Five-Word competition
challenges poets
to include each one
meaningfully

Pictures gone
Slabs
Of uncoordinated colour
Leap out at me

In blink of an eye
the mental storm subtly changes,
its clustered worries relaxed, calmed.
A circumference of peace prevails

Wherever I go
he's there with his walking frame
smiling cheerfully

Hello! You alright?
Yes thanks, yourself?
Fine
Cheerio
Move on

"How long
have these bollards
been here?"
"About twenty years"

The loose sort
is disappearing
It can't be used
online

Torn jeans
and box - top paintings
mock poverty's needs
and aspirations

Wrestling with words
Forgot water heater
Late rising
Late everything

A gray squirrel
appeared in my garden
uninvited
destructive
reported

Assignment-'Write a sonnet'
I did look up the definition ...

I plan to do so much
and accomplish so little

Little striped buzzers
keep interrupting
when I'm trying
to concentrate

Friends took me to the superstore
of clothing jewelry and more
and said "Look 'round and take your pick"
I said: "You'll think me very thick
but how can I decide to buy
when racks of clothes urge me to try?
There's too much choice, I'm overcome
Decision made- Please take me home"

Box Lids
belong on boxes
On walls
they look
undressed

Climb any mountain
Enjoy the space
the fair views
in every direction

Wait a while
savour the pleasure
You've started a trend
Everyone wants to do it

Hail hits hardest
when not anticipated
and head is hatless

Snow
source of so much poetry
cancels
poetry group meeting

The man using Charlie's transporter
had a beautiful languorous daughter.
She said 'Give me a lift'
He said 'Not on my shift -
I know you - you'll fall in the water'

Over the doorways
new cameras are watching
I wave as I pass

A poetry guru named Sean
Said 'Limericks just make me yawn.
The rhyming is flat,
the meter's old hat,
free verse is my thing, not old corn.'

Seated, crossed legs forming triangles
your breath coming gently, evenly
feeling comfortable in your skin
you ponder strange mystical words

Good voice
but I'd like
to have heard some words

Don't let the worry
of giving and preparing
wipe out the wonder

Rain sheeting
as forecaster says
"Showers over Cumbria have cleared"

Heavy rain
lets you know
which of your shoes
leak

I haven't
a particle of poetry
in me
Nothing rhymes

To the untrained eye
most modern art -
'modern'  meaning anything
this century or less -
though luminously painted
remains mysterious
and at times a shock,
a shock so great
as to render one speechless,
minus even a syllable,
on the gallery's contents

Though a friend of mine
a respected artist
was heard to say
as she left the exhibition
"scrambled egg, scrambled egg"

Wild raspberries
Glow richly red
in the hedgerow
Taste wonderful

Op Shop
Charity shop
Best stop
for Lost And Found

The workman came,
said what he would do
and vanished

Sun comes out
It's hot
Sun goes in
It's not

You can see the headlines
"Bronze superstar switches beaches"
from cloudy Britain
to hot sunny Tropez
Everything's news to someone

It's poetry day
and I've  nothing to say
How come?

Herdwicks
look at you kindly
Knowing
you can't help it

We lived in Cornwall then
crashing waves and seaweed tangles
sea views looking so far distant
it could have been to another hemisphere
Bliss
At least we thought so
until- you know how the smallest things
trigger a firestorm?
In this case it was musc
each of us despising the other's choices
'til the rows reached a crescendo
stereo shouting
and the split was inevitable

As someone approached,
the pigeon I was watching
skeedaddled quickly

Anything?
What do you mean
by anything?
Literally, any thing?

Camellias, Forsythia and Daffodils
flowering
Dandelions in bud
Squirrels chasing

It's possible to make poems
about almost anything
but like most things in life
there's more to it than that
What is a rhyme?
Do all poems need them?
Must I obey rules and formulas
and stick to a code?
What about stanzas, syllables,
punctuation, presentation?
Can the number of lines
accord with the inspiration
or must there be dogmas
to govern its expression?
If I take it too seriously
I lose all impulsion
and the words which should sing
lie flat on the floor

A Pleasant Contagion
The light in the eyes
of one who feels loved
affects all who meet them
they do not know why

The poetry group
tried it this morning
without much success

What is a change?
An alteration
longed-for or loathed
mental or physical
swift or subtle
demanding or gentle

and some changes
make things better

The stump of the tree
cut down by thieves trespassing
glows pain day and night

No place is a desert
There is life
somewhere
everywhere

Space
Comfort
Cheerful atmosphere
Beautiful surroundings
assist peace of mind

visitor
lovely
go places
share food
wave goodbye
sit down

Rivers and hills pass
I doze
Wake up in Scotland

officially true
not your imagination
the sky is more blue