An Ingres Back
She has an Ingres back
She is a violin
And when she’s in his arms
She sweetly plays for him
She doesn’t know the words
He doesn’t know the tune
There’s a duet of sorts
In that sweet dark bedroom
His fingerwork is good
Her mouth is soft and warm
While she is in his arms
They will not come to harm
Her voice is like a lute
And y...
Tuesday 20th December 2011 8:16 am
in sleep
The rain snaps
on the window pane
like sticks.
Sleeping
a young man’s sleep -
he’s gone
head back
neck curved
a swan.
Breathe even
breathe deep
dream on
dream sweet.
I don’t sleep
lie thinking
I’ll not pass
this way
again as
dawn breaks
with rain.
Next night
alone
I fe...
Thursday 15th December 2011 10:41 am
in arms not meant
Smile sits, content
a dove upon a nest
settles down
for morning snooze
in arms, not meant.
In arms not meant
smile stretches
like a cat
in warmth
and harmony
content.
Smile knows
no matter
that it is not meant
for pleasure grows
and echoes
in another smile
another smile
content.
With warmth of ...
Thursday 8th December 2011 11:02 am
the note
"Did you have a good fuck?"
The note lies in the kitchen bin.
I've just come in from a date with the new man.
To me, our marriage was long over.
But the jagged writing told
this was not the case for you.
And, if I did have a good screw
I can't remember.
The pain held in that note
is with me still, thirty years on.
And your kindness...
Friday 25th November 2011 6:45 pm
unicorn
It was on Monday that I first saw the unicorn in my garden.
I noticed that he had to eat leaves from the trees.
If he bent his head to the grass his spiral horn would stick in the ground.
I started to feel sorry for the unicorn. He seemed lonely.
I realised I was in love with the unicorn.
He was so beautiful.
The unicorn and I talked for the first time.
He was ...
Wednesday 23rd November 2011 5:43 am
Space Junk
Catch a piece of space junk
Put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day
Maybe you could hide it
In your airing cupboard
Or you could sell it on ebay.
I guess a good place for you to keep it
Would be underneath your bed
Maybe today though you should stay indoors
In case a piece comes falling on your head.
Remember it’s the property
Of the...
Sunday 20th November 2011 10:32 am
bucket
Born in a bucket
Brought up by bitches
Fed on red mullet
Schooled by old witches
Housed in a pig stye
Ensconced in a rat run
Dressed in drab tawdrey
Shod in old cat gut
A mother called Rancid
A father called Squallor
Shat on and spat on
Biffed by a truncheon
Jailed in a drainhole
Pissed on by tossers
Left on a scrap heap
Torn at ...
Saturday 12th November 2011 3:55 pm
pride and joy
I guess I should have worried
When you used to chop up worms
But I was your loving mother
So I wasn’t too concerned.
Maybe it was a bad sign
When you set fire to your bed
But I was just so doting
“Oh dear” was all I said.
And on the occasion
You hacked off your sister’s plaits
I must have been on your side so
We’ll draw a veil o'er that.
The...
Tuesday 25th October 2011 6:20 pm
autumn egg
Lying on the muddy grass
among curled leaves
a shell, new hatched,
the inner curve
faint veined.
It is October now
how can this be.
An egg in autumn?
Above the estuary
silver shafts
glance down.
A curlew trills.
And I feel empty
as an autumn egg.
Saturday 22nd October 2011 9:33 pm
great north diver
Solitary in winter
I find you on the beach
sleepbound.
I’ve walked some miles across this sand
wind knocking me back.
On my right the sea battles.
My hair lashes my face.
In this chaos of desolation
you are a concentrated essence
a nugget of pure exhaustion.
What lies behind your dreaming ruby eye?
The pressure of the sea
h...
Thursday 20th October 2011 6:47 pm
beautiful in snow
If love is a tree
It is a tree in winter.
No lush romantic blur of green
To hide behind.
When spring gales blow
The branch will break.
The lightness of the naked winter bough
Springs back in gusty January days.
Nothing is hidden
From the heart or eye
As we stand firm against the chill.
Beautiful in snow.
Wednesday 19th October 2011 4:41 pm
son goes
I walk back up the lane
my toe within your heel
two journeys marked in mud.
The bus has gone
you’ll text me when
you’re on the train.
Back home, retrieve the key
wash up two cups,
and two crumbed plates.
