Spring Rain
A fine light moisture drifts to earth In natural silence - it has nothing To say, no endowment of, nor cause For voice - it is, and…
A Woman Preparing Vegetables
After Vermeer A woman – quite unknown to me - preparing Vegetables, is framed within a window: Has this ever been recorded, made subject Of a painting,…
Footwear: A Poem
I know I don’t need another pair of shoes, But they, I see – although second-hand – Are finely made - to my mind, beautiful: The standard…
The Watcher in the Dark
1 How long, I wonder, will this dull light Last? Every shadow extends, approaches, The sparrows take one brief flight - Then another – and drop to…
Behind the Wheel
1 There is no going back: the lights change At life, and there is one direction driven - Whatever detour, visit, we might arrange From that beginning,…
The Window
The glass in a neighbouring window – The edges of its sharp rectangle At moments screened and disclosed By the restless black silhouettes Of leaves, branches, in…
Poetry and the Self
The notion of self is vitally central to conceptions of poetry. Poems are commonly described as self-expression — an expression of feeling (being an energy inherent to…
Out of the Dark
1 In the hours of darkness, in the long Emptiness of night, I see you most: Then your being rests next to me, Unencumbered by bodily weight,…
From The Seat Behind
Yes – look - all these people - I made them, animals Too, plants, insects --all You can see. It rankles How they waste their lives -…
Rural Requiem
For Margaret Eddowes Now’s the time to set sorrow to a song, While all the days of summer start, And renew the duties that belong To feeling,…
Looking up from Sonnet 116
Its presence there hadn’t struck me before, But I like to see the ladder where I left it, Legs splayed between the orange trees: Now that all…
A Blackbird Feeding
Homage à Guillaume Apollinaire A busy female blackbird of the colour Of the piled dry grass clippings She stands in and flings aside, Appears to find in…
The Journey
This man wants you to worship, Through him, a merciful God. He’s dressed For the part. You wouldn’t choose this outfit For an ordinary day’s work. I…
Deus ex Machina
1. Trash The traffic tears down this small hill - Two lanes turning right at the lights, And an occasional race or contest As they merge heading…