The half frosted field
And bright twilight
Of the cold winter afternoon
Shadows lengthen
Invisibility cloaks
January 14, 2012
The end of a cold winter’s afternoon
January 8, 2012
Reflections from the couch
Isolated as I am, from the nightly hypnotic lure of the television, I lie back and from the cosy stretched out comfort of the fireside my own narcotic takes hold.
Self administered stupor. The fire flares occasionally as new wood is overcome. It mesmerises but serves not to distract, adding to the air of relaxation, sweeping clean the floors of the imagination and setting fertile the stage of the unencumbered mind.
Words are few; thoughts random and surprised. Twist and shape and set free, sometime seen off into open fields where winds lift and scatter. Distant echoes.
December 30, 2011
wild night of fearful darkness
wild night of fearful darkness
leaves chased freely by the wind
a tree falls
November 18, 2011
Apologist
I love peace, but see the necessity in war;
And believe in equality, yet make excuses for greed.
September 13, 2011
Rich
Money doesn’t talk,
confidence talks;
and money gives you the confidence…
… to talk.
But confidence drives you,
to explore beyond a world rich with money;
to find a rich world…
… about which, you can talk.
September 3, 2011
Don’t you ever……
Think there’s meaning when there’s not
Think it’s kindness when it’s sympathy
Think you are right when you know you are wrong
Buy a camera to improve your photography
Play sport but look forward to the last whistle not the first
Look for reason in violence on the telly only to find you want to watch it anyway
Play the waiting game. Too long. Because you are too polite.
Say you are not feeling 100% even though you can’t explain what is wrong
Wonder if an exam is the fairest way to judge ability.
September 1, 2011
August 20, 2011
Gortenbuie
All is calm in the land of giants,
On a rare windless day,
Water the only sound,
Life has stopped.
The sheep, still in the roofless cottage,
Belongs there as much as any,
Regular visitor, like us it has not moved
As the heavens move all.
The generations have not returned,
Chilled hearth, three chimneys,
One lofty precious pot survives,
Defiant, hope in an unforgiving land.
Two oaks guard the ruin,
Glacial debris,
Turf covered stone,
The eagle, the stag and the mountain hare.
Revolutions pass and global markets crash
But here the peace is deep,
Across the glen shadows creep,
Expectations of tomorrow.
Time rediscovered, absent clock,
Decisions of the day fundamental,
Seconds counted by the foot, unscientific measure,
Tired, we lie in our beds and absorb the noise.
July 17, 2011
After forty years of mortarboard and gown
The outgoing headmaster is far from retiring,
It’s pastures new, not out to grass,
His mark is made, register overflowing,
On final examination, the best in class.
For Mr Paul Strong who after 25 years is moving on from William Farr School to pursue other projects.
Locked in
Where shall we go on holiday, dear?
We often like Turkey at this time of year…
I don’t know about you, but I fancy.. Something new!
Have a look on the ‘net, see what’s to do?
So I pulled up my chair and opened a query;
My search engine loaded, the answer was speedy:
“Autumn holidays, not too pricey”
30 million results, that’ll do nicely!
Kalkan, Dalaman, Ankara, Antalya;
Something about these sound quite familiar?
Places we’ve been to, things we’ve seen…
Top of the list from the Google machine.
July 11, 2011
traffic report
The herd winds slowly home,
Nose to tail, unthinking! lost,
Frustration the daily grind
Staring and more dull staring,
Unquestion!
The reports come in,
Collection of incidents,
All roads blocked, all routes crawl,
Times have been better,
The short lived excitement of the clear run
Now lane swap looking for the extra yard
Attrition of the modern motorway
Trench warfare system.
Veneer of self determination
The traffic jam goes nowhere in a hurry and that is life.
June 27, 2011
the deep twilight
the deep twilight
the deep twilight
stillness before the night
millennium of silence
June 25, 2011
The silent piano
I hear the silent piano,
inarticulate virtuosity
played only for one soul.
Masterclass in deep relaxation,
as the mind escapes
the tempo falls and rises.
June 20, 2011
Confusion of Harmonies
Sharp
Harmony injected into my shoulders
Pummel,
I can feel my face swelling up
Pounding
Nearly cry out
Chop
The futility holds me back
Relentless
Will this never stop?
Knead
Not sure I want it to end
Explosions
Naked, open fields, expose to the elements
Ripple,
Wave upon wave, carried in upon the wind
Deafening
Initially my eyes screw up but I learn to
Relax
June 18, 2011
Out of the shadows
We fear the shadows,
not for what lurks there
but for what we might do
if we wore that cloak.
The chilling Vaudeville mask,
fixed in constant mockery,
gives echo to our own hollow laughter,
gives mirror to our cynical eyes.
Behind the opaque glass of bureaucracy
we stand ready to pass judgement,
emboldened to a thousand anonymous noes,
yet troubled as we take our turn in line.
We might stifle a shudder
as the new bill is passed into law
but who would raise a voice
against the promise of security we all crave?
Tomorrow’s breakfast news announces
that we are the silent enemy within,
confirming our suspicions,
and so we nod obediently in guilty approval.
A pen takes pause before
it can confess to the unwritten page,
lest it note down some truth
and leave its author to apologise later.
Then, as each darkened screen comes to life,
relegating shadows to a corner of the room,
a bright young thing appears in High Definition,
insisting that she is heard.
“We have had enough of question time
and doubts that drive us into our neighbours’ homes,
over our colleagues’ shoulders,
merely to attend to our own insecurities.”
Beneath studio lights she continues
“The answers are all here – not there”,
gesturing from around her
toward the panel and their darkening faces.
“If I watch over your shoulder, but from the front
as you watch over mine –
or if we are back to back, even –
how should we ever be defeated?”
“Only if I turn my eyes,
look with suspicion at your heel
and cause you to mistrust my care,
then will we be caught unaware.”
“We were ever connected –
only the medium is new,
and that is poor excuse to warrant disconnection,
promote uncertainty, doubt and division.”
“Our community is stronger than ever,
in size and scope and skill
and we will support each other openly,
without need for dark places and closed doors.”
Applause like a hundred shuttered windows opening,
echoed by many thousand fingers typing,
is signal that a switch
has taken place.
The social networks are set ablaze;
a shared vision begins to form,
of mutual ownership at the speed of light,
rendering private fears into obsolescence.
We fear the shadows,
we act like strangers,
and then the daylight comes.