My response to Jane Dougherty’s Poetry challenge #31: Message in a bottle I put my poem in a bottle, Entrusted it to silver-tipped waves, But it meandered back to shore, all mottled With sand, ejected from its deep sea grave, Unless, of course, it bobbed above, Tossed from spray to foam. It was cherished by […]
Tag: Poems
A poem to sum up my feelings in this post.
Tied to Words
My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Music Prompt #43: “Someday We’ll Linger” by Gaelynn Lea We live on earth as humble bards All scribbled lines and wine glass shards Leaving bitter taste, tattoos and scars Of long-lost poems we used to write The ones that kept us up all night That never seemed to turn out right […]
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 […]
The Ballad of the Space Diamond
My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Tale Weaver #66: All that Glitters She had the hardness and glitter Of a diamond But her heart had the softness Of a pearl; Under make-up, jewels and furs She was still a little girl, Not a tigress who growls and then purrs. He had money and a rampant reputation […]
On Visiting Wiveton Hall Gardens
So close To the coast You can hear The rumbling murmur And soughing sigh Of the sea Beyond the flint wall That enfolds All it holds: A riot of hues of green; Flames of orange poppies, Purple tulips and peonies Splashed as on an artist’s palette Across a pointillist sea-cloud Of forget-me-nots That I will […]
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? […]
Survivor
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics – Character Study At just eighteen He was a survivor Of the Boer War And then, at thirty, The Great War, A Colour-Sergeant Major And one-time member, Scarlet dress-coat And bear-skin wearer Of the Queen’s Guard. Returning home from France, Away from the thunder Of guns that blew […]
Travelling Light
My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Photo Challenge #113 Image by Unknown Sharp in the sunlight, Melted snow Of lingering winter Revealed new growth. In the drifting bark Shifting sounds marked The changing of the season: The clamour of skeins of geese And rooks emitting their phlegmy belches As they built a shanty town In […]
Crisis of Friction
My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Wordle #109 Born in a cluster of stars, The lonely poet offers Her handwritten score To the universe, Spilling her ink-infused sorrow On limestone edifices: A blurry hierogram of verse And perception, A cultural crisis of friction When her soul-drenched work Is read on a Kindle – She feels thrown […]
Abandoned
My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Sunday Mini-Challenge: Harrows and Hallows Pernicious parents, Distorted trees split open, Exposing hearts Of writhing tendrils. Throwing swollen limbs akimbo, They abandon mewling saplings To stodgy black bogs and fells, Crinkled as old men’s faces From nightmare tales. Orphans of the environment Forsaken on the craggy […]
writing in north norfolk 