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

Fleeting glimpses of wonder

There’s something to be said
when travelling to Southend
of the sunset on the water
on the estuary of the Thames

Catching glimpses like this
of the things around I’ve seen
reminds me of the beauty
in the places I have been

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

As a seagull again

7 of 7 in the Jemverse series ‘Shoreham again’

As a seagull I flew inland from the sea
Up in a yellow-tinged sky
Looking down with the freedom I commanded in flight
as I swooped and I soared up on high

I watched as the river meandered below
Through the town I am proud to call home
with its cluster of houses gathered close to the sea
over routes I have so often flown

This river again

6 of 7 in the Jemverse series ‘Shoreham again’

In this river’s silted tributaries
Navigation now
Reserved for smallish river craft
Low of beam and bow
And yet, two hundred years ago
Galleons here were made
Crafted beams at Bramber
Where many keels were laid
Such changing times of commerce
The Adur’s here provided
For this fishing port of Shoreham
Which by the sea has long resided

Shoreham Airport again

5 of 7 in the Jemverse series ‘Shoreham again’

Shoreham Airport’s terminal building
The oldest in the land
Is getting a new makeover
To make it fresh and grand

It’s 1930’s facade fell into
a terrible state
With peeling paint and cracks in walls
But soon it will look great

Walking contented again

4 of 7 in the Jemverse series ‘Shoreham again’

These cobbled lanes, a thousand years
Where countless souls have trod
This hallowed ground where now I walk
On sparkling dew-clad sod

This sleepy town, its flinted walls
Where fisherfolk resided
And the comfort that the parish church
Reliably provided

St Mary de Haura again

3 of 7 in the Jemverse series ‘Shoreham again’

The river Adur’s changing course
To its tidal estuary
Bereft now of its shipping past
As it meets the changing sea

The oyster beds lie barren now
Their commerce lost to time
But St Mary’s bells in beacon tower
Still regularly chime

Glowing again

2 of 7 in the Jemverse series ‘Shoreham again’

Ethereal glow hangs over Shoreham
Through the mist, ‘neath yellow skies
With the promise of September warmth
The sleeping town in silence lies

‘Neath the bridge the river water
Meanders slowly to the sea
Boats lopsided in the shallows
Oyster Catchers in their lee

Shoreham by the sea again

1 of 7 in the Jemverse series ‘Shoreham again’

I have a beach of shingle mixed
With golden sea-washed sand
Its grandeur and its mystery
Forged by God’s own hand
I have a river winding through
The valley from the sea
Its tidal water carrying
Swans and seabirds oft to me

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

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

Cobweb III

Whilst the year was still an infant
I looked up to the blue
when morning broke with sunshine
upon a year brand new
And the crystal strands of cobweb
caught right there in morning light
clarified that moment
for a truly lovely sight
Spoke to me of truth and hope
and of many joys to come
in this first year of the decade
which has only just begun

Cobweb II

Whilst the year was still an infant
at the beginning of the year
a latticework of cobweb
I cam across out here
It was clearly now abandoned
yet retained a beauty there
so striking and so poignant
that I knew I had to share
For this is quite symbolic
the new from old begun
changing like the spider
and the many webs now spun

Cobweb I

Whilst the year was still an infant
I spied a cobweb freshly spun
Reminded me of what was past
and what had just begun
Spoke to me of promise
and something fresh and new
The ‘gone before’ forgotten
with a dose of morning dew

In times such as these

A long shaft of sunlight
peirced the gloom
and lit up an otherwise
darkly clad room
It spoke of a promise
born on a smile
with a voice full of hope
I’d not heard in a while

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

Tottington Wood

To Tottington Wood
in the mud and the rain
resolute and determined
we seven we came
And with best foot forward
we entered the trees
squelching through mud
which came up to our knees

First V

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

A first in many ways today
a new decade for one
Twenty-twenty makes a start
now twenty-teens are done
First of the year and of the month
First poem of the year
and of the decade, come to that
(This much to me is clear)
So here’s a little ditty
the first of more to come
from January through December
until this year is done

Days gone by (Auld Lang Syne)

And so these few words
at the end of ten years
to wrap up a decade
of laughter and tears

We’re all ten years older
with the wisdom that brings
and we all must have seen
many wonderful things

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

An ode to Summer

3 of 4

Momentum carries me forward
into the heat of the day
for a warmth that summer belongs to
with feeling mere words cannot say
It’s the season I always long for
Its comfort a tangible thing
Its presence to hold and cling onto
for a smile and a reason to sing

An ode to Spring

2 of 4

Winter’s grey-cast clouds have passed
and Summer’s child is here
to bring us hope and merriment
and fill our hearts with cheer
This child is full of freedom
speaking freshly of the truth
which every year around this time
gives nature’s hand its youth
Summer’s child will not stay long
but with a flair and fling
as seasons through the years have sung
for Summer’s child is Spring

An ode to Winter

1 of 4

Crystalline clarity out there today
in the treeline over the way
A frosting has covered the fields overnight
with beauty mere words can’t portray
So I’ll not waste them here but contented instead
I’ll quietly stand here for a while
and let Winter’s wonder embellish instead
that picture in mind for a smile

December beaches

On the beach a lone kite-surfer came
to brave December chill
as a wintry and forgotten sun
sat in a low sky still

Bright it was in yellow sky
and despite the brittle air
The beauty of that moment
was really special there

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