If you found Bluebell
Laying in the grass
Smiling at the daisies
What would you ask?
Is she a fairy child
Or baby princess
Someone's lost treasure
Please do ask.
For I know a Bluebell
As beautiful as any flower
A little catch of wonder
Of bubbles in the sky
She was gifted by an angel
To show us the way
Of lightness and petal shapes
On a sunny day .

For Bluebell love Grandma xxxx

Where when close to the wall
The edges of your hair
Almost touch an upturned face
Filling just the slightest trace
As if not a whisper was shared
Nor a flutter undisturbed
For the note is quietly played
And Schubert's subtle sigh,
Goodbye.

Love Mary ***

I loved you from the start
On day one
Just felt comfortable
And we could talk
You told me about
The world of everything
Mother liked you
You shared knowledge
Of scientific things
She always liked you
My father less impressed
As sport not on your
Agenda, especially football.

You read to me books
With a voice filled with
Intonation
Curled together in a chair
You had a beard
And long hair
Dark soft eyes
Against my pale blue
I never stopped loving you
Never
It is now forty- eight years.

Love to my dear Roger from Mary x

All along the avenue of trees
Which leads down to the canal
Are spaces which cast shadows
Tall lengthening towers.

Down the avenue of trees
Many have walked
Some are missing, others gone
The gaps are like fallen trees.

The park, a monument to change
To the universal truth of sorrows
The welcoming joy of Spring
And every new footstep that begins.


Love Mary ***

Said as simply as any words
Means so much that is unheard
Tells a story in one line
The nature of which is undefined.

Hidden meanings, secrets kept
Hopes and dreams around you slept
Youngest daughter plan your day
So that love is here to stay.

Meet each Sunday in a special way
Be not lonely in anyway
Fill the time with gentle hours
Your value is in your power.


Love Mum **

In a garden that edged the farm
With cast iron railings as a fence
And windy plants that claimed the bars
Stood a little girl.

Dark her hair and dark her eyes
Against a short and checkered dress
There she was with a birthday cake
On a table on the ground.

Bigger than she herself
This cake two tiers high
Decorated in scalloped lace and yellow
Piped flowers.

Pretty little daughter of mine
Though only two
You smiled away with gladness
And I, so loved you .


Love Mummy x

Let me take you from your bed
Kiss you gently on the head
Heap you to my willing breast
Fold you in loves tenderness
Though the night may still be dark
The house is cold with no fire
I never minded feeding you
Being woken all night through
In my nightgown I stood by
Watched the clock move the hour
Longed to have us skin to skin
Your baby hair and dribbly chin.


Love Mummy **

On the longest road was our home
At the top where the road flops
Bending slightly to the east
From pebbledash to brick clad
This bend left our sight undone
Could not see when Mum did come
Round the corner in her coat
Carrying all the food she'd bought
Gentle corner I loved your curve
Gave us time to put away
Prepare ourselves for all to come
Especially the comfort of our Mum.

Love Mary **

I want to tell you about our cat
He was big and fluffy, like a furry floor mat
Moved from a house a few yards away
Adopted us and came to stay
Our big, fluffy, tabby cat.


Use to sit on my mother's knee
Kept her warm as warm could be
He had big paws just like a lion
Could give you a scratch if got alarmed
Our big, fluffy, tabby cat.


And though we all loved him
His temperament was fierce
Kept those paws ready to pounce
Snarled and hissed given a chance
Careful we were of that cat.

One day we noticed Fluff could not see
Kept banging his head on the garden tree
No longer could find his dinner plate
Now we knew it was getting late
For our big, fluffy, tabby cat.


For days and days we all did cry
No warm patch where Fluffy resides
In the garden under some flowers
Where the Spring bulbs grew scented hours  
Lies our very dear, Fluffy cat.



Love Grandma Mary **
For all my grandchildren

Aunty you were like poetry
Missing out the boring bits
Brimming over with flowers
Telling stories of distant hours
Your hands varnished in cerise
Up close, like wisteria, hung
The softest of black curls.

You made the simple day
Unbelievably lovely
Crystal earrings caught in the light
Cake eaten with a silver teaspoon
The world was magically composed
From your colourful robes
And I would sit at your feet.


Love Mary x for her Aunty Elizabeth

I will follow you
Down the alleyways of your mind
Lying under your sun
Meling into dreams
Left behind by a shadow
We are loves words
Floating in time
The adventurers of space
Touches emblems, enshrined
Never let it be said
We didn't care
For every fraction of day
Held together
This man and this woman
Looped by a golden bow.

Love Mary

For her Roger ***

I recall a day in Summer
Many years ago
When my life was about handstands
Done in a row
Fingers stretched out
Pressing the ground
My legs went upwards
Splaying about
Dresses floating
Catching the wind
Pigtails all dangling
Needles and pins
Staying steady
Was hard to begin
But eventually mastered
The handstand thing.


Love Mary ***

Your heart is as soft as a bird's feather, downy
From birth
As gentle as the passing of a skirt
As it moves against skin
As kind as the wisest of people
When their heart is risen
Above all things
Son you are all these things
And I love you .

Mum xxxx