There are gulls between the goalson the village football pitch,tugging at lingering wisps of mist,their white wings stark against dirty green. They ignore the jackdaws, yinto their yang, pick at the last daisies,the ones that haven’t been squashedin mud, hoping for a tasty snack. No fish and chips here, too farfrom the coast, no shops […]
Category: Poems about Norfolk
Norfolk Paddle Songs
My paddle sings a song of gnarly bankside roots,of snagging water lilies and bulrushesof gurgling, drips and splashes. My paddle sings a song of stately swans,of graceful grebes and other waterfowl,of agile otters and shy water voles. My paddle sings a song of riverside pubs,of cottages, farms and windmills,of flat landscapes and a dearth of […]
On the Norfolk Broads
It’s never silent among the reedsand water lilies: inquisitive swans gliding in a boat’s wake hissand honk; there’s the bittern’s boom, an otter’s splash, and a breezewhistles through overhanging leaves. Passing boats rumble, blast their hornsby the bridge, the tide slaps at moored-up craft rockingand swaying in the moorings. But at sundown, everything is quietin […]
Us
It was the beginning of us,that weather-buffeted cottageby the North Sea, haunted bysaline spectres and seabirds. Out-of-season virgin beaches wereravaged by wind, foot and paw prints.Seal-stalkers button-eyed us wearilyfrom the waves; they seemed to know about teeth-chattering winters spentwatching the carpet rise and watertrickle down rain-blasted walls. Yetit was cockle-warming: the damp, smoky crackles […]
April Blossoms
There are few blossoms in the city yet,save a misty cerise-tinged sunset;one can only imagine a hazeof cherry flowers pinking up the sky- line and defining sooty silhouettes. Who am I to criticise a city dwellerwho climbs high enough in the April skyto search far and wide for the distant aromaof trees blooming in the […]
On the Hill
On my first visit, looking from the Market,I imagined the body of Robert Ketthanging from its walls,a warning to the rebelswho stood up to wealthy landowners,against unfair land enclosures. I wandered up a mound dug by slaves,to an edifice built over Saxon graves,a symbol of Norman subjugation,to counter revolt and rebellion. Throughout history they rose […]
Music of the Moorings
A sunny afternoon spent by themoorings watching boats; a smelldrifts off the water ofsun cream, lazy days and freedom,when days are long and warm,and barbecues singe gentle winds.Holidaymakers escape the limits ofsweltering city life in summer;I watch them navigate the dyke as I lingernear a patch of water lilies inthe shade of trees. I feel […]
It’s Wednesday
and this is what I know:married thirty-one years,living in a place wherebeauty is everywhere,yesterday we drovefor just over an hourpast the salt marsheson the North Norfolk coast. In an ice-blue skylapwings flash wings;skeins of geese fly overheadand a variety of ducks glideacross the briny water below. It’s a landscape of shiveringbird calls, marsh birds pouringover […]
Fye Bridge
In Norwich, where an ancient wooden bridge once stood, another took its place, but it was never rid of its use in the witch trials, and now it is a haunted space. Where Fye bridge crosses the river is a handsome part of the city; the stories it holds would make you shiver from its […]
Village
This is a quiet village in a flat landscape,where boat sails criss-cross fieldspast old churches and windmills. There are ancient woods and trees:rowan, oak and beech,walks along a winding lane or windy beach. Just down the road horses graze and on the riverducks and swans return each year:I’m not the only one who loves it […]
writing in north norfolk 