I wrote this after visiting the Concrete Menagerie in Branxton, Northumberland. I also made a filmpoem of this for the Read our Lips Filmpoem competiton 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKF0BH4b64g

My fingers trace the indentations pressed

By previous hands; the clefts and dents

Formed in cement by an ageing man

For (as some would think him) an imperfect son

For whom, they...

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Dirty waves filter

Through undulant flotsam -

Sticks, half full plastic bottles,

Yellowed polystyrene nestling

In the grip of blue rubber glove;

Dissolving toilet roll garnish.

Refuse sack in a slick of wind

Takes leap of faith from

Inside council dustbin.

Ends its brief rebellion in the

Wheel arch of a passing bus.

February 2014

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Fly, little blackbird: deny the smallness

Of your trap while you can.

I will miss the eloquent waving

Of those spindle wrists, the

Evensong played on flighty fingers.

While you are gone I will dabble down,

Dredge for baited crumbs with which

I hope to swell your hollow craw.

It cannot be so simple as to

Wish for you the bluest skies –

Instead, skirt swift the iso...

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These small stones were a Mindful Writing Challenge set in Januaryby https://www.facebook.com/writingourwayhome - the task was to write a small something every day - something you saw, something you read, heard, felt....It takes some discipline to put something down everysingle day, but as you get used to it you find yourself taking more notice of everything, and thinking oh! Small stone! I found ...

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These small stones were a Mindful Writing Challenge set in Januaryby https://www.facebook.com/writingourwayhome - the task was to write a small something every day - something you saw, something you read, heard, felt....It takes some discipline to put something down everysingle day, but as you get used to it you find yourself taking more notice of everything, and thinking oh! Small stone! I found ...

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This is another of my illustrated story poems. It is a sweet story of a little biscuit that comes to life. We have a few daytrips that always seem to place the little fellow in peril, so in the end he has to leave. Sad and sweet at the same time. All work copyrighted Jane Burn.

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Sunday 19th January, 2014, Commercial Union House, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne. What a brilliant way to spend a morning!

Dominic Berry’s Writing for Children and Family Audiences workshop was amazing. Dominic is engagingly enthusiastic and led a series of timed ‘stream of consciousness’ writing exercises followed by a thirty second reading of the first lines of the work we had managed t...

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This is a book I have written and illustrated that both children and adults can enjoy. It is a homage to my childhood love, Dr Seus and is a celebration of rhyme. The central character helps us understand how wonderful it is to have even one friend that understands and accepts us - that there can be light in the loneliness. I will post a few excerpts. All work copyrighted Jane Burn.

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There’s a Dog Loose in the Woods

Foxhound splinters from the baying mass of legs,

Escapes quick beneath the mist of exhaled dregs –

Down the plough, through copse, he runs about a mile,

Heading straight up the track with a dewlap smile.

Happy little fellow you don’t know your place

And I’m sad at the gaiety in your face.

Thick mud smothers your black and tan belly 

Lea...

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These small stones were a Mindful Writing Challenge set in Januaryby https://www.facebook.com/writingourwayhome - the task was to write a small something every day - something you saw, something you read, heard, felt....It takes some discipline to put something down everysingle day, but as you get used to it you find yourself taking more notice of everything, and thinking oh! Small stone! Here are...

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Blackpool, October

Horizontal icy rain

Driving into my face like

Spiked, javelin needles

Forcing me to close my eyes;

Icy rigor mortis cheeks.

Silvered ring of carriage horse,

Steel edged feet on sea-front road

Cut through the cacophony -

Jumbled electrical din

Of slot machine Alcatraz.

Noisome smells of overused,

Unclean burger fat deposits -

...

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Baby’s Breath

Arrive, slithering -

Bloodied moisture, screaming,

Chord still unbroken.

Skin on skin, red stains.

Silent promises, heartbeats -

Indigo eyes open.

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Beloved Child

Beloved child I watch you sleep

As you chase dreams with every breath.

Flickering eyelids, slumber deep       -

Beloved child I watch you sleep.

I see a flit of worry creep

Across your brow; the briefest sweep.

Beloved child I watch you sleep

As you chase dreams with every breath.

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Cambois Beach

He walks ten yards ahead,

Orbiting at a safe distance; 

Ash coloured gravel pings 

Under our boots on cliff top path. 

