As a stranger

In this still dark morning hour
before the day has yet begun
by water still and icy cold
with absence of a warming sun
All is quiet so with tippy toe
by the canal I slowly tread
as signs of life on longboats close
dimly light the path I’ve led

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

Yesterdays

I gathered all my memories
lest they faded to the past
No melancholy there
but I wanted them to last
For collectively they’ve shaped me
into what I am today
Precious to hold onto
as my tomorrow’s seize the day

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

-28.12.19_16:25-

The doorway in,
Staring back,

My window to the world

Sitting here in quiet
by my window to the world
I’m high enough too watch
things down below unfurled

It’s peaceful here, cathartic
so with pen my words they flow
and occasionally I’ll take a look
outside my world window

42 years and the Force

In the heat of the summer
for a special treat
as we’d both left school for good
A good friend of mine and I
thought that a film
would fit the bill fine as it should

Something called ‘Star Wars’
was all of the rave
so both of us ventured to Brighton
Queued up at the Odeon
for a good seat
unprepared for what would enlighten

Lost and found

We lost the baby Jesus
for several years one time
‘Til Emily found him in a vase
one Spring, so now it’s fine
The nativity is whole once more
so at Christmas time each year
It finds its home upon the shelf
to bring its festive cheer

Seven days revisited #7 (Sunday)

Sleeping
Underneath a
Nice
Duvet
Awaken early?
You wouldn’t, would you?

Seven days revisited #6 (Saturday)

Saturday
Arrives and
Tiredness fades
Until
Refreshingly
Diminished
Another week of
Yesterdays pass

Seven days revisited #5 (Friday)

Finally with
Relief
I
Descend into
Another weekend with a welcoming
Yell!

Seven days revisited #4 (Thursday)

Thankful for this
Hour
Unusually given
Resplendent
Sunshine
Deepens my resolve
And I
Yearn no more

Winter journey

Sunset bruised sky

Seven days revisited #3 (Wednesday)

Whimsically
Erudite, I’ve
Decided
Now that
Everything
Simply
Depends
As always on
Yellow

Seven days revisited #2 (Tuesday)

Totally
Undecided in
Early morning
Sunshine
Dawns
And I’m still
Yawning

Seven days revisited #1 (Monday)

Meanwhile here another week
Onward takes me
New
Despite
Another weekend passed
Yesterday somehow

Lassait Faire

Now with December in full fling
the year draws to a close
a decade ending in two weeks
swiftly the time it goes
Twenty twenty vision clear
I wonder, will that be
when in a fortnight New Year comes
I guess we soon will see

-14.12.19_04:17-

My fingers run over

Rough, sandpaper skin,

Raining

In was raining down in Shoreham
and in Sussex as we passed
with rain up into Surrey
by its leave but never asked

It was pouring down in London
with umbrellas everywhere
and as we headed northward
there was no let up there

There was rain in the Home Counties
and very wet outside
and rain into Northamptonshire
as if the world had cried

The comfort of home

Swift to the morning
but with comfort of home
the night has slip-slid away
and all of a sudden
(and too soon it seems)
I’m here at the start of the day

How many words?

How many words written
goodness only knows
It must be in the millions
with the poems and the prose
that all these years I’ve written
ever since I was a lad
Some words to cover sadness
but most to cover ‘glad’

First IV

4 of 12 in the Jemverse ’12 months III’ series

December is here and as the first arrives
I am content for Christmas
to make its annual entrance
November’s too early or course
But this year there were ads in October
which borders on a step too far.

Life

I love what I do
don’t get me wrong
I’m in quite a lovely position
As forty years done
with the grief and the fun
I enjoy in this time of transition

I put in the hours
use my mind to the full
enthusiastically driven
For the passion is there
as all are aware
from the help that I’ve often given

What of me now?

So now I am sixty
what of me now?
Do I wither, slip slowly away
Do I hold up a hand
resolute to my lot
to let youth in its turn have a say?

Far from it I cry
for I have a voice
and it’s louder than ever before
I’ve put in the years
shed blood, sweat and tears
and still I am ready for more

Mysterious

Starting to appear now
mysterious boxes
their fragrance filling the room
A promise of something
that’s getting quite close
in mid-December quite soon

What’s in the box?
my immediate question
unanswered of course for a while
The mystery continues
as excitement grows
coupled with winks and a smile

After the small hours

After the small hours we awaken
and with Wolfgang to Alcampo
Parking in our usual space, he leads the way
for he knows this place well
with coffee and conversation and
dog biscuits in a bowl by the bar

-13.11.19_00:35-

We all shine

Under the obscuring fog

Rain on the Moor

Here on the moor
Rain closes you down