Fold back the futon
shake the duvet
wash the sheets.
Put away the sugar till next time.
Sunday 16th October 2011 8:39 am
apple haiku
Cascades of pink lace
Adam and Eve in Eden
Skin, flesh, pip, stalk, gone
Cascades of pink lace
Adam and Eve meet a snake
Skin, flesh, pip, stalk, gone
Thursday 13th October 2011 7:10 pm
"The last remaining Mara hare . . . "
“The last remaining mara hare has moved on . . .”
I wonder where he went.
Was he upset because Scampie the meerkat died aged twelve?
A good age for a meerkat I’d suggest.
Or was he miffed because a new milk snake is on display
in the Tropical House? Did he want to be there too
snug in the palm-tree warmth
hopping over all the lizards, showing off?
“Th...
Thursday 6th October 2011 7:05 pm
beguiled by seals
On Porthgwidden beach
I was beguiled by seals
as, slippery as eels
they smoothly sparred and courted
romantically cavorted
on the darkling tide.
Nipping, so I could see revealed
two pink mouths snapping.
Their backs made
Loch Ness Monster shapes
then, two heads alert,
eager as dogs waiting
for a ball.
Chasing off again, both caught
...Saturday 1st October 2011 5:23 pm
barefoot self
I want to find my barefoot self
has she been waiting all this time
here in St Ives?
A little girl, I saw the beatniks on the pier
was mesmerised, left something there –
my raggetty-black-jumpered self
playing a guitar.
At Troika studio, pocket money spent –
something from the seconds shelf.
And a ceramic pendant, orange like the sun
on ...
Sunday 25th September 2011 8:18 am
owl
Owl sinks soft
A silk handkerchief
Bringing blackness to vole and leveret
Soft as fog
Sharp as razors owl sinks down
Like a blanket over a birdcage
Then
Swish, away, a lens shape,
Slips into the barn
Quiet as snow.
Sizes up his children ……….
Friday 16th September 2011 7:02 am
drift reservoir
The reservoir at Drift.
It is evening.
Deserted picnic benches, fishing signs.
Tension – depths of dark water,
a high retaining wall.
I walk along the parapet.
I look down.
I look across.
On the far shore a dead swan lies
breast blown, rib cage exposed,
feet blackwebbed leather,
a far scattering of feathers.
Hurried...
Saturday 10th September 2011 9:28 am
peace
Today
I feel a sense of peace
as if someone
had told me
that there is no such thing
as death.
And I felt as if
I’d known that all along.
Thursday 8th September 2011 10:51 am
earth
I felt you near today
as I was pulling weeds out in the rain.
You’re never there when I read my poems,
buy new clothes
or put my make-up on.
But today
when I was pulling weeds out in the rain
I felt you there
watching,
over my shoulder.
The strawberry runners
were stretching out their arms.
Cooch grass roots spread out l...
Tuesday 6th September 2011 2:22 pm
another kiss
Another kiss you’ll never have
you used to say to me.
When I was busy,
feeling tired,
and I would turn away.
If I had known how few
those kisses were to be
I would have spared the time
to give those kisses free.
So now I send those kisses back
ten thousand fold to thee
yes now I send those kisses back.
Wherever you may be...
Wednesday 31st August 2011 6:14 pm
on porthcurnow beach
Porthcurnow sand is made from shells
the sea is clear as air.
Granite rocks crouch crack-meshed
sparkling with embedded crystal.
We spent our first night here
in sleeping bags between two rocks
where we held hands.
Each time I woke
the stars had twirled around
creating a new picture.
At dawn I swam.
A tiny black leach attached ...
Sunday 28th August 2011 9:23 pm
china horses
When I was in my seventh year of heaven
white china horses galloped on the path,
moss was in the meadow,
goldfish flicked tails deep in the pond.
Herder to my lead sheep
I hid beneath the lilac tree
crushed blackcurrant buds,
made playgrounds for worms.
I discovered that lead has a smell
and worms can never play.
But I liked worms
An...
Friday 26th August 2011 4:44 pm
arrival
You arrive
in a flurry of bags and boxes.
We take a glass of wine,
walk across the field
so you can see the sea.
Through your eyes
I see everything
again.
Thank you.
