flight.   imagine it white with feathers,

bird’s wings.



it is an old room and as i change the bed

i think of you.



i regret the dust and crooked floor with

fondness, then as i lay the clean sheet

not yet tucked, imagine you laying your

broken body.



think on this.



sbm.

the kittens will be kept safe? if i lived near
i should have them

i think it sounds like a bounty bar
which we have in two parts

the coconut sticks in the teeth
to **** out later

yes i was a maid back then
worked mornings time off
all afternoon
until it all went wrong

things change
we change with that

dear lord a busy hotel
for you. i cannot imagine

my laundry comes each week
to collect one sheet, one
duvet cover
sometimes one bolster case

brings it back nicely on fridays

you must be steaming

i walked the garden yesterday
the longer grass was cut, bagged
and is out for recycling
sadly i find a grass snake
strimmed and dead

smooth silky to touch

plans for the edges come
into mind
plan to make things manageable
leaving it looking natural

leaves are turning slowly daily

except at the turning
maentwrog

they go first always
and suddenly

this time of year

regarding  canoes

i saw a car coming in with them

on top, the days of the floods &

assumed they were well prepared



the bridge is back open again i see

yet the bus is still diverted around

the waters





so will wait to go some sunnier

day when things come settled again



it was not urgent so i look forward

to a day drawing things out. yester

day it was joan of arc



we used to hear the lorry coming down

long road hill twice a week, tuesdays &

thursdays.

we chose our corona drinks, my favourite

was orange

the boys liked dandelion and burdock

or american cream soda



only a few know the end date

maybe connections are missed

the link dismissed.





metaphors faint as my flimsy

whispers



symbols



do you deny me peace?



perhaps you utter the words

constantly?



look closely





sbm.

we do not have those
we have hardly had any
this year only up the passes
here really

oh really it is quite warm even
without a wool coat

we used to play blow football
came in a compendium of games
at christmas

with little wire goalposts. it was
funny yet one brother took it
serious and got annoyed
at me

as always

he went to live with granny
eventually

the blowers smelled of plastic
needed breath
no gas

like yours .

briefly now
need to buy butter.

maybe connections are missed the link dismissed.     metaphors faint as my flimsy whispers   symbols   do you deny me peace?   perhaps you utter the words constantly?   look closely



or brush it regularly. talk about birth.   stand during the rain fall.        regard the chimney.   take it off to return it.   sometimes we need to commit a while, until we don’t no more

this is not a word i have used much recently, if i did it will be related to plants i expect.   adjective.   i may use plush in regard to velvet clothing, cloth, clothed. another adjective.



it could have been simple, days of sewing crosses.  red.   eight thiry  till five.   it could have been easy, yet there were issues of the electronic kind   meaning wasting time with wires and connections

she suggested that i write a novel,   when i noted that she walked briskly to the post box,                                       dressed suitably. i do not copy                                   plagiarise or write about my friends

a story nonetheless, as are others. i prefer tintin

with snowy a dog. this year you have not told me,

confided. i have the little things that could mean

much.



not about money, more about family. it may

be time you told them.



it is time to regrade

christmas.



sbm.

regrets come free.



free as rain on my face



to wash through to take it all away; better that way.

into rivers below.



one time in tidal flood

water came down muddy & high took the cattle away

blocked  the bridge; we ran to see still in our pyjamas.



the boy came running to say the debris from the upper village

was on the way

to stand back.



we did

&

saw the water behind us.



retreated high up along the wall.



we named it the great storm & never remember the year.



some things are better swept away.

leave your ideas at home.
on the hatstand. forget all
that you have learned, things
may not be so.

all people have ideas, so
yours is not so precious now,
elder.

she told me that even things
at home have changed.

looking round we see they have.

reimagine the world, forget
the learning, start again,
then we may understand, or not.

king david.

sbm.

coming home can be.



frightful, in snow or heavy rain,

dark the days are, the evenings darker.

forecasts bring gloom and panic, then are cancelled

minutes later, the phone kicks off.



ice is predicted,  mountains white



i  may be reborn in this valley….



now there is a story, meanwhile

arriving home to candlelight, fire the same

and hopefully all will be well a while.



the mouse, the bear,

are quiet ones.



the word count is 62, the years are 8,

and i dreamed it was 2 months ; longer

than all the other numbers.