My little boy, scoring

Lines in sand with scraps of driftwood -   

He runs, bare feet skim

Beige expanse of flat as he speeds.

Steeply inclined walkway

Leading down to the beach is scuffed

With traipsed up, dried out sand;

Sal...

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Clam Cyclops

Elusive quahog I -

Willowy seaweed nestling;

Salt stained ocean truffle.

Empty, beach strewn

Twice shelled ghost,

Smashed beneath the

Blade beaked, gutter

Artillery of mercurial,

Screechy, leather- footed

Seagull rodomontade.

I will abscond

This abalone bed;

Curl my ego instead

In the palm of

A moon tide angel.

Remain upwind of

T...

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After the Rain

Jewelled spheres of tiny plumpness

Dangle transparently on a

Cotton thread delicate framework.

Bulbous reflections throb and pulse

On convex skins, as trembling wind

Disrupts their precarious cling

Onto flimsy, gossamer grass.

Swimming dewy grapes, at the mercy

Of speedily nibbling sheep;

Beware of careless hikers boot!

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Dearly Beloved

Beaten, rough edged ingot;
Golden handcuff, yellow snare,
Hammered, polished, altar’ed
Carat circle, bright to wear.

Antidote to singledom,
Eternal tawny band.
Shield from infidelity shines
From finger four, left hand.

Glowing, hallmarked woman,
Displays hand on satin lap – 
Spinster friends admiring
Precious Chinese finger trap.

Tarnished trace of decades
Whic...

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Deepsea

Angler

Ugly, slack jawed

It navigates the black

Inspires snag tooth benthic horror

Mantrap

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Downward Spiral

A lonesome circling bird

Pitched against thermals; straining, lifting.

Wing tips - jagged outlines

Conjuring air, magician’s fingers.

Down, spiralling in its

Decreasing predatory circle

Glass bead eye seeks movement -

Perceptible, smothered deep within

Snagged undergrowth tangles.

Swansdown mouse freezes, still

As death; betrayed by trembling w...

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Driving on a Hot Day

Liquid mercury heat sheen licks

Over sizzling, crested road humps.

Driving, squint-eyed against the sun,

Surprised how shimmering mirage

Fosters forgotten memories

Of extra value days dealt out

In August daylight double length.

A teasing dare would cause me to

Kick off my cheap seaside flip-flops;

Walk barefoot on scalding tarmac,

Wincing ...

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Thirty Days

Thirty days hath September

Thirty in April and June;

Thirty days (slightly under)

For the orbit of the moon.

Thirty Days is the title

Of a Star Trek episode;

Thirty days of Sudoku

For those good at cracking codes.

Thirty days is the shelf life

Of plastic microwave meals

Thirty days or your money

Back on most consumer deals

Thir...

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Apathy

I

Am a

Five-toed sloth

Contemplating

Cobalt sky above.

Deadfall jungle floor spreads

In reverse pamoramic

Beneath my great hairy backside.

Procrastinating dirt collects in

Cracks on the surface of this sleeping skin;

As ivory talons take root, thrust

Deep into petrifying branch.

Kangaroo pouch life.

Safe.

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Lighting Up

Well hello, old friend! I see you peeping
There among the rummaged handbag debris
Of a fellow addicts life. One moment
Till a practised hand caresses your length,
Inflaming a red tipped longing for
Pleasures passed over, dearly remembered.
I hungrily observe your smoking trail
As you casually travel upward -
A rendezvous of ready puckered mouth
And white, chalk- s...

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Old Lady Jumpers

Elderly neighbour

Shuffles by, on the arm of her daughter.

Lovely day, she says.

Can’t complain, I reply – I could of course,

But I don’t because

This simple platitude crinkles up her

Beatific smile.

Husband died last year; nice man –thick glasses.

 Always said hello,

Arms folded on garden gate, tea in hand.

She goes on. Despite

Severed bra...

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Embracing Someone Unexpected

I thought of you as cold - a flint-eyed

Statue;

Marble, securely tied up, buttoned

Down tight.

Yet you came at me, bolt from the black,

Arms out;

Pink circles formed on alabaster

Cheeks, wide

Pupils sparked with overhead lights – dim

Amber.