Sunday 21st August 2011 11:02 pm
help please :)
Getting my act together re starting an Open Mic in Aggie. But . . . . does it make a difference which night of the week it is? Weds & Thurs seem popular on WOL's gig guide. But Wednesday's already booked.
And . . . does it matter?
Sunday 14th August 2011 12:09 pm
fat seal
There’s a seal in the harbour
fat as a bottle,
hankering after the “Jeanne Marie”.
The fisherman ignores
the black unblinking plea
but we, on the quayside,
wish he’d throw
a fish.
And I wish I was in the water too.
I want to squeeze his tight bulk to me,
feel the brush of hard whiskers
smell his ocean breath.
Want that ease of motion ...
Friday 12th August 2011 2:09 pm
the rub
It’s that time of the morning
when widows walk their dogs
avoiding the space at the breakfast table.
When frustrated wives ride horses
down the valley, just for the rub.
The beach is empty and the sea is warm.
I paddle and invent a song.
Sitting on a damp cold rock
I let the wind dry my feet
and I think
life is not so bad
for a woman witho...
Wednesday 10th August 2011 3:35 pm
groove around the kitchen - it's sunday!
Sunday 7th August 2011 9:13 am
by the roots
Sometimes
I start to pull
my hair out by the roots.
It’s just a little pain,
a tear, a hole forced from my head.
A very small attempt at a trepanning.
And as I sit daydreaming,
I find I’m holding strands
within my palm.
Fine spun threads!
I have to rise,
walk across the room
drop them in the bin.
And as the bin f...
Saturday 6th August 2011 7:23 am
rallying
I’m glad the steam rally won’t be here again.
I can ride past on the 85 with no reminder.
Nothing to make me dwell on those three days each year
When you were so engrossed – in steam!
Although we had the ancient taxi – off the plate -
You had to go there on your bike - I bussed it.
It seemed so romantic, meeting up
as you removed your cycle clips
while I f...
Tuesday 2nd August 2011 8:18 pm
silly housework poem (warning - contains the word bugger;)
I’ve lived here now three years and more
Bugger
Don’t look as good as it did before
Bugger
The skirting board has all gone fuzzy
Bugger
The colour’s dulled, the corners muzzy
Bugger
I’ve filled the place with loads of stuff
Bugger
Heaven knows I’ve got enough
Bugger
They say that after several years
Bugger
The dust bunnies get bigger...
Sunday 31st July 2011 11:30 am
diamante ghost
fingers
chill hard
grasping pulling scratching
scream soul ache loss
screaming aching losing
empty needy
ghost
Friday 29th July 2011 7:57 pm
diamante love
x
love
hot steamy
kissing sucking fucking
eyelids mouths fingers tongues
pulsing sweating panting
...
Thursday 28th July 2011 2:09 pm
by your leave
We walked out together in the morning
but I came back alone.
The mist was heavy.
You had on your best boots
for walking.
You didn’t bring me home.
Ties loosen
as time moves on.
I can spend a day
without a thought for you.
But sometimes
when the mist thickens
I hear your voice.
It never says goodbye.
Wednesday 27th July 2011 9:01 am
no place like home
Dusk seeps up through marshy ground
Gases bubble, a spooky sound
The owl swoops softly overhead
The bat flies from his foetid bed
But here is where I’d rather be
Not in the house where you haunt me.
The house looks warm and cosy though
Through the doorway I won’t go
Look through the window, you will see
A kitchen homely as can be.
But I know ...
Monday 25th July 2011 7:33 pm
white knights
White nights joust on the hill
Spoiling for a fight
And in a lonely cottage
I turn on the light.
Saturday 23rd July 2011 8:01 pm
whitechapel ladies
Oh won’t you come down with me Whitechapel ladies
Oh won’t you come down with me Whitechapel girls
It’s for Mary and Annie and Long Liz and Catherine
Mary Jane Kelly and all of their woes.
Oh when you go down to the streets of old London
The alleys, the rookeries, doss houses too
Remember us ladies who did it for pennies
And never no never for the love of you.
...Sunday 17th July 2011 5:01 pm
wind in the chimney
The wind in the chimney echoes
echoes.
Air skims the pot
brings a memory floating
down to the ashes.
No coal for the fire.
The hearth it lies empty
empty empty
just the wind in the chimney
roaring roaring.
Saturday 16th July 2011 11:29 pm
carrion
The ravens’ claws keep steady grip
on this castle for their keeping.
