Tuesday, 30 June 2020

o mistress sea
the gulls are orgasming 
on the wind’s tip
not an inch further 
when the siren sea tempts
come on - why not
that moment
when sunlight hits the grass
the gates open
wind turbines
the butterfly effect
of poppies
the sun
swimming through drizzle
milky tea
online shopping
stretching the tape measure 
about this long 
don’t call me cruel
i am the mighty main
perish the thought
walking from the sea 
the silence of the drizzle
is defining 
yoga by skype 
using screen lock
to stand on her head
every night
the cat curls up to me
at this time
pitiful 
the loneliness 
of a squeaking gate
a shot rings out
the crows in disapproval 
circle hate
running with laughter
a child builds a dam
then kicks it
on the beach 
making smashing sandcastles
then smashing them
placing a feather
on top of the sandcastle
the child smiles

Monday, 29 June 2020

in floods of tears
when floundering in sorrow
the hillside shines
‪the haiku poet‬
‪building a hermitage ‬
‪from bloody mud ‬
you
big fat woolly tube of fat
cat 
snow
up to my knees
in childhood 
summer storm
the scrunch of windfall apples
underfoot
               birth
        then the machine breaks down
death
summer wind
the moon is running scared
pieces of eight 
summer night
winter wind cold
global warming
the summer wind
a manic symphony
in the lavender 

Sunday, 28 June 2020

towelling down
after a winter sea swim
is an art
this evening
along the clock meadows 
the gnats are dancing
the apples
are kissing the tomatoes 
both are blushing 
these troubles
wrap them in a poem
throw them in the sea
those sunny days
when summer would never end
winter whispers
spiritualist church
opening times on the door
second sight
at the back
of the cabinet of time
sweet memories

Saturday, 27 June 2020

the cat
is fast asleep 
and so is my leg
icy window 
curled up in bed
i unwind
blue moon
deep in the inkwell
penned
the ink monitor
visiting childhood’s desk
pay attention!
school desk
my name lost in the names
encompasses 
stand in the corner
you naughty naughty boy
the class giggles 
staring at the rain
hey son - we have volition 
liftoff 
thunder under
flash flash slashing rain 
sleeping acapella 

Friday, 26 June 2020

inside the painting
the artist is wondering
about past futures
fit kit
when the cat stretches 
so do i 
how does one explain
what tears are to a child
who knows
we are afraid
for we see nemesis
in denial 
after the portrait 
before the paint had dried
the sitter was gone
twilight
when the moon outshines
everything 

Thursday, 25 June 2020

thunderstorm
under the street light
a moth
thunder 
at each flash-crash i hide
in another poem
thunder 
the night dog that barks 
stops
thunder 
everyone different 
just the same
the dream
i dare not dream about
wakes me
waiting
at moonlight’s edge
for the word train
taken by
the landscape photographer 
what remains still
come on puss
it’s too warm isn’t it
roll over

there she is
come on puss
come on
with every poem
hungrier and hungrier 
this devouring 
flying ants 
another summer hitch
over all 
this heat
it is barking mad
again tonight
covid it just will not accept the argument
waiting for coffee
the storm slowly approaches
afternoon in june 
unlocking 
self-selecting eugenics
rules  OK 
‪these are the times when‬
‪a sign of the times calls time ‬
‪too late in the day‬
sniggering sea
laughing at my bloody toe
you just wait
a coal man summer 
wearing winter high on his
shinning leather
stalling the heat
a cool breeze brings thoughts
midnight liaison 
this long hot summer 
is laying it upon me -
Ella Fitzgerald 
‪did I write that - ‬
‪the illusive muse sitting‬
‪in mind’s corner‬
the bee’s knees
on a hot summer’s day
this breeze
wood burner
a load of logs arrive
hot summer’s day

Wednesday, 24 June 2020

has youth gone feral 
or is old age in lockdown 
my generation
ferally ferocious we
proffered the rejection
hot afternoon 
on the motorbike 
a bluebottle
young seagull calling
and calling and calling and -
you’re on your own bud
builders tardis -
infinite doors slamming shut
sunny afternoon
a chinook 
chops the afternoon
back to sleep
all a game really 
hunting the long grass
for gazelle words
closing the door and
entering the poets’ den
 - hello hello
o swell
i pebble skin my toe
bloody sea
arriving at a decision i move on

Tuesday, 23 June 2020

mid-summer night’s
nightmare - covid unlocked
a tragedy 
‪arrhythmia screening‬
‪90% dark chocolate ‬
‪double espresso‬
it is damned hot
his bricks boom into the skip
a storm is building 
mid-summer night’s
nightmare - angry and locked down
is escaping
driftwood
cat and the geraniums
sniffing the sun
‪found myself thinking‬
‪in a garden of thought‬
‪what if i didn’t‬
pretentious until
we read upon our gravestone
who we really were

Monday, 22 June 2020

voices
on a summer night
timeless
every evening
for a few mad mad minutes
she’s a kitten 
thousands of feet up
teeny weeny icy crystals 
the stars fan club

