Wearing dangerous tweed ...

I'm wearing dangerous tweed -

I found the coat amongst gangsters' crombies in Clobber -

There were flying jackets last worn by the pilots of Flying Fortresses -

Uniforms worn by Artic Convoy captains -

Lounge lizards' finery -

But the tweed called my name -

It settled upon my shoulders like a warm memory -

Wearing it, I felt like a louche poet -

I searched inside the deep pockets for scraps of verse -

I turned up the collar against the rain -

I looked at the paintings in the sumptuous house -

I saw the sky reach down and touch the sea -



Friday 31 January 2020


Clobber, Boscombe
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth 

Listening to Johnny Cash ...

I listened to Johnny Cash singing Wayfaring Stranger -

I heard his voice over the lonely places -

I glimpsed the wide river -

I felt the chill of the wind blowing all before it -

I saw the nearness of the edge of the world -

Johnny sang for me -

I heard his voice -

Words came to me across the fields -

I saw a smile I loved -



Thursday 30 January 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset 

Sad Brio ...

We ordered lemon polenta cake in The Boston Tea Party -

We'd just said goodbye to Sophie and Wallace -


The train had been on time -

The doors had closed on my darlings -


Back home, I knew that sad Brio waited -

Toy cars would remind me of their voices -



Wednesday 29 January 2020


Boston Tea Party
Salisbury 

As if every day would be like this ...

Gulls flew above the boating lake -

I looked for the hunchback in the park, remembering the poem -

A solitary mister -

The bare trees cast their shadows upon the chill grass -

I thought of my dad -

How he'd loved the wounded poet -

How he'd fill his glass at midday -

The happy king of his world -

As if every day would be like this -



Tuesday 28 January 2020

Poole Park
Poole

Reading The Cutting Room ...

I'm reading The Cutting Room -

It's spooky Glasgow noir -

I'm drinking with murderers -

I empty secrets from the houses of the dead -



January 2020


The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset

Peaty malt to hand ...

The iconic dish had been piped in -

Peter read the Address to the Haggis -

He spoke as if he were inside a smoke filled bothy - 

Wrapped in plaid, peaty malt to hand - 

Saturday 25 January 2020

Swanage 

At the Black Dog ...

The crazy Jenga tower swayed from side to side -

I heard Wallace whooping -

A gentle juke box singing -


Logs smouldered inside the stove -

We waited for the tower to fall -

A shower of glorious tipsy pieces -



Saturday 25 January 2020


The Black Dog
East Stoke