HE DID THE REST

(For Barry John - Rugby Legend)

Never a man

To overcomplicate matters

"Chuck me the ball

And I'll do the rest"

His simple philosophy

Retiring before the age of 28

Because he'd had enough

Already a lifetime's worth

Of achievements to contemplate

In the decades that followed.

In New Zealand

They called him 'The King'

Back in Wales

A g...

Read and leave comments (2)

EQUAL IN GREATNESS

(For Michael Collins – Astronaut 1930-2021)

The fourth person to spacewalk

And the second

To orbit the moon alone

While fellow crew members

Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong

Walked on the lunar surface

Sometimes glory is shared unevenly

But greatness often depends

On those backstage

Silently pulling levers

And watching instruments

Al...

Read and leave comments (3)

A ROUGH DIAMOND
(For Norman Hunter 1943-2020)

His name always evokes a smile
On the faces of footballers
Schooled on the uneven battlefields
Of a different era.

Days of the enthusiastic header,
Demolition shoulder,
Iron obstruction
And scything tackle.

Even those who carry no torch
For Leeds United or England
Today nod in respect
For a player who did as asked

And fulfilled hi...

Read and leave comments (2)

INSIDE A CHRISTMAS CARD

Inside a Christmas card
From prisoners afraid,
In a factory in China
Where nothing much is paid,
A handwritten message
From poor souls enslaved,
In oppressive conditions
Where festive things are made.

Telł somebody beg the authors
The truth about this trade,
That those who make big money
Our wretched lives degrade
So in this season of goodwill
When joy sho...

Read and leave comments (1)

THE COLLECTOR

Thou shalt pass the plate of brass

With felt to deaden the ring of coins

Or take the collection

In bag of leather or bowl of wood

Remembering to avert thine eyes

At the widows mite

And the rich man’s notes.

Thou shalt wear a smile

Of indifference

Even unto those who turn their heads

Or pass the parcel quickly to their neighbour

Or over th...

Read and leave comments (3)

    A MAN HOLDING HIS HORSE

    Poor Dai never got the hang of it,

    At school in our first lesson

    On art appreciation

    We studied

    'A Man Holding His Horse'

    By George Stubbs.

    The teacher issued us

    With notebooks

    In which to record

    Feelings and impressions

    Arising from the painting.

    Dai wrote...

Read and leave comments (2)

A TIDAL RELATIONSHIP

Ours was a tidal relationship,

It ebbed and flowed

Over hidden shipwrecks,

Sometimes calm,

Sometimes smashing defences,

Opening cuts on beaches

Then healing them

With the soothing sand

That fills each wound.

Ours was an unsteady relationship,

Seaweed covered driftwood

Slid beneath our feet

As we slipped and stumbled

Over the flots...

Read and leave comments (3)

 A55

 Wet windscreen

 High up

 Near Holywell,

 Relentless rain

 Pounding glass

 Obscuring

 Merseyside's

 Distant landmarks,

 Eyes focussed

 On tail lights.

 Soon we descend

 Heading eastwards

 Leaving behind

 Welsh hills

 Veiled in mist,

 Wipers waving,

 Overtaking,

 Still listening

 To Liverpool

 On the radio.

Read and leave comments (3)

Read and leave comments (2)

HAMLET FROM THE FRONT ROW

In the front row ready to watch Hamlet

I stretch out my legs contentedly

“These are the best seats and the cheapest

You can see everything from here”

Says the guy next to me

“It’s like being part of the action”

I nod politely

The ghost doesn't appear

We have to imagine him

At the back of the theatre

So we swivel our heads

Unco...

Read and leave comments (6)

EXCITEMENT

That snow white Vauxhall Cresta

With its red leather seats

And stunning chromium bumpers

Flashing through the town streets

In the front passenger seat

I waved to friends going by

As dad raced the engine

Keeping the rev counter high

That pure white Vauxhall Cresta

With its iconic look

A classic sixties motor

The best one in the book

The pu...

Read and leave comments (2)

BERSHAM

We wonder amongst the ruins

Rusting trucks and cutting gear

Severed cables protruding

From weathered walls

And the pit head wheel

Still proud above us

Preserved temporarily

By municipal crumbs

And volunteer labour

Only open occasionally

For public inspection

We whisper questions

Reverentially

Here the miners lamps

Here the cramped cage

Read and leave comments (1)

TOO LATE

Too late now to strike sparks with words on poetry’s anvil

Too lengthy a journey of diversion and distraction

Now weariness forces me to pause

Beside this twisted trail

My wrinkled hand trembling as I write;

Inspirations of a lifetime compete for attention

Triumph and disappointment fight to be immortalised

But the sands fall steadily

In a glass that w...

Read and leave comments (5)