When I was young  and time was infinite
I was spontaneous,impulsive, impatient.
Now I am older
and life is precious
and timeless becomes time
with an end in sight.
Love becomes more visible.
I am adventurous,
pensive and patient,
riding the next dream
into a timeless future.

Like a sleepwalker
she passed through each day.
Voices chattered in her head,
Snatches of conversations
That she could not quite catch.

She dropped like a stone through her emotions
And lay in silence on the bottom.

Battered and bruised
She ached at every turn,
Or floated softly among the shadows
Guarding her spirit.

It seemed she had passed
Through a threshold of pain
That held her on the edge,
Like the new born......
And the shadows nurtured her
Behind the veil of her own consciousness,
Waiting for the memory
To rise up into the light of her being.

When it came she was filled with fire,
Warming her as it spread
through her soul,
And she knew a new knowledge
That was older than she,
Older than her previous selves ,
Older than the Earth.
Slowly,she raised herself,
Taller than she'd ever been.

Filled with courage
she stepped out,
Over the edge,
And she joined all of her other selves,
Embracing them with open arms.
Sobbing,she acknowledged herself
As she flew with her shadows
Back through time,
Back to her beginning
From whence she had first set out
In the darkness of ignorance.

The light shone so brightly,
Drawing her own light towards it
In a spinning ****** so intense
That she let go of herself,
Separating into a million points
of light as she joined the pool.
Her lights bounced off each light
They touched in an ecstasy of greeting.

Looking back ,
Towards the edge,
She watched the shadows
Nod their satisfaction
Before they turned away,
Fading into the darkness that was the Earth.

No more
curling into
my embrace
purring your
contentment.
No more
scratching
gently at the door
catching
my attention.
No more
racing madly
through the grass
chasing shadows
and sunbeams.
Oh Minnie
I miss your presence
but still
I sense your essence.

In fear of it
We don't want
To hear of it.

The rain hurts my eyes
like tears burning.
Tears burn my eyes
but not like the rain.

Rain brings regret
like tears.

But the rain hurts my eyes
weather's regret for sunshine?

But sunshine hurts my eyes
like a fire burning too close.

So now sunshine brings regret
always regret
for what I can't see straight
for causing a row
for feeling giddy
for seeing three for eight.

It's not my fault
I would change it
if I could.

It lurks in corners
when I pass by,
slowly,slowly,crawling.

It waits for me
behind the door,
gently,gently,laughing.


It tumbles down
out of the sky,
softly,softly,falling.

It rises up
out of the floor,
whispering, whispering,

come to me.

Oh, shadow,shadow
on the wall,
don't swallow me.

Let it be open
So the love can flow
Let it burn through
And leave
An indelible mark
On your soul.

BLT you challenged me
You made me rhyme deliberately
When through the years my poetry
Was written quite spasmodically
A year apart or every day
It didn't matter either way.

you left
you didn't say goodbye
you left
you didn't tell us why
bereft
we wept.

Daughter,sister,grandchild,niece,
Mother,aunt,we're all of these
Lover,nanny,friend and foe
Each different face,we're all of those
But in the end
At the heart of it
At the point that is
The crux of it
We shine our light
'Cos we exist.

The skin on your shin can be thin
It's a curse when the nurse makes it worse.

Rough gusts
Thrusting.

Throw another log on the fire
the wind's getting up
and the rain's turned to sleet.

Make a dancing ,crackling fire,
to fill up the room
with it's comforting heat.

There may be a power cut
but never you mind,
we'll sit in the light of the fireside glow.

We'll renew our love
without distraction
while outside the sleet turns to snow.

A flickering smile
from a stranger
with your blue eyes
I get a sense of you in me
like a butterfly
that flutters by
on the Summer breeze
calling
"Be what you be
see what you see
one life, one reality."

A dusting of snow
Under a pink sky
A flash of gold
Where the narcissi
Bloom
Too early.

The moon is rising
Full and bright
Hanging,huge
She sheds her light

Climbing,slowly
O'er the hill
Lazy,creeping
The night's so still

Spangled starlight
Welcomes her
As she takes her place
And begins to stir

Hearts in love

Hearts in love
Who look at her

And she smiles her smile
That only lovers know.

It gives me the sweet scent
Of new mown hay
And the blackbirds song
In May.

Here she is,vivacious yet
despite the years of self neglect
She wears it well,she stood the test
she earned her badge of self respect.
Quiescent in her dormant state
the potential yaw she may create
she journeyed forth towards her fate
and the road remains the same.

Breathless in this valley
I contemplate with awe
the timeless,verdant landscape
rolling upward from it's floor.
I wonder at such symmetry
such sublime majesty
which captures my attention
and makes my spirit soar.
The river in it's urgent quest
to reach the open sea
with it's salmon forging upward
in their own urgency.
Nothing greener than the meadows
watered by the rushing Wye
except perhaps the wooded hills
standing green against the sky.

The moon rose,smiling
through the tree tops
where the day birds
slumbered
her reflection
shimmered
on the still,deep pool
of a slow moving river
and shattered
in a burbling brook.

You can't steer clear
Of fear
It hides in you
Resides with you
Forever.

The flowers are in mourning
for the gardener has gone
to tend the garden of the Lord.

The new day is dawning
the warm sun is rising
and the flowers think they're ignored.

