It’s January and everywhere is dark and wet and miserable.
The Lincoln slate sky covers a time of drabness day,
Flat blue-red-brick- beige-grey-dark in the paint-damp-run drizzle,
Orange branding tries vainly to B&Q brighten the desperate place,
Over the neon road, lights just make it though the gloom:
SCS, Pets at Home, Starbucks, Staples, Comet, PC World, Currys
Countrywide conformity reflected in dark and miserable grey.
22 January 2012
Dark Saturday afternoon on Tritton Road
16 January 2012
The end of a cold winter’s afternoon, take two – Chambers Farm Woods, Sunday 15th January
A walk in the woods
Lit by winters candle
Subtle colours
Show the frozen way
A breath of purpose
Clouds the trail before us
Hasten home
As night descends on day
14 January 2012
The end of a cold winter’s afternoon
The half frosted field
And bright twilight
Of the cold winter afternoon
Shadows lengthen
Invisibility cloaks
8 January 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.
30 December 2011
wild night of fearful darkness
wild night of fearful darkness
leaves chased freely by the wind
a tree falls
18 November 2011
Apologist
I love peace, but see the necessity in war;
And believe in equality, yet make excuses for greed.
13 September 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.
3 September 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.
1 September 2011
20 August 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.
17 July 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.
11 July 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.
27 June 2011
the deep twilight
the deep twilight
the deep twilight
stillness before the night
millennium of silence
25 June 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.