Winds whistle through empty squares.
Not even a shard of glass remains to rattle.
Stark on this buttress cliff
the stones look out to sea.
I thought it must have been
the isolation hospital.
Saw in my mind, islanders tucked up
sweating out the fevers and the agues
obliviou...
Friday 1st July 2011 4:00 pm
glastonbury musings
pop stars were skinny
cheesecloth and loons all the rage
in my hippy day
now they are podgy
where are all the handsome ones?
thank god I'm past it!
Monday 27th June 2011 4:52 pm
feather, wood and bone
Wood and feather
brittle bone
silver leaf.
An obvious marriage
behind glass
to keepsafe.
There is a world
to know.
Place on paper.
It’s a poem
an heirloom.
If only I could fill
the box with wreathes of mist then
I could be an artist and a poet.
Smoke out the meaning.
Let it breathe.
Feather, wood and bone.
fo...
Sunday 26th June 2011 8:04 pm
lap of luxury
An endless supply of Mojitos
A wind-up radio
A wall to kick a ball against
Or a children’s pillow
A bar of soap, some sun cream,
Strings and strings of pearls
A virtual sherry trifle
Or a wide-eyed blow up girl.
Lifetime’s supply of champagne
A cup of jasmine tea
A pencil and some paper
A crate of scotch whiskey
The V&A Museum
A karaoke machin...
Saturday 25th June 2011 5:12 pm
the sea by night
The sea by night is a beast of a different nature
Sinuously moving around the harbour wall
A snake, a boa, suffocating granite barricades.
It slips and mounts like a lover
Crashes home, then silent, waits.
An enemy, a mystery, oily, oleaginous,
Creeping deeper than fate.
In innocence boats rise and fall, as if sleeping.
Starlight sparkles and the to...
Friday 24th June 2011 7:18 am
last time
Mouth dry as an Egyptian coffin
I lie, a heap of ashes in your arms
Young passion is so wet and green
in age it darkens into smoke and bone
Smoulder up to death’s dark curtain darling
Dust to dust you always will be mine
My heart, a fire pit of braziers burning
Who knows when it is for the final time?
Wednesday 22nd June 2011 2:52 pm
watching paint
I love to laze on summer days
as brush strokes slip
and bristles drip –
a front door is transformed from grey
to vibrant red, or cobalt blue
enhancing life with changing hue
the Forth Bridge glistens in the sky
Van Gogh’s sunflowers burn the eye,
Renoir’s ladies laze and lie
a palette knife spreads thickly by
a laden brush of silky oil
...Saturday 11th June 2011 6:48 am
chocolate shoes
I want to buy you chocolate shoes
with cherry buttons at the heel
a petticoat of sugarspun
like candifrost
and sparklers
I want to buy you chocolate shoes
with parma violets at the heel
and as the chocolate melts into
the tender crevice slip my tongue
to find the delicacy there
the cleavage inbetween your toes
I want to buy you ch...
Wednesday 8th June 2011 3:25 pm
waterperry
at waterperry
iris stood
elongated strands of blue
box-clipped peacocks fan
tea and cakes were all home-made -
there was a snake
i saw him
curving through a glade
of fern
into a bubbling stream
at waterperry
when we were vaguely one
though you were always distant
in control
i waited till you got me home
one day I...
Thursday 2nd June 2011 8:05 pm
rebel in the boneyard
I’m a rebel in the boneyard
I don’t give up
I scream and cry
and strut my stuff
I wear tight jeans
I don’t sleep nights
I’m a rebel in the boneyard
feelin alright
I’m a rebel in the boneyard
and that’s good news
don’t know if it’s drugs
don’t know if it’s booze
or bipolar disorder
that brings on the blues
I’m a rebel in the bon...
Sunday 29th May 2011 5:41 pm
midnight
I smell candles
nipped.
Tweaked into smoke
by tawny fingers.
I see a coathanger of stars
as Leo crouches.
Midnight.
A mist sneaks in.
A distant roundabout is lost
on the horizon.
Saturday 28th May 2011 8:14 pm
from a distance
I thought I saw you on the hill.
A silhouette
leant to the wind.
Walking the November road
in slanting rain
thought it was you
but I was wrong again.
That message
in a bottle.
Who was it from?
Thought it looked familiar
yet the handwriting was changed.
