Wednesday 20 April 2016

Monday 18 April 2016

LEMON CLUB


Lights luminous
in the Lemon Club
and ladies lie to Lee.
"No, we don't",
but he knows they do.
He is not fooled easily.

The last he sees
of the Lemon Club
is just beyond the lee,
and lemon lights
are still on bright
for ladies "with no fee".

Sunday 17 April 2016

TWIN FLAMES


Twin flames
not like Twin Towers -
not brandising a blame.
They weren't twin either - 
one higher than the other.

Both yellow, though,
and acrid smoke
was leaning,
and the feeling you got
was mutual, like twins.


Saturday 16 April 2016

THE RIVER NEVA


Got tickets
to the River Neva.
I might go
and see the ferries.
Paint them for me; paint them.
Paint them blue and paint them silver,
for I shall sing on the River Neva,
and laugh and dance and live again maybe.

Wednesday 13 April 2016

THE LAKE


The lake was only small
But we boated.
Not far to go ...

Back and forth
on the little lake
And watching the boat go.

Back and forth and go -
Using up the day
That won't return.

OWLS AT MIDNIGHT


A black angel stood at the back door
and whispered to me in bleak tone
I should keep out of the way
of owls at night time
and also their prey.

"Twit-woo, twit-woo..."
It was the
midnight
hour.

Tuesday 12 April 2016

WHAT IS THE COLOUR OF APRICOT?


The colour of apricot is warm
and like the jam you see in shops.
It's like a symphony.
It's like a symphony of gold
that you find you have forgotten
suddenly.

The colour of apricot is not raspberry.
It won't make you think of red in the night
and scream.
It's like peach, but more rounded somehow
like a fat woman you see on a beach
who really should ...

The colour of apricot is what it is -
like all the apricots you see in
Madame Paul's window.
But she is mean.  Don't go to her.
She'll give you apricots gone bad
and out the window.

Monday 11 April 2016

DOUBT IS THE VESTIBULE

"Doubt is the vestibule through which all must pass before they can enter the temple of wisdom." - Charles Caleb Colton

DOUBT IS THE VESTIBULE

Doubt is the vestibule,
and in the vestibule are many items -
hats, coats, and walking sticks.
The stick can help you stride through doubt.

Stride through doubt and up the stairs,
with, doubtless, many prayers
to reach all wisdom.
The stick can help you stride through doubt.

At the top is Colton's temple,
and from there look down the stairs
from whence you came ...
Discard the stick - you've reached your aim.

Monday 4 April 2016

GORSE


"When gorse is out of blossom,
kissing's out of fashion",
and the saying's true,
for gorse 'round here
grows at odd times,
but there's always some to view.

Bright yellow,
it stands between some rocks
towards the sparkling sea.

A Bayati is written in four lines.  All lines have the same number of syllables.  Lines 1, 2 and 4 rhyme, but 3 is free.

A BAYATI

life is a soulful song
whether it's short or long
there are many pitfalls
its turnings may be wrong


three knocks on my door
two are barely heard at all
a shoe - your footfall?

JOLLY SAILORS



Jolly sailors
with deep-throated laughter
and smoking foreign cigarettes,
rings of their smoke joining the damp air.

Jolly sailors
now going on long leave,
joining up with sweethearts
or ones they have yet to meet.

Jolly sailors,
or maybe not so jolly,
thinking of the far off sea,
and its treachery to men.

Sunday 3 April 2016

DOMINATING BATANGAS



Twins in a twin-set
are looking up at a sign -
"Dominating Batangas".
It means nothing to me.

The sign is peeling
and it's above a closed shop.
"Dominating Batangas"
is all there is to see.

The twins in a twin-set
have their arms crossed behind them.
They walk away from the sign
and leave it to be.

ARRIVING IN LONDON



I arrived in London,
but misted windows
showed me a strange Big Ben
without the time.
Its four faces loomed,
but white, them all.

I arrived in London,
and went straight to B & B,
but the woman wasn't kind -
quite sharp to me.
Her face was white
and not pleasant, not at all.

I arrived in London,
but soon was gone again ...
I remember Trafalgar Square
with pigeons - one was albino
and pecked my hand -
not nice at all.

Saturday 2 April 2016

From Wikipedia "Rhein II is a photograph made by a German visual artist in 1999.  In 2011, a print was auctioned for $4.3 million, making it the most expensive photograph ever sold."

RHEIN II - The Photograph

Set between two slabs of green
the slender Rhine is seen.
If she goes from left to right
is no one's surest known.

The sky is overcast above
and no birds there are seen.
I am an admirer, sure,
of green and then the green.
 
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)