Lady on a Tram
one evening almost Christmas
ten-o'clock cold and windy
from city centre to suburbs
crowded tram close and steamy
floods of patrons from the theatres,
concerts, cinemas, restaurants, shopping malls
a buzz of chat about performances
food and wine, purchases and prices
I had to stand, anchoring myself on a bum pad.
At the next stop a black lady boarded
lugging ...
Wednesday 21st December 2016 2:49 pm
I think that children ...
I think that children
who must discern cause and effect
within the structure of daily activity
especially at home -
whose young minds must hone survival skills
to sustain dignity intact -
often become poets
possessing practised powers
of acute observation
and able to sort details relative to the whole
with calculating minds
geared to steer perception to a des...
Friday 18th November 2016 1:21 pm
The Boy Who Conquered Fractions
They came to me, the children
dragging chains of failure at school
scowling with attitude
inured to criticism, teasing, even anger
and yet eager.
This boy was nine.
One day he gave me a note from his teacher.
who complained in cramped script that
'this child's continued inattention to lessons
and general disruptive behaviour in the classroom
are unacceptable: 'Som...
Saturday 12th November 2016 4:49 pm
Never trust a lover who ...
Never trust a lover who in the throes of passion
calls you 'Baby' or 'Babe' -
that generic name for a sex partner
whose body is equally generic.
It means in an unguarded moment
the name of someone else entirely
might slip out with an orgasmic yelp
which definitely would not be cool
a real mood buster.
In fairness such caution
does mark a certain level of...
Wednesday 19th October 2016 3:58 pm
Poets
Poets are passionate to pierce the superficial.
They don't 'try' to be like this: they are driven.
Poets know experience is universal.
From their hearts, their souls even
comes an instinctive need to share insight
with anyone who will follow their thoughts
on the magic spin of their chosen words.
There is probably no greater egoism anywhere
(except – maybe - in mathema...
Saturday 8th October 2016 4:42 pm
Bumble Bee
The summer she was six
playing with her best friend
chasing things in the garden
she caught a bumble bee in a hollyhock flower -
a huge pink blossom furry with pollen
and this busy bee
wallowing deep in its throat.
She caught the bee with the hollyhock flower
folding the petals over its frantic buzzing
its writhing body -
a bold, successful capture.
How cleve...
Wednesday 21st September 2016 11:57 am
Magpies
A glass of pre-dinner wine cold and dry
stove-top bubbling and sizzling.
I glance out my open window and see
fifteen magpies on the roofline behind the garden.
No – eighteen! And more.
That's a FLOCK of these quarrelsome birds!
I watch pairs often enough strutting about
mutually aloof
pecking at patches of moss, up-turning stones.
It's been an average month - lots of ...
Friday 26th August 2016 4:43 pm
Families
those day-in day-out people
with whom
we share our daily bread
to whom
we trust our sleeping hours
from whom
we seek support
believing their words and motives
a group of persons
in a pod of inter-dependence
personal value measured
in relation to the unit
employing social arts
deploying survival skills
not much different
from a basic animal pack
...Thursday 11th August 2016 12:11 pm
My Father's Pipe (following Ian's blog)
In the cool mornings I wear Dad's old dressing gown.
Even now I think I can smell the pungency of his pipe tobacco
in its fine Scottish wool, but that's not likely.
After he died Mum washed the curtains, the walls and even the carpet.
In their closing years Mum and Dad had separate bedrooms.
Dad at last smoked privately: the fumes bothered my mum so much.
This was a major c...
Tuesday 19th July 2016 9:57 am
Families
those day-in day-out people
with whom
we share our daily bread
to whom
we trust our sleeping hours
from whom
we seek support
believing their words and motives
a group of persons
in a pod of inter-dependence
personal value measured
in relation to the unit
employing social arts
deploying survival skills
not much different
from a basic animal p...
Tuesday 28th June 2016 11:34 am
Privacy was never promised ...
Have you ever had a pressing need to poo
privately - politely - any hole will do?
At last – reprieve! - but the door won't latch
and it swings back and forth back and forth
until you must ignore it to get on with business?
Just as you drop your drawers with sycophant relief
someone sits beside you upon a velvet cushion
like those in a gaudy theatre and starts to make sm...
Monday 21st March 2016 10:39 am
Do not dismiss Mythology
Do not dismiss Mythology
from any rooted source.
In ancient Greece
(as the story grew apace)
the mighty god Zeus
upon the maiden Mnemosyne
sired nine girls
who became great goddesses -
the famed Nine Muses of Poetry :
Love
Music, Song, Dance
Comedy, Tragedy
Heroes, History
and Astronomy.
The early Greeks well knew that
Energy coupled with Mem...
Sunday 13th March 2016 4:13 pm
The 'LOVE' Month
Love is Tolerance
Forget Romance
Roses and Rum.
Forget sympathetic Sex.
LOVE IS TOLERANCE!
WOL, SALE, February, 2016,
Challenge: 5-minutes - 14 words ; Subject: LOVE
Monday 22nd February 2016 11:26 am
Wind from my Window
As I draw together the curtains
on a winter afternoon
the street is gently breezy -
Disney-waltzy in 3D colour.
Over the rooftops
naked branches cast nets upon electric blue
where birds in flight ride Russian violins
in ecstatic sweeps of long slow motion.
Twigs from the giant willow
almost finger my window pane -
the tapping tambourines
of my silent orchestra ...
Tuesday 2nd February 2016 11:54 am
Man and Dogs
The elderly gentleman approached
with measured steps and conscious carriage
precisely in pace with two golden retrievers
old dogs on slack leads
well-fed sleekly groomed
resigned to their constitutional hour.
They raised their heads at my approach
and one even lifted a hopeful tail.
I stopped. I love dogs.
'May I touch them?' I asked.
'Certainly,' replied the gentlem...
Monday 25th January 2016 12:46 pm
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