First comes the walk
walks are required now
prescribed to ward off
effects of life

getting from here to there
taken for granted
vertical movement
now a task

Next was found
the Underground
home of brews
home of seats

some soft, cushy
others wooden
yet warm, inviting
Come, taste our brew

chairs, sofas
filled with chatting people
mostly women
looking into faces

illuminated screens
across coffee, latte, or tea
communicating
smiles, grimaces

What is shared
humor, news
fears, fraughts, fragments
dimensions of now, the past

people rise to
pick up special steaming
drinks fresh from
the Underground

He never orders a latte
standard drinks
brew of the day
fill his cup

someday
An inkling may stir him

to order
a white chocolate mocha

My neighbour's son came late to wish her
Being always very busy,
Mum sorry I don't  have time,
I have to rush to a meeting.
I will buy you anything you want,
And have my secretary sent it to you.
Son I need only two things,
Your time for me,
And my yesterday's I found time to be with you.
Can you buy me that with your wealth.
23/8/2025

When a man is a short distance away from his wife his messages are short .
The greater the distance the longer the messages .
.
So are the prayers of man to God .

crabbing boats
some with pots
some with sails

across the blue mirror
across a blue heaven
across the welded horizon

Suddenly, the 502s were back
those unexpected disconnects
that make posting whack
and my nerves a wreck

Like blank spots in time
that made me backtrack
unable to use rhymes
I felt trapped and  highjacked

Did the server choke on a bone?
Was 5G stalling me, wordless and postponed?
Did the firewall collapse, did DNS lapse?
Was it my laptop, was it my phone?

People watched me, on the metro,
as I frowned and moaned at my useless iPhone.
The issues seemed flagrant, I was becoming impatient
Was I some kind of nut? I was showing emotion.
We don’t DO that in Paris - have public implosions.

Did it happen to you?
Or was I one of a few.
What were the chances
that it only happened to poets in France?
.
.
Song for this:
Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan
La Vie en Rose by Allison Adams Tucker

It means more
Than you give it credit for
It gives you space
You give it space
Which equals time
Standing in place
In all this space