Magnolia Poetry Half-Remembered
- Details
- Written January 2016
Eyelids drooping one at a time
Till all follow the rhythm,
Rocking off into the land of nod
As the voice works through the stanzas
With yellow daffodils wandering
Lonely as a crowd
Of British coasters chugging down the Channel
Past the owl and the pussy cat put to sea
Rocking over the waves, yawning,
While another shuffles in, saying I'm all there,
Especially enjoying the lilt of the voice,
So the poetry comes to life
In our own version, freshly created for today.
Poetry reading at Willett House.
January 2016
Paradise Regained
- Details
- Written September 2015
Boiled up by the central heating,
The lunch trolley aromas stagnant
In a bathroom fragranced with aerosols,
So cross the threshold into the garden
To be braced by fresh air
That ripples over goose pimples
Lifting hairs on the back of the neck,
So that remembered images become real
With bumble bees frolicking in the lavender,
The fuchsias dangling their bells,
Alchemilla sparkling with raindrops.
The scent of the earth, a glance at the sun;
Inside and out, the soul is reborn.
Willett House
Photo: Alchemilla mollis
September 2015
Solar System
- Details
- Written February 2015
Earth and its moon rotating,
Wild in the dance of existence,
Waiting for sunrise, chasing the shadows,
Yet loving the shade of the other
While the sun smiles serenely,
Anchored, immobile,
Moving across horizons,
Winking at both with a tease
That says: you both matter to me
And you can't exist without me.
So the gyration continues
Tantalised by distance
Yet knowing they belong together.
February 2015
Peace Treaty
- Details
- Written August 2015
Conscripts to defend the king,
Marshalled along fields that will be their graves,
Hobnailed and booted in the trenches
Behind circles of barbed wire, facing the enemy
Advancing under the staccato of gunfire,
Fighting for rights in the theatre of battle,
Until ceasefire, armistice and peace are signed
And celebrated with the leftovers of war
Until promises are broken again.
Delegations touch down - red-carpeted diplomats,
Representing the people
Hurried through the fast-moving queue of privilege,
Well-heeled on the thick pile of the chamber,
Seated alphabetically in semicircles of debate
Moving the agenda forward,
Seeking consensus in the uniting arena,
Moving to universal endorsement,
Celebrated with coffee and croissants
Expecting them to keep their word.
August 2015
After attending a Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations, Geneva,
remembering the start of the First World War.
Clouded Skies
- Details
- Written August 2014
Growing to its fullness day and night
To reveal a little more of itself,
Waxing eloquent with increased tension,
Waiting for the turn of the tides
Or the conception of new life
That should make all the difference
To the emptiness of the womb,
But sadness lingers as hopes wane,
Because we saw no moon,
Just warm summer raindrops
Trickling down the windowpanes
Shed with the tears of lunar heartache
Wiped away by the morning sunrise.
August 2014
Image: Raindrops on a window in Radevormwald - Frank Vincentz