Sophie's Moon
Outside the Atlantic rolls gently among the pebbles on the beach
Inside an unsettling tide of turmoil clamours for calming oils
In the street, in the warm night air, all seems at ease
Leaning on the bar, Sophie lifts her eyes to scan the horizon
Tied up to the quayside, boats bob easily, tethered securely in place
On the dance floor, anchored together, mermaids find safe h...
Tuesday 27th August 2019 6:49 pm
Sweet meat
A quick Haiku that I wrote in reply to a radio dj's tweet, just for fun
No puedo pensar
Crema Catalana
A cake ate my brain
Wednesday 26th June 2019 9:05 am
Father's Day
When the crushing dark ice was enclosing
And the horizon a terrible sight.
Who spoke the warm words, to comfort me at night?
When isolation became overwhelming
And there was nowhere left to hide.
How silent were the voices, that could have asked me inside?
When so desperate was desperation
And faith withering dry on the vine.
How closed were the arms, that could ...
Saturday 22nd June 2019 5:56 pm
Sulphur Flame 2
What did she wear that night, what was her name?
He retraces his steps to that place
The place where she waited – for him
He can still feel the cool iron rails slipping through his fingers
The warm summer night’s air on the back of his hand
He remembers being calm, very calm
But for a sense of tension rising, from inside
He stopped, almost at the top of the steps
She stood,...
Wednesday 22nd May 2019 9:43 am
Cultus Decorum
The bladder alarm rings, it’s time to go
No platted legs will dam this river flow
Locate the door, and start to walk
This is when we cease to talk
Brace yourself, we are going in
Assume bland face, we must not grin
Place hand on wood and push the door
And hope no one’s pissed on the floor
Cabin or trough, that is the choice
Are you man or mouse? begs your inner...
Monday 20th May 2019 7:44 pm
Divide and conquer
Lines that tie us, lines drawn, lines before us,
Dark nights, dark days, conscience twisted, tested
No words spoke, no hard choke, you’d missed the bus
I said yes; the easy choice would have festered
Blood, water, which to choose, which my anchor?
Turn you away, and say nay, me your son?
You gave me life; it eats me this anger
Off you stride, toward divide, bread to be wo...
Friday 17th May 2019 11:14 pm
Sulphur Flame
He can't remember what she wore that night, or her name
But he can retrace every step he climbed to where he knew she waited,
The stipples on the cool iron rails sliding through his hand on that warm summer eve
No hint of sweat in his palms as he approached, relaxed, calm, sensing rising tension
He stopped, almost at the top of the steps
There she stood, his invocation, his inv...
Friday 10th May 2019 12:15 pm
On her mother's step
On her mother’s stone step, she sits and dreams
The same step she cleaned and crossed so often
Her dress, crisp and clean in the sunshine gleams
This backstreet beauty, rare rose in blossom
What whims flicker through her wandering mind
Perchance what prospect does life hold in store
Will her journey be gentle not unkind?
Shall her story be one of less not more?
In...
Wednesday 8th May 2019 10:36 pm
Dark Mystery
He can't remember what she wore that night, or her name
But he can retrace every step he climbed to where he knew she waited,
The stipples on the cool iron rails sliding through his hand on that warm summer eve
No hint of sweat in his palms as he approached, relaxed, calm, sensing rising tension
He stopped, almost at the top of the steps
There she stood, his invocation, his inv...
Tuesday 30th April 2019 9:58 pm
Insignificance
There were so many
So, so many, too many to count
None of them did count
Discarded with equal disdain to distant craving
Once they were wanted
Now they were less than rubbish
Soiled and used up
Like many that had used them
Now, no one cherished them
Destined not even to be brushed aside
Caught in a state of limbo
Between detritus and gutter trash
They ...
Tuesday 30th April 2019 9:29 pm
15 minutes of Sonnet 25
It’s not love they play it’s another game
Where what matters is who can count the most
Playing duck and dive, surfers search for fame
Notching names upon digital bedposts
Their followers adore them with their likes
Each character praised as if from God
If their own petard hoists them onto spikes
Then surely, it’s the crowd that has turned odd.
Their ledger marking...
Saturday 27th April 2019 8:52 am
Doors
And all the doors looked all the same again
He stopped at number one to sneak a look
Here he heard the clearing of ash and soot
And all the doors looked all the same, again
He stopped, at number four he stood once more
To inhale the smell of Vim on tiled floor
And, all the doors looked all the same, again
He stopped at number nine, to check the time
The cuckoo clo...
Friday 26th April 2019 10:36 am
Most Maligned
You may be the one that darkness calls friend
The bringer of gloom, who draws curtains on the room
But to me, you are both beginning and end
You close the door on Autumn’s warm glow
Make coats button up tight, as you turn down the lights
And freeze dew drops wherever you stroll
They say you give us so few reasons to cheer
Put no food on the table, work and schools yo...
