Little storm lover
sitting on a windowsill
while others snore and dream their midnight dreams
cold feet a ticket to watch the lightning
thunder has electric bones
a drum roll giant coming ever nearer
she will catch it if they find her
well worth the risk
to watch the show

If you follow in my path
tread light in my shade
excuse the faltering steps that I made
if I left my heavy footprints showing
the damage I assure you was unknowing
erase my dust
walk with care
make it look
like I was never there

We sit together at separate tables,
two bitter old nags who share the same stable,
once we shared every beat of the heart
but somehow we ended up miles apart

The sands of time
crunchy little bits of eternity
will one day grind to dust and scatter in the wind
everything ends, and begins and ends again
a sense of everlasting instability
is the only stable thing we have

We close the curtains on a world less sure,
than yesterday, and all the days that went before
evening comes, and with it falls the night
unyeilding darkness drinks the light
and in its presence fades the sight
of garden gate and fence and lawn
in an anxious world which waits for dawn

Do not worry
when I go,
I will not be far
for I shall be the evening star
shining, ever near
do not fear
for I had my time
and lived it well as I knew how
but the time has come
I have to leave you now
watch the birds
see them fly
home across the evening sky
feel their wings
hear their song
you can cry,
but not for long

I can feel it,
smell it fragrant on the breeze
watch it in the leaves of broadleaf trees that bend to give me shade
taste it sweet upon my waiting lips
a kiss that comes to me
through every flower and bird and labouring bee,
not in gentle honeyed sips but fresh as new picked mint
every morning clear as day, bright as resting dew at dawn
I hear it whispered through the grass
summer is reborn

Fiction causes friction

An untruth uttered and whispered, gets muttered

It grows until it throws  a shadow on the truth

Fake news screws and skews what we see

In a deception of perception

A false perfection

Losing reality

In a flood of banality!

soft falls the silence
gentle rain upon your face
beads full between those waiting lips
a poet once, but taking sips of watered war
has stilled your voice
and beauty speaks no more

Falling light on springtime leaves
shadowed fingers stroke the breeze
sunlit table, awning up
proper tea in a china cup
supper cooking down the road
a neighbours grass efficiently mowed
cat on a cushion flicks an ear
rock doves calling somewhere near
new clad branches swing and sway
peace at the end of a busy day

The rain
when it came
was not unexpected
soft at first
then larger drops
falling music
dancing puddles
ignored in a rush of passers by
I stayed to the end
and heard it all
that orchestra of sky

I ate a ripe fandango
and washed it down with Tango
it tasted just like mango

A feather in the wind

dances

and knows nothing of direction

a free flying thing

without the slightest notion

that others find it beautiful

as they watch it skip and dive

gently landing and taking to the air once more

it has no cares

no timely worries

a happy child of the elements

chasing the libertine breeze

little knowing how much we would like to follow

February is a song of wind and rain

The sleeping giant of spring

Is not yet awoke.

February is the watchman

Silent and grey

Waiting for the smoke

Of green shoots and new life

To creep under the door

A stew

That just about describes our human zoo

We are all mixed up and bubbling in the ***

Don't much matter if you like it or not

No never minds, what if's or what ever

Everyone eats if we all swim together

So bring up your bowl, eat as much as you wish

A lot of different vegetables will make a better dish!

A shiny halo can work loose
and when it slips
it becomes a noose
your sainthood lasts until the day
the rest of us see your boots of clay!

My fern child
a little frond all rolled up tight
forever hiding from the light
why is it you are not like the others
a clever sister and noisy brothers
some of us find we can thrive in shade
I guess that's just the way you were made

Fields of white crosses
to mark out the losses
of harvested poppies

Finality
is a reality
there is no endless love
no forever
even in the beauty of the stars above
all will end
we cannot transcend our allotted span
so live and laugh and dance while you can

Winter sunrise on my last and longest day,

wrap me in a winding sheet of flaming orange

take the reds and pinks from midnight blue to make my shroud

let me rest in heaven fire

drown my tired soul in colour

drinking the final carnival

warmth for my bones,

a funeral of skies and wonders

Release the mind and find
that earthly care is merely air
a puff of wind blown through your hand
a ripple over passing sand
for then we fully understand
our worries were the drifting snow
which covers all but quickly goes
revealing faintest hopes of spring
this final song we learn to sing
in peace that only death can bring

