From mid-autumn until the end of winter,each day begins and ends with night,not morning’s gentle lightening or splinterof tea-time twilight, although sunsetstill kaleidoscopes in clear October skies.We live from day to day: wake up,rise and read about incessant liesover the rim of a tea or coffee cup.Then it’s time to catch a bus or train,ignoring […]
Tag: Sonnet
Morning Inspiration
I get up early while you’re still asleep; avoid the cats while creeping down the stairs, try not to wake you with my leaden feet, and stumble over work boots into chairs. The floor is cold, and so’s the toilet seat, the sink is laced with toothpaste and stray hairs. The cat tray smells and […]
Bread-Making in Winter
For months frayed foliage has covered earth, the agèd year is faded to sepia shades and now it turns again to white and grey with early dusk as winter draws its breath. The frigid bite of January’s mellowed, outdone by the aroma, as it lingers, of yeast and flour wafting from your fingers, familiar scent […]
A Sudden Sonnet
On a dark December morning, invisible in sea mist, Norfolk beet fields whisper wind. Silent poplars, stripped of their leafy dress, oppressed by the closeness of gunmetal clouds, flank the lane. Tarmac glistens with overnight rain, the sky threatens to split again and has leached all colour. Suddenly, in the hedgerow, I see the silhouette […]
October Sonnet
I look out on a bright October day, bewitched by wanton sun and shadow-play. The blush of autumn spreads its leafy hues and drips its blood in scarlet vesicles. Horse-chestnuts, heavy-laden, start to rust, their tumbled conkers lying in the dust; with spiny shells, some squashed and some half-split, they wink the brown eye of […]
The Elusiveness of Purple
It’s in the bloom on the skin of a plump plum poised to plop, the fruity sweetness of the drop of a blackberry’s inky stain, the smear of jam on a child’s face, and the smudge in the space between the rich red of sunset and the indigo of night. When the scent of plum […]
The Language of Seagulls
His cry’s a stentorian swoop in the azure, draws curlicues in and out of the clouds. Apart from the flock, with its dodging and fighting, he lifts up his beak and whispers of wind. He lowers his feet, curves his wings, scrawls a wake, a poem in water with fricative feathers, a lone gull’s sonnet […]
Rejecting Solipsism
In a world so conveniently organised there is no need for charm or chat-up lines, all the young have to do is swipe and rate their lives on the number of likes. For those of us who never went on dates, who fell in love with long-term friends, preferring the safety of familiar faces, dating […]
Paradise Cobbled
Cobbles have been laid over paradise With stables for carriages and horses, Bawdy taverns, markets, court masques and plays. Life does not follow preordained courses, Cherishing what you have is good practice For tomorrow may well be its demise. Cobbles have been laid over paradise With stables for carriages and horses; They have taken an […]
Satisfaction
Through windows, I’ve watched the changing season, The persistent shift of shapes and colours, Until I’m enticed into the garden, Where I’m ambushed by rampageous brambles, And underfoot soil sinks as I amble. The tree stump by the gate slowly decays, Colonised by fungi, ants and beetles; Overhanging birches obstruct my way Through a forest […]
writing in north norfolk 