Thursday 31 December 2015

SANSKRIT



Decision to lear ancient language
Especially considering where he was placed
Festooning his place with words
Glorifying his home
He wrote Sanskrit greetings to guests.

Friday 25 December 2015

A GAME SHOW



unruly game show
boys throw masks at each other
compere grimaces
but the ratings are higher
manager smiles in his box

A CHRISTMAS MARKET



a Christmas market
with its stalls packed all together
blue stripes mainly
and hype mixed up with carols
we won't miss it when it's gone

Tuesday 22 December 2015

Saturday 19 December 2015

MRS ACORN



Luke Acorn planted oak trees in a dell
and called to his mother to see,
but Mrs Acorn had other things to do.

She had cakes to bake
and shirts to make
for Luke Acorn on the go.

She had songs to sing
and plans to make,
and constant brewing tea.

Saturday 12 December 2015

Wednesday 9 December 2015

Tuesday 8 December 2015

SLEEPING SHEEP



The ornament was called
"Sleeping Sheep",
but as far as I know
ornaments don't sleep.

It lay there, eyes closed
on green baize,
but no dreams were there;
no trembling as in fear.

A sightless shepherd
stood nearby,
for ornaments don't see
from eyes, though nice they be.

Saturday 28 November 2015

FEWER



No means to say
Opinion Polls ask fewer what
Populace alarmed
Questioning draws deeper blank
Inquiring minds bore deep to know

BUTTER



Gold slices on golden knife,
Hitched there for short ride
In Kristie's kitchen -
Just enough for each side.
Curls of butter wait.

Monday 23 November 2015

Tuesday 17 November 2015

SOULLESS, THE BUILDING



Soulless, the building
of a hundred floors
looked out over the river

Sharpe, the builder
regarded his creation
restlessly

He wished he could
give it soul
as he looked up from the Thames

Thursday 12 November 2015

ROCKY



a broken fan
flies stopping there
Rocky pauses soon 

heat is rising
Rocky's nerves are suffering
time to mend the fan

Monday 9 November 2015

SUGARED MOMENTS



Yesterday is sour puss,
And tomorrow's a cloud,
So enjoy the sugared moments
Of an only today.

Last week is where is she?
And next week is all wet.
Enjoy the sugared moments
Of an only today.

Last month is dead pussy
And next year's a drag.
Enjoy the sugared moments
Of an only today.

GINGER ROAD



Ginger Road is all about with mud.
It goes far into the distance
up to the sign of a cart -
a broken sign, destroyed,
but something to see;
It's tangible
and welcome
in this
land.

Sunday 8 November 2015

Friday 6 November 2015

Saturday 24 October 2015

STAR-GAZING

               

Stargazing is beautiful in southern night.
The heavens partake in wondrous light.
       Some of the stars appear shy.
             Behind clouds they lie.
                   Silver toned
                           sky
                 the stars' home
              that needs not to try,
                or to establish a lie
   that it does not have glory and might.
Star-gazing is beautiful in southern night.

Monday 19 October 2015

       cat on foggy day
hard to see in frosted park
  green eyes on their own

AMAZED BY TURQUOISE



Amazed by turquoise
in the street lights,
playing out again in tiny puddles.
There they are, on each side of the road.

Why the turquoise, Council?
But don't answer -
they're amazing...
Holy turquoise, holier than thou.

Saturday 17 October 2015

Thursday 15 October 2015

WINE



Wine, not cheap;
sparkling in a place half-spent
and yearning for my tongue.
It is proud of rising bubbles,
as sees them small 
as in champagne. 

It admires its tumbler,
for it missed out school
on day of proper glasses
when the teacher
held one out to class
and magnified the wine.

Saturday 3 October 2015

CLOUDS OF DDT



Playing to clouds of DDT
the children ran screaming into it -
hurried playtime in the mist...

Ten minutes of forbidden fog,
forgetting that it was forbidden...
Glorious, thickened, smoky smog.

Thursday 1 October 2015

TULIP



Ladies -
those who lunch -
are lazy now
Their mothers went to work
earned bread

They slaved -
followed clock -
earned a pittance
but their daughters gossip -
Tulip

She's bad -
won't wake up
Ladies gossip
Tulip's much worse than they
Give up

Wednesday 30 September 2015

WIND CHIME



Note the notes from chime
and like them,
but hear Christ in your heart.
Christ's voice is subliminal,
and with the wind chime chiming,
your day will perfect start.

Note the words from Christ,
hear them,
and to your Bible, go.
Read the Word of God inside it
and listening to the wind chime,
let Christ's words stay in your heart.