But someone comes weeping
as the flowers they are gathering
that the gardener had so adored.

Bouquets they are making
they are not forsaking
the love that the gardener poured.

And the flowers are in mourning
as they lie on the coffin
of the gardener who's gone to the Lord.

To walk alone
along the road of life
enduring stones of spite
because you
will not
cannot
won't
accept the clothing
that they want to put you in
might not be nice
so compensate
with thrill of
knowing
doing
being
what you are
and be content.

A late February evening
A tree lined silhouette
On the far horizon
Against a sunset
Of burnished gold .

His demeanor was
cleverly ingenuous.
Quite ingenious.

We watch
The dandelion clocks
Shake their perfect orbs
And release
Their seeds
To dance away
And flower again
Another day.

Brothers together
brothers apart
brothers forever
share the same heart,
share the same dream
on the same stream.
Always together
mindful forever
of mother's love
and always wherever
they are.
They sing the same tune
they watch the same moon
they look out for each other
and fight with each other
yet mindful forever
of mother's love.
Always
wherever they are.

Wet and windy
Winter whiteout
Weather Warning.

Blackberries ripening in the hedgerow
warn me of Winter drawing near
though the pleasure of Autumn
still to come
softens the blow of frost's cold cheer
and Summer's heat receding fast
more uncertain than Winter's blast.

Long days, short nights
Green trees, blue skies
Bird song and butterflies.

My angel is ....
my spirit guide ....
my port in a storm .....
faith .....
in myself.

Ride the wave of life's great ocean
falling through your own emotion
taking stock of where you are now.
See the future like a promise
but you know you must be honest
to yourself before all else.
Feel the thrill of fear and pleasure
know them both so you can measure
what is right and what is wrong,
let your spirit find the answer
send it like a cosmic dancer
to the place where we belong,
and when a kind word softly spoken
mends the places that are broken
in your spirit and your heart.
Make each moment last forever
keep them close so you will never
lose your soul or lose your spark.


Jan 2006

Remembering Rita's quaint
Independent ways
The children loved
Her gentle ways
Her mind made up
She would not be moved
She lives on
In the memories she made.

I watched you
smiling blue eyes
animated
in conversation.
Sad, in my position
I watched everyone
but you ,
looked at me.
Contact !
Eye to eye.
Excited I looked away.

For weeks I held the memory.

Chinese whispers
Distorting the facts
When passing on
Innocent chats.

Buttercups and bluebells
Lilac and cherry blossom
Violets peeping
Leaves unfurling
Blackbird calling
Lambkins bleating
Raindrops falling
Hail
Merry month of May

Blinded by arrogance
You hold the key
What kind of impudence
Ignores the plea
For fairness.

The life that we live
and the hope that we give
are the deals that we seal.

A warm cwtch
A safe place
A smiling face.

when you blot out the problem
you can also
blot out the solution.

A lone kestrel circles slowly overhead
shrieking
as she scans the ground below.
The soughing wind gently scatters
Autumn's leaves
in a rush of bright colour,
as fingers of sunlight
stab
through the trees.

I close my eyes
breathing deeply.
I hear the wind
and the kestrel.
I open my eyes
and see the colour
where the sunlight falls
and the kestrel's drop
straight as an arrow.

Don't borrow tomorrow
To stay in today
While living in yesterday.

Who could ask for more?
than to sit beside the river
on it's perpetual,headlong journey,
in the green and verdant valley of the Wye.
Where the ever changing seasons
in their rich and timeless harmony
bring a new delight to please the eye.
Where meadows,rich and fertile,
reach up to meet the woodland
standing proud and green against the sky.
See the salmon catch the sunlight,
hear the constant conversations
of the bird life as they swoop and soar so high.
Smell the sweet scent of the leaf mould
catch the spirit of the moment
who could ask for more?
Not I.

your harsh words
like arrows through my heart
crushed me
****** me
into despair.

My wailing heart sobs
loudly in my ear
my aching eyes can't
shed another tear
I feel so helpless
looking at your pain
as you slip so slowly
to another plane.

Regrets grow larger
for you and for me
but we can't undo
what was meant to be.

And it's only a moment in time
flying swiftly out of reach
and my grief comes screaming
tearing me apart
no nightmare dreaming
this pain within my heart
and it's only a moment in time
flying swiftly out of reach.

When every conversation
Begins with a challenge
And the truth
Is obscured
By a lie.

I am the undertaker
the one who speaks
for kindred who need to shield.
I am the risk taker
behind the mask
holding the fort
the last resort
in this estival of unknown out comes
this is my testimonial,my task
my forte.

There is a message loud and strong
that wants to come to me.
I hear it like a distant song
floating, wild and free.
It echoes on the cool night air
and whispers in my dreams.
It leaves a feeling, soft and rare
and I know what it means.

The blackbird sings it, dusk and dawn
in the Summer time.
The robin sings it in the morn
of cold, bare Winter time.
Autumn blows it through the trees,
scattering on the wind
the golden leaves that say to me
"Listen and take heed".

Then Spring in all her glory, takes me by the hand
and standing in the sun's warm ray
amid bursting buds and dancing lambs
she says "enjoy today".

You purport that you
are always right
with verbiage, loud
designed to confuse
fomenting exasperation
with this constant fight
and sisyphean failure
to change your views.

The spirit wriggled free
And flew
And through
The memories it knew
It grew
Anew.