salt Pig 

Wareham 

August 2024