Woolley Bear did not like computers
For every time he put one on
He forgot what he had to do.

Love Mary

Redoing the stitches
Did not mend the wound.

Love Mary x

Coming to my door
In coat and hat
You bring me food
And this and that.

We try so hard to find a smile
We talk a bit just for a while
I love you more than I can say
Stay with me darling
Till evening is still.

Love Mummy ***

Temporal Fugue  :)
Down to the mill
stone to stone to grind
as chaff removed from harvest
the wisdom of better times.


Thank you Mary ***

For a time I took photographs
In black and white
To enhance
What is timeless
And thus free
From the world's
Scrutiny.

In layered petticoat
Edged with lace
White and flimsy
Which did float
Wellington boots
And handknit coat.

******* ribbon in her hair
The fairest waves
Lay just there
On her shoulders
Round her face
A touch of angelic grace.

I took my Daisy
To the shops
A yard or two to pop
To get something
Nice for tea.
Biscuits, sweets
And ice cream freeze.

As with an artist's eye
Could not let this moment by
Blonde curls she peered around
I captured this without a sound.

The photograph of a little girl
In an undated world
Classless, nameless
For all to see
The wonders of simplicity.

Best photograph I have ever taken. Thank you Daisy  May , love Grandma ***

To the words of Cat Stevens I sing
Wailing about in front of the glass
You are my everything.

If I read anymore of your poems
I shall merge.

Love Mary x

On being three.

The baby Elephants and the Kangaroo,
Said to Evelyn "what can we do,
How about a game of cards,
Or racing cars in the backyard?"
"No" she said "that's not for me,
I'd rather climb the old oak tree."
So off she went right to the top,
Looked down at all the lollipops,
Down she came foot by foot,
Stood on the ground and took a look,
Saw how very high she'd climbed,
Said "Now I can write this little rhyme."

Love Grandma
Happy Birthday

As her feet left the ground
She found the tree
So positioned that its asymmetrical
Form filled out all her yearnings
For perfection.
Above, as she climbed, casting
A little shadow on the grass below
She thought how much beauty
Had been made by just this one thing
All on its own with only the sun and rain
And changing seasons for company.
It was her tree, it had found her
Lying, in her pram
Its leaves giving protection
To her heart, their movement
Taking away all fear.
Since that time she had returned
And thought of the wonder of
This tree, standing alone,
As she did now on the edge
Of wisdom.


Love Mary ***

Bewilderment watered in her small hands
The sky filtered its rays through the blinds
Sitting in solicitude sufffereing sunk down
In the days that past it renounced its truth.

Love Mary ***

When I was three I played with worms
They simply were my friends
I watched them building worm casts
And knock them down.

Love Mary **

Everyday you took the seeds
Down our garden to feed the birds
Waiting in clusters in the trees
for the beginning of their need
The doves and the pigeons
Sparrows and magpies
Waiting for you the walk
Down our garden side.

To my Roger love his Mary **

Wife : ‘I have a serious inflammatory condition’.
Husband:  ‘I think you want to stop bullying people,
It gets on their nerves’.

Love Mary **

PAINTING PICTURES.

I spent my last day
Looking at pictures
Paintings of a friend
We tried to decide
What was finished
And found it hard in the end.

How long does one continue
When a subjects found
Does one plod on regardless
Or learn to live underground.

Love to Ian for his friendship from Mary ***

Sitting round the radio,
We would listen to the play,
Broadcast every Saturday,
In the evening with lights low,
Wrapped in our blankets,
All snug and warm,
Sharing so many stories,
Of lives both great and small.

Those days I remember,
For the closeness that we felt,
Our little family, never remote;
'The Deep Blue Sea',staying behind,
For its impact, of a solitary kind.
Nothing like the radio to let the eye find,
Pictures in the imagination,
Are the very best kind.

Love Mary ***

Somewhere in my mind,
Was something to be found,
Not on the surface,
No digging would surround.
It came out of nowhere,
As I passed the glass,
Peering at a turquoise stone,
A golden broach it did enhance;
It was my mother's moonstone,
A family heirloom,
Embellished with gold filigree,
And attached by a chain.
The Islamic pendant,
On display at the museum,
Sent me backwards on a journey,
To discover you it seemed.

On the way home I thought of Proust,
Tasting the Madeline, tea soaked,
The pleasure it did give me,
To remember times past,
And the fingers of Mother's hand,
Gently do up the clasp.

Love Mary **

When I sit and look out to sea
I know I have always been loved.

Love Mary x

I filled  my basket with flowers
And four baby eggs
A son and three daughters
Under a checkered spread.

We never went to market
For that not meant to be
But cuddled up together
With buttered bread for tea.


Love Mummy.

The passageway joins here and there
It combines today with yesterday
In a sequence of time
Changing forever the future
Letting in light and warmth
A union of sorts without speech
Walked quietly both ways
Frequently and without thought
But now stopping in the middle
Opening an uncertain promise
Where a dream could be made.

