older

becoming our childhood’s

parents

nasturtiums 

the butterflies hatch

next summer

haunted 

by a virus 

hunting 

the wind chimes are still

embraced by the runner beans

high summer 

sharp pebbles

scoured by the mountain stream 

become smooth

en garde

the muse and the poet

rapier toché

old photographs 

reminding us of when 

the time was then

childhood 

digging up the hamster

to see the bones 

package holiday

charon crossing acheron 

book now

          cut short

        - life’s end -

            so long

rain

walking with me

alone

cuckoo child

hide and seek all summer

running

the great mysteries 

we are dying to know

and then we do

late july 

already leaves start to fall

stop i cry

now it rains

i shelter blinking

deciding

‪spider’s eyes‬
‪bigger than my whole dark past‬
‪are holding me‬

i’ve caught the fact
that i don’t want to catch it
i hope others do

as the cat

emerges from under the blanket

the empire strikes back

‪black pads they were‬
‪we killed their dawns with our shoes‬
‪but they came again‬

after the rain

the lavender bounces back

then the bees return

in search of happiness 

i return home to find a

spider in my bed

muggy night

thoughts stuck to the windows 

of my mind 

did basho 

ever picture me reading him

today and thinking

who will read me when i write

armageddon 

‪beans grow on shit‬
‪then we go and eat them‬
‪producing more shit‬

under the mountains 

the fisherman reflecting

on the sunset

forever 

the day we said forever

do you remember 

forever and a day and

that ‘and a day’ is today

‪and so he walks past‬
‪that past that we imagine‬
‪that he imagined‬

amethyst

this lavender bobbing day

under the bees

‪the old poet‬
‪reading his words asks‬
‪who wrote this‬

dusty windows

deciding at sundown

always tomorrow 

past caring

the seeds are germinating

tomorrow’s woes

fireworks 

shifting summer evenings

towards autumn

late in the day

dust slowly settling

upon reflection

in the purse of words

the price of the day’s teaching

adds currency 

add an ampersand

and all will be well again

between us

‪caught red-handed‬
‪upon their summer laughter‬
‪the old man’s smiles‬

fairground 

not winning a prize

is the prize

summer garden

for one little greenfly 

life is over

the cat
she chose a flower
and sat

‪summer has gone‬
‪she rustled her pinafore ‬
‪and left‬

night boat light

a fallen star is scrambling

back up to the moon 

gone midnight 

cars humming summer

a dog barks

pilgrims 

have walked this way before

and now me

carnivore mirror

gnawing on time’s bones

behind my front 

‪the growling mob‬
‪so many snarling teeth‬
‪slavering consent‬

thoughts in a 

smashing waterfall of flight

over the rainbow 

waterfall

the clouds arrive

at my feet

memorials

already written 

waiting

when full

the pantheon sinks

unrecognised 

the rising sun

dragged by the waterfall

into the valley

a waterfall

is just a waterfall

until sun comes out

see how they run

along the tiny breakers

of your mind

‪the crows‬
‪they knows‬
‪you know‬

my mind walks further

than my legs will carry me

back home

the hook goes down

deep into the darkness 

to catch no idea

getting older 

i calculate the poets’ ages

and how long ago

second waterfall

much bigger than the thirst

pours forth

‪unlocked‬
‪how the zoo animals feel‬
‪lockdown‬

‪tea ceremony‬
‪the true meaning of water‬
‪drinking it in‬

‪they know  yes  they know‬
‪the fattened birds of summer‬
‪and still they sing‬

the floater

swimming in my eye 

isn’t there

which part of me  is me

and who or what will tell me

which part will say

which part will listen

and what is in between

butterfly bush -

where why have the butterflies 

gone

greenfly 

under the silver birch

luncheon

time creeps by

buddah thinks about time

but not all the time

what is outside

the mirror of my mind 

reflecting on

what is here inside my mind

echoes ditto 

sleeping

in the valley of lust

tomorrow

everything 

there is nothing left to say

someone said

civilisations

the great poets of those times

still whispering 

the carrier bag

full of life’s recycled

lives

