The sun hides his face

Chirping awakes me
Amber dawn heralds the day
Night's secrets now hide

The sun's wide grin smiles
Nature speaks with one voice
I worm out of bed

Stop, my sweet wife says
You're leaving me here to rot?
She fosters that look

Life's not that easy
Marriage taught me a great deal
The sun hides his face

Image found at www.cherrymenlove.com

Dreading the day

Jim hobbles along
I hear the tap of his cane
Before I see him

The athlete now gone
Imagining better days
Disguised to most

I remember him
Swarthy sportsman in his prime
Footballer of note

What smooths his way now?
Uncanny the change of time 
He's past wanting fame

Such songs that were sung
Poems of his fearsome skill
I too dread this day

Image found at www.pinstopin.com

How sad the word

How sad the word farewell is
Resonant of one last kiss
Now those happy times have gone 
And you've left me on my own

I look into your eyes once more
But you glance down at the floor
That sign says so much to me
A place where you'd rather be

I breathe you in one last time
No more sharing a glass of wine
And wish you well as best I can
We don't even touch our hands

Will you remember me one day?
And all that we did and say
Goodbye my little rosebud
Leave before my tears do flood

Image found at www.relationship-rewind-review.com

When I was a child

Except when I was a child I have always had a large nose.

My proboscis has projected from my face for all to see and turn their own noses up at the sight.

However my brain has compensated so I have always liked, loved, nay adored girls and women with cute little noses that would not clash with mine in any close encounter.

And so it was with ears too that my large flappers much like Dumbo's caused quite a stir too but not enough for me to fly with them.

You would have thought that with such large receptors my hearing would be acute but as the years passed so has the the reception of the spoken word.

So if you are talking please do not whisper but project your voice and there is a chance that I might hear you.

Top image found at www.imagebasket.net
Bottom image found at www.bplusmovieblog.com

NB, Neither picture shows the real me but one is close.

Just where did you go?

My world unravels
I'm not who I used to be
Or thought that I was

When it was springtime
Youth rampant in all I did
Just where did you go?

What use is wisdom?
While fates fist is menacing
There's still much to do

I kissed her soft cheeks
What a sweet lover you were
Life's experience

Image found at www.zazzle.com

I breathe in your soul

Look out the window 
Our eyes see all the wide world
Waving back at us

It tells such stories
Visiting exotic places
To tickle our minds

When I write of love
It makes my heart beat so fast
To have you with me

When I look at you
And dare to kiss your soft cheek
I breathe in your soul

Words are a blessing
There's such joy in poetry
Enriching our lives

Image found at www.muraldesign.com

The best of times

The best of times comes
When life renews
That sweet smell of dung 
Enters my lungs
Seeds sown now do sprout
Rise up and smile

The brook flows again
Laughing with joy
Robins, moles and frogs
Bask in the warmth
As corn lifts its head
On farming land

Vines soon blush with pride
As grapes cluster
Basking in summer
As I do too
When I reach for you
To kiss your lips

Image found at www.edwardsollyphotography.co.uk

Eden's Beauty

What strange creatures these
Dumb and chiseled faces see nought
Of Eden's beauty

Such superior ways
Drunk with wine and mad power
Human race of shame

They have stained this earth
Foreign being without soul
Winner for no cause

Cruel feckless wild beast
While we cower in hollows
Puzzled with strange fear

Where is tomorrow?
O for a luminous dawn
Without mankind's tread

Come quickly that day
When his fate is made lucid
Earth free once again

Image found at www.melleum.com

I met Helen

It was a mistake
To take her to the ball game
She loved the pitcher

I couldn't match up
To that athletic hero
On the other team

So I drowned my thoughts
In the city library
I was lost in words

Drinking in the calm
The soothing quiet of books
I there met Helen

She too had a face 
For to launch a thousand ships
And such pretty hands

She nodded at me
When I suggested coffee
And we got on fine

I was not surprised
She told me she loved horses
I'll fight to keep her

Image found at www.gurl.com

There are of course some allusions to the Greek story of Helen of Troy in this piece

A grave young man

“You’re looking rather grave young man”

I looked up to see who spoke and found a rather disreputable angel nodding at me, a new entrant, dead on my feet as it were.