Find me
feel my pain
mend my soul
make me whole again

Touch me
calm my fears
hold me close
catch my falling tears

Love me
hold my hand
talk to me
try to understand

It's your first day

Don't worry

You are new to life

I am older

I will hold your hand

And show you the way

You have so many roads to discover

Some we will travel side by side

Others we walk alone

One day you will leave me

Quietly in the shade of a tree

Following your own path

Don't worry

Memories will always lead you

Back to the roads we walked together

There must have been a morning

That followed the first night

A newly minted dawning

And a step into the light

A creature on a hilltop

Noticing the glow

A spark of bright divinity

Happening below

Wide eyes that gazed with wonder

As darkness turned to flame

At Heaven ripped asunder

Did they even have a name?

I wish that I had been there

To bathe in that first light

The sky all dipped in glory

Now that would be a sight

Letters returned to sender
my heart in the blender
fingers burned
lesson learned!

Freedom smells of coffee, you don’t have to make yourself
or do the washing up after
freedom has a view
that isn’t your garden
freedom is the clattering of cutlery
and plates in a kitchen
that is not your own
freedom is other people
their noise and chatter
freedom is asking them to turn the speaker down
because you want to talk
to a friend that you haven’t seen for ages
without a screen in front of you
or posters saying 'wash your hands. on government advice'
freedom is whatever the hell you want it to be
because it is yours and that is being truly free

A fish
does not want to be on your dish
for it to be obtainable
it needs to be
sustainable

December night
plays at sip my shadows through the door,
drunk on light
it drains the glass of this short day
and dims the sight
like many winter days before

A world that is stilled
sparkling water without fizz
trapped in the bottle

Robert Johnson

King of the blues

All shiny shoes and tilted hat

They don't come any hotter that that

He played the tunes of hearts desire

Guitar that smoked unholy fire

Furious notes from flaming fingers

Cracks the summer heat and lingers

Floating on the delta air

Each string a song of dark despair

Did Robert Johnson sell his soul

For music that would make him whole

Beauty style and heavenly grace

May start off in another place

The devils music leaves an odour

Could it be a whiff of soda!

We are floating leaves
Children of the winds and tide
Following the stream

Flowers come in all shapes and sizes

Like people

Did you ever see an ugly flower

They are natures gift to the earth

Like people

Sometimes there are just too many

They take over

Like people

It can take years for them to grow

Then they flourish and surprise you

Like people

The smaller less showy ones

Are often the most loved

Like people

You covered me
with a carpet of flowers
clean and bright
pink and white
fragrance light
on the summer air
fine words were said
many tears were shed
but you keep your guns
and I’m still dead

Flowers spread happy
Wanting little in return
It's a rare talent!

I won’t cry
well not for too long
perhaps just now and again a tear will fall
you worked hard all of your life
now the work is done
you can rest up a bit
although you will fit it hard to sit still
you always did
perhaps you are a butterfly or a bee
busily checking on your garden
I think you would like that
happy among the flowers
you have not gone from our hearts
whenever I see a garden in full bloom
I will smile
and you will be with me

Curtains blow
through tight closed panes
not a breath of wind
but the shape remains
no breeze has settled on my windowsill
outside the sleeping world is still
and yet those curtains wander where they will
I turn my back on flowered fingers
and try to sleep
but the feeling lingers

Haunted
by the ghost
of a tune that you heard
or a book you once read
a fluttering bird
that flew from your head

In the eye of a fly

The world rushes by

They see it all trippy

And fractured and zippy

As if they were high

Not sure why

Perhaps we should try!

Rain is fodder
food for hungry puddles
when the sun is out
they waste away to nothing

great ship in the fog
creaks low on a rising tide
rusting whale in pain

Remove the waking winter sky
the stars and moon above
take them all
but leave me something
I am vulnerable to love

Dream with me of the beach
hold me as we glide
in tempo with the tide
let us dance
let us tango
a lyrical fandango
like it always used to be
just for you and me
passion unrefined
when I wake up i'll find
sandy footprints on my mind

Winter sunrise
sings of hope
forgotten fire
in a frozen world