Sunday, 21 June 2020

we are born
we die
so what?
imagination 
in the meadows of my mind 
gnats
coffin nails
and diamond pearls
are just words?
in the greenhouse 
coming along fine now
the spider’s pantry 
why do i cry -
do i have to have a life
i just want to play

Saturday, 20 June 2020

unpublished poems 
hanging by their fingernails 
in posthumous hope
five green bananas 

five green bananas 

five green bananas 
at midnight 
the valley becomes 
a sea
that lock of hair
it is not me anymore 
is it?
a pebble
scoured by sand
becomes sand
funny protein 
you are not so funny now
funny that 
a book of pond life
birds eggs and british insects
i am nine again 

Friday, 19 June 2020

pauper’s grave 
beyond the rusting fence
a dead blackbird 
in the orchard 
a blackbird sunning himself
i’m sorry 
memory lane - where
the sun is always shining
in silence profound
a dog gurgles
the rain is barking
sleep dreams
shimmering 
sky boats
in august 
falling asleep 
the cat i no longer have
pounces on my book
sky
mind’s landscape
to dream

Thursday, 18 June 2020

gurgling 
outside my window
laughter
empty flagpoles
the lifeguards are in lockdown
unsafe safety
eyes at sea level
gulls look at me with distain 
the tide has turned
torrential rain
the cat and i safe and sound
on sofa’s ark
in the cellar
the chickens are bleeding
christmas 
hard copy
where’s the reply button
like
lighthouse 
the door opens
in a flash 
cat   rat
where are you now
rat    cat
condensation 
another cloud forms
in conversation 
then a black cloud follows
swift condemnation 

Wednesday, 17 June 2020

grandfather clock
by the blacklead hearth
the tea steeps 
starched shirts
blue bleach bag
mum
crows
gathering blackness
to roost
it is without
a shadow of a doubt
a self-portrait
june 
zillions of flies
composting
midnight 
a plane rumbles away
dogs stop barking
a hunchback 
this tiny mother of nine
was my nanna 
june 
the jackdaws are panting
in the castle
‪March hare‬
‪how high is the sky‬
‪asks the skylark‬
every night
the dog starts barking
at what at what
lavender
in the penthouse 
cuckoo spit

Tuesday, 16 June 2020

pigeons
in the medieval castle
coo d'état
thermals
seagulls disappearing
into the storm clouds 
there’s a girl
in this summer dream
who hasn’t 
childhood a rapier 
youth a dagger
old age a razor
lockdown
life a caricature 
of was
reboot! reboot!
the lockdown kids have arrived
just you wait and see
orchard snooze
windfalls counting the hours
i tilt my sun hat
‪fogged photograph‬
‪or a photograph of fog‬
‪strangely moving‬
heavy rain
the lavender buds
are unbowed

Monday, 15 June 2020

a childhood found
in the scent of christmas 
my comic annual
‪no one  in‬
‪the mist is everyone ‬
‪but me‬

Sunday, 14 June 2020

newts
they just hang there
don’t they
in a flash
across the xylophone 
a trout 
haiku
keystones
of an avalanche
blue breeze
the evening is cooling
at last
shopping - um - why not
sort of take it on the chin
wrap it up will you
in a propaganda shroud
and make britain proud again
pussy cat 
under the sedum
eating grass
spend money
to return to normal
and that is it?
storm approaching 
the cat - fast asleep
sighs 
night sighs
a police helicopter 
chasing sleep
what i define
when i am on my own
is true
that serpent weather
slithers across the map
apple a day
On the news
Schrödinger dead
Well, well, pussy cat
What do you think of that?
You never know - do you?

Saturday, 13 June 2020

darker lightning 
the silver birch is waiting 
for the storm
almost asleep
picking burrs off her fur
she purrs 
there were ruins
where there had been houses
where we played
beach cottages
the pebble shanties rattle
seven seas of why
rain
picking mint with my shirt off
cat fast asleep
bee
why did you sting me
blood he yell
old photographs 
peopled full of richness 
all dead now
prohibited
the unnecessary 
necessarily

Friday, 12 June 2020

the older i get
the more absurd things seem
including me
graffiti 
the laying bare of souls 
let us spray
British thrillers
have such nice clean murders
streaming now
rain
a few drops hit my face
  • bird shit!!!
under the gate
the rat stands stock still
a long shot
topless
waiting for the thunderstorm 
oh monsieur 
june wind
the house is restless
wind chime night
photo received
of your phone with my phone
retweeted
a lone dog
starts barking at the moon
all hell breaks out
night ghosts
they all ting the wind chime
going to ... 

Thursday, 11 June 2020

how long
is memory’s golden thread
answer me that
with every haiku
a wide smile breaks across
my face
the joy of the jotted page
and a wince of melancholy 
fairground moon
as midnight shadows lengthen
the ghost train departs
ruckling 
making its own way word
heavy rain 
what - what - what
is the rain never to stop
my sighs
beyond the curtain
that is courting in the wind
heavy rain
midnight
rain unabated rain
my book face down

Wednesday, 10 June 2020

rain
yard dogs stop barking 
sleep well
sleeping cat
my thoughts range far and wide
but she does not know

if i doze off
then she come to wake me
now now now