i may be a long time coming home.





sbm.

seems i have reinvented

everything quieter than before.

wet autumn days or is it winter,

the change comes

gradually.

i dreamed a cloud of

falling leaves, awake to find it is so.

it is so very quiet here today.

sbm.

while all around is flying.



dark words, red bitter tongue

scrying.



do not dignify the challenges. tread sweetly,

move on.



it is simply.

not worth fretting.



i have bought a bucket.



sbm.

the dog barked mournfully

though

was it my imagination


maybe

it was just barking usually

as maybe it had no concept

of what mournful is


they say i have that ability

it comes at night he said

the bleakness, so i gave

him a little lamp, a night

light


later a small mirror of

the same design as i

do not like to think of folk

feeling so

in the dark


the dog barked in the distance

from pentre farm up the road

i walk up slowly and see that

it lives in the little enclosure

above the stream

it hears me and jumps about

yapping, looks happy so

i wonder why i ever pronounced

it mournful


i watch and remember the day

the farmer brought the cow down

from there with the calf and walked

them up the lane

to the next field


some times at home i think i hear

that cow low mournfully


if i stay quiet i can hear a lot of things

imagine a lot of things

he was still laying down and mumbling.



‘why have you not shared that one

about belief ?’



i think i forgot.



‘did anyone read it?’



i don’t know.



the bear slipped back to sleep

holding the rags.



sbm.

perchance a different
route, a new audience,
yet some came
repeating the sigh.

seeing the love,
the distraction
of another time.

where all the worlds a stage,
the men and women,
merely another way
round.

repeat the sigh,
make a sign,
wear a white bustle,
become, as you like too.

they did.

. request .

in dreams make the things you love, take them, show them to this world. i will put them in exhibition.

sbm.

you ask for a fantasy ,a challenge.

there is a house full of ideas, statements,

a house of dreams and nightmares.

i find it is your birthday today.



i have no zoom burst,
only this dodgy insect,
light and sound, is

pretty, i always
do my photo a day.

my htc wildfire
does not zoom,
tho once or twice,
has burst.

deleting his texts.



cold snap.

too much to bear? seeing the first violet

by the step, remembering how you sent

the blue linen

jacket wrapped.



my love of tissue paper.



she wanted to buy the pillow too,

yet we do not sell them. that is a

cushion.

madam.



for display purposes only.



car fresheners? no, those neither.



ah, air fresheners, no we sold out.

i could not raise her disappoint

ment confessing her daughter

bought the last one. her mothers

day gift.



george raft dancing the tango, &

new connections that love beetles

as much as me.



rather a lot to bear. #happy.



research day at the mill.



sbm.

no, we did not recognise you,

had put you out of mind.



hair all pretty ,

echoing  affecting  voice.



there are some who have written

that you may be a bully.



sbm.

:: this is a new story ::

where.

where does collaboration work? here.

with you, you, you and you, i have named you

before.

with tags and capitals, links and other stable

placings.

i was only stitching. a steady hand. it was an offer,

happily accepted.

i was only drawing. so we drew together. here

& another place.

i was only writing a, yet there are many of

us who came together.

we are alone, until we start working

together.

it comes a wider space, with mistakes and misgivings.

nothing in this world is perfect. it is raining today. the

washing is out.

neighbours help.

writers help, drawers

line our walls with

notes & labels. a few

of us

work together.

and do not fight.



11

etchings are probably finer than carvings, i bet the latter are more country based, as in
rural.  wood blocks made from twenty years .
he has done me a service, how to be happy . no need to buy and sell,        we can  look
and enjoy..
the wax came later, as did the currant slice. neither resisted, the cake        one pound
ten pence.
i placed the white paper bag in the village                                                            recycling.
so very nice to me today too late, i have resigned.                                                 my self,
my work is honest.
i have turned it all upside down, and most of the crumbs are gone, with added blowings.
verb
verb: resist; 3rd person present: resists; past tense: resisted; past participle: resisted; gerund or present participle: resisting

    1.
    withstand the action or effect of.
    “antibodies help us to resist infection”

noun
noun: resist; plural noun: resists

    1.
    a resistant substance applied as a coating to protect a surface during a process, for example to prevent dye or glaze adhering.
    “new lithographic techniques require their own special resists”
    sbm.