GREEN MOUNTAIN



From the green mountain
I see the grey clouds,
but they are in distance, far.

From the green mountain
I watch stately ships.
I presume they are going to war.

Further and further towards cloudy day
are these ships that
are going to war,

but the sailors don't notice -
their thoughts on great battle,
while on the green mountain I pray.

Tuesday 29 September 2015

KINGS TO TALK TO QUEENS



Kings to talk to queens,
and when they do,
they will tell them
how it was to be a prince
in foreign land.

Queens to talk to kings,
and fair princesses
will have their long hair behind them,
and tied in bows and roses
and all the beauteous things that made them desirable.

They will love each other then,
and realize, that growing up
was what they missed seeing in each other
and they are the shell 
of earlier times.

What they would not give to see each other young,
and shower kisses
on each other's necks and navels,
and love until the dawn came up
over Africa's horizon.

**********************************************

Note - I put a comma after 'realize' as I wanted the line to
have the inflection that accorded.


Monday 28 September 2015

A COLANDER



I wish I could show you
the World's Fair at night...
The photo shows
a 'colander' on its side.

It's so striking
and 'out of his world'
as if a colander
is what we need.

A colander to drain the world
free from its problems
of drugs and disease
and to teach it to have joy.

SUBITO



A demijohn, with alcohol -
so tempting to a passing man
who took it to his bedsit, subito.

He drank it fast,
and demons came to bedsit,
subito.

Drunkeness was subito,
and the man we saw just now in passing,
passed out.

ROUNDABOUT HORSES



Little children on a
roundabout in Ulster...
No one bothered
that the horses were quite sad.

The horses, they were tired
of going round and round
and hearing cheap-jack music
from a stand.

They counted the hours
on the clock next to the peep-show,
and were happy when the owner
declared end.

AN ICE-CREAM CORNET



an ice-cream cornet
sold from a dark blue trailer
spoon was given free

I gave it right back
for why would I need a spoon
lickin' my way free

Thursday 24 September 2015

Tuesday 22 September 2015

RELAXATION



        Spider in under-croft
   with all the hours to linger
          day loosens gently
     for Marianne in morning
stretching her long arms in bath

Sunday 13 September 2015

             a pansy

easy flower to recognize

brightened childhood day

Friday 11 September 2015

MASTER CLASSES



Master classes were held in East Sussex
and the Sussex girl played tune
with ease to her master.

She played the grand piano all the day
and the master hummed along,
time barely noticing.

People thought they were having an affair,
as nobody else took part
in the lessons grandly.

THE TASTING MENU



The Tasting Menu
was slapped all over the dining trays,
so, so much for freedom.
We did not want to sit for three hours wading
our way through exotic foods
and burping.

Our waitress was nice, though,
if men avoided catching her eye...
Was she on minimum?
Her mini mum  was there -
not PC to call her dwarf.
I think she beefed up the menu.

Saturday 5 September 2015

STILL, THE KOLK



Still, the kolk
in the Old Zyds
in Amsterdam.
Russet houses bide their time.

One day, they will be pulled down,
but not just yet...
For now, the boats go on their way
and somewhere a mother calls.

She tells her family it's time for tea,
and out they look at old canals
from russet house.
Such symmetry!


Friday 4 September 2015

THE FACTORY CHIMNEY



The factory chimney, white,
was many meters tall,
and in that light,
it seemed to have a stripe.

Only a trick, of course.
There was no stripe;
just glazed bricks
sideways on and beautiful.

How it soared!
And if you craned your neck
you would not see
its sterling end.

Wednesday 2 September 2015

CALMING ETRETAT



The cliffs of Etretat
look pale blue in certain light...
They sweep down to the sea.
Seagulls are there
and some are fighting
over the wet fish.

I might go bathing
in this blue light,
or I might not.
I might stay to watch the seagulls
or start to paint the cliffs
of calming Etretat.

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Saturday 22 August 2015

Dead Sea is tranquil
the boat for queers has left dock
the gay party starts

Thursday 20 August 2015

RED APPLES



The woman with red hair
Flings her arm up to an apple...
Red apples hang from every tree.

The artist thinks of Eve,
but we all see a loose woman -
Red tears drop down a sexy dress.

No Eve, she, but another woman,
Ready to eat an unreal apple
From an unreal, china tree.

Wednesday 19 August 2015

chords from bass guitar
are giving me urge to dance
upping the night game

OLIVES



I was born under an olive tree...
The branches swayed when I was born.
My mother said olive oil
helped her feeding me
but I would not know.

She said she sipped some olive oil
just before my feed,
and slipped a towel
around her shoulders ready,
and fed me in the sun. 