Voice in the darkness,
hushed tones.
It sounded like you.
...
Monday 23rd May 2011 12:26 pm
on lundy
Lundy was a distant man.
Aloof.
Towering.
A misty man.
Severe.
I thought
“Poor man
he’s been battered by the ocean
since time
began.”
Lundy kept his shroud in place
I could not see his face
his granite nose and chin.
He would not let me in.
Three light houses had he.
I thought
“Silly Lundy!”
Because the first...
Friday 13th May 2011 8:55 am
watering mother
Too frail for a flannel now
she stands beneath a peal of rain.
Her daughter wields the watering can.
The water has to be just right -
elbow-measured. In this way
the tables turn, mother becomes child.
There’s a delicacy, feeling safe,
now privacy has gone. She’d thought
that seeing mother naked
would be wrong.
But, carers are dis...
Monday 9th May 2011 6:57 pm
cable laying
Communication of the deepest kind
across the depths of undulating oceans.
Marconi knew.
He wanted words to spread.
Isthmuses and continents are linked.
Communication.
I didn’t understand until we met
at Poldhu Cove and visited the monument,
our pilgrimage.
With your usual grace, you touched the panel.
Fingertip to bronze,
communicat...
Monday 2nd May 2011 7:35 am
royal wedding day
I notice my champagne flute has a chip –
trust me to pick the only one.
But then
what can you expect from Oxfam?
Just yesterday I thought
“Stuff the royal wedding!
What do I care?
Shall I become a media-manipulated pawn?
Vive la revolution!”
Yet here I am today,
defiant with my bottle of champagne
and M&S Chinese takeaway.
While...
Friday 29th April 2011 2:10 pm
four weddings
Acton registry office
four months gone
in a dress dull as a sparrow
shorn hair and lace up boots.
I was laughing as I signed the book,
then lost my voice.
*
My friend’s wedding,
her dress twenties sleek.
Dancing in the Polish Centre
first taste of champagne
and salmon.
The church is now turned into flats
with carparking an...
Friday 29th April 2011 9:43 am
the king and queen
The king and queen are out today
Rip-roaring over edges
Making bulletpoints.
He takes her by the hand
“Fly with me – our eggs can last awhile
In your sweet absence!”
No dove's-tales for them.
Passion hard as arrows -
Flight an ecstasy, a ballet
As together they worship freedom.
Settling amongst a spangle of flowers
He feeds h...
Sunday 24th April 2011 1:00 pm
mousey
The woman who smelled of mouse
All blousey in her felt hat
Was in love with the man with the stubbly neck
Who lived with the flea bitten cat.
He admired her red-dyed hair
And her eye liner all skewiff
You could tell that he was enamoured of her
When he started boasting a quiff.
One day I saw him on the bus
Perusing the Argos mag
...
Thursday 14th April 2011 11:21 am
female ritual
wipe dust from
the golden stopper
clunky little bottle
ignored since last October
shake well
hear the ball-bearing-click
as swirls of cream and carmine
blend in female ritual
slightly stuck,
a rind of pink plastic
peels away from the rim
that artificial smell
makes me remember
last summer
winter’s gone
in war...
Sunday 10th April 2011 9:33 am
the male twins
sad to see
the male twins
both so very plain
lank haired
loose lipped
short legged
wide hipped
and two of them
it seems so like sod’s law, just . . .
why can’t they both be gorgeous?
Wednesday 6th April 2011 7:59 pm
meat and potatoes
It’s a meat and potatoes kind of life
now I no longer sing.
A getting in the coal
sort of existence.
Without love to bring
a bubble to the yeasty bread.
Without yearning
making the heart knock.
Imagination’s horns are safely lopped
now I no longer dream
and romance’s wagging tail
is docked.
Flowers dry in the vase
now...
Sunday 3rd April 2011 7:01 am
The Tooth
It’s always there.
Each time I visit,
on the polished table
beside the glass of water
and inhalers.
The tooth.
I know they care for you
so how can they
leave it there?
Old and rotten,
broken, grey.
It been left for months
unless of course
it is a different one. . .
a different tooth.
I begin to recognise it.
...
Friday 1st April 2011 2:41 am
foxheart
Fox curls round
a rosequartz heart
in my garden.
Above her head
a rose is planted,
two dusky poppies
fresh from their pots.
