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

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

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

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

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

Dylan boy,
lord of all the sleeping towns
the valleys and the mean little houses,
master of the flowering words,
like best bitter they flowed
dark and ripe and full to the top of the glass,
well worth the waiting for you were,
if the masses couldn’t see it
then they too were blind as moles,
you finished up your pint
and left us, empty

Dreams die

Stars that fade

In our personal heaven

Leaving only the memory

Of tomorrows

And what might have been

Winter sleeps both cold and deep,
while spring is a madcap scramble,
summer sings and jogs along,
but fall is a definite amble,
dropping hints of cooler times
with every leaf and bramble

Your head is the shed

Where the memories live

It's not right

That this thief in the night

Slowly takes you

And un-makes you

Until there is just

The rust

Dusty marks on the shelf

That once contained

Your sense of self!

My sly and stalking beast

Which jumps and catches unawares

Grey light from within

A candle dimmed

Hidden from the world

Exhausted heart

Of half remembered dawns

******* slowly

On the fog

That is myself

I cannot feel

Until I cut

And bleed myself  

A path of living words

To follow to the light

Design me a coat for the seasons
remember as you sew
to add vents in the sleeves
filled with crisp Autumn leaves
and to let Springtime breezes blow
why not add a long Summer
as that is in style this year
please try to shorten the Winter
it is looking a bit severe

The craft of seeing

What could be

Creating

And making  

A possibility

Clothe me in watery waves all greens and blues
let clinging sands become my shoes
come salt wind that hails from the West
******* far away from my desk

If your vocabulary is small
you can grow it like a plant in a ***
day by day water it with words
one at a time until it blooms
into dictionary flowers

Down along the motorway
pathos flowers grow
a tiny piece of nature
putting on a show
watch the diesel daisies
dancing in a row
among the shredded leavings
of the M1 contraflow

Open a book
discover a landscape
waiting for you explore
your map is made from footsteps
where the writer walked before

A blessed wine

Which stains  the richest lips

Plump fruit to kiss

To taste

To sip

In search of love divine

I don't want to come back
once I leave don't revive me
I'm finished and done with being alive me
you just know when it's your time go
so take off the wire
my choice to decide where & when I expire

Do I love you,
more than gentle earth or sky
or rain or cooling winds that blow
air to breathe or wine to sip
daffodils and trees in spring
a thousand other poets things
I do not know if this is true
I only know that I love you

Do not cry for those who have gone
Make a better world for those who are to come.
Do not put your faith in shadows of the past
Step into the light and let them see you shine
Do not curse the broken time in which we live
Race both hands to mend the clock
Do not be scared of the future
Let the future be afraid instead
You have the power to change it
If you will but try

Walk with me in Autumn
do not tread soft upon the leaves
enjoy and stamp and feel them crumble
kick them as they swirl and tumble
a carnival of mellow red and orange yellows swiftly gone
its coloured caravans will soon be moving on

Don't put me in a corner
or back me in tight
it's probably the only time that I will stand and fight
If you leave me little option
here's what I'm gonna do
I'll leap out of my corner
and bite a chunk off you!

The dove of my dreams has flown
out through the window of day
to the place where she roosts
high in the rafters of my head
sometimes she will turn pigeon
and bring me confusing ****** stuff
but mostly she brings peace
sleep well little dream dove
I hope to see you later