I was weaned under an olive tree,
and my mother tempted me
with the green fruit.
She later mixed it with the black
from northern Africa.

BARENESS



a tree in winter
wishes for bonny green leaves
the girl is bare-faced
but one day she will make up
and date waiting men in  town

Monday 17 August 2015

Copenhagen, Denmark, has Kafe Kys, or Kiss Café

************

KISS CAFE

I would like a kiss in Kiss Café
and show it off in Selfie.
I will bring my boyfriend here in time,
and ask "kiss me?" over coffee.

There are many couples so engaged,
and lots of us are staring.
Whether out of work or on a wage,
they give a kiss 'fore leaving.

SLOW JAM



I listen to slow jam
in traffic jam -
"Pony",
and a pony trots by.
(The French say "poney"
with an "e".)

I listen to you
in my car
stirring the pot,
and turn up the slow jam
to cover the words 
I don't want to hear.

Sunday 16 August 2015

a fallen apple
on some grass that's newly mowed
reddish leaves close by

THE COLD, COLOURED SQUARES



The cold, coloured squares
led to a deep pool
where Paul swam.
He took the diving board most times,
or jumped from the uneven side.

I cannot believe Paul wanted to drown,
but he always talked about it
before he went to the pool.
He took the diving board most times,
or jumped from the uneven side.

The autopsy was not good...
Let it be said that I always jump
from the even side,
and that I do not count obsessively
the cold and coloured squares.

Friday 7 August 2015

A TURQUOISE STATUE OF LIBERTY



A turquoise Statue of Liberty
holding arm aloft
is how I saw it
in access to a photo.

The buildings were turquoise,
and the sky, a darker tone.
America the Perfect?
People's home.

Tuesday 4 August 2015

RED ROCKS



From the quiet Simplicity House,
Séon could see the red rocks in the sea.
Around the rocks swirled always the white water...
The sea itself was green.

I haven't checked...
Did Séon have a daughter?
She too would have admired the view.
(A Wiki check to know.)

I haven't checked...
Did Séon have a son?
He too would have admired the sea
around the Ile de Bréhat.

Wednesday 29 July 2015

the trees are on fire
and yellow light's absconding
the red light's in charge

Tuesday 28 July 2015

I translated "sleet" 
in ten different languages
cold gets through my bones

Tuesday 21 July 2015

Monday 20 July 2015

DEAD FISH MOSAIC



Dead fish mosaic -
hundreds of them in a makeshift square,
and it's "seeing is believing".

Eyes look at you from strange angles -
strange rainbow eyes
and mouths agape.

Late for work, but I can't help it,
and I swear the eyes will be remembered -
saucer eyes that only dead fish know.

Saturday 18 July 2015

MY IMPRESSIONIST FLOWERS



My impressionist flowers
take up the canvas,
but towards the edges
they are not like flowers at all.

I make them white streaks
with no cohesion,
and the stems 
barely join at all.

My impressionist flowers
are large in number
and if you count them sleepy,
you will never count them all.

Friday 17 July 2015

Wednesday 15 July 2015

BUMPS IN THE SAND



I see bumps in the sand...
I wriggle my toes in ten of the bumps,
and feel them burn.
Turning over,
the sun scorches my back,
and I am sleepy.

"In a little while, Sally!
Give me some peace
on this sandy beach..."
But Sal insists,
and I must walk on lots of bumps
back to the hotel and salad lunch.

ISLV



ISLV on broad band of yellow
Slipped between the green and green
Liked it immensely
Vert - the French for green


******************************

(Acrostic poem about the flag of the
Society Islands)

Tuesday 14 July 2015

POT PLANTS ON WHITE TILES



Pot plants on white tiles
arranged in zigzags.
If I skimmed my eyes,
they made me dizzy.

In them, geraniums
from mom's shop,
and Daz arranged them
fancy-style. 

I loved those little pots,
and in the morning,
when Daz had taken out the flowers,
the pots still made me stare.

Thursday 9 July 2015

DISBAR



Disbelief at Lincoln's Inn
In the law's new dawning.
Solicitors force some tongues to wag...
Barrister is gone from there,
And rumours of the petty why
Reach crownèd, pretty queen.

Wednesday 8 July 2015

I'VE NEVER HAD A 4TH JULY



I've never had a 4th July;
never seen the flags with stars and stripes.
I sit in this boat by Bartholdi's monument...
The Statue of Liberty wants me to arrive.

I'll live in New York and eke existence
while waiting to climb up greasy pole.
Then will be a a June and then July,
thus one, two, three, a fourth.

On the 4th, I shall wave my flag to you,
and be on the highest skyscraper known to man.
I'll grab a stranger's hand and sing your anthem,
still waving jolly flag with all its stars.

