Poems
Berries in the snow
Hidden in barren boughs iced berries, like frosted rubies, await the raw sunshine warmth of the day. They spatter the monochromatic blandscape of a winter in post viral modernity, dancing and laughing in the breeze. The gathering sun articulates their inevitable doom as it arcs across a pale cerulean sky, cut glass crystal crowns trembling …
To Derek
I miss The early morning kitchen cups of tea Catching up on the news and gossip I miss Those conversations across the desk tops Pretty much doing the same I miss Being summoned from afar And taking my reading glasses – just in case I miss Being texted or called in boring meetings Just to …
The Corona Quiet
So quiet the land – the lanes, the paths the leafy glades. Where in the air viral shadow evades surgeon scalpel blades. Corona cripples cursed confused countries, Crying out for medicine and medicals. Rage against a parasite That Earth itself has sent. Covid 19 coursing, carousing, carelessly carefree through the blood of this us – …
A RAGE Of Cancer
I am RAGE! And rage is ME. Blinding, bubbling, Burning, broiling, RAGE. Erupts from me, like lava from some vehement, vengeful, violent volcano, bent on disruption. I am FEAR (too). FEAR, festers inside me, A savage scar, and I can’t see past the C Word Now. FEAR has blinded me, lives with me. An …
Competing Religion: From the window of a train
All across the flat lands, The scattered stoic stone spires of English churches, reach towards the sky, in tribute to their god, Crying to be heard, A testament to the toil of their beliefs. And in the fields of gold, The withered wooden limbs of lightening trees, reach towards it too, in honour of their …
Work In Progress
And the noise, the noise, It’s all white in my head. And all I want, Is to go back to bed. Endless lists within lists of things I must do, The priorities of others, rising like a tide, Wave after wave of them locked in a queue. And I’m drowning, not waving. And …
Green is for Remembrance
So now green is for remembrance, And yellow roses too. And the slippers in the hall That lie and wait here still, for you. You’re everywhere in my home, And in my garden too. And yet nowhere in my life, And I don’t know what to do. From, the pegs on the washing line, To …
Our Tess
We had a dog that came free with a lead, A young black puppy – a mix of a breed. We called her Tess, and it seemed to suit her well – For chasing sheep o’er hill and fell. Though Grandma never got that he was a she, And him was a her not a …
Broken Lies
Too well I slaked my thirst On truth untold. (Alas) Too well. A bitter potion, (of) salt and fire and acid, That staked, then raked my heart, Like dry leaves in wet grass. Reverberating. Ricocheting. Pinball in a machine without lights To guide it from the then, to the now and beyond. That truth …
Pantomime
In the castle of my heart, You are the keep. In the doorways of my mind, You hold the key. In the shadows of my memory, You are the light. In the temple of my soul, You are the pillars. In the pantomime of my life, You are the finale. Yes you are. No I’m …