in having found a book to read

in the corner chair by the curtain

hiding


delivered free by the library in town


the excitement in finding the place ready

facing the fire

the weather steady outside

a while


the fabric rich and heavy

safe from the arctic storm

some folk don’t say much
some folk manage
quite well

really

being independent

maybe some do not plunge right in
just dabble on the surface

flick in puddles
like little birds

don’t work if not connected, if not tuned in, you would think the experts would know that.  we need to signal to another.

we lifted the soakaway cover rusty after years

saw a slow worm sleepy while ants ran about

placed the first in the ferns and waved to the others

drain rods functioned with a little resistance

distance calculated ,wiped and put away


indoors the sink runs clear

while i am educated

see the softest looking clouds
wonder
if that is where that work came
from


with gentle grey

is your head clear today, loose limbs, while mild air floats above.   will you go the other way, as you did yesterday?

the anxiety failed later in the day


a more comfortable place as i
watched other peoples ways and
opinions

we saw the lights in the village

slower morning here today. the radio plays.

dove grey overcast sky. heavy they say.

maybe rain?

she asked about side effects and though
after reading the instructions felt there

were none apart from the pigeons
noted before

when suddenly came the surge of energy
born from hatred of the overgrown

box hedge

we love the little national trust hedges
clipped and sturdy

not this high hanging woody affair

tried to trim the top
ended sawing the bottom
destroying the thing

a fit of peak they say

and having done so moved on to the other
larger affair by the gate

which rhymes with hate

you see

the joy next morning
when looking out
saw them gone

later the asda man came

trawsfynydd, we forgot the buzzing,

only heard the wind, for

wind there was this time.

the sky predominant, a gap

for the light to pass

the miracle of modern fabric,

when the door eventually opened,

i found not red runny,

nor shrunken woolly,

but just  clean washing…..

the miracles of modernity.

you thought we were broken
yet we watch you solidly, bravely like joan
with just one comma throughout

maybe

is was dark blue with a little red added

lasted two weeks and still prominent.

much has happened since

a whisper from you came

a good idea

to stop those dreams and headaches

the moon came bright with yet another name

you remember it perfectly
describe with accuracy

the colander metal and bent
for straining the peas and
other vegetables

potato masher

i have that too but may
have photographed the
wrong one

we shall see later

mummy’s hammer kept
in the third drawer down
even now

even now I have her fish slice
though I don’t eat fish

you know

you know
we have different memories about some things
different opinions on other matters

yet we think of her colander

both the same

light is wonderful


lifts the brain and  limbs

beyond


sparkles   rain  the morning


once again we have the repetition

of words


shapes fly

make some thing of the scratches and nibs,

home in on detail

and begin

to enjoy

the cuts and scrapings.

i too fly solo
&
enjoy the flight

when the day clears
i look up at the others

has beautiful spots james
while i like any pattern that includes spots
and any other embellishment like bows

you know

did not tell no one,

that while out walking

thinking of you in ukraine

my feet tangled in debris and i fell flat.

my mind is broken yet my phone and glasses
remain intact

my knee bled. my hands to save me

scabbed. limped back to you.

you who bandaged

& fed me sweet things.

will continue to think of you in ukraine, to walk alone in solidarity.

like in a circus those days

now there are no animals
mainly clever folk being smart
or funny

he asked me who will be afraid of our ghosts
ghosts of humans
when we are gone

while waiting and through the *****

left saw one golden tree

autumn cameo

each little thing

it comes a wider space, with mistakes and misgivings.

nothing in this world is perfect.

early yet
I have to tell you
that
i went a different way
to avoid the usual

dark/ we painted it
all vaguely national
trust

details
and wonder if there is any hope

will they miss me there or
merely carry on regardless

moving on

things are now more ornate

in a rustic mode

me cutting thin slithers

so next i shall make wooden wheels

for something

dreamed of devastation,           flew miles        low

over concrete .   skeletons,      bones of the thing.

all is dust, as dust we have become.

did i sit quietly thinking
then place a few
things together?

yes

lady on the bus told me her sister kept lots of soap and what did I think.

I says she sounds like me.

maybe you had your own money
not the exact amount  handed

to my brothers
with prime instructions

and no looking at the
forbidden places

nor loitering by the cafe

or

bought by mother
independently
as a gift

where were  the choices

you seemed to have

not here, not here.

james

student of timetables

me

now with a free pass to most places

the official times

saved to my phone and noted on paper in my back pocket , nearly lost in the chip shop that only accepts cash

it fell yet we saw it and retrieved

1.28 pm the bus home so we gets there real early and waits

by the walker

he had trecked from forden the three miles up and down

used to the flatness of portsmouth wanted a ride back yet nothing forthcoming limped his return

1.50 pm with no bus arrived the timetable lady was contacted and she explained the bus was due at 2.30 pm that my internet were wrong and no one was bothered what it said at bus stops

on her say so

nipped round to the toilets then waited patiently to 2.30 when a bus arrived going the wrong way

spoke to the timetable lady who admitted being wrong that the 1.30 came in late possibly while i was in the toilets

the next correct and last bus now 3.30 pm

i wondered what to do if that one did not arrive and secured an unnecessary plan

fortunate to afford

when safely aboard thought of those recently waiting at airports to escape

my small adventure was as nothing

sat on the town hall steps in the late september sun

don’t use a teapot

but evidently many do,

and cosy up together.

they don’t squish teabags, have leaves,

and stewing on the gas ring,

like mother, reducing it to

poison on my tongue.

i like the leaves to look at,

smell, like the small packet

we used to have, paper lined

in those days.

an osprey flew down the estuary late
while I hung out the window
to watch the propellers spin

upwards

yesterday four private planes came
explained by the app

undeniably the white microlight
sounded odd while we shouted

words  lost in air

as a child walked down the airfield to see

the buckle broke
caused great difficulty
in walking

i always like planes Jim

overcast today

we watched it come down over the mountain spreading

slowly

as the cloud passed by the sun

after cooling indoors we went to see

the maker in the lower field

was noted that some folk aren’t bothered and carry on without looking
the difference is a thing

intentions to change it all
then see what is already there and
carry on quietly
knowing the change will come
whether slowly or suddenly
james

the neighbour had put plants for sale outside and unlike last year they were all desirable so now are mine. much reorganizing and planting in the morning.

roofer arrives after nine and will take about 10 days he says. is friendly from the roof and no bother at all.

perhaps it helps them to feel safe
or is it designed by those
who wish to keep them
below

i wonder


21.22

time is limited these days.
those one admired in youth
devastate us now.

can we know all things .we
only went twice ?

can you clamber
through the rocks
slipping into water
oily boots leaking?

can you stride out
over dewy moors
peat bogged
with no direction?

into the wild wood

feet plant into earth

again

skin sharp with lingered  frost

dust motes sing my heart high

he stood like a dancer,
arms out.

he looked
and moved,
like a dancer.

or any day. do not wish to hide

do not wish to run

to take the boat and steer

to take the hiatus i fear


it crossed so many times

each time delivering

some time sinking

while we are shouting that

we do not wish to die


my son



wrote of it before

the last crossing

having paid the price we hope to be delivered

knowing that in depth we drown



the island blessed

sandy tracks to wander

in memory


like birds we flew


now it comes commercial

no crossing

yesterday I watched a documentary
about monkeys

rain comes here in waves
reflecting feelings

sometimes i can smell the sea
though some miles from the shore

has beautiful spots james
while i like any pattern that includes spots
and any other embellishment like bows

you know

black rook, flies over white moon