JUST ABOUT

  After the performance

 As grease paint

 Is wiped off,

 You can just about

 Smile into the mirror.

 When your costume

 Falls to the floor

 Uncared for,

 You can just about

 Step out of it.

 And later outside

 A closed theatre

 In the cool night air,

 You can just about

 Get over it.

(c) David Subacchi

From his collection 'Wh...

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NOT REALLY A STRANGER

I don't know what the right term is

For this kind of tide

It is high but not stormy

Grey flecked with white

Slightly misty, bad tempered

I get the feeling it would like

To burst through the walls

And drown me quietly

I stare through the windows

Of a seafront bistro

Designed to show the bay

At its best to visitors

But the waves ...

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    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...

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HEART OF WALES

Early morning leisure centre
Fresh from the pool
Hospital doctors huddle
Discussing surgical problems
And financial investments

A receptionist smiles
Refusing politely
To disclose the code
For free Wi-Fi. She says
It is for staff only

I buy a cup of tea
After ringing a brass bell
To summon service
Feel time pumping slowly
Through the heart of Wales.

Da...

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CASTLES

On wet afternoons

We pay to visit

The English castles

Grim towers of stone

Ditches of defence

Arrow slits above

Fortified gateways

Charities now care

For their maintenance

Count the children’s coins

Provide guided tours

Sell home-made chutney

We wonder around

Tugging Welsh forelocks

Before these ruins

...

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BARDI REVISITED

The road is better now

Climbing from Fornovo

Leaving behind the river

And the valley’s flatness

It’s surface is smoother

Than the winding track

That stirs my memory

At a certain point

The driver pulls over

Waiting for a colleague

To arrive on the down bus

After they exchange places

Our ascent continues

Towards B...

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