Savage scarecrows

They sit outside the library -

These savage scarecrows -

They terrify me -

Their voices -

Their desolation -

Salisbury Library

January 2026

Test driving the Dacia

A beautiful temple of glass and dreams -

Test driving the Dacia -

Imagining sunlit roads, Chet Baker's swooning trumpet on the radio -

Penton

Poole 

January 2026

This is where I live

Voices in the salty air -

Banners dripping with dark humour -

Marching to the port -

Past police cars, ghost pubs still echoing with sailors' laughter -

Small houses straggling up the hillside -

Songs at the gates -

Paul showing his mighty heart -

Gentle truth teller -

His few words still with me -

This is where I live -

Isle of Portland 

Dorset

January 2026

Like a ray of light

Marylyn smiled when you spoke -

Remembering you in your classroom; like a kindly god -

Your charm like a ray of light, sweeping across our faces -

The Bear

Wareham 

January 2026

At the Boston Tea Party

Knotted beams held up uneven ceilings -

Jake marvelled at a picture of the Gruffalo -

Baristas crafted exquisite cappuccinos -

Rain fell on the ancient roof -

Boston Tea Party 

Salisbury 

January 2026

Each shelf filled with wonders

The quiet rooms were filled with books -

A youth with silver bangles and torn jeans sashshayed past the Memoires de Casanova -

I was beguiled by orange Penguins -

There were mazy corridors of Percy Westermans -

Tiger Standish getting his man -

Biggles with his manly gaze -

A grandfather clock with stilled hands -.

Each shelf filled with wonders -

Puddletown Bookshop 

January 2026

You think of what you should have said

Mel said you think you'll go on forever -

We were in Java -

Outside it was raining -

The sea and the sky touched the edge of the world -

Here we were warm, brought coffee by a slender girl -

I saw her thin dark wrists, how she wore her young beauty, like a dress made of cobwebs -

You think of what you should have said Mel said -

But then it's too late -

Java, Swanage 

January 2026