You came to me
under a lilac sky
and said goodbye.
Autumn music,
howling through the grasses,
dizzied the leaves.
And the rain came
its wintry tears stinging
my solitude.
poem
Decision
A blank sheet of paper.
That challenging white expanse.
Do I fill it with gentle words of love,
spit angry tirades onto the page,
or etch sadness into its pulp?
Should I cover it with bright paint
depicting the glory of the summer sun,
or wash it in muted tones
with tears of grey
to reflect the world?
Then I remember that this new day
is my blank sheet,
and I am that empty page,
clean and pristine,
to embellish as I choose.
And to cover my surface,
today I choose primary colours,
bright and forthright,
with luminous language
that gladdens the soul.
Art Group
I was recently asked if I would be able to write a poem about our Art Group (visit the Sutton Art Group website to see what we get up to there). Up for a challenge, I came up with this one, which they were so pleased with they asked me to read it at the opening ceremony of our 20th Annual Exhibition last Saturday, so I thought I’d share it with you too.
The Art Group
Outside, the windows are awash,
Wet on wet this watercolour morning.
The messy collage of a weary world
continues out there, but inside, inside…
Inside is a cacophony of colour
spilling across the tables,
blending with pastel chuckles
and bright acrylic laughter.
The broad brushstrokes of practice
sit comfortably alongside
the detail of accomplishment,
each hand working, creating,
whilst quietly
the paper absorbs the memories
these friends trace together
each Friday morning.
Hope – haiku
Green things seek the light
struggling through the rocky crags
heads covered in snow
Constancy
In the harsh daylight the grasses sway
to the melancholy sighing of the earth
but the lake wisely lies silent
reflecting the surety
of the seasons
Bird
The air is still today
no breeze to carry me
It will take effort to soar
and I am feeble and weak
Yet I take leave of my safety tree
and swoop down
in free fall
forgetting to fly
‘Til instinct kicks in
and clumsily flapping
I turn my head skywards
And spy the blue beyond the clouds
Where thermals wait
To carry me above the clamour
and I will glide unhindered
ethereal and free
Sinking
The fruits decayed beneath me as I slept
in the sunshine of the yellow day,
whilst the rest of the world danced,
oblivious to the sorrowful dreams
sowing the seeds of chaos in my head.
I fell into the water
and the purple waves
took me to the edge of time.
I nestled there and watched the peacocks
strut amongst the turtles,
and the underwater things writhing in the air,
and there, amongst the rocks and pearls of the sea,
I took my last land lubber breath.
To Redemption
He flounders through the white rooms
of ubiquity
whilst stars falter
and sink into the weeping dark
and night will become day
only when that child opens his eyes
My Daughters
My sweetlings.
Commas wrapped in crochet shawls.
Cradled, they knew not what lay ahead
in this desperate world,
only the soft strokes and gentle voices
Of love.
Rosy cheeked
they fell into the rhythms of childhood,
with it’s classroom wars
and playground battles.
They learned to navigate their own steep road
And won.
Their prize?
Independence and freedom
from the happy home.
That cosy ancestral cave
Whose walls housed secrets, and memories,
And me
How they grew,
my little sweetlings.
Confident, funny and smart,
they are brilliance in these dark days,
shining their light on every distant path
they take.
Escape? – haiku
Distant sunlit hills
beguile me with their beauty
when storm clouds gather
Rebooting 