Thursday 25th April 2019 9:38 am
Quote Unquote
We were challenged to write a poem inspired by two randlmly chosenpages in a dictionary, thesairaus or encyclopedic book. This is my offering
The light grows from his bedside lamp, illuminating hitherto unseen leaves of Humorous Quotations.
He pores through dry pages of politicians' dry political thoughts
Seeking inspiration from giants of history
Is this all they left behind...
Wednesday 24th April 2019 9:51 am
Bears
Bears, bears, bears!
There were bears everywhere
Now he saw them, all those bears throughout his years.
The Panda Bear.
She would come out and stare, and stare.
Blinking ringed black eyes against the rare glimpsed sky.
Serene and sober
Conversely troubled but not in a rage
She'd think for a minute, slowly turn, then go back to her cage.
The Grizzly Bear.
...Tuesday 23rd April 2019 11:18 am
But for you
But for you
We would be one
But for you
The lack of feeling alone
But for you
The unknowing, not so cold
But for you
More joy in growing old
But for you
My mind might be at rest
But for you
Life, less of a test
But for you
A single race I have run
But for you
There are clouds above the son
But for you
The be...
Thursday 18th April 2019 11:29 am
Fleeting persistence
She was the one constant throughout his life
His endless reference to existence
From infancy she reflected him back at him
She was his world, the very reason he lived
She gave birth to him, ejaculating him into the air
For the first time he felt separation from her wet womb
But their connection was permanent
She was as much he, as he was him
Her brilliance dazzled...
Wednesday 17th April 2019 2:01 pm
House
A litany of memories litters the rooms, the halls and walls
Here, books in loose piles are stacked from ceiling to floor
The silence is all pervading, nothing looks like it has been moved for years
And yet there is no dust, all seems clean; too clean
The rocking horse sits motionless and still, bereft of a grandchild rider
It glances idly into one of the four unused bathrooms, ...
Tuesday 16th April 2019 1:03 pm
Watering Can
It sits on the kitchen window cill
Of the seventh house we have called home
It reminds me of its owner
And of the nurturing she bestowed
It’s nothing much to look at
A watering can and tiny garden tools
In a charity shop it would be overlooked
But in my heart, it’s a chest of jewels
It really is quite useless
It’s porous with no holes in the spou...
Friday 12th April 2019 12:36 pm
Borders
There were borders everywhere
Borders of water, of steel, of brick, of money and of mind
Borders that were meant for defining, for declaring lines you and others could not cross
Over the sandstone brick wall, across the railway line lived the park people
Snotty, scabby looking folk – they feared to tread on our turf; most did
They had the club and the park, we invaded them at w...
Thursday 11th April 2019 10:17 am
Walk on part
He was a bit-part actor, he never dreamt of commanding his stage
He signed on as a walk-on character, a cameo role in a one-off play,
Each night he learnt his lines, the same words he would speak every day
Rehearsing his part word-perfect, in the hope that his public would pay
No one spelled out his name in neon, the only stars he knew were in the night sky
His costume was neve...
Wednesday 10th April 2019 8:43 pm
Tribute
I wrote this two years ago, long before the Windrush scandal hit the headlines.
When them set sail on Empire Windrush
Them leave behind sun, sea and sand
Yes, them set forth upon Windrush,
Them a tropical collection of hands,
When all them set foot on Windrush;
Next stop, the promised Motherland
So, them all on board Empire Windrush
All four hundred and ninety-two...
Wednesday 10th April 2019 8:32 pm
Born in the shadow of a mountain
When you’re born in the shadow of a mountain
You know the warmth of the darkest of shade
You know nothing will ever rise above that mountain
In whose image and shadow you were made
When cast in the shadow of a mountain
Your caste can feel defined before birth
Your path may seem predestined and written
As your feet struggle to impress in the earth
But there’s a com...
Wednesday 10th April 2019 8:26 pm
Black Confetti
Blackened balls of confetti thrown against a slate sky
From left, from right, lines and angles they fly
Boiling clouds shuffle, sculp then conform
In kaleidoscopic monochrome; is this the start of a storm?
The mass absorbs and swells like translucent dough
An invisible baker, kneads, stretches and throws
And the amorphous miasma continues to grow
As eyes in wonderment gaz...
Wednesday 10th April 2019 8:18 pm
Caledonian Secrets
She’s a mistress that hides her secrets under fret
A flash of Victorian ankle maybe all that you receive
Her true joys often hidden beneath dreich petticoats
She’s the master of mystery, of guile and disguise
The tales she tells echo round the glens
Off barren croft walls and empty harbours
Her booming, brooding silence hides voices
Lost on the winds of time, home, yet no...
Wednesday 10th April 2019 8:13 pm
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