“Sorry for the quip, but welcome and I hope your stay here is filled with fun and happiness,” he concluded.

So this was it, the after life inhabited by wisecracking angels trying to make this homecoming a bit of a laugh.

“Have I come up or gone down”, I asked politely. 

“I’m not sure” he replied “As nobody has told me that yet either”

Image found at www.marcusstratus.deviantart.com

Her green eyes

As I stroked her knee

She purred like a tabby cat

A warning indeed

Things could turn nasty

I would have to be careful

Her green eyes told me

It’s these little things

One learns from experience

Danger is always close

She slowly relaxed

This time perhaps I was safe 

Drawn into her charms

Image found at www.pinterest.com

In the wild surf

The susurration of the sea
Whispered welcome for you and me
Back at the beach of our delight
Strolling sands of silvery white

I hold your hand you skip away
We chased in the wild surf that day
You're different though and don't say much
So keen to escape from my touch

The warning bells they now have rung
Silence says our song's now been sung
Now as we wend our way back home
You love's gone in the oceans foam

The crashing waves the gulls that cry
Fill my mind as I wonder why
Shall I go to that beach again?
Or will it cause just too much pain


Image found at www.visualphotos.com

So many years ago

Des was in a Mariachi band
Oh, so many years ago
With a big smile on his face
I hadn't seen him for ages
Thought he'd moved on
Said he wanted more
Maybe gone to explore the world
He wanted to drive across the States
Finish up in LA, he said
Then I got a call well past midnight
Cop friend of mine from way back
"Do you know the Magician" he asked
This was Des's nickname of old
When we were all still at school
He wanted me at the mortuary
To confirm a stiff's identity

I had not gone to bed, so I went
Despite changes, "It is Des alright"
He looked like a sick old man
Face all blotched and worn
Mouth like a mutant frog
"How can you tell" the cop asked
"Tattoo on his left arm, 
It says, Good on ya mate,
When we were in Sydney
Both of us had one done"
Then I lifted my sleeve
To show him mine
Booze was enough
In those days
Before
Crystal
Meth

Image found at www.telegraph.co.uk

Totally alone

Blood pumps through my veins
I remember you yet again
The one that escaped

I should not complain
Or wear sackcloth and ashes
To be a pale ghost

Happiness was ours 
Generating such sweet love
Engines of desire

I relished your laugh
Our feasting on each other
But now I'm empty

For you broke away
Left me totally alone
Joy torn from my heart

Image found at www.publicphoto.org

Hobo

We called him Hobo
A stray dog from who knows where
But he stayed with us

He was a bitser
Quite a strange combination
With a heart of gold

He joined our kids gang
So went everywhere with them
Come rain hail or shine

Loved it down the creek
Chasing them over the hill
Following them home

He slept all alone
Despite hairs found in their beds
He was one of them

Friend from the country
Said there was Dingo in him
Hobo just shook his head

He yelped in his sleep
Telling us about his past
Lost in his dreamtime


Australian terms used:

Bitser - Australian mongrel dog
Dingo - Australia wild native dog
Dreamtime - Australian aboriginal mythology
Hobo - Australian tramp or wanderer

Image found www.feral-heart.com

Old Mack

Old Mack the clock and watch man had died and I was dating his granddaughter Lydia but please no jokes like my friend Jock who said, "It's about time you two got married", or you will wind me up!

I was asked to help sort out and clean up the tiny shop he had on the High Street so that a new tenant could move in so I went down there with her to help.

It was so small there was barely enough room to swing a cat or a pendulum for that matter but we took a heap of cartons and slowly made our way through the items being repaired to return to their owners, the sales stock and his horological tools to dispose of later.