Tuesday 7 July 2015

MOSAIC GIRL



A mosaic girl
coming down mosaic steps 
to greet him,
and it wasn't them there glasses.

He took them off,
just in case it was,
but she was stunning,
surely?

A mosaic face
with a mosaic mouth
to ravish and to kiss
this Sunday morning.
 


HEAT



The sun full-blazing on the bristling shore.
People have started to go home.
A burning skin is not what they have come for.
Brief tanning only, in their needs.
Spoiling the day before it is half-done.

Motors are hot in the densely-filled car-park.
Black gulls are on them for a lark...
Kids are crying for their mothers now, indeed.
Go... before the fat car-park clerk*
Collects his too big, irritating fee.

*****************************************************

*clerk - pronounced "clark" in British English.

ALL IS WELL



Cattle graze in yellow pasture
and the hills are awash with buzzing bees.
All is well in the land of heroes that come after...
All is well for me.

Fishes swim in clear-strung river,
and valleys are attuned to birds that sing.
All is well in the land of heroes that come after.
All is well for me. 



Sunday 5 July 2015

DO MELONS GROW IN JAVA?



Do melons grow in Java,
and do poems grow as well?
Do you see them line by line?
I must come to Java soon...

There we will eat melons
and you can read your poems.
You must read them to me,
line by wicked line.

Then we will go swimming
in your pool shaped like a melon.
You always were unpractical,
but I adore your long love lines.

TENEBRISTAS



The painting had darkness
in immensity - three-fourths.
There might have been bats,
but we could not see them.
We only saw the exit from the cave...
Here were jagged lines depicting rock,
and an emerald sea beyond.

THE KISS



I saw them kiss in silhouette,
Janette and Franco...
Kiss was long, so long.
Loosely her blouse did hang.
It was their special moment.

Saturday 4 July 2015

Muffled Drums



Muffled drums were at the funeral,
and black horses stood still.
The watery sun
made brief appearance there
and was, just as quickly, gone.

The Queen
looked dignified,
in the way that rulers have...
Still we listened to the drums.
Still, we were inordinately sad.

PATTERNS



Patchwork butterflies are on the wing... -
It is good, summer-time in France
when we can see all patterns.
Mind you, winters are cool -
patterning branches,
twigs assisting
in fancy
game of
"Look".

Thursday 2 July 2015

FORTUNE TREE



From a strong spout,
water falls into a trough.
People come to cool themselves
and dip clammy hands into the water.

I come to tell their fortune,
but people don't believe me.
I'm under what's called Fortune Tree.
The council erected it for me.

Monday 29 June 2015

LAWNS



Lawns, light green, in preference,
Accompanying gated homes 
With great magnificence.
Nicely irrigated...
Silence in this heat.

JACINTH



Jewellery - jacinth willed to me.
Auntie wired into my appreciation...
(Centred on jacinth years ago.)
Is so adored!
No other jewel can it stand against;
Tops all, and
Heavenly to see.


Sunday 28 June 2015

LEOPARDS



Leopards in Livorno

 Must miss their nature way;

 No hunting in their cage

 Or walking place...

 Zoos were not made for this.

PARD



A leopard cage
marked "Pard",
and Pard
was waiting for his lunch.

 A man in blue
came up with meat
in large tin bowl,
and Pard devoured meat hungrily.

TUESDAY



A foreign guest
Pouring over papers,
Not knowing how to fill his day.
Maybe he will hire a car
or go on a ramble.
He knew that coming here
Was a foolish gamble.

 What was there?
A dairy farm;
A butterfly farm
that closed on a Tuesday.
His spirits sunk
At the thought of all
The Tuesdays yet to come.

Friday 26 June 2015

A SHEPHERD



The only shepherd seen
was from the train,
in pouring rain...
I knew him by his crook...
"Oh look!"

 One moment, then,
a proof to me that
shepherds do exist,
although few in number
near that track of train.

season's transhumance

 sheep are returning from hills

 clouds mimic the backs

THE MANGER



Moment of glory for the manger -
That it is part of the range
Of tales about Christ...
Now it has returned to the stall
Humbly, forgotten outside of the Bible.

 Moment of glory for the manger -
Its link with "to eat" -
A French-learning feat...
Now we rarely think of the manger
Except for the carol, "Away in a".

BLUE MADONNA



I need to see a certain pueblo blanco,
and go in the white, high church to pray.
They have, by all reports, a blue Madonna...

 I will kneel by the blue Madonna,
and pray for all the people - every one.
I'll pray they'll have good fortune in the pueblo;
that their Madonna, blue Madonna,
will see them safely Home.

