Late Afternoon on a Norfolk Wherry

  My response to dVerse Poets Pub Meter-Made Mood–dVerse Meeting the Bar Victoria has challenged us to write a poem that illustrates how meter contributes to the mood of a poem.   His face is traced and creased by Norfolk gales, His skin tanned Van Dyke brown as wherry sails, The wherryman sits on the tiller […]

Overshadowed by David

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Chisel me a conversation   When Michelangelo First touched his chisel to my skin My invisible fingers gripped it from within, In a struggle to be released From this marble prison. Sculpting myself through his hands, I freed my legs until I could stand, Muscles in thighs and calves tensed […]

Blue Hydrangea

My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Photo Challenge #117 and dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille 11 As a token Of the gardener’s growing love He presented his sweetheart With a single Blushing pink hydrangea bloom Her disappointment Spilled into the room Acid words dripped From her petal lips And the perfect globe Underwent a sea change And […]

Bluebottles Aren’t Blue

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille 11 13th June   A writhing urgency Of milky maggots Spills from a feeding frenzy In the depths of decomposition Metamorphoses From boring brown cocoons Into a metaphor Of obscenely beautiful blowflies Iridescent and metallic Buzzing and battling Against the windowpane Merging into the inky blackness Of Beelzebub […]

Seal Etheree

Sleekswimmerfollowingin the boat’s waketurns and dives belowthe swell and wash of waves,leading to the spit where acolony of blubbery bulls,salty sea dogs and expectant cowsbask on a cloudy August afternoon. Frolicking in the wind-whipped foam and spray,playful pups slip In and out of waves,graceful and magical mermaidsuntil they wrestle clumsyseasick bodies ontoshale and gritty sanda […]

On Watching Three Old Drinkers

I wrote this poem over thirty five years ago when I was living in Ireland. It’s my second response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics – Character Study    And whose are these eyes Sunk in thick-brimming liquid oblivion? And whose are these mouths, Uncontrollable rubber bands Chewing on unspoken words They spit tastelessly back in the glass? […]