Sunday 30 June 2019

Thursday 27 June 2019

Wednesday 26 June 2019

another dead child
another bloody tear stain
next - the sports results
graffiti 
on the war memorial 
kill them - kill them

Tuesday 25 June 2019

another blood test 
the brutal storm of a bruise
will the sun ever shine
two vacuoles meet
emptiness fills emptiness 
love’s warm hand in hand
font of bible dust
in a valley dull with rain
red carpeted pews 
grain varnished and grand dressed
chapel ghosts in their musty reign 

tanka
poppies 
open to interpretation
restless sighs

lavender sunlight
cuckoo spit
  cuckoo spit
on the oven
a rain drop
explodes

Monday 24 June 2019

moonbeam on a moon
in a painting of the moon
tears drying
the sparrow is killed
children run around screaming
the cat growls
when our eyes look up
how many moons have passed
clouds race far ahead 

Friday 21 June 2019


worm casts
an eye
over the grass

      summer solstice
equinox still poles apart
       winter solstice
the deep grave closes
a shallow thought books my room
laugh I nearly cried
my hut:
so small upon the ocean
offers me the horizon
seduced by Lobelia
breakfast dressed in midnight blue 
that summer solstice

Thursday 20 June 2019

restless busy bee
do you ever think why me
a fading wreath
the sun has gone in
I have swallowed my chewing gum
got a splinter in my toe
woe is me for I am unsung and
stung in the rummaging of the words 

tanka

children run and run
cow bells across the meadow 
milk teeth and wind chimes 
last year’s cuttings
planted at thanksgiving time 
now saying thank you
blue sky
clouds of daisies
the heavy roller
old photograph
that lovely smile
a dead likenesses


old photograph
that lovely smile
if you only knew
without news
you are dead
the bad news said

Tuesday 18 June 2019

life’s bifurcation 
not taking the serious seriously 
jester minute 


I saw a group of children on the beach today with seagulls foraging further along the beach. When the fun started they both screamed - running and flying about as a mirror image of each other. They seemed to be entangled like quantum particles.

under sand that all
are grains in the firmament 
footfall remembers 


#haibun

haibun


poem
another grain of sand
on the beach
the children
the seagulls 
screaming
the   stalking   cat
steps upon an ant
roll of the dice
a butterfly 
we take a picture
but it’s gone

Monday 17 June 2019

global warming 
the human race drops
the burning baton
global warming 
cinders shall go to the ball
the stroke of midnight
lost in a dark place
old pages refuse to burn 
the moon will rise soon
blackest night black 
the cold star jigging alone 
piccolo piccolo
walking aid mirror
the empty room reflects
forget-me-nots
beneath big windows
eating a long day alone
le café finalé
the changing climate 
plastic grass in the playground 
swings and roundabouts 
the tight shoelace refuses to open until worn
in the fire of words
smouldering tear stuck pages
re-ember the night
snivelling scribbler
all along the moonbeam write
I am a great poet
inside outside cat 
the door to eternal strife
kicking the habit

Sunday 16 June 2019

the cat’s fur makes my fingers purr
hills under skies 
hills under seas
understand 
the cup hovering
saucer collecting the tears
the deaths column
phallus-less conkers 
in the blue wane of autumn 
bruised knuckle strings
the wind in the chimes 
no one can catch the wind
the deaf man nodding

the wind in the chimes 
no one can catch the wind
the blind man nodding

nodding acquaintance 
arum lilies wind’s bouquet 
white cups of sun rain 

#haiku #triptych 
the swelling plums
bough down to the floor
crack on harvest time
the man prays alone
this last man is not alone
chapel doors nailed 
last tear the longest
drops silently and slowly
why the dry eyes why
stare long and the heavens will move
only when we look away does the sun move
sunday morning rain
summer tears from calvary 
praying please stop soon
bass drum violins
black flash clouds a sliver sea
thunderous applause
tap, tap, tap, the blind man’s stick blinks

Saturday 15 June 2019

street boys darkening
neon louche in gutters long
grandad’s toothless comb
no moon in this rain
and still the dogs are howling
sleep’s window closes
at the edge of night
either side of life’s light
darkness alights
the cat in the box
on the dark side of the room
her presence is tense
songs that bring tears of
arriving and departing
a lover’s moon
the spectacles of history fail to correct our short-sightedness
the spark from flints
poets rubbing two dry sticks
the moon comes closer
the telescope
takes the moon from my poem
the textbook slams shut
this pearl blank page 
palimpsest of yesterday
moon the eraser

Friday 14 June 2019

the lightening tree
falling black from light
then buttercups
for every flower a bee
for every bee a flower
overpopulation forgotten
bees and the ants dance
the flowering sun lies heavy
war of the roses
the flowers cat nap
blackbirds branch out in song
Joseph’s coat 
the hesitant gull
pebbled flotsam of the sea
eating an apple 

Thursday 13 June 2019