Most of the movement clocks on display had by now run down, so the familiar slow soothing tick in the shop was now as silent as Mack now was himself.

By the end of the second day we had completed all we could and had stacked my hatchback with what couldn't be disposed of, as Lydia turned the key in the lock for the last time and we set off to the agents to return it.

Later that night as Lydia and I were cuddled up in bed she murmured to me, "Your friend was right, my biological clock is ticking too, we should get married I can't wait another second to have a baby".

Image found at www.plads.com

Does she like me?

What an enigmatic smile she had
Set me thinking "Does she like me?"
Or worse "Am I gruesome to her?"
I need not have worried about that though
Notwithstanding these thoughts she smiled
When I glanced her way and lifted my glass
To offer her a drink; She nodded
She said her name was Stephanie
And as we talked, our conversation
Unwrapped each other from our cocoons

Image found at www.progorodnn.ru

It was her eyes

It was her eyes of course
And the way they looked down
Shyly, lest I spy them
She would be unguarded

Her hands held together
Her pretty thumbs moving
Soft, unblemished, warm brown
Such beauty by themselves

None else saw her as I did
Raven hair now shielding
Her charming classic face
In the end she looked up

Quickly looked down again
A small smile on her face
Her lips full and moving
I saw her toes wriggle

Her father must be seen
If she is to be mine
As though she read my thoughts
She looked up and nodded

Image found at www.fillum.com

I am such a fool

I am such a fool
We'd spent the night bickering
Now your soft warmth calls

Cannot stay awake
Don't fancy the corded couch
Or the cold hard floor

I crawl into bed
Your breathing is regular
Hoping you are asleep

Don't hear you protest
Can't bear to sleep separate
No signal from you

I kiss your shoulder
You murmur "You took your time"
Turns and kisses me

Night my companion

I was so restless
I could not sleep
So I arose

Dressed and took a walk
Still a dark night
All was quiet

Morning yet to come
But light to see by
My friend was there

Moon skipped in and out
Of fluffy clouds
Follows me walk

Owl hooted with laughter
Playing with me
My face freshened

As the wind whispered
Secrets untold
Except to me

Then there was a howl
Wild dog baying
At my approach

How I love the scent
Of the night air
Nature's secret

Night my companion
How I love her
She's my true friend

Image found at www.motherscircle.net

Delving Deep

She took my hands in hers
Looked first at my palms
Then deep into my eyes
My heart just like a drum beat
As she read me, knowing me
Scouring, scrying my past
And reading the future
By her diviners ancient art
Delving deep into my soul
Parting the web of my mind
Uttering a rattle in her throat
That slowly receded to a gasp
She opened her eyes wide
Only then to cry out
Staring at her fingers
Spread wide overlapping
Like a spiders web
All the while chanting
Some ancient dirge
Sending chills through me
She now knew me totally
Traced the thread of my past
From ages long gone
Expunged all my sins
Both known and unknown
Then plunged her hands 
Deep into a pouch at her waist
And plastered my face
With a cleansing powder
Then uttered so quietly
"You are welcome here stranger"
As I blinked and bowed my head
In grateful acceptance
For had wooed a village maiden

Image found at www.dustontheshelves.blogspot.com

Note: I have used the word "scrying' as telling of both the past and future.

Old woman waiting

My old mind thinks back
It seems only yesterday
Times were different

I was different
Boy marked by another war
Privation still rife

Shortages everywhere
Our family had little
But the sun still shone

We walked everywhere
Looking at the empty shops
In early morning

Old woman waiting
To buy a stale loaf of bread
At the baker's shop

They sold at half price
She couldn't afford fresh one
How times have now changed

Image of 1940's postcard by D. Tempest found on www.ebay.com

Table d'hote

It was the last day of our holiday in France where we had made friends with another couple and planned our last evening out with them at a cafe in the Latin quarter.

We had made no reservation but just wandered the crowded streets hoping to find one with the right local feeling about it.

Eventually down a dark back street we could see some beckoning lights and the chatter of customers seated outside.

