Violent violins of Vancouver,
Dangerous double basses of Boston,
Poisonous pianos of Portsmouth and the
Terrifying trumpets of Tunbridge Wells.
November 7, 2010
Violent violins of Vancouver
October 30, 2010
floating into the day
breakfast consumed and I am set for the day
except for a state of casual undress
that eases into a Saturday full of promise
frictionless state, free of strife
October 25, 2010
the frosty overhang
the central heating clicked in
and it was warm, at last,
the days of shivering
under bedclothes,
frosty hanging red nosed breath
relegated now to history
October 20, 2010
The Ex Drip
The drip is no more – it has ceased to be.
No more sleepless nights for me.
Tap, tap… taptaptap….. tap… taptap….
The duvet over the head, the radio on,
Tap..tap..tap..tap..tap…..
At last a rhythm to take me to oblivion.
But the drip is no more. It is an ex drip.
It rained last night. I held my breath….. nothing !
The guttering’s fixed.
The drip is no more. Will I be able to get to sleep without it ?
October 6, 2010
The scout drop-off
Wednesday nights
the drop-off
car slows down
passenger door opens
stick of kids jump out
in full uniform and ready for action
door shuts behind them
car drives off
leaving scene of incident
kids run straight inside
looking neither to the left nor the right
street returns to normal
life resumed
as if nothing had ever happened
August 23, 2010
sentry I
The wind beats my cheeks and blows back my hair as I stand on the breakwater gazing out to sea.
sentry I
wind: pummels cheeks
blows hair, unkempt, across face
catching eye, distracting not
as I search the scudding clouds
and foaming waves,
a swirl of whiteness, green and grey,
the cormorant and black guillemot
patrol their beat, cry for my attention,
ignore me and plunge
for their cold fish supper.
after five hundred years of watching
a lone sail sets its course
and now the fishing boats return
men in industrial overalls
Foillan Beg, Lenague, Coral Strand 2nd
Genesis of Peel, Aleena,
stocky, thick set queenie-catching bottom-dredgers,
The Manx Cat, a “Sutton work boat out of Peel”
with two deck hands and a cargo of crabs
bright red buoys contrast with navy blue,
a swath of rust pours down the side,
dirty green nylon nets hang down.
oily sheen on the water.
August 9, 2010
The Ferry
The boredom of the long ferry journey
hearkens back to another age.
No internet connectivity,
the flicker of the TV glimmers hope
but it is Sky News –
repetition accentuates tedium.
I imagine we are on a spaceflight to Mars but I already only have one hour of laptop battery left. With two years to get there and two years to come back (you would hope we would be spending some time looking round when we arrive) the question of the moment is what to write in my remaining laptop hour?
the condemned man drug free
draws in deeply the sea air,
wonders at wind-born birdsong
and absorbs the sun’s facial caress.
instant relief,
a care free moment that will end;
the lure of the laptop-reconnected.
June 29, 2010
Geoffrey Smith and Copernicus
Geoff Smith has by now been forgotten
Not remembered by his peers
– they’re all dead
He was a single, simple man,
A gardener who liked his life
Although he died never really
Knowing what it was all about
But there again
Neither did Copernicus!
June 28, 2010
The Waggon and Horses (1984)
Yellow, smoke stained walls alive,
Breathless, coughing back an
Evening’s abuse of much abused bodies
Shoulders hunch over enlargened stomachs
And half filled glasses; half empty
Promises of better times, unkept, uncaring
Sallow, time engraved carvings on
Faceless faces, well known but anonymous,
A collection of portraits
Hung for a lifetime then
Stored in dark boxes, out of
Sight and soon not even memory.
Factory II – Duet
This is a duet with both parts to be read simultaneously.
The soul destroying factory – buzzum click
Eats away at the brain – buzzum buzz
Like a maggot let loose – buzzum click
Driving me wild – buzz buzz buzz
Day after day – buzzum click
The same monotony – buzzum buzz
The same pain – buzzum click
The same dullness of mind – buzz buzz buzz
The routine – buzzum click
Even the tea breaks – buzzum buzz
Are boring – buzzum click
How do they break free? – buzz buzz buzz
At night the pub – glug glug
The freedom, drink – glug glug
The same every night – glug glug
– gets boring.
Factory 1 – Personality never was!
The moderns factory
No whirling cogs
Or cranking shafts
Clanking through steam
And greasy bearings.
I look around
Even the bins
Are clean but I
Can hide behind
The noise that shrouds
This place in silence.
I scream a silent scream
Desperate amid the
Degeneracy of progress
Impersonal,
Practical,
I scream.
Lazy Days In Deepest Summer
Under clear blue cloudless bowl of sky
Lay I, with sweet smelling grasses and
Wing-fluttered butterfly, accompanying crickets
Chorus in the meadow hedge
And small boys search and stoop to
Scoop them into jam jar summer cells.
Into the cooler trees I wander, though not a murmur
Of breeze to mop the August brow
And how at height of silver sun
I fall inert into the arms of one
Who cares as much as I and worries not
Of things to come, and time goes by
June 26, 2010
summertime on the tube
hot and sweaty rush hour in June
lots of people wearing office clothes
clammy, oppressive, tiring heat
yearning for ice cold water in a pint glass
mind is at home in the back garden
with no shoes on
June 25, 2010
daytripper checklist
wallet check
tickets check
bag check
hat check
phone check
son check
let’s go
June 18, 2010
England Expects
dejected, sat on sofas
travelling ever so hopefully
they arrived disappointed
as usual
happens every time
memories of 1966 linger
even though they were largely unborn
England expects