The silence of badgers ...

Dripping visitors ordered Moonlite or Pride of Dartmoor - 

They were served by boys with salt rimed hair - 

Charlie Newman wore his black beret - 

Drizzly rain hid Winspit - 

There were charred logs in the wide fireplace - 

Later, Jez Hellard would play play harmonica with the Djukella Orchestra - 

In the snug, there were some people from Romford - 

Paul took a selfie cheek to cheek with a badger - 

The silence of badgers I thought - 

17.30

Saturday 7 May 2017

The Square and Compass

Worth Matravers 

Beautiful shadows ...

We ate cream teas in the garden where I'd worn a suit the colour of the sky - 

Invisible birds sang in the awakened trees - 

Bees visited the dark tulips - 

A cat gazed at the world with golden eyes - 

The clear river ran past the broken walls - 

Beautiful shadows walked down the path - 

 

Those who cast them walked in step with me - 

12.00

Saturday 6 May 2017

Corfe Castle

Dorsey 

Dinner at the Masala with the comrades ...

Three hours before the count, the comrades met in the Masala - 

We'd door knocked long days in the pinched streets - 

We'd heard German Shepherds barking behind front doors - 

A roughly hewn woman had told the Tory teller I no longer vote Labour - I read in the Daily Mail that Corbyn hates the Army -

I'd walked up pristine driveways as well as between menacing hedges - 

I had nothing but admiration for my comrades -

Cherry was a champion for her community, valiant and true - 

Over Merlot and dhal we would redeem this blue world - 

20.30

Thursday 5 May 2017

The Masala 

Swanage

Dorset  

Buying lentils ...

Anne bought some red lentils in Purbeck Wholefoods - 

I remembered the lentil stews she'd made when we first lived together - 

Shopping in Tescos had been an adventure - 

The wide river flowed under a white bridge - 

Each day was a promise - 

There were ripe apples on the shining trees - 

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Wareham 

Dorset 

The wind did not blow the storyteller from the face of the earth ...

I'm reading Isaac Bashevis Singer - 

Sometimes I'm in New York - 

There are frost flowers on the windows of my apartment - 

Steam sings in the radiators - 

I eat a bagel, remembering the names of lost relatives - 

Other times, I'm listening to gossip under a vast sky - 

The small town is near the border - 

In my pockets are groschen and zlotys - 

I read the stories in a room warmed by a kindly sun - 

I rejoice that the wind did not blow the storyteller from the face of the earth - 

17.09

Tuesday 2 May 2017

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

I've got two legs ...

Can you tell me your name ? my mum asked - 

We listened to the birds singing - 

A roofer scaled a ladder - 

My name's Chris I said - 

She smiled and clutched my arm - 

You're walking well today I said - 

I've got two legs she said - 

09.30

Monday 1 May 2017

Boundary Way

Havant 

Hampshire 

The ages of man in West Street ...

Early this morning I took my mum for her Sunday walk -

She'd been getting restless, opening the door to look out into the pinched street -

She thinks Den's been Anne said - spiriting your dad away to the Day Centre - 

We walked up West Street, past Abbeyfield - 

Near the post box, past the Catholic Church, we caught up with a man walking even more slowly than we were - 

His back was bent, his body twisted and withered by his years -

A young mum with her hopping skipping boy went past -

The boy turned to look wonderingly -

There we were, the ages of mankind, blown along by the wind in West Street - 

09.30

Sunday 30 April 2017

West Street

Havant 

Hampshire