you were retired when we met
riding your bike maybe daily

now you have honest work
and i hope you catch up today

heddiw

so we were indoors sunday
the mill was closed in the storm
as were most places here

no one about to visit
to buy stuff

the garden is at all angles
stuff blowed about
blowed down with a
small hope to repair
today even with the
wind still blowing

i was ok here, the floods
were down the meadows
down along the estuary

others fared worse
roads closed and all
that worry

i hope you catch up today
that you are declared fit

today’s outing cancelled
no public transport due
to debris

i met him online



he worked with me

we worked together



we met off the train

as in  film



ate

fish ‘n chips in conwy



later he read his verse



i found i could recite it silently

beside him



there is now a deep silent sadness

good name.

i often spell it worng,
ask him.

met on the station,
like a film, black and white.

kissed, discussed the world,
and poetry over coffee, in exhibition,
with fish n’ chips, recommended by
the locals, tasted like dripping, lovely.

visited an old house,i talked about
my old house, we discovered cures
for ghastly things with diagrams, all
spelled with ‘f’ s.

over tea, we turned black and
white again. decided,

any difference should make no difference,
the third word not allowed,
no more.

good name,
we are friends in colour.

sbm.

rewrite it, add the dots, delete the rhyme.

erase the last draft, start again,constantly.

wrap arte facts in paper. box for transportation.

lose the plot,scrap the lot, fear the repercussions
constantly.

now there is a good word, if the space bar works.

do you wish you wrote longer stuff, important tomes,
well i do,
constantly.

it is all ready now, i just need your instructions,
and i know you have asked.
constantly.

sbm.

i guess he thought that

no one

would see him cross

a newly ploughed field

just past the lime kiln



red earth, red fur repeated



the shadow came darker



some one left a marker

on the fence

in tescos tinned rhubarb is 70p at present

while six pots of varied flavour yoghurts are 85p a pack

two blackcurrant

he says grape

two with gooseberries

the others are rhubarb of course



i likes rhubarb a lot

i likes that the assistant calles me miss

& packs my bag neatly



saying that i noticed that theirs is already growing

in blaenau ffestiniog

peeping through wet earth



while someone on facebook says theirs is growing too



i ordered some from ebay & planted it last year yet

mine does not show  like theirs



i shall worry & fret about that whilst i eat my yoghurt

left the ring in procession,
silently walked the track.

dust rose, the distance grew.

out of sight, talked in code and rhythms.

a train passed, gulls flew the heat haze.

on return, no one spoke.

sbm.

during the day, sun shining,

is this spring, or summer

now? clearing the debris,

painting it white.

birds gather, as the

radio plays.

we dance in the greenhouse.

sbm.

first sunday after easter

hedgehogs

two badgers

multiple pheasants

unidentified object no legs

no more

motor cyclist

the first sunday

everyone in a rush



some aren’t no more



memorial

crescendo.

#robinsoncrusoe.

those books, that music.

rises. zadok was a priest.



#legend.

here  again we have

absolom.         aided.



#hebron



your brother killed him.



#crescendo.



some of us know why.



sbm.

looking for numerals?        while there before

you stands solomon, cracked regarding his son.



absolom, oh absolom.            looking for god?



while all the while they are wanting your money.



looking for  wool gloves? all a plenty  at the cathedral.



this is where they display their wares, while the

architecture outside looks vaguely roman.



sbm.

. rooms .
( rooms and partitions)
flow. we are a different colour          now,

words came readily , night, the white room,

gathering.                        woven with detail.

light early, empty headed, toes tapping, nothing

is remembered.                                  early grey,

sky pink.                                          another day,

in our rooms and partitions.                          this

does not mean.                                     i love you .

flow. we are a different colour          now,

words came readily , night, the white room,

gathering.                        woven with detail.



light early, empty headed, toes tapping, nothing

is remembered.                                  early grey,

sky pink.                                          another day,

in our rooms and partitions.                          this

does not mean.                                     i love you .

sbm.

they talked about churches, that they were miserable places.



some of them. no heating.



planning champing ideals.

your turn to research….



sipped my coffee.



of the diocese, googled how to spell it. listened on the open

book, while here it is bound.



closed.

hidden in boxes.



i was sent to a psychiatrist, eleven years old.

what do you expect?



was told i was fine, given a bible.



what did i expect?



maybe something better.



this book is tied.



