They say that a robin is a sign,a visit from a loved onefrom the other side. Chill January breathhaunts me on the anniversaryof my mother’s death, her favourite bird follows meround the garden,cocks its head and eyes me, leaves invisible spoorsacross a blank page,a love letter of sorts carving a pain in my heart,lingering grief […]
Category: Poems Inspired by Artists, Music and Other Writers
Searching for Dark Matter
We could search the skywith the naked eyeor the ocean bedbut, when all is said, there’s enough darkmatter in a symphony,a masterpiece of art,prose or poetry. What the eye can’t seein heaven or below the sea,is hidden deepin our hearts and souls. Why do we feel the needto explore black holes(or alcohol in dark bars)for […]
Clair de Lune
The lightest note breaksspace with crystal notes and takesmy breath away, like snowflakes spinning around my free-falling soul. Piano keysreverberate and echo in D, cascading angst-filled arpeggiosin a swelling tide of melancholia,a swirling musical oceanus. A spree of naked notes delightspeaking into rolling notesof sadly serious moonlight. And when it’s over, silence glistenswith spectral music […]
On reading Heaney’s ‘Gifts of Rain’
The recent rain has left puddles,cars shower walkers with chilly wavesand tractors churn up mud. Burst riverbanks leave us in a muddle,fields and gardens lost, animals to save,as we wrangle with the flood. On the other side of the world it’s dry,all moisture wrung out, no dripping taps,just an arid cough of dust. There’s not […]
Grief Crows
The last of the wildflowershas faded, the air is pregnant with the first breath of falling leaves, and long grass is meshed with violet splashes, commonknapweed on common ground. A glance overhead reveals something flapping, a black glove or a hand, waving, first oneand then another, keeping close, mime artists skittering – […]
Matching – a poem on Visual Verse
After a couple of months of not responding to Visual Verse, I am delighted that they chose to include my poem on page 41 of the latest issue, Volume 10 Chapter 11. The image by Kitty Harrison x Dylan Sauerwein was an unusual one that inspired amazing prose and poetry, including some by familiar poets, including […]
Grandma and the Red Umbrella
Whether it’s for protectionfrom the bullion blazeof the sun or acidic city rain,the red umbrella draws the gazeof everyone on Grandma’s street. It’s with her whenever she goes out,furled or unfurled, swung or twirled,you can see her coming in the distance,dancing and tripping on the pavement. She is the personification of jolly,always ready for gossip […]
Still Life with a Plate of Onions
His hog hair brush elicited ochre orbs;their pale sprouts, long grown through,contrast with green pot of camphor oiland candlestick’s cobalt blue. Were onions the only vegetablethe ailing artist could affordonce he had paid for rough wine,pipe tobacco and humble board? Or was he keen to improve his healthafter battling with hallucinationsand mutilating an ear? Throughoutthe […]
Father’s Self-portrait with the Family
Mother put my hair in a plait,dressed me in my best blue skirtand red sailor blouse.Father set a timerand photographed the pose. I knew it would be boringand, deliberately turning,rummaged for stories in a chest,while mother froze, her blue dressblending into the mise en scene. She smiled faintly at the lensand then looked away,as did […]
Musings of a Poetic Cat – a poem on Visual Verse
I am delighted that Visual Verse chose to include my poem on page 18 of the latest issue, Volume 10 Chapter 8. The image by Erica Marsland Huynh appealed to me because it is of cats. As ever, all the pieces, prose and poetry, are fantastic. I recommend reading them all – or you can go directly […]
writing in north norfolk 