Love Mary **

The Millitary road was long and narrow
Hugging the contours of the cliff face
As braiding on a dress,
He teased me
Dancing the children in a line
Along the slim path
Edging  the fallen away grassland.
Dotted every hundred yards or so
Wire cages
Announced memorial sites
For the fallen.
The waves echoed a deathly hush
Crushing against broken boulders
A hundred yards below;
Eventually the path terminated
Running into turf,
The children took up my hands
Again
And the day proceeded as normal.

Love Mary

For all those who like danger.

Stabilise the sinking grass
That gives the hills their shape
Stabilise the hinges
On the old wrought iron gate.

Letting in the way we see
Please stabilise me.

Love Mary x

Connie is upside down
Head between her knees
Feet flaying in the air
Two bunches in her hair,
Connie just likes to be
Upside down
Between her knees.

( for all to see) alternative .



Love Grandma ***

Connie was born a lady
She knew what to wear
Opened up her wardrobe
Stood and quietly stared
Loved the frilly dresses
And the ones with butterflies
What she put on
Was always a surprise
In her silver slippers
And slides in her hair
Connie was ready
To go anywhere.

Thought it might be nice
To go out twice
As the day was sunny
She'd go with her Mummy
Up to the shops
To buy some new socks
White fluffy ones
with ducks at the top
Then a pair of shoes
Pink ones will do
Go with her smock
With the lollipop.

Connie was a lady
She played ladies' games
Never catch Connie
Out in the rain
Liked to dress her dollies
In ribbons and lace
Hand knitted dresses
Slipped over the face
Had a row of shoes
So dolly could choose
Turquoise boots
with high heels too.

How I love dear Connie
We have lots to do
Playing with our dollies
And taking them
To the zoo.

Love to Connie from Grandma xxxxx

Let's write a story
Where shall we start
Who will be the characters
What will be their parts?
I like fairies, you like cars
Dragons are plentiful
In these parts.
Get me Galadriel
The beautiful queen
And Aragon so handsome
Maidens just swoon
A couple of hobbits
To sing a merry song
And we'll find an adventure
To go travelling on.

Love Mary ***

Their out of the office,
On another line,
Away today
Be back Tuesday ;
Can't take your call
Right now
But if you leave your number
We will get back to you!
I am sorry this mail box is full;
All the lines are busy right now
We do apologise;
This person no longer works
In this department;
Please hold the line.
This Extention is unavailble.

Living in a world of excuses
And abuses
Lies and deception
Poor reception
Does my head in!!!

Mary

You can say much by saying very little
You can say everything by saying nought.

Love Mary xxxx

What do we do to time.

Who will remember me after I have gone,
Memory changes everything,
With the seasons come and gone,
Lives are full of business,
Few stop and pause,
Finding a special moment,
To cherish and applaud,
But in my garden,
Is my Mother's Hydrangea bush,
Her shoes in my wardrobe,
That sometimes I do kiss.
On the wall is an embroidery,
Done by her dear hands,
And glasses in a case,
That's as near as I can.
Touching the memories,
The hours that we shared,
They are now part of me
Never to be disturbed.

Love Mary **

I pick my friends because they don't need me
For like the flower and bee
It is a passing arrangement .
Not tainted by a smothering gasp
If unavailable.
Never wanted to be hugged
Other than by words
Beautifully written in letters
I am a contradiction.
Gregariously plain.

I leave you this as one of the most beautiful pieces of poetry ever written. So moving and yet full of metaphor and tenderness in the words .
Love Mary xxxx



“Snow was general all over Ireland…” The last paragraph of Joyce’s The Dead

Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, further westwards, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling too upon every part of the lonely churchyard where Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.
The Dead
James Joyce

I always wanted to meet a genius
Being not one myself
But every time I thought I'd found
Was always something unsound
A scratch or scrape in the wrong place
An area unclearly seen
That in the end
My search did end
No genius to be my friend.

Plenty in the times of old
The voice vigorous and bold
Now there is shimmer on the bough
Temptations for an hour
But that quality I do seek
Lies dormant and not complete.

I recall a day in Summer
Many years ago
When my life was about handstands
Done in a row
Fingers stretched out
Pressing the ground
My legs went upwards
Splaying about
Dresses floating
Catching the wind
Pigtails all dangling
Needles and pins
Staying steady
Was hard to begin
But eventually mastered
The handstand thing.


Love Mary ***

The ferry's late, we missed the last,
Running fast,
Now in the harbour, tickets clipped
Cars first, lorries and buses ****,
Passengers climb the rickety gangway
Looking down, into the murky brown,
Bags and suitcases against legs
Children scramble  ahead
Upstairs on the deck
Drinking coke
Smelling the air
Seagulls alight
We are alright
On our way over the Solent sway
The Isle Of Wight is in sight
Delight!


Love Mary x

In trying not to hate
I determined my fate
For people knew
I was kind and true
But they did abuse
The few.

And the wind
Will tell the birds,
The birds the bees,
The bees the flowers,
The flowers the people
Who carry the flowers
When I die because of
Lies.