Soon, around her heart
they will entwine
their roots.
In summer
we’ll remember her.
Saturday 26th March 2011 8:51 am
warningwolverine
WARNING there's a WOLVERINE
RUN AMOK on WOL
he's eating all the bunnies up
and screaming LOL
He's DeconstructingPOets
and HE HATES us all to BITS
he's MEAN and Cruel and UGLY
and he's getting on my nerves
He's got a trunk and everything
and really smelly breath
he says his name is WOLIVE
and he...
Tuesday 22nd March 2011 2:33 pm
on waking
On waking
after dreams of an Arabian souk
having no money for smoky dancers,
whose sand clad feet slap dusty alleys
I hold a microscopic lizard
he wriggles in my cupped hands
when he leaps away I see
he is skinny as a wire.
A childhood friend not seen in years appears.
There is a bus ride, the bus near missed,
the road skirts perilous cli...
Sunday 20th March 2011 5:58 pm
museum diary part 2
ATTENTION – forty visitors from Rosemundy will arrive at 4 o’clock!!
One of the harbour model display lights is flickering
I sold a copy of Exploring Cornwall Underwater but it was not priced
I charged £3.50 hope that was alright
Graham – the clock is still not chiming – maybe it’s been overwound?
THE ALFRED RICKARD MEMORIAL PLAQUE HAS
BROKEN AWAY FROM THE W...
Saturday 19th March 2011 8:35 am
kingfisher stripe
Grey hair with a kingfisher stripe
Fills me with hope
No longer knowing who to be
I see her, an elderly
Jean Shrimpton from another age
Good bone structure she was all the rage
Grey hair with a kingfisher stripe
Grey hair with a kingfisher stripe
Elderly partner in his leather cap
A dithering almost lost it chap
Can’t make the stairs to the co...
Wednesday 16th March 2011 7:42 pm
little dog digging
with sandwiches sanding
and babygros crawling
show offs astranding
and dungarees paddling
holdinghands lovers
and little dog digging
some muffled sunbathing
there’s no one complaining
sitting on blankets
sunglasses and wellies
deep rock pools enticing
as sandcastle city
(no planning permission)
grows wetly and slushy
from bright plas...
Sunday 13th March 2011 4:41 pm
rabbit
walking
I see a rabbit
hopping
tiny as a brown velvet button
he stops
afraid that I follow
but
he is intent on going
the very way
I wish to go
not wanting to scare
I stop too
suspiciously
we eye
one another
this could go on
all day :)
Saturday 12th March 2011 7:02 am
total immersion
There was a man I used to fancy
And a woman I admired
Saw them on the beach this morning
Struggling with their crippled child.
Almost too big for them to carry
Lolling heavy in his chair
They lifted high the clumsy carriage
As I tried hard not to stare.
He wore a wet suit and they wheeled him
Deep into the turquoise sea.
They laid him gently on a su...
Thursday 10th March 2011 8:48 am
angels in ealing
In Ealing blackbirds sing all night.
I’m here to see the woman who cannot die
I pass Christ’s church, the door is wide.
There’s a sign – capitol letters in felt tip
“Open for prayer and contemplation”
I go in but I cannot settle.
I walk around
end up by the Lady Chapel.
Everyone’s head is bowed.
Is that what you’re supposed to do?
...
Monday 7th March 2011 8:32 am
Holding the hand of the model maker
Today I have been holding the hand of the model maker.
With my brush I attempt to make good -
as they say.
He died soon after he finished
a wonderful re-incarnation
of our lost harbour.
He made it as light relief while working on
some effigy of violence.
That was his real job.
I like to think of him
losing himself in ...
Sunday 27th February 2011 6:25 pm
museum diary
"Good Luck! Have a good season!"
"I have read the child and vulnerable people policy
the storage heater by the counter feels stone cold
napkin rings £10 – spares in drawer with light houses
transferred £5 from churn to box
no post
have read the “people policy”
Ann left a parcel for Jenny under the counter
G. Wilson became new member – cash...
Tuesday 22nd February 2011 6:40 pm
lament for a dead badger
There’s a badger on the road
pushed into the verge
lying in a puddle
getting rather nibbled
his fancy coat is raddled
all snarled up by the rain
Each time as I approach him
I seem to see him stand up
shake himself in puzzlement
get up and run away
If I lived close by him
I’d take him and I’d bury him
I’ll have to phone the counci...
