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184 · Mar 2017
Frustration
Janet Aitch Mar 2017
White cat
Strolls between sensors
Intended to divert
And smiles
179 · Aug 2019
A Riddle
Janet Aitch Aug 2019
The remorseless rain
beats against the wall
the wind rippling the puddles
of water on the path.

At the window
I ask 'Is it an omen?
Were the seer's words
as senseless as they seemed?'
175 · Nov 2017
Can You Believe It?
Janet Aitch Nov 2017
In reds' country
Grey squirrel
Insolently
Runs along beside me
Janet Aitch Feb 2019
Went to poetry group
Nothing
but
enjoyed others' offerings
enormously
175 · Mar 2017
Disappointment
Janet Aitch Mar 2017
Spectacular snow
sufficiently stepped upon
morphs moodily
into puddly slush
172 · Jul 2019
The English Lake District
Janet Aitch Jul 2019
It's become a trend
to climb the hills
or, to add spice
to run them, twice!

It's only fair
to indicate
fell-runners are spare
and carry no weight

Think of Joss Naylor
at eighty plus
still running past
the rest of us
169 · May 2019
Unpredictability
Janet Aitch May 2019
The acer
below my window
budded brown
but leafed green
166 · Nov 2017
Eviction Notice
Janet Aitch Nov 2017
Daddy-long-legs
Prancing
Advancing
across the kitchen floor
Put it out
Janet Aitch Nov 2018
From now to the end of November
a list as long as your arm
of hospitals and doctors
and now I must keep calm
163 · Jul 2017
Sourpuss
Janet Aitch Jul 2017
Neighboring cat
Is making me sour
I don't like either
161 · Jun 2018
Undivided Attention
Janet Aitch Jun 2018
Undivided attention
is a gift
one doesn't get
very often

It's a gift
one doesn't give
very often
in these days
of butterfly-mindedness

It's quite a challenge
to love that much
160 · Oct 2017
as an aside..
Janet Aitch Oct 2017
great-grandpa
bushy-bearded
lively, loved
was a Squirrell
with two ls
159 · Jan 2020
Kirkstone Pass
Janet Aitch Jan 2020
When you head up the ***** of the Kirkstone Pass,
so-called for the rock, a glacier's erratic,
that's shaped like a chapel and stands at the head
of the steeply-raked pass

There's a place where the valley far down below you
splits either side of the hill, called 'The Tongue'
Way below is a farm at the tip of 'The Tongue'
from this height, so tiny, it looks like a toy

Be careful!  Don't go to the edge of the roadway
or your fall will be sharp and you might not survive
Drive on, up the twisting ascent of the mountain
until, near the summit, you spot Kirkstone Inn

It's built at the junction of the pass and 'The Struggle'-
the latter a test of a new driver's skill-
its car park a stop for walkers and drivers,
its promise of welcome a tangible call

What a wonderful feeling of warmth as you enter
You're inside, enjoying a favorite brew
Check up on the map, now decide where you're going,
then say your adieus and be back on the road
156 · May 2017
The Social Whirl..
Janet Aitch May 2017
.. though a lot of fun
.. doesn't get
much work done
155 · Sep 2017
Autumn
Janet Aitch Sep 2017
Nights lengthen
Days darken
Brightly coloured leaves
cheer me up
155 · Sep 2017
The Cat Owner Is Back
Janet Aitch Sep 2017
In the dark
at my doorstep
a small white face
155 · Nov 2017
Is That So?
Janet Aitch Nov 2017
Communication
Keeps everything
Functioning smoothly
If and when
It  happens
155 · Apr 2019
Cut Out Dessert
Janet Aitch Apr 2019
I enjoy having
two daily meals provided
Problem:
Tight waistband
153 · Jul 2018
All Packed Up
Janet Aitch Jul 2018
Which box?
That box
This box?
THAT box
Home, boxed
152 · May 2018
Brief Encounter
Janet Aitch May 2018
The door opened.
"Sorry"
she said
and went out
again
151 · Jan 2019
Shoo!
Janet Aitch Jan 2019
Smothered in jackdaws
the little birds
can't reach the feeder
151 · May 2017
Resistance
Janet Aitch May 2017
This stuff must go
Emotion fights reason
All still there
151 · Oct 2019
Sensational?
Janet Aitch Oct 2019
The purple prose
of the local paper-
trying to imitate
the tabloid press
with its flaming headlines-
describing the animal
seen in the headlights
of a reporter's car
very late at night
is a bit over-ripe
in the cold light of morning
Janet Aitch Nov 2018
By articulating
another's dilemma
readers reasoned
his need was mine
149 · Aug 2018
A Question
Janet Aitch Aug 2018
Overwhelmed
by jobs
from all directions
Why did I volunteer?
149 · Dec 2018
Wake-Up Call
Janet Aitch Dec 2018
This is too much!
I've slept again
the whole way to Edinburgh
on the train

It's beautiful country
with lovely views
and I've been unconscious
in a long snooze

I awaken in time
to see the three sails
of the newest Forth road bridge
and the train one with rails

