My old cat in spring
twitches his ear at passing bees
and sniffs at the lavender scented breeze
then he warms his belly and starts to purr
with a little less winter stuck to his fur

I'm a furry little dancer
a sleek bewhiskered chancer,
I wanted to pounce you
bounce you
trounce you with my paw
shiny sunbeam on the floor,
you were here just now,
and then you were gone,
such shame our game can't carry on

A leap into darkness

Where dragons may reside

A step into the infinite

Is for you to decide

Float free on the air

Before you crash and burn

Chaff on the winds of fortune

Embers falling to the rocks below

Washed by cruel waves

Ashes returned to earth

Grey and trodden underfoot

The crunch of cold dead hopes

On weary shoes

But fortune favours those

Who dare to test their newly feathered wings

The bird of freedom only sings

For ones that risk a fall, to reach a greater height

Only those who take a chance in flight

Will ever know if they were right!

Change in my pocket jingles
I wonder how many ears
in previous years
have also heard the music
of these little clanking bells
who could ever tell
but the feeling lingers
as I move them through my fingers

We are chequers from the same box

Sailing in the same leaky boat

We all bail

We get to stay afloat

We don't bail

Then we fail

So think

Do you really wanna sink?

You can cherish a dream
but there may be other rivers
other lands in which to seed your hopes
don't turn your wishes into ropes

Today I held the ocean
measured the span with my own two hands
captured its sum with my fingers and thumb
it's very deep and blue and calm
but I held it all in my outstretched palm

Tiny bird I feel you shiver
quivering heart within your breast
strong hands to keep you safe
a place to rest before you fly
go now
spread your wings and say goodbye

Christmas marks the turning of years
the sparkle on this one is made with tears!

Weary soulful sound
The chime of a city clock
Nick heard it calling

Close the door
slip the latch and let it fall
I am sad to say farewell
but I must leave you all,
imagine me at peace
freed from earthly things,
I am the autumn breeze
a winter wind that sings,
I am rain, I am sky,
a part of everything,
we did not say goodbye,
I am summer, I am spring
blossom, light as air,
don't think of me as gone
look around and I’ll be there

**** you thieving gulls,
bold and noisy bandits of the air
you will not still my thoughts,
I need to sit on a shiny plastic chair
scrape the legs across a bumpy concrete floor,
drink a cup of steaming words,
lose then find myself within the oceans roar,
come foaming water take me
wash my head
fold me and remake me
send me tumbling to the beach
to roll and scrape along the sand
throw my worries out of reach
snack on them for just a little while
swallowed whole by heaving marram grass
trapped within your ever shifting smile

When strands of night become day

Deepest purple turns to lilac gold

Quietly chasing away the lingering white of the stars

When ragged day becomes night

A fiesta of reds and orange

Boiling into the heavens beyond the horizon

The gentle dawn and the evening carnival

Inviting humanity to stop and gaze across the ages

United in a simple act, the colour of wonder

Grey day cardigan
Jumper red and knitted green
Colours of winter

Compassionate wind
blow soft upon my face
caress my skin
from brow to nose to chin
linger with your fingers
comb my tangled hair
strong but light as air
let me know that you are there
and that you care

Butting heads, locking horns
the difficult child of three
if any one was causing grief
It was always going to be me,
a stubborn chip
from a stubborn old block
never at ease we two
so I left and made a life for myself
far from the one you knew,
you pushed too hard
to tie me down
I went and you felt betrayed
you never saw my need to go
I could never see why you stayed

Connemara morning early
iron grey sky
scarping waves
of sharp and tempered steel
and a sun barely creeping
on peaty bog
and marshy sheep-shod field
here dwelt the silent ones
fertile gods of Erin's clan
who fed the earth
and coaxed the land
solemn faces watch us still
through smoky mist
on emerald hill

Oh wind
ill tempered and contrary thing
you drag the peaceful sea  
by the scruff of its watery neck
harrying the sleeping waves  
to rise and fall
crashing at your beck and call
yet when we want to sail
or dry our clothes
you don't appear at all

Cookies are bright twinkles

fun and easy on the eye

they say 'come on, you know you want me, step up and don't be shy'

take off the lid

dip right in

everyone loves a tiny bit of sin!

At the corner
where the year turns
Autumn’s carefree child
dressed in shades of rebellious scarlet
whistles as he walks full into Winter
a vicious hungry old man
who strips him bare naked and cold
before he strolls away to find the waiting arms of spring
she wraps him in a warm embrace
bestowing kisses sweet enough to melt his cruel and icy heart
and leaves to find the Summer
bearing gifts of fruit
with which to make the heady wine of Autumn

Fat crows
hop the furrows
of a thin winter field

What makes a country?


A nation


A state


What seals your fate?


An unbreakable tie


Of course you can lie


Say you come from elsewhere


No one will care


But deep down inside


You know you can't hide


No matter how far


Or how fast


You run


Your tribe


Is inscribed


On your soul


A part of your whole

The creative mind
is a beast never still
a nervous high strung fish
that swims in a restless sea
forever searching
chasing thought worms
which may not come to be
it needs waves of ideas
to spin it round and round
the ocean of its notions
would dry up on solid #ground

Dear celebrity crush,
I wish that I could clone you
so I could have my own you,
my creepy devotion
would fill up an ocean

Bramble jelly
blackberry wine
fruit of the hedgerow
tastes just fine
gloves and a bucket
take a stick
I will lift you
grab it quick
home for teatime
happiness lingers
on purple lips
and crimson fingers

It was windy today
I did not walk alone on the beach
or hear its many creaks and groans
the watery moans of margin land
where sea becomes sand, and tide becomes sky
I sat in the car to keep myself dry
and watch the squawking seabirds fly
battling the wind for scraps
thrown and trapped in a playful breeze
which dropped and then continued to tease
litter turned to crisp packet sails
that danced and skipped in the stinging air
with a grace and freedom I could not share
all the same I’m glad I was there

Crows on Autumn corn
challenge the wind
for the remains of Summer

The sun that rises on my dreams

Is frosty cold

Ice fills my head.

Beyond all knowing in my mind

Is the hollow keening wind

Which sings around corners

Seeking out the pavement cracks

It blows my thoughts

And leaves me scattered

Crow picked to the core

A shredded howling

Crows on wind-blown corn
citizens of winter

A harp that needs no fingers
no hand to pluck the strings
it speaks of love’s betrayal
and ****** when it sings

Burn me
Bring down the heavens
Bathe me in milky light
Crushed pearls under our feet
Love me like the hurricane
you were
Our youth has flown
The tide has turned
Passion speaks eternal
A sounding voice to call all souls
Clarion song and tocsin bell
ring out for lovers

Love is like chocolate

Sometimes Sweet

Occasionally bitter

Now and again a little too much

But you always end up wanting more!

Every slice of bread
contains seeds of history
which unite us all

Dance me to the music playing soft inside our heads
rock me to the sound of words much better left unsaid

Catch me as our feet tread light on old familiar ground
starry eyed and moonstruck as you spin me round and round

Remember me in better days that now have come and gone
waltz me to forever so our tune can carry on

Kiss me when the lights have dimmed and the tempo starts to slow
dance with me one final time, hold me don't let go