Love Mary x

In the window frame there is room for you and me
The garden always overgrown still a child’s delight
Pushing wheels along uncemented paths of grass
Those blowing clocks filling the sky with your breath
And I watch you, for hours, golden rounded limbs
Moving the air, swirling dresses, petticoats, a dolly
In spotted blue and a new mother growing into
Herself.
I watch silky chestnut hair, float, pulled by the wind
Over red knitted cardigan and an upturned nose in a
Smile as you see me there at the window of love.

Love Mummy xxxx

Daggers in the heart
Spiders on the wind
À hopelessness inside
A battle within.

For those unaccustomed to lies
The daily briefings leave one pain
That any government with shame
Could be blatant in unfaithful words.

Love Mary **

It be happenchance that two personalities find
In one another an asymmetrical mirrored mind
Brought together in space and time, bending
Reality so far that the book of knowledges closes.


No prediction could have guessed such a loving
Couplet, nor devoured a nectar so cunningly sweet.
For at its core, unobtainable without the other, lies
A tale of unimaginable cradling where terror abides.

Love Mary  x

Hand in back of my dress
We wandered over the forest
The grass dried and sandy
The evening slowly
Terminating the sun
A yellow globe above the flats.
I thought of home alone
No telephone
And Ovaltine mixed with your love
Your smell of tobacco and *****
And oh those first *******
Taking me out of myself
With desire.


Love Mary **

Cruelty is a kind of dismissiveness,
A remembering to forget,
Not to notice or take an interest,
Ignore rather than prepare.

I have met it infrequently,
Thank goodness,
But harsh it is
And sharp as a knife,
Slicing through another's pain
As easy as butter.

Love Mary

To all those who have suffered at the hands of others .

You bring the outside to my bed
In your brightly coloured dress
Hair tied back in a ponytail
You dance about in a grassy field
The sun's gone in but do you care
Dancing around in the clear air
Wonder who you think you'll be
A circus lady home for tea
A fairy with a golden wand
Whoever it is you'll sing your song.

Love Grandma for Delphi x

When I look at a painting
A woman I see
Reflected in the glass
Standing behind me.

The children all stand
At the headmaster's voice
They do not rejoice
What will it be today?
The girls at the back
Tweek and hack
Twist their hair
And stir.
Hymn books go gliding
To the floor
The boy on the left
Gets hoiked out
Made to sit in the front
With the teacher he dislikes
Someone snores
The teachers aren't singing
Cause they have to watch
Whose doing what.
Then the mood changes
The headmaster takes
To the stage
Makes the children laugh
In so many ways
Tells them stories
Of when he was a lad
On his keyboard plays a tune
Lets have a happy afternoon.

In loving memory of my time as a teacher at  Chater Junior School. Also thank you to the the great and inspiring staff and children.
Love Mary ***

Plastic caterpillars
Which came from Japan
All different colours
Can be held in the hand.

Peacock and Cabbage White
All with suckers and feet
Some have horns
Those you can’t beat.

Love Mary ***

Oh let this sun filled day
With flower head’s opening
And the grassy green ring
A circumference of circle
Perimetering the brim.

Just before leaving when
Inspiration can come in
This day of my mortality
The eternity is speechless
Under flow of bird’s wing.

Love Mary x

Closed The Window,
Tidied the sink,
Emptied the ******* bin,
Sorted the letters,
On the kitchen table,
Watered the *** plants,
Folded the clothes,
Wiped the fridge door,
Can't say more.

Love to all my family and friends

Gentle little bird
Always in grey
Like an old soft toy
I’ll take you in a box
Plop you down
In a special spot
Where there are trees
And bumble bees
A bottle of water
And sandwich too.
Gentle little bird
You were heard.

Love Mary x

Its True


Ay, the pain it costs me

to love you as I love you!

For love of you, the air, it hurts,

and my heart,

and my hat, they hurt me.

Who would buy it from me,

this ribbon I am holding,

and this sadness of cotton,

white, for making handkerchiefs with?

Ay, the pain it costs me

to love you as I love you!

A watermelon green on shelf
One tomato in isle two
And your hands to fetch
Your legs, a letter in box.

What I give you poor as I am,
A box of meteorites, a magazine,
A kiss on cheek, a hair cut or two
I would, everthing, for love of you .

Love Mary x

Sitting neatly in sweater and scarf on table bench
You lay out this meal place
And take a book into your hands
And slowly begin to read.

Thinking of a friendly face
A boy from long ago
Who knew your words then
And decided to simply stay.

Love Mary

Find what you need to sustain you
I can always be their in your heart
My genes have gently infected you
So that can be a fair certain start.

You have all that you need beside you
A family fit for a queen
One that travels the emotions
One that will not let you scream.

Sorry about the wedding, I had always
Hoped to be there, carrying your possessions
And dancing in the night - time air
But the hall will be full so don’t worry.

Love Grandma xxxxx

The magpie children .

They are running flying their hands through the wind,
Catching the dandelion seeds in a delight for freedom.
Out of nursery rhyme books crawling
Back memories,
Voices of maidens high pitched ,dazzling,
If I could reach them now,
Slow time to the hour
When youth took my hand, recklessly,
And spun me in the air.
Now upon my bench they sit,
These quiet solemn children
Reading my message
Given with love.

Mary xxxx