We went on in and requested a table for four as the owner looked at his wife and she cocked her head at him and shrugged for clearly they we nearly full.

We were escorted to an empty table in a room that overlooked a side street and offered menus but told of the table d'hote which was inclusive of a bottle "vin ordinaire". 

We all nodded agreement to that choice and the owners wife seemed pleased too at our selection for everything was prepared already and we were the type of customers that she liked.

It was the best meal I had had in a long time for the food, the wine, the service and the general atmosphere of eating with the locals was excellent and an experience that has remained with us for many years,


Image found at www.paris-paris-paris.com 

Without a thought

The baby played in the filth on the floor and stared at is quizzically. I turned and nodded to my assistant to care for the child while I attended to the mother on the couch. The room was a mess. Clothing, papers and disarray everywhere as I checked to see if the woman was conscious or even still alive. 

I guessed she had been popping pills as there were no syringes in sight. I phoned for an ambulance as I couldn't get any response from the woman except that she was still alive. My assistant came back; looked at me  and said, " The baby has bad nappy rash ..." and pausing, "... some bruising...I think we should call an ambulance."

I nodded as my assistant went back to the baby. The woman was still inert; still no movement, breathing shallow, she was totally blacked out. Ambulance for her too.

Just then a strange man came in through the door.

"What the fucking hell do you think you are doing here?" he shouted.

"And you are? I asked politely.

"I bloody live here bitch. You can get out straight away".

Still defiant he stood his ground, as I explained that I was responding to a call for assistance.

"Well now I am here, you can get out."

"I am sorry sir, but the baby and this woman are in need of medical treatment and it is my duty to arrange that." I paused trying to keep calm. "Perhaps you could give me some details while we wait for an ambulance."

He was about to protest again when my assistant returned to the room and said, "They'll be here in a few minutes"

The man turned around angrily to see who this newcomer was and stared a 6'3" cop with a gun in his holster and the baby quiet in his arms.

Without a thought he darted for the door and ran off down the stairs.


Image found at www.7online.com

To the ends of the Earth

"Tell me again" She said
"Say the names of the places you love"

So I told her


They have all been with you
Meeting you from work
Walking arm in arm
Touching at the flicks
You sat in my lap
Kissing you alone
Just us on the beach
Lost in the forest
Laughing in the rain
Climbing that mountain
Nestled in my arms
Snuggled up so close
Waking by your side
You coming with me 
To the ends of the earth




Image found at www.plug-in.bestbuy.ca

Before the storm

Mine is the topmost room
I can observe the world
People's joys and sorrows
Thunderheads anger to come

Neighbor is striding home
Wife prepares garden party
Extravagant nonsense
But I am not invited

Kids play on the sidewalk
Hopscotch now all chalked in 
Little ones laugh and skip
Soon rain will clear that away

Silver haired man now knocks
Sharply on the front door
Time for my therapy
Veins in my head start throbbing

I try to clear my mind
To face today's session
But can't help lagging
Wish I was a kid again

Oh to be what I'm not
A little lamb again
Instead of a fierce wolf
Before the storm blows right in

Image found at www.pinterest.com

Like a dying river

My strength is now sapped

Like a dying river
All shallows with no depth
A struggling fish reeled in
Then dying of grief

All my old bones ache
I collapse from within
A mask is torn from me
My true self revealed

What a hopeless wreck
Once radiant sun now dim
Shining no more for me
A lion with no teeth

Off the beaten track
Longing for that dim past
To emerge once again
But that's not to be

For you have long gone

Image found at www.alsuffa.blogspot.com

I was entranced

The seeds of desire
Were sown by her first shy glance
Thus I was entranced

Spring season of hope
The buds turning to blossom
The warmth of my heart

I touched her sweet hands
They were like opening petals
And warm as desire

I breathed in her scent
Bewitched like a lured insect
To a happy fate

Nestled in her love
Content in my entrapment
On her bosom laid


Image found at www.earth-heal.com