A walk by the water

There’s a lot to be said
at the end of the day
for getting out for a while to the beach
A short walk by water
is just what we oughta
do as it’s there in our reach

Simple II

I don’t ask for much in life
I’m quite a simple chap
Just music and some lavender
will content me, that’s a fact
So enforcing isolation
when we all must stay at home
doesn’t really bother me
and I’ll not gripe and moan

Tri-haiku XXVII (sunshine)

In these troubled days
with my movement restricted
by Covid-19

I am resolute
that the sunshine will remain
and bring fortitude

It is my saving
Ever precious and constant
A true friend indeed

Little for perfecting

Across the bridge over the Adur
at night with lights reflecting
This view across to Shoreham Beach
needs little for perfecting

Lazy eye snuggle

A black nose nestled
in the crook of my arm
contented and dozing as we
sat late into an evening there
my soulmate Sally and me

I am the one in four (reprise)

I am the one in four
leaping through the years
my letters match my value
uniquely it appears
I’m a ‘plus one’ to three six five
my invitation rare
tagged on as February twenty-nine
a tetrad seldom there

Ditchling Down

Ditchling Down
the path so steep
and us all slippy-sliding
In squelchy mud
unbalanced from
the frigid winds all hiding

Ditchling Down
with Weald below
the distant view confiding
as we struggle
down the gradient
quite often all colliding

Of Beacons and Mud

Went for a walk for a birthday
All of us met at the Star
heading off to the Beacon
via Falmer so not all that far
Up through the woods over Stanmer
frolicking under the trees
rained a lot here so the mud was
quite frequently up to our knees

Daffodils

Yellow and gorgeous
they gleam from the vase
on the table, a nod to the Spring
Shouting a welcome
they want us to dance
and lift up our voices and sing

All them waves

Constant coming
all them waves
turning on a whim
Sometimes I will
shed a tear
and sometimes
I will grin

Constant coming
all them waves
many friends are here
Sometimes I will
simply watch
and sometimes
I will cheer

Of shillings and treasure

I watched the shilling spinning
it was mine in no small measure
Enough to buy two Matchbox cars
to hold and keep and treasure
The fingers twisted blithely
as they caught and spun again
but I saw no abandon
found no one there to blame

19 February 1974

The knock at the door
I remember it well
though forty-six years have now passed
The vicar right there
with something to share
for a slap in the face that would last

It was anger I felt
with a fist in the air
that my father had left in that way
And I heard not a sound
from that hole in the ground
as I stood on that February day

In pictures

I’ve been looking through my pictures
as I do from time to time
at photos I have taken
in the sunshine when it’s fine
others taken in the rain
or when walking by the sea
or up there on the Sussex hills
all precious here to me

The Square Tower

Where once King Henry the Eighth resided
overlooking the Solent right there
In Portsmouth old city on the sea wall
still stands the Tower of Square

42 Valentines

Forty-two and counting
Valentines I’ve sent
every one of them sincere
and full of sentiment
Forty-two to the same love
my soulmate true and through
a love that’s shared and deepened
the more years we accrue
Forty-two with every word
each February fourteen passing
meant and sealed with promise
for a love that’s everlasting

Tuesday

And when Monday was finished
with Tuesday begun
the February sunshine arrived
Still weak with the winter
bereft yet of warmth
at least it could say that it tried

Easy Reach

I found a stone and threw it
far out into the sea
watched it splash and disappear
here quite contentedly
For this haven is my solace
and fortunate am I
to have a beach to come to
not far from home, close by

Owning the cone

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
was feeling a bit glum
He had to wear the ‘cone of shame’
for stitches in his bum
It wasn’t very comfortable
and he wasn’t all that sure
why he was made to wear it
and what it all was for

Like rainbows

Words fell like rainbows
brightening up my day
their colour exacting but fine
and what’s more I realised
there with a smile
these words were entirely mine

Of pizzas and pubs

And so it is to Bradford
on another winter night
I find myself at Noble Comb
with time to sit and write
It’s fairly packed this evening
with families eating out
and workers sharing pints of beer
their voices raised to shout

The sunshine promise

I lived a little broken
like an old grey bag of bones
and despite the life around me
felt a long, long way from home
Abandoned to no purpose
each day was like the rest
and although the sun gave promise
it felt like second best

The voice of the sea

Calling out to me, the voice of the sea
my friend through all of these years
A solace and comfort, understanding and wise
conquering all of my fears

Dalit IV (reverence)

Yes, this eloquence is precious
not for squandering or for waste
Revered as a diamond
with immeasurable value

Dalit III (precious)

Though fleeting with some beauty
precious is this captured moment
My soliloquy for the day
to seize and hold onto and keep

Dalit II (eloquence)

Though dawn has yet to break a thought
surfaces and must be spoken
Repeated here lest I forget
and squander this moment again

Dalit I (introducing)

From the Philippines I derive
Dalit is my name; short my form
Four lines in typicality
Each comprising eight syllables

Tri-sedoka III (hope and promise)

n these early days
with hope and promise still fresh
from new year resolution
The light is still bright
as we raise an arm to shield
Squinting up into brightness

An ode to Autumn

4 of 4

Pale-white shrinking golden glow
hovers over water slow
and morning waking slumber stays
as it peers slowly from the haze
Whimsy holds removed I see
a world at distance wistfully
as summer fades to distant glow
and cooler days I soon will know
A curtain call as evening falls
and summer into winter calls
Yet tangible with treasure hold
the Autumn swan-song bathed in gold