The years roll back, forty, forty-four,to someone’s kitchen, somewhere in Dublin, where the cider’s flowing, there’s Guinness and more,guitars are tuned, and the girls are gathered in. We’re smiling, Rita and I, sitting on the floor,enjoying the music, voices rising and falling. It’s a proper session, everyone joins in,but it’s fallen quiet. “Come on,” someone […]
Category: Poems
A poem to sum up my feelings in this post.
Dawn Chorus
Woken by the sound of birdsong,at first a distant tin whistle of a song,I pull on a sweater and step outside,where a pink and yellow colourwash creeps across the sky. When spring is almost at its peak,with blackbird, thrush and robin spilling music from their beaks,I can’t help but join in the joyful roundnow the […]
Fate
Am I a fool to want to float,to sail away on a leaky boat,exploring canals and rivers,trimming sails in squally weatheruntil I reach the estuaryand the freedom of the open sea?A mysterious cloud invokes my muse,questions the destiny I choose.What if I should lose my way?Then I will consult the sky: by dayI have the […]
Casting On With Grandmother
She taught me the art of patience,guiding awkward childish fingersto draw a loop around a needle,keep going until too-tight, sweat-soaked woolbecame a square. Knit was the basic stitch, purl soon followed,we explored more complicated structuresmore colourful and designs until, together,we conjured up a rainbowfrom cheap or unravelled yarnthat itched. Later, at parties, that knitterin the […]
Glazed
The clay is moist in our hands. We probe it with damp fingers, feeling resistance until we simultaneously throw it on our wheels with a wet thud. Percussion. The rhythm of the kick wheel gives us impetus to knead and sculpt, and shapes emerge, breathing together with their creators, merging into a breeze, a windy […]
Behind a library shelf…
1. You breathe in earthy, musty, woody redolenceof paper, inky words, dreams,the comforting scentsof stories, poetry from past ages,paper that was born in reamsand cut neatly into pages. 2. You touch surfaces caressed by other fingers,pristine, dog-eared, annotated,abused, their colours:white, yellow, dessicated;the satisfying sussurusas you turn each page over. 3. You peruse crisp, fresh print […]
Diamond
He was wealthy, with a reputationfor breaking hearts and violencein his quest for love, not infatuation,an elusive gem in a mine of loneliness. Diamonds are darkling magnetsfor women of a certain kind;they attract gossip and rumour,but this kingpin didn’t seem to mind. He pulled each giggling, mindlessdebutante in a whirl of tipsy parties,always on the […]
Twisted in a Mini Ritz
Summer days in a silver Mini Ritzwith red racing stripes, bucket seats,and the perfect sound system,on the way from Twickenhamto Fulham. I had my windows down,stuck in jam, suffocating heat easedby a warm breeze, jazzing alongto ‘Twisted’: “My analyst told methat I was right out of my head”,enjoying dog days of freedom,doing my best Joni […]
Children of the Brambles
Thorny limbs snatch at naked skinon the twilit forest path; glancingright and left, we seek knots of berries,black and shiny as jet, followingbrimstone and comma butterfliesthat drift like graceful ballet dancersarrayed in spectacular sunset hues. We dodge wasps weaving among spursand landing on fruit that bursts with juice;pick flies and spiders from the clusters,brush cobwebs […]
The Egg and the Key
I found an egg, smooth and new;it was warm so I gave it to you –I wanted to see what you would do. Flocks of birds surrounded us two,they dived and swooped and flewuntil the sky turned a leaden hue. You took my hand, so I followed youto the aquarium at a nearby zoo,and the […]
writing in north norfolk 