I gathered the bread and left.



sbm.

it is with difficulty i write this.

the bear was correct, yet he

is not the only one in the village.



i met another yesterday.



it is with difficulty as the keyboards

stick, while others have no empathy

how deep it goes.



many have drowned, drowned

dead.



sbm.

hard to keep rules,
where there are no rules.

hard to be a yard stick these days,
when others use meters.

found it exhausting, packing,
making the installations. it

is not hard, yet my mental
got exhausted.

i went to the party.

sbm.

hard to keep rules,
where there are no rules.

hard to be a yard stick these days,
when others use meters.

found it exhausting, packing,
making the installations. it

is not hard, yet my mental
got exhausted.

i went to the party.

sbm.

it is probably the marks of the work i like

the logs stacked neatly

old things reused



the idea that we will leave the wild wood alone

while he does not



like the old things used

not discarded



it may be the stitches holding things together with



care and honesty



we each have our own rules

seems i have made some rules
for my online activity and find
that chatting to you is exempt

from these invented regulations

so i work here for one hour early
again a while at dusk

when

nice things happen
stove is lit
washing is in
folded
cat is out

door locked against
& all settles in

i do not use private messages
for work
except a fella on tug hill,
in a friendly manner only

i make no remarks
on improvements & refurbishments

i hope you are enjoying your time away
from work, and that the length of your
sentences vary

so far they led us
into the green hills,
where we stood back
and let the past follow.

dealt with dice,
life becomes
abstract,
dreaming
of distances and partitions

if only
it lasted longer

some days are soothing, having made a new pattern.



yet if he brings boxes we have heavy work, not minded

so much.



all those years ago when i followed  instructions



never thought that i can change them.



make my own.



sbm.

‘i came from another country, you know,

quite some time ago. i lived in the jungle’



yes.



‘i have been here so long, i feel i belong’



yes.



‘ they call me an immigrant’

said the bear, sadly.



sbm.

laid some time awake, come
sadly in to the day. learned to
care again, and learning this,
remember not to care about wires,

these technical oddities, this modern
age. care about the old things, the ways.

it has been said twice, better
than not at all. have you read the old books?

in dreams make the things you love,
take them, show them to this world.

i will put them in exhibition.

sbm.

do you wish to stay in bed today?



yes



has it all been a bit much?



yes



will it be letting the side down?



yes i guess so. i will decide in a minute.



yes.



sbm.

have not played chess for years

never found a partner

i think i work best alone

we have touched on this before

he mentioned a cross word

i told him of both my excitement

and failure

in this department it may

be best to stay from the edge



we are a little inland here

and feel it is safer overall

although i like to see the sea

hold on to the trees

she said that we all make mistakes

that it is best to know how to correct

them

not to mull over

get on with it

get over it

that was a long time ago

yet look i still remember

still mend things

glue and string

clues leave me restless

i told him of the music misunderstanding

he touched my hand

kindly

crystals underfoot. hardship
lays in pages.

white scars scattered .

look at the world, salt tastes
bitter.

gritted teeth.

soul in subsidence

dry on skin, crusted.
tears fall.

blood.

sbm.

ah the sea, the sand, it comes in bottles now, dearer than the cheaper stuff.



i had not met her before, went in on the off chance. waited a while till she

was free.



she did it different, said nice things about my skin. in a small way she gave

me confidence.



i bought the quiche, sat in the cathedral grounds.



used the salt spray, and did not die.

of it



sbm.

so now, here is the thing.



as a kid i was not allowed

crisps.



gran disapproved

& mum had little money,

on her own with four

of us kids to feed.



it is just potato.



i had game chips when

i went to the marsham



court hotel to dance

the new year in. i wore a kilt.

my mother did not come.then

my nice brother went to work

on the railway. one day in secret

he bought me a packet of my own.



early employment as a cook

entailed cooking crisps, oh joy,

& paid for it.



these days i eat them as & when i like.



#salty



sbm.

having looked ,

realise they are just for me.



no submission nor application,

a wise, a brave decision. i have

dreamed of japan, some  places

are just too far

for me.



looking back i see

the island changed.



perhaps i like familiarity.



the same faces.

sbm.