Monday 21st February 2011 7:48 am
a nonpareil
I saw the ragged crow
hover over gravestones
a twig almost a branch
clasped in his crusty beak
an offering to his raucous mate
a promise of love and nestbuilding
for in his beady little eye she –
the epitome of beauty shines
while he in handsomeness to her appears
a nonpareil.
Saturday 19th February 2011 4:42 pm
eating spring
I have to eat the spring
Gulp down its green life
Bite the buds
Chew on the writhing stalks
Swallow green energy
I have to eat the spring
Winter was a meagre time
An era of starvation
Spring is full and wide and deep
Its promise speaks deliciously to me
I have to eat the spring
Nibbling it won’t be enough
I have to make a banquet...
Friday 18th February 2011 8:36 am
blackbird's song
I pull the curtains on the blackbird’s song
The youth of the year’s calling
I’m safe indoors
Stoke up the fire
Let winter last so long
That spring will come
Too late
Too late for me
The blackbird's song
It only brings back a past ache
Let young ears hear the blackbird’s song
As old ears quake
This dusk time is too raw for me
...
Wednesday 16th February 2011 11:13 pm
scar tissue
Scar tissue - pure
impregnable
smooth
life rolls off it like a glacier
Tough as old boots that’s me
Scar tissue
as blemish free as
porcelain
a reflective eye
cool as a pearl
Scar tissue
Tough as old boots that’s me
Scar tissue
Tearless and fearless
Cut glass features
Taught as perfection
Ignore the re...
Tuesday 15th February 2011 5:44 pm
happy valentines day guys!
Monday 14th February 2011 9:24 am
What I'd like to do today
Mum, I’d like to come and
sit in your kitchen at the formica table
drink coffee, eat chocolate biscuits
in the warm
I’ve so much to tell you
we’d laugh about everything
forget me knots in the garden
the apple tree would be in blossom
Dad, I’d like to visit you today
see what you’ve been up to
we’d go to your workshop
I’d sit on your paint...
Sunday 13th February 2011 7:40 am
paper mache
Like lifting lino - underneath
another world revealed.
Adverts for corsets, garden twine
and orthopaedic shoes.
News of a war, or peace in our time.
*
I move the realistic rocks we made
for the museum. I painted them, grey and gnarled,
but it was you who made the frame.
And stretched between the two
is paper mach...
Saturday 12th February 2011 8:33 am
gazelle ghazal
Quiet as a hart in the forest
She’s tiptoeing, his tame gazelle
With caribou songs she serenades -
Are his ears deaf to his tame gazelle?
He looks about, antlers challenging
An elk blinded by his tame gazelle
With springbok start, did he notice?
She’s whispering, his tame gazelle
The antelope are all stampeding
Yet she stands sto...
Thursday 10th February 2011 7:05 am
wayne
I think I'm in love with wayne sleep
I know some may say he's a creep
but that cute perky smile
would beguile for a while
I think I'm in love with wayne sleep
I think I'm in love with wayne sleep
and if to his bed I did creep
I'm sure I'd have fun
I just know he's the one
I think I'm in love woth wayne sleep
I know what you're going to ...
Sunday 6th February 2011 7:26 am
loneliness
Loneliness enfolds like a blanket
a coat of no colour
a cloud without a lining
only a mirror
Wrap yourself
windingsheet tight
stare out the night
Loneliness enfolds like a blanket.
Tuck in your toes
afraid of life’s bite
shroudsafe
protected.
Loneliness enfolds like a blanket.
Saturday 5th February 2011 3:40 pm
why do bananas
Why do bananas
Rock hard, green, intractable -
Once bought, turn to squelch!
Friday 4th February 2011 2:23 pm
dove
He said
Dove
Let me cup your feathers
In my palm
Cajole your flickering heart
Until you coo
He said
Lie warm within my arm
Plump as a lamb,
Caress the curls of your astrakhan
He said
Let me ease within
Until pearls come
She
Simply formed her body
To a smile
And said
Sweet nothing
Wednesday 2nd February 2011 9:59 am
elephant
I always loved the elephant
The elephant in my room
We used to have such laughs and chats
I hope he comes back soon!
Each day was such a riot -
oh what would happen next!
but now it's gone all quiet
and I am really vexed.