We're in to Haymarket
I must get out here
be awake and quite with-it
and full of good cheer
148 · Jul 2017
Uneasy Truce
Janet Aitch Jul 2017
I ignore cat
Cat ignores me
But he's still there
145 · Nov 2017
Anticipation
Janet Aitch Nov 2017
Tuesday
I get new windows
Wednesday new door
I'm happy
145 · Jun 2017
Dainty Damage
Janet Aitch Jun 2017
The deer walk through
Leaving behind
Tulips
*****
Headless
144 · Feb 2018
A Quiet Day
Janet Aitch Feb 2018
My footsteps
pad along the track
A bird sings
Peace
141 · Mar 2019
The Ides Of March
Janet Aitch Mar 2019
On the Ides Of March
I went in to a shop
forgetting my purse
so I did a quick hop

Went to poetry group
all up in the air
Someone just threw their coffee
here there, everywhere

The poetry leader
showed he was able
and tipped the blueberries
all over the table

The hairdresser said
"It's windy today"
keep your hair on your head
or it might blow away

Not only "The Ides"
It's 'Red Nose Day' too
People finding daft things
for others to do

They raise Stacks of cash
to meet others' needs
a good way of forgetting
The Ides' past misdeeds
140 · Mar 2019
Definition
Janet Aitch Mar 2019
Cleverness
is anything
sharper
than
what you could think of
139 · Jan 2019
Out Of Reach
Janet Aitch Jan 2019
The Technological Revolution
means
Everyone
Always
One step behind mastery
139 · Apr 2019
Ennui
Janet Aitch Apr 2019
Return home
187 messages
on the computer
Not one's exciting
138 · Jan 2019
A Good Start
Janet Aitch Jan 2019
Bill paid
Hair done
Poem written
The day's starting well
138 · Feb 2018
Busy Busy
Janet Aitch Feb 2018
Mind too full
even to find
ten words?
That's preoccupation!
137 · Oct 2017
Box Art
Janet Aitch Oct 2017
Box lids
belong on boxes
Painted
hung
appear undressed
Discomfited
135 · Jun 2018
Downsizing
Janet Aitch Jun 2018
How come
I'm surprised
at the treasures
I've squirreled around
134 · Jun 2017
Local Meeting
Janet Aitch Jun 2017
Hello! You alright?
Yes thanks, yourself?
Fine
Cheerio
Move on
134 · Nov 2017
New Look
Janet Aitch Nov 2017
Pictures gone
Slabs
Of uncoordinated colour
Leap out at me
133 · Feb 2018
Time For Twenty Words
131 · Oct 2017
Nouveau Riche
Janet Aitch Oct 2017
Torn jeans
and box - top paintings
mock poverty's needs
and aspirations
131 · Aug 2019
Amateur Astronomer
Janet Aitch Aug 2019
Is there an infinite number of stars?
No, matter is always finite
I lie in the hayloft pillowed by straw
innocently looking for the ultimate star
but it's all a mirage
130 · Aug 2019
Still Waiting
Janet Aitch Aug 2019
All innocent
I crossed the fortune teller's palm
with coins - and notes

She looked in her glass
- Crystal she called it -
and in her lilting tones

Forecast a syzygy of planets
which would bring me
all I desired

If it happened
129 · Oct 2017
Unwelcome Visitor
Janet Aitch Oct 2017
A gray squirrel
appeared in my garden
uninvited
destructive
reported
129 · Feb 2021
Valentine’s Day
Janet Aitch Feb 2021
Valentine’s Day

As a rule
Valentine’s day passes me by
unnoticed
but
this year
in the middle of lockdown
a friend’s delayed gift
of Scilly Isles Narcissi
arrived just in time
to fragrance my room
with their sweet heady scent
and look up at me
with their tiny innocent faces
A thoughtful friend
sent me a Valentines
full of good wishes
and if that weren’t enough
I was treated to a delicious afternoon tea
and a posy of daffodils

Valentines come in many ways
127 · Oct 2017
Modern Art
Janet Aitch Oct 2017
Box Lids
belong on boxes
On walls
they look
undressed
127 · Feb 2021
WHAT IS A POEM?
Janet Aitch Feb 2021
What Is a poem?
My dictionary gives
“a composition arranged in lines
usually (it says)
with a particular rhythm
and sometimes
with rhymes”
a flight of fancy
a dirge
an ode
a sonnet
a villanelle
even a code
a pulse of romance
a moan of despair
a glory of colour
of sound in thin air
a vision
a grumble
a song
an insurrection
jubilation
frustration
at lack of direction
In short it would seem
one has to take care
as a poem may happen
anytime
anywhere
127 · Aug 2017
Not a good start
Janet Aitch Aug 2017
Wrestling with words
Forgot water heater
Late rising
Late everything
126 · Dec 2020
CRAFTSMANSHIP
Janet Aitch Dec 2020
The arts and crafts house is a labour of love  
No plastic is found here
but deftly placed splinters of differing woods
carefully entwined
trace the outer line of the year
in which each piece was made
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