Tuesday, 31 March 2020

chip shop
salt and vinegar
tweet now
midday news
survived another day
tomorrow can wait
lockdown
escaping the songs look back
and turn to stone
‪nanny state‬
‪the goats take over‬
‪roaming‬
‪third cup of tea‬
‪escape velocity achieved‬
‪i am in orbit‬
far away the sea
upon the oceans of my mind
floating away
corners turned
poets pinned in mind’s drawers
paper currency

Monday, 30 March 2020

masks
we are hiding behind each
other
street furniture
since Victorian times
just waiting
vanishing point
where do our thoughts go
when they run away

Sunday, 29 March 2020

cherry blossom 
snow is and isn’t
is it

Saturday, 28 March 2020

primordial cry 
the shadow of a doubt
stares back
off to clean the shed
life has its golden moments
she said
corvid 
is the viral lottery
outdistancing me

Friday, 27 March 2020

an old man
is a young man
in disguise 
spring sunshine then
the weatherman sings the blues
repotted tears freeze 
derelict days
sun dried blood on knees 
oh boys boys
gulls spilled like pearls
down the black steps of the storm
winter’s clasp broken

Thursday, 26 March 2020

clicks and groans
the old man craves the sunshine
it dawns on him

Wednesday, 25 March 2020

the cat turns
deep breath thoughts almost stir
but sleep returns 
cleaning windows
the clematis will flower soon
counting the days
teddy bear
with just one little eye
wickedly winking
cracked mirrors
cosmetic shops closed 
viral self-loathing
water meadow
irises and great reed maces 
dreaming in the sun 
dandelion clock
the wind has the last say 
it is time
covid19
it is counting on your
dead reckoning
we are at sea‬
the horizon encircles ‬
‪which way now‬
‪death said‬
‪that’s life‬

Monday, 23 March 2020

cuttings of autumn
repotted on in springtime
blossoms in summer
RS Thomas 
i have stopped searching 
i am there at last
static
the cat jumps back
nonplussed 

Saturday, 21 March 2020

coronavirus 
agreeing exit plans
husband wife and cat
estuary
foot prints go out
and back
all our muddy thoughts
get covered by the tide

Friday, 20 March 2020

the baby’s smile
breaking through our fear
her tomorrow his
coronavirus 
the world in lockdown escapes 
in an haiku

where have you been
the sun crawls back home
in time for equinox 
coronavirus 
all that was precious in life
isn’t after all
dawn sunshine
warming the heaving farmyard
breakfast time

Wednesday, 18 March 2020

our childhood 
our children’s childhood
our second childhood 
rummaging 
through the corners of my mind
grandchildren 
between gravestones 
crows in the cemetery 
gathering moss

Tuesday, 17 March 2020

night is the chrysalis of tomorrow 
the dead question not the significance - either theirs or death’s 
conveyor belt
the dishes are smashing
coronavirus 
walking in the rain
alone with my thoughts
dripping
rain
that settles it
out i go
haiku
yoga for the mind
in the reign 
light rain
in the garden of my eyes
blinking lovely

Monday, 16 March 2020

self-isolation 
when it ends kisses begin
to bite
the fish
is shadowing its shadow
in the shallows

Sunday, 15 March 2020

the question
of unquestionable faith
succumbs
the laying on of hands
a recoil reaction
coronavirus - -
all the various times 
pulsate             from
the infection rates
to the isolates
log fire
the ashes of the sun
burnt out
the sun
reaching the stone cat
pauses

Friday, 13 March 2020

‪no body knows how a secret becomes deep ‬
coronavirus 
odds for an each way bet
at Cheltenham 
food bank
withdrawing a better bet
Cheltenham races

Thursday, 12 March 2020

coronavirus 
we are animals once more
do you get it
gazing upon
log { fire } cat { music } dancing
into a dream

does the fire know
what the cat is dreaming of
as the flames dance

in the flames
a thousand thoughts
in cinders

as the flames die down
the night darkens once more
oh moon moon

so bright the flames
that end up as cinders
dark thoughts return

log fire room
flames dance with shadows 
in valhalla
bow to the sea
in all of its enormity
seek forgiveness 
naturally when
we see all die naturally 
we fail to see we
again
spring buds
thankfully
excellent fan
back cover of a book
my word it’s hot
nature
reflecting my emotion
waits
‪between third cuppa‬
‪and coffee at eleven‬
‪a poem settles‬

Tuesday, 10 March 2020

waiting room 
time expands exponentially 
eventually

Monday, 9 March 2020

the noose tightens
governments steady the stool
belief suspended asks
of these frightened tumbrel days
shall we jump before we’re pushed
coronavirus 
the laying on of hands
postponed
rain
rains more
rain
more and more rain
rains more and more
waiting in the rain
for virus number 19
wet graves are cold
in the dusk
the rain is and isn’t
is it
phew - so they had
underlying heath problems
so we will be OK then
but everyone is panicking 
underlying wealth problems
hand upon the cat
relaxation the connection
time and again
dawn is done and
Colin is walking home
leading his owner 
coronavirus 
underlying wealth problems
take stock 

Sunday, 8 March 2020

there’s plenty more rain in the sea
from the wall
a covid brick will fall
catch it
daffodils 
showers of shining 
again and again

Saturday, 7 March 2020

coronavirus 
the statue of liberty 
self-isolates
reading 
my poem
rewritten
the door breathes morning 
creaking bones fill with sunshine
another fine day
to yesterday 
add the weight of today
to morrow’s balance
the cat and i 
listening to haydn 
light rain
today
daffodils go sunward
and currants flower

Friday, 6 March 2020

the moon 
and the clouds
are still 
snow there
feel my hands
rain here
‪sucking a pebble‬
‪tasting the ocean’s salt‬
‪sniffing back tears‬
a new election
graveyard shift of opinion
place your cross here
empty voting lobbies
death mister speaker
going viral
reassuring
disbelief 

Thursday, 5 March 2020

the kestrel
lunches on a rat
eating our sarnis 
it’s gone viral
the dog without a mask
i didn’t fart
coronavirus 
civilisation’s mask 
slips
creaking
the old house
remembering

chocolate 
and strong milky coffee
psychoactive smile
in the courtyard 
midges are congregating 
forward March 
the figs
are moving
sparrows 
then the fly said
you may be passing through
but this is my home

Wednesday, 4 March 2020

shaking hands 
at the pearly gates
welcome welcome
coronavirus 
rubbing of hands 
safe in gold
hearing again
mispronunciations 
from the grave
i took a look for myself and found myself
recording
the passing of a lifetime
in mind’s asylum
when the muse prompts
a thousand thoughts stampede
like lemmings
‪sky and clouds‬
‪hyacinths are opening‬
‪smell‬ them
lanterns
slowly the bay takes shape 
nightfall

Tuesday, 3 March 2020

without the lights
this bay does not exist
midnight thought
shards of sunshine
and the nettles go potty 
in the earth’s bank 
sparrows are nesting
i ask of the daffodils
is the frog spawn hatched 

Monday, 2 March 2020

white coat syndrome
my doctor doesn’t wear one
arrhythmia 
‪bus stop‬
‪the world whizzes by‬
‪my slow smile‬
oh dream catcher 
you dusty cobweb of words
spin me a yarn

Sunday, 1 March 2020

containing containment
the government creeps
towards the grave
live news feed
death retweets death’s
deadlines
Hayden string quartets
the cat and I snoozing 
cottonwood clouds
sunshine
daffodils going over
the last hailstone