Moments in Bristol

We had a brilliant time down in Bristol
reliving the days from my youth
Great to see the familiar sights
with some ‘moments’ to tell you the truth

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Viaduct

The viaduct on London Raod
Brighton, late at night
lit up blue with vibrancy
is a lovely sight

High above the city streets
with Victorian pride
to carry trains up there on which
so many people ride

St Mary of the Harbour

So, there’s already some words written
about me as I am today
But there’s more to make the story
complete in every way
For once I was much bigger
cruciform in shape
Part of Shoreham’s presence
on the Sussex south landscape

Church

5 of 6 in the Jemverse ‘Shoreham’ series

Nine hundred years I’ve been here
in Shoreham’s ancient port
A Catholic church turned Anglican
the parish to support
My cruciform original has
crumbled over time
But what is left still standing
is still within its prime

James Brindley

James Brindley was an engineer
born seventeen seventy-two
Who later, when he’d qualified
canals and water knew
He designed many aqueducts
and tunnels through the rocks
along with single traffic gates
in narrow water locks

Brighton Greenway

High above the Brighton streets
on the old railway bed
Through the locomotive works
the Brighton Greenway led

The engines left here long ago
but their memory remains
Homage paid by sculptor’s hand
to Brighton’s long lost trains

Iron Lighthouse

On the north sea coast at Harwich
Iron lighthouse in the sea
Built to replace the old one
back in eighteen sixty-three

Statues

It is hard to grapple
with a statue. In fact
it was quite humorous to watch
an angry mob try
to destroy
Robert E. Lee
in Charlottesville.

The Corinth Canal

Part 15 of 20 in ‘The Aegean Shores’ series

The boat was somewhat smaller
but the view was just as fine
Confirming that our choice today
was a wise one made this time

The Canalhouse

It’s quite a surprise
when popping in for a beer
to find that the pub
has its own canal here!

HAIKU: MY HEART IS A TREE

By Charles Robert Lindholm

 

My heart is a tree

A test of time

Against the blue the old Town Hall
with yellow ochre walls
Declares aloud his history
from ageing hallowed halls
In Brighton now amidst the new
it stands aloof to change
Whilst all around the architects
make plans to rearrange

PAST

Past
Haunts me more
Than it ever did before
For it has a longer history to pour

Haunted
I stick to myself
Holding tight I wonder
More about the consequences
That could have been well mended

A Living Fossil

You are the visceral imprint,

The perennial impression,

Something deep inside of me,

A poignant and recurring melody.

A song I’ve always known,

The centerpiece, the cornerstone,

Argyll Street

Central station, Argyll Street
running through the city
towers in its grandeur still
above the street and pretty

Once proudly known at Westergait
and over two miles long
Four hundred years of history
adds to Glasgow’s song

Memory Brushes Past

Memory’s delicate tendrils

reach out

brush the nape

of my neck

cause an electric shiver

that courses

down my spine

Day Four (Rodmell to Alfriston)

Arriving here at Alfriston
we found the Smugglers Inne
A sixteenth century ale house
for the sale of beer and gin
And although it’s not imposing
many secrets here it hides
for behind its small exterior
more than twenty rooms inside

Oval

The amazing oval ceiling
of the Corn Exchange in Leeds
Once famed for giving merchants
a place to barter seeds

Hamlet’s Words

Hamlet called them words
in his feigned madness.
To him they were words – mere words,
but to me they might mean so much more.

Love’s Labors Lost (revisited)

she had moved many times in her life

not unexpectedly

some belongings became lost

were left behind

inadvertantly

or on purpose

when they caused her pain

The Nottingham & Beeston

In Nottingham the waters
of the canal are quite tranquil
with new building now reflected
in the waters quiet and still
Iron rings along the towpath
remain in situ there
Yet no more to fasten barges
with slow horses unaware

Ye Olde trip to Jerusalem

Underneath the castle walls
in the bright sunshine
Eight hundred years and some have passed
of serving ale and wine

History lost to time

Walked down the mile of Bute Street
to the pier head in the bay
Trod where the Glamorganshire canal
supplied the port back in the day

Progress

In Cardiff the old Custom House
has seen better days
as it and progress have at
some point parted in their ways

Coming Home

From waterfalls to stepping stones, meandering
across history’s bones, I am halted by a sound,
the sound of mandolins.

Rummaging

Something that I love to do
whenever I get the chance
is go rummaging in a charity shop
by design or happenstance
Some days I’ll just have a browse
as it’s a good way to unwind
but most times I’ll make a purchase
when a treasure I will find

i-360

I walked this way so many times
the route I made my own
Knew everything about it
from where I worked to home
Yet, walking there this morning
there’ve been changes over time
Not least of which the view I see
on the Brighton city line

Balcombe Viaduct II

Passing over Balcombe Viaduct
with winter fields down there
The memory of a leafy green
is distant now the trees are bare
Skeletal they stand forlorn
Winter has them in its grip
And it will still be quite a while
‘Til from that vice we’ll see a slip