autocorrect 

a parallel universe

mispropounces

in a chrome spilling

of fish & chip shop light 

salt & vinegar 

faces in the rock

saying nothing but watching

you watching

never tired

of the sky’s many faces

in passing clouds

how many rings

are waiting for the hammer’s

freedom 

windfalls rolling

across the orchard clover

in wet socks

little spiders 

born in the smallest room

my house is yours

inarticulacy 

that’s easy for you to say

i could have said

builders 

nailing an afternoon

in summer

seagull 

calling down the dusk

you sound so sad

pre-furred 

the cat has brought the sun in

pat a cat a day

‪the silly bus‬
‪going somewhere important‬
‪ended up just here‬

there is no future

tomorrow lies littered here

for no hope remains

loosestrife 

so few the days of summer

left to roam

the poet 

to circumvent the drug test

had to eat his words

on the horizon 

we visit the whole world

imagine that 

driftwood

writing secret thoughts when

you were all at sea

the tales of ise

one hundred and twenty five

tears fell

today when i die

tomorrow will also die

and yesterday

then today gives up and dies

so where does that leave me

taught myself to write

tonight and tomorrow 

is another world

forgiving together

the molecules that are you

for this only instant

frogs in paris -

the autocorrect 

decomposes 

so precious is

time spent where time should be

is not spent time

for Patrica 

so many sad poems

one hundred and twenty five

tears fell

‪Covid-19 in 2020‬
‪thousands of million’s of trillions‬
‪of trillion’s millions ‬

‪mr speaker speaker‬

‪i can announce announce‬

between my ankles

the cat has stopped purring 

heavy with warmth

between my ankles

the hot water bottle 

that is my cat

reading with

the cat between my ankles 

i bookmark the page 

the cat and my book

which will close in sleep first

i must write that down

fulminating 

now that i have caught it

pandemic of news

cuckoo

feeding a gaping page

this poet

‪that stone‬
‪i could tell you what i see‬
‪but won’t‬

• ebullience

now there’s a word to conjure 

• fanfare 

‪shallot i say‬

‪wiping my eyes‬

‪salad days‬

‪‘thought for today’‬
‪i turn off the radio‬
‪i think‬

blood and bramble on

the walk above the ocean

smarting in the wind

unopened 

a new book lies silent 

waiting 

reading these poems

i enter a world that does

doesn’t exist 

sea breezes

cavorting with lavender 

laughter

when one arrives

at the secret of all things

sleep comes

two woodlice

bringing Buddha’s thoughts

down to earth 

lavender nods

the zen garden of thought

is abashed

botanic gardens 

sleeping in the greenhouse 

a tramp

then they collected

all the spirits of the world 

when the sun went down

and so it begins

the countdown of the days

we have left to us 

at the bottom

of every espresso 

a haiku

orchard nettles

bowing in the rain 

unripe apples

rain

moving with ghosts

dripling the woods

this night

the summer wind is raging

- why

Covid-19 unlock

the four horsemen of the alcopops

‪plant the beans‬
‪bees will come‬
‪beans will be‬

catches a mouse

then says ‘oh - look - a mouse’

cats are just ...

geraniums

through the rainy window

crying 

fresh snow

all the trees have faces

happy and sad

a shrine - 

the bell curve of belief

rings

haiku woodcuts

i read them upside down 

for a change

alone 

on the scaffold of my time 

i stand alone 

relax 

poor blackbird in the rain 

the cat is asleep

after coffee

i write a haiku

with a smile

pussy cat you are

morning afternoon night

awake at last

and by here

scratching the cat

and by there

geraniums

through the rainy window

smarting

storm

a geranium petal

begs to come in

teenagers

their voices arrive

before they do

summer wind

mowing pears and plums

no damn jam!

pussy cat - you 

claw my basal ganglia 

and back paw my brain 

you just this minute came in

now you want go out again 

with one finger

proving it’s a grasshopper 

over there

Bosherton lily ponds 

fresh water crabs

cross the causeway

night pee

it is still raining

dripping trees

through the sedge

runs the mountain water

slowly frog