For there has been spring cleaning
He had to go away
And now the house is boring
Cos he’s not here to play.
...
Saturday 29th January 2011 9:13 am
like paper
In a dream
I took your hand.
It felt like paper.
You tried to hide it
in your pocket.
But I pursued it.
Then you moved away.
Wednesday 26th January 2011 8:34 am
turtle haiku
Turtle swims - happy
Plastic bag floats - enticing
Nobility sunk by man
Tuesday 25th January 2011 7:00 am
books haiku
the books I once bought
now faded, yellowed, musty
where did my time go?
Tuesday 25th January 2011 5:27 am
company
there's a spider in my bathroom
and a mouse in my kitchen
a moth in my bedroom
and something in the loft -
who says I live alone?
Monday 24th January 2011 8:38 am
ghazal - under grass
The lane winds on, it’s overgrown with grass
Too dark for daisies, ivy crawls through grass
The rusty swing stands creaking like a ghost
The rabbit hutch sits empty in the grass
The gate hangs off its hinges, hesitates
Mildew adorns glass panes, like slimey grass
Children don’t come now, keeping a secret
Sweets are no longer hidden in the gras...
Saturday 15th January 2011 4:26 pm
a little journey
Yours was a little journey
Barely from A to B
You never ventured very far
You chose to stay with me
A paw laid gently on my hand
Told more than any tale
A purring presence on my bed
Your charm could never fail
You always were a slinky girl
So sooty black and chic
My gemma, little witchy cat
You always were unique
The garden is your bed now, ...
Friday 14th January 2011 7:22 pm
sarah beaney
I wish I was like Sarah Beaney
She’s strong and she’s tough and she’s cute
She’s got those great tits
And that intriguing lip
I wish I was like Sarah Beaney
Oh I wish I could be Sarah Beaney
She’s sexy and funny and smart
She’s never afraid of mistakes that she’s made
She knows everything
She’s the queen she’s the king
Oh I wish I could be Sar...
Thursday 13th January 2011 11:27 am
chocolate
come live with me
in a chocolate house
with a chocolate cat
and a chocolate mouse
there’s a chocolate garden
and a chocolate path
we’ll drink hot chocolate in our chocolate bath
the roof will be made of Toblerone
the windows made from lollypops
we’ll have a Milky Bar telephone
and a chocolate trolley to take to the shops
we’ll have After Eigh...
Wednesday 12th January 2011 11:19 am
dirty dog
first memory
wanting something
I couldn’t have
out with grandma
saw a toy dog
grey and dirty
lying in the gutter
I wanted him
and grandma
my accomplice
took him home
to her flat
and let me play
with him
mum came back
from having
her hair done
little dog was seen
for the first time
my mot...
Sunday 9th January 2011 8:09 pm
I wonder
I measure my life since you've been gone
the first year I waited for whales to come
the second I learned how to beat a drum
the third year I started to sing my song.
I wonder, this year, what will I become?
Sunday 9th January 2011 8:14 am
smoke and mirrors
She lives her life by smoke and mirrors
Wafts through cold halls of smoke and mirrors
Looks high and low through smoke and mirrors
Searches for him through smoke and mirrors
He lit his face with smoke and mirrors
He hid his heart with smoke and mirrors
Shadows are deep with smoke and mirrors
Hidden she weeps in smoke and mirrors
She ...
Thursday 6th January 2011 4:59 pm
ros/e
on the pavement
a plastic cup
of new year's eve wine
fills
with new year's day
rain
ros/e
Wednesday 5th January 2011 9:19 am
motherfuckinfox
Look you motherfuckers
I’m a fox, right??
I need something tasty
Something tasty
So I can live
Right?
You scumbags
leave your garbage out for me
Right?
Then you complain that I
come and dispose of your
Crap!
Well sod you!
I’m here in the cold
And here you are
With leftover turkey
And bacon and stuff
Do you think I’ve ha...
Sunday 2nd January 2011 5:39 pm
A charm of goldfinches
a charm of goldfinches
settle on the teasels
making them sway
delicate metronomes
of gold, jet and ruby
illuminates the
scrappy winter garden
alighting in sequence
like beads on the string
of a short day’s sunlight.
between hedges a wren
flits like a skimming stone
low and quiet
and all the world
is whispering.
...
Sunday 2nd January 2011 2:57 pm
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