Newcastle II

I'm bound back for Newcastle
it's been quite a while
since here I have travelled
but now with a smile
I'm back to the city
through which flows the Tyne
for work, yes but seeing
some good friends of mine
so I know we will share
some pints at a Tap
before in a couple
of days I head back

The Old Crab House

Part of the ‘past to present’ series from Jemverse

Now long gone from the harbour
demolished years ago
the Old Crab Inn as once it was
is nestled there below
alongside the old shingle beach
beneath the tunnelled hill
at the bottom end of Gardener Road
for halcyon days to fill

Old Buckingham walls

Part of the ‘past to present’ series from Jemverse

As a boy I used to play there
inside the burnt out walls
for hide n seek and other games
within its hallowed halls
once we ventured to the basement
down dark and dusty stair
oblivious to danger
with innocence to dare
But now all these years later
it is a block of flats
though with outer walls remaining
preserved and still intact

One XI

11 of 12 in the ’12 months V’ series from Jemverse

With 'Dog Days' just beginning
July the first is here
for long hot days of summer
the ones I most revere
A child of summer born and bred
these are the days for me
getting browner in the sunshine
on the beach beside the sea

The last West Pier II

Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse

I found it on the high tide line
after a night of fire
the Grand Old Lady of the sea
destroyed by spite and ire
Yet carried on an ebbing tide
along the coast to me
a memory of those boards I trod
now rescued from the sea
So though her grandeur is no more
complete her fall from grace
Brighton's West Pier always will
in history have her place

The Gut

Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse

The beach Ted Bunker launched his
boat from sadly is no more
once called 'The Gut' its gutted now
no more a shingle shore
Filled in to make a car park
the beach where once we played
is another loss to history
and to the fishing trade

Bungalow Town

Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse

Just east of the church on the foreshore
bungalows once on the beach
presented a vista of Shoreham
history has put out of reach
Popularised by early movies
actors built many homes there
salvaging old railway carriages
the carriage works then had to spare
Mary Loftus, a music hall favourite
Florrie Ford, Ernie Mayne, Marie Lloyd
all of the lovelies who flocked to the beach
making it hard to avoid

Pearl

Thirty years ago today
two star-crossed lovers wed
and as years passed their love it grew
throughout the life they led
So to celebrate their special day
a pearl of best persuasion
for this their anniversary 
befits this grand occasion

Lavender by the wall II

Yes, I treasure this small lavender
that's growing by the wall
as unlike all my others
I'm surprised it's here at all
And yet it keeps on growing
and flowering each year
to bring to me the pleasure
that I get because it's here
and diminutive it may be
but that holds no sway with me
for a lavender is a lavender
so I will let it be

Malduppinne

Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse

'Malduppinne' as it was first called
in thirteen forty-seven
by grant from John le Pottere
to his wife in his succession
Its purpose now long lost to time
a museum now it hosts
in the oldest secular building that
the town of Shoreham boasts
From 'Malduppinne' to 'Marlipins'
this build of Caen stone
with flint-knapped chequered walls remains
the oldest one still known

There was lightning

Out to sea off Brighton
a flash lit up the night
there, just outside the Shelter Hall
fleetingly in sight
But pausing for a moment there
and waiting patiently
whilst rain fell there in splatters
I got a shot for me
We never heard the thunder
but there was lightning there for sure
coupled with the heavy rain
which fell as down it poured

The Lanes

Part of the ‘Past to Present’ series from Jemverse

Up at the top of Buckingham Road
the elms, mature, still stand
a reminder of the distant past
when the manor house stood grand
part of a bygone Shoreham
a remnant of 'The Lanes'
with triangle of trees and shrubs
is all that now remains

And the sun shone

And for a while the heat was quite intense
as the sun shone down from the sky
there was barely a breeze
to be felt on our knees
though the cloud to the east wasn't shy

Longest Day

The twenty-first, the longest day
and this 'Spanish Plume' remains
bringing heat for Solstice
for heady dancing gains
and I with best foot forward
claim the day all for my own
this solstice here in summer
in the June I've loved and known

©Jemverse

Two bridges

When in flight over Shoreham
a hundred years ago
two bridges you would see
'cross the river down below
The Norfolk and the railway
but no footbridge crossing yet
for the town and all its people
had that pleasure still to get

One for Pops

On Father's Day in twenty-two
my glass I raise remembering you
as though it's now 'most fifty years
there's still a smile and still some tears
so here's to you on Father's Day
you're still my Pops in every day

Born to the sun VI

Born to the sun and born to a beach
which I'm going to now 'cos it's in easy reach
and today is my birthday and I'm sixty-three
so a day in the sun makes good sense to me
I'll be there with the Beans so it will be the best
for good conversation, some laughs and the rest
and this evening much later to Brighton we'll go
for a meal and some beers to conclude the show

The Buck

At the Buckingham Arms with my Bro for a beer
Our local, our pub - we both love it here
Conversation will flow and we'll have a good time
with a chat and a game over beer or a wine
It's our mindfulness tonic for mental health's sake
so we'll waste not a moment this pleasure to take

Tarmount Shepherds

Now where people park their cars
on tarmac for some shopping
once stood an open field where
you'd oft see sheep a-hopping
A shepherd's hut stood to the south
close to its southern border
fenced in with wooden latticework
to keep the sheep in order
On Tarmount Lane in Shoreham town
the shepherd's field you'd see
for many years with grazing
for the sheep that wandered free

Ferry cross the Adur

On the corner of East Street the Ferry Rigg
keeps history alive with its name
though the vista to South with a century past
will never now quite be the same
For once cross the Adur the ferryman pulled
his oars for the people to cross
from the beach to the town for business and such
with a gain to the past and our loss

Small chap waddling

A little chap waddled by the lakeside today
whilst I was eating my lunch
his gait had a purpose as he tucked his head down
which was evident there with a hunch
For just out of shot in the shade of the trees
a mother goose watched with an eye
as her offspring fought bravely to catch her back up
whilst the world there at large wandered by

By the Thames of an evening

Spent an evening at Richmond
by the Thames in the sun
with good company there
when the working was done
Took a while to walk down there
but now we are here
it's a great place for eating
at our ease with a beer

Sussex Trails

These hills, these ways, these wildflower trails
so many times traversed
and yet in absence, no regret
as evidenced by verse
For here I'm in my element
my heartstrings pulled to smile
whenever I'm on Sussex trails
for mile on wondrous mile

Dodoitsu for Saturday rain

Concluding ‘The syllabic series 22’ from Jemverse (7 of 7)

Not that it ever left us
always there behind the grey
biding time for its return
drying up the rain

Sedoka for Friday rain

6 of 7 in ‘The syllabic series 22’ from Jemverse

The promise came true
briefly today as sunshine
warming like a new blanket
returned like a smile
and a word from its pure heart
to lift our spirits again

Tanka for Thursday rain

5 of 7 in ‘The Syllabic series 22’ from Jemverse

And a raindrop fell
to add concentric circles
spreading into life
building its reserve today
for when the sunshine returns

Bussokuseki for Wednesday rain

4 of 7 in ‘The Syllabic series 22’ from Jemverse

Midweek and the rain
full of the early summer
remains with us still
Yet no daunting with it here
no sad disappointment
How could there be with this life?

Haiku for Tuesday rain

3 of 7 in ‘The Syllabic series 22’ from Jemverse

There is sun today
or at very least promise
amidst the grey cloud