This Illusion

This illusion that we’re all HERE
Doesn’t tie in with the concept of space and nothingness between atoms,
Not to mention dreams, love, hate and hard work,
Tea at 5 o’clock
And the evening news.

Did I miss something?

Does he know that his wife’s unfaithful

Does he know that his wife’s unfaithful
And looks at me with a secret smile -
Does he know that his wife walks
In a way no woman walks
Whose mind’s on the straight and narrow ?

A little sweetness, a little light,
A ray of sunshine, looking right -
Does he know that his wife’s unfaithful
And looks at me with a secret smile ?

The sea stirs silent in a ripple

The sea stirs silent in a ripple
On meddled shore, still dream hung, sun worn, warm, space flung
Broad in full meaning on a distant run,
Ships outdone by a shadowed pall
As they sit like giant ghosts on the horizon.

In the beckoning of out nets shrimps flick dismay invisibly,
Fleet sand sparks leaving clouds of smoke
To tell us that they’ve gone

Into silence.

Art

Here:     this   is   a   poem.

I made it from fifteen words

Arranged   in     a   square.

The meaning is the context.

You can call it two sentences;
I call it Art.

Sold

For 1 million.

There’s this miracle

There’s this miracle where :
‘Wanted – Peruvian chest of drawers, handles of string’
Will appear above this advert:
‘For sale – Peruvian chest of drawers, handles of string’
In a newsagent’s window and I wonder:

Do they ever come back and see their adverts again, these two people,
Or are their signs posted like birds to fly and twine
Before going their separate ways,
As their owners skulk in dark corners
Wondering if anything’s been seen?

These Poems

I can’t help myself with these poems,
If poems are what they are -
A few words that become a torrent
And then subside,
Well up again,
Captured before they ebb away for all eternity:
And in that capture I find
Some primitive release,
A longing absolved,
A pent-up problem solved.

My Neighbours

Oh, my neighbours say,
‘Look at those clothes he’s wearing today!’

But I say -
It’s easier to change on the outside.

What is a dream?

What is a dream?
A dream is a goal,
An inspiration,
A dream is where Hope lives,
A dream is something to chase when life drags us down,
A dream is a song in the wilderness,
Good flowering from the mud of evil.

That is a dream.

Get yourself a dream,
Touch God and pray
And never, ever let your dream get away.

I can wrap myself in a world of words

I can wrap myself in a world of words,
Knotted around my head
In a colourful spelling of character and place,
Mood and time,
Feelings and fascination -

A world where the only sound is mine,
Where the only dance is the dance of ryhme,
Where the rythm’s chase is sublime
And the capture of a word in a sentence
Means more than all the weight of politics,
Almost as much as a star falling into place
Or the kiss of a summer’s leaf upon the wind.

Another little miracle

At work we went from strength to strength,
Seems we were on the same wavelength:
I left – we crossed paths now and then …
The wavelengths changed, and never again.

There’s a Reach Towards the Heavens

There’s a reach towards the heavens
And in the sun within my eyes
A door to greater things
And a distance I must fly.

Self Pity

When I was born the sun lay down
And time called out for the clouds to lead me on
But I refused to dance
And set up all the wailings of a newborn child,
Bitter at my loss,
Saddened by my plight,
Born to dust and earth
And dreary endless blight.

Being a Man

Being a man’s O.K
But the raging horses are a nuisance -
You can’t let them run wild
Or they’ll tear you apart,
And if you coral them
They respond by kicking the fence down:

So all that’s left is to get with the good woman
And let her tame the beasts.

Still trees stand proud by the neck of the river

Still trees stand proud by the neck of the river.

The gloaming, all gloom, defeats their shape,
Knocks out all colour.

Sounds:
Rushed water’s wash,
A child’s sharp cough -
Scuffled leaves.

In the depths of their slumbers the beech trees and chestnuts
Feel out their warmth in silent contemplation,
Gathering in hours.

Held in an anvil of quiet the evening goes nowhere,
Waiting in expectation
For a pause
That never comes.

March 00

My Gently Melting Face

My gently melting face
Drips down the mirror
As though lies and lakes were mapped on the moon;

My gently melting face
Turns inwards,
Eating away at the beauty of youth,
Carving out age,
Holding my values to the world for all to see -

My gently melting face
Unfortunately
Is me.

Consider This

Consider this: that though I say I love you,
Love dies at the lips:

Consider this, that though at times I hold,
There is no mystery in this grip:

Consider this, that though at times we bond and make
All earth move, it is no great shakes:

Consider this: this marriage is a mystery,
That works without Divine laws,
Is shaped and tamed, contains its flaws,
Still holds water,
Loves and dies,
Reborn on a second,
Shattered by some cries:
Consider this: do you consider this?

2/3/99

Days

I’ve drifted across a day like a cloud,
Wasted the wealth of hours,
Washed my face in dreams
And touched on the Infinite Almighty with a prayer.

Other days I’ve rushed round like a tornado,
Smashed through minutes,
Seen Time flit away
And finished with a Bang not a whimper
As my exhausted head hit the pillow.

Who is to say which is right ?

2002

The Drunken Poet….

I am a tool so shaped creation echoes me in all my glory,
So shaped the songs I sing sing out my name, the dreams I bring ring only
What is mine and from whence I came: I am master of the flame:
Proud, defiant, I feed myself myself and reap myself: the same.

The Fool’s Reply

You fool! You mock your God whose power draws out your heat in poetry
And claim for yourself God’s tongue -
You fool! You merely listen and transcribe with sensibility
Those miracles God unveils, the wonders God sets free!

20/10/99

Oh! To be that which swims, climbs, flashes fresh air

Oh! To be that which swims, climbs, flashes air,
That runs, turns, chases things, travels, meets and soars,
Oh, to be there! And meek meet with just cause
All life in its glory-fling, all past care,
Oh , to share in that spill and spell, to dare!
To mind with no-mind the edge of Nature’s laws
And spring swiftly with no regretful pause
On hand, foot or wing lean, low, considered, spare -
To be that thing! To snare a moment’s call
And from proud upswing fall with rhythm’s grace
To strength and pull, Oh, to feel God’s rule,
To bend, take, curve all motion’s sense and haul
The living might through every angled trace -
To live with pace and break free through the wall !

11/1/2000

Gift

Wendy, my dear,
You gave me a book
(Which after all is just a thought),
And there wasn’t any thought:
And that speaks volumes
More than volumes.

Sung, in the half-light of shadows’ play

Sung, in the half-light of shadow’s play
The children’s song, I sing
My long-gone song flaming on inside;
What’s done is never done, stays on as One,
Sung song sings, belongs,
Can never be undone, is never gone,

Begins in each day’s new-woken dawn
That song sung, and sings at one
As each day sings its song; theirs is begun,
Mine done, but sings at one with their song
My song sung: we sing as one;
Moved, moving on, age and youth’s same song.