My head fitted in the gap beneath

Your ear;

Slotted positive and negative

Spaces

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Granddad was a Bastard

I never had a granddad

As he died when I was four –

Leftover uniform shows

He did fight in but didn’t

Die in the Second World War.

I only saw one photo -

Old, grey man, extremely thin -

Sharp cheekbones, scaffold beneath

Black Bakelite spectacles;

Brylcreemed hair, tightly stretched skin.

Veiny claws clutch a grandchild –

My...

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Grey Horse's Back

Glassy smooth, granite mercury landscape;

Outlined muscle shaded under slate skin.

Silver, silken tail hair threading through the

Smoking, clouded winds. Fragile, cinereal

Spine outlined against a gunmetal sky.

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Hook a Duck Prize

Fairground goldfish dead

Belly up in plastic tank.

I must have failed to

Effectively proffer your

Neon spun candy floss diet

Reflections baste your

Stagnant cellophane prison.

Asphyxiating

Suspended in dead water

I picked you out of pity.

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How Nice to See the Sun!

Welcome, solar stranger,

Lesser spotted unsung hero.

Shy, retiring, grass dappler;

Bone warming, mood lifting

Windscreen blinder.

Inspirer of mid-morning

Inpromtu lawnmowing

(Leading to inevitable

Barbecue aspirations).

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Heels

I used to dance in high heels

And dangle them from barstools -

One toe angled downwards , sole

Hooked on slippery footrest;

The other pivoting round

My satin ankle, rubbing

Discreetly - a slight signal.

Walking slowly, I relished

Each pavement rap of spiked heel

That punctuated my speech

With premeditated clicks.

I even wore them to bed

Just once, ...

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I Will Remember

White neck, strong;

Silken strands falling

Between intelligent ears.

Eye flecked with gold

Reflecting the depth

Of your soul, of your heart

Encased in sturdy chest.

Light feathered legs

That carried you faithfully

By my side through the years.

You are snow,

You are springtime rain;

You are morning light

And evenings fall.

I am you, ...

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Inclement Weather

Hail.

Ice pellet

Marbles crash;

Glassy gunshots

Vehemently crack.

Staccato ricochet -

Freak spring squall catches

Housewife’s laundry unawares.

Angry pellets spew,

Leave timid blossom bruised, petals smashed;

Half melted evidence of flash attack.

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Junction Guardians

Two wintry trees, bleak sentinels -

Sharp and upward poking.

Scratchy, knuckled digits

Forming thorny, crosshatch arch

Above a pot-holed road.

Leafless pennants unfurl

Against a frozen, silver sky

As disruptive winds encourage

An agitated click of twig on twig.

Stooping, twisted spines

Creak beneath scaly skins.

White lined ribbon se...

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Merboy in Red Swim Shorts

Hair, wafting light as sea lichen

Frames your ceiling bound gaze.

Surface tension strives to reunite

Waters broken by your smiling,

Half submerged, moon reflection face.

Gently I float you, cradling my hands

Under the delicate skin of your back

For as long as you will let me.

A passing swimmers careless wave

Floods your nose, so you kick...

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Notes to a Potential Lover

You might seek my perfume;

Trail your nostrils, breath hot,

Up the skin of my arm -

You crave my softer scents,

But smell just hollow bone.

I am a well-thumbed book-

Much borrowed, much returned;

Desire to embrace my

Solidity, but grasp

Only a vanished form.

You cannot claim my heart,

Savaged, removed, dripping;

Cold ...

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Not Quite Spring

Muddied country lane etched with

Criss-cross wagon tyre prints –

Horses stamp alongside fence,

Steam, hot from fluted nostrils.

Strands of windblown hay, straggled

Hair cast from a balding blonde

Blend crisply with my footfalls.

Nosy peek into a cottage window

Reveals smart row of china ladies.

Corrugated iron collapsed in rusty

Hedgerow lair ...

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Oh, Deer

Two policemen with cars, lights still flashing -

More used to tending human disaster

Stand non-plussed, observing scene of torment.

A bulging Four by Four, frozen mid-skid;

Still warm, abandoned guiltily askew

Partially conceals the horrified shame

Of two forty-something blondes, smartly dressed.

One crosses her arms over thumping chest,

The other bark...

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Miles

Shine,

Steel lines -

Electric

Miles, passport to

The beating heart of

A city - to the veins,

The tributaries. Connect

With our places, past and present.