Wednesday 24 June 2015

THE SEXAGENARIANS



This is the first wedding
for a hundred years
and they have brought out
the centenarian from her home.
She'll watch the sexagenarians
on their wedding day.

 There will be no sex in their marriage,
but nonetheless we'll honour them.
There will be no children to run
to the centenarian; no babies,
but in their cottage tonight,
the sexagenarians will hold hands.

Monday 22 June 2015

GRAVES



Graves for mariners,
leaning towards the sea,
a lot lop-sided
as if seasick

 Gravely now,
we went towards the graves,
the sea churning,
then marinating green

Sunday 21 June 2015

On a white horse
she came riding
and the stirrups jangled
like percussion
into Peter's life

Friday 19 June 2015

BY THE LONG CANAL



By the long canal,
the larch leaves were turning yellow.
The look of them seemed
to melt into canal.

 A long line of trees was on the left,
and if you followed them,
you would reach eternity,
or so it seemed.

 Anyhow, I enjoyed myself;
had a picnic by the larches;
saw the birds,
and identified a few.

Wednesday 10 June 2015

"Take, if you must, this little bag of dreams", wrote W. B. Yeats.  My poem makes use of the last four words.

 ****************************************************************

 ONE SMALL POEM

 Beryl had a little bag...
It was white and full of
precious dreams
to make you think and think

 The opening was small -
enough to let one small poem out a day

 Closing it was done with
silky ribbon.
It was white and long and as lovely
as the dreams

Monday 8 June 2015

           Her love knowledge missing,

    no better than if she were in a nunnery,

  with only Devotions to slow-speed the day.

Wednesday 3 June 2015

JOY JARS



Joy jars in a council flat
with not much money
No joy in that...
Joy jars in care in the community

 Joy jars in difficult lives
with no prospect of upward promotion.
Annoying little word
teasing by its unlikely presence often

Sunday 31 May 2015

I ONLY SAW HIS BACK



I only saw his back
as the man went from the shore;
his tee-shirt was a turquoise blue

 Such wide shoulders -
a turn-on for any girl,
and a firmness in his step

 His hair was thick;
and now, my dear, I'm struggling,
for I only saw his back

 I will him to have children,
that man whose back I saw...
many children, who will run across the shore.

Sunday 24 May 2015

IN THE SWEATSHOP



Working for peanuts,
Peta was sewing,
knowing her garments
would grace Princess Grace

 Working, still smiling,
the dollars weren't piling
up in her piggy bank
down at the bank

 Working for peanuts,
but she wasn't a monkey
Shame on the 'monkeys'
without shame on their face.

time for sentry-go
so the sentry left his box
the queen's flag flying

Saturday 23 May 2015

bright screens, so on-line;

 there is not much visible

     except cotton shirts

Thursday 21 May 2015

TRICK PLAY



Not yesterday,
but days further, far far back,
but even then I could be wrong,
for memories trick play

 Not tomorrow,
but way, way ahead in time,
but even then I could be wrong,
having no use for crystal ball

 Not today,
for you do not know me,
and privacy is guarded
like a mink coat given suddenly

SUSAN'S NECK



Susan's neck was like a swan's -
the first you noticed...
white and tapering,
with a white necklace.

 Sometimes you found yourself
looking at her neck
instead of eyes or mouth.
It was strangely done!

 You soon lost the drift
of what she said,
for her neck had a life of its own,
shifting, not trusting you or anyone.

Tuesday 19 May 2015

IN THE CRAZY CANTEEN



In the crazy canteen,
people threw plates
and let off steam...
The real canteen was somewhere else.

 That one was an oasis of calm,
and people ate from plates quietly.
It was a place to talk to the boss
and hint at maybe, rises.

 But in the crazy canteen,
the bosses did not go.
It was just for workers evidently,
throwing knives and forks.

Thursday 14 May 2015

THE CAMPUS



The campus spreadeagled
a long, long way,
and students would lose
their bearings
Paths short shrifted
all the telling signs

 Islands of trees and meadow flowers
thought to smooth the worried brows
of newer students
mishmashing timetables
and forgetting 
why they had come

 Checking mobile phones
to see if dad had sent the payments,
and walking the long way round
to low-built dormitories
under clouds of slow to end
misapprehension

Thursday 30 April 2015

Stormy



"Through a glass darkly",
(referencing St. Paul),
and the glass was darker
than I imagined really.

 In long voyages, through portholes,
I thought of the glass again,
and wondered how the sea,
the greyish sea, would look.

 I bet stormy!
The gloomy glass
would go overboard on stormy,
and make us all afraid.
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