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john lindsay Feb 2016
The wind across a skin
The drum under the hills , on the road
The tribe
Five thousand years, the gypsies
Flare a wild curse
Clan chief  twists a winter horn
As kids, skewbald urchins
Question us once
Then follow
The line of beggars and kings
Down into the sodden
Fold between nations
Another poem from my favourite region. Inspired by some amazing footage on internet. The Keilder wild goats are very rarely seen. Yet they survive.
john lindsay Feb 2016
Anticipation of still uplands
Old sheepfolds dot the valleys stage
Conifers cram close down aisles of firebreak
Mist slips as the dancers final veil
Away from Maiden Paps
Vast air strung with silence
Then from the dusk plantations eye
A buzzard screams
Shankendsheils is a remote spot a little further along the B6399 road heading north. I sat one late afternoon and watched a buzzard circle its flight on the edge of a conifer plantation from its eyrie on an old tree stump below me. The bird patrolled, circled, calling . As forboding for the forest as an impending air strike.
john lindsay Feb 2016
I climb the thin road
Along the muttering stream
Cold off the fell over broken quartz teeth
My step huge in the sharp afternoon

A drape of fern and bracken
Flickering into the eyes corner
Blinking out of green. They are there
Trembling all silence

Of their glass world
Even now
At the door of transformations
Their shy blessings
Fade into the fable
This recalls the magical time when I encountered deer on the side of the lonely B6399 from Newcastleton to Hawick in Scotland.Such encounters only make me more determined to make this remote wild region my home
john lindsay Jan 2016
The snagged line grows taut
As I repeat the question
" Is there anything you want?"

House too empty , stairs too steep
She wants me back, I worry
"Weve been to ASDA , dont ask what i bought"

Saturday afternoon phonecall
"How are things?"
The reluctant tagline
"Not so bad"

Front garden going native
I set off down the cracked path
Doesnt want next door to see
I dont wave

TALKING THEIR LANGUAGE

June classroom, stir of voices
Arriva trains glide to the coast
Coffee needs filling, the last biscuit goes
This afternoon we look at idioms

Unpicking centuries, cultures
Somalia, Bangla Desh, Kurdistan
English remains official
Still a puzzle

"Speak slowly and clearly"
"Dont hit trees with sticks"
"Its a piece of cake"

The intricacy of language
Shapes ancient letters
"Lemon squeezy " chimes Messa
Our laughter is shared
UNRAVELLING... during the final years of her life, my mother suffered severe depression. The poem tries to examine the struggle in communication I experienced in these times
TALKING THEIR LANGUAGE
Last year I worked as a voluntary tutor with immigrant learners from various nationalities. This expresses the difficulities the English language sometimes presents , and also some of the fun it can generate, also.
john lindsay Dec 2015
It is a pleasure, feminine and sweet
When gentle moonlight filters over your bed
To quietly slip from underneath your sheets
And from the pillow lift your dream filled head
Your white bean toes they delicately tread
You glide downstairs, your quilted gown so warm
The small hours chime, the calling night is dead
You lift the latch, your lovely feminine form
Flits in your garden , waiting for the dawn
Another one for romantic ladies everywhere. Dont try doing this just at the moment girls! Wait until its a warm night. love john x
john lindsay Feb 2015
A valentine to one unknown
Whose secret beauty hides away
Taking the words I cannot say

Beautiful lady, walk alone
So love might come to you , this day
Through valentine for one unknown

Open your heart, when love is shown
And when the verse is done, please stay
And let my songs truth show the way
In valentines to one unknown
john lindsay Feb 2015
Outside your window
Rain turns to gold tonight

Moon drifts over high branches
Cloud passes

Warm light from your quiet room
Gilding the streams down your glass

As you comb out your star tinged blonde hair
Flowing in waves in to ocean space

Your white Victorian nightgown
Sighs to your naked feet

You stare out at the drowning world
Your eyes constancy
Turning the rain to gold.
Im a true romantic, as you can see.... here is my ideal woman! Not easy to find these days.
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