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Travel On

Inhale and close eyes for tunnels

Open up wide, into the light.

Rumbling metronome intoning,

Journey measured by turning steel.

Face, reflection bleeding into

Whisked scenery snatches – I am

Unsure of my destination

But I travel on regardless.

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Potato Pickers

Rattling wagon,

Glutted with earthy potatoes -

Overspill rolls,

Elliptically in gutter.

Freshly plucked, damp,

Dirtily bouncing and jumbled,

Scenting the air

With warm, muddily fragranced notes.

Rose tinted, I drift

Into childhood retrospection.

My brother and me,

Early, waiting at the roads end –

Outfit of old clothes,

Boots; sandwiche...

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Random Bursts

Eyeball assaulting yellow, lurid miles

Of neon oilseed rape, its nostril rich,

Thick layered, honey mead smell cloys my throat,

Overwhelms the bird filled hedgerows dozing

And bee-rich beneath this scented blanket.

Summer trees, plump with leafy lusciousness

Offer up their random bursts of blossom;

Tooth-brush flicked white paint dots,

Daintily spatter...

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Emily Loved Him

Every time that bloody child finds

Some bit of old crap on the street,

It’s “Bagpuss! Big Fat Hairy Catpuss!”

As if I’m some giant pink oracle –

Who the hell told her that I have

The answer to everything anyway?

I’m perfectly happy dozing in my

Sepia toned world, but she keeps

Thrusting me into colour.

Wake up! Wake up! For pity’s sake,

Wouldn’...

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River at Wylam

Paused amid trail of cars on bridge,

Engine tamely thrums in neutral;

Atmosphere drained, heavy with threat

After torrential mornings rain.

Swollen, bulging mocha water

Gnashes with vicious abandon

At stone piers, trapped by foaming murk.

Shuddering, I count the seconds

Till I am planted back on less

Gravity defying surface.

Footpath drowns as g...

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Septuagenarian Cyclists

Surfing the undulating B roads;

Tyres slicing surface dust

Like a skaters blade through frosted ice,

A trio of old men -

Septuagenarian cyclists

Pump determinedly on.

Fleshless bottoms struggle to fill the

Still baggy lycra shorts

That on younger men would be bulging.

Chewy, tightly balled calves

Encased beneath turkey skin flex with

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Seasonal Hinterland

Diamond drops of light

Fallen from leftover orange sunrise

Glitter the petals

Of doodled flower on red car bonnet;

Where childish finger

Traced rivulets in chilly, condensed dew

That will dry later,

Loopy petals fading out to nothing.

Sun, mounted half mast,

Squatting at pupil shrivelling level

Mourns the passing of

Bright earl...

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Swan Flies Over Roundabout

Early drag to work unsettled by

Sudden appearance of huge swan.

White battleship, flying, cumbersome;

Milky arrow neck outstretched

With single-minded aim, causing

Momentary pause in traffic.

Golden beak tip purposefully parts

Eight A.M. exhaust fume fug

As drivers stare nonplussedly at

This random feathered phantom.

Brief ...

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We are a Circle

We are a circle

Unbroken

A ring of laughter

Chiming loud

Above warm teacups

No sugar

For some, others need

Sweetening

Heads close discussing

Failed romance

Dissecting last night

A shit day

The problem with kids

We can say

We are having a

Period

Without anyone

Walking out

Trying to burn us

As a witch

A barely raised...

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Road-kill Bingo

Grey squirrel flattened mid-flight, a

Moth-eaten grandmas stole

Pressed to the ground: a pavement pie.

Rabbit – gaudy, crimson

Fly feast entrails winding round; a

Luau garland garnish.

Badger corpse, drunk in the gutter

Grey belly uppermost,

Paws hooked over; gurning

Mask smiling in expectation

Of a tummy tickle.

Stuffed wood pigeon, too fat...

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Weirdly Localised Patch of Fog

Blistering temperatures fall

Under evenings chill spell -

Causing cardigan shouldering

Shivers; brisk arm rubbing.

I am disconcerted by a

Small but sure beginning;

This grim, weirdly localised patch

Of fog has settled in

A dusky valley, dipped between

The grassy meeting of

Two lovingly adjoining fields.

Imperceptibly, its

S...

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