I was dating El Lissitzky whilst I was posing for Goya’s painting The artists had found me under a branch of a spice lemon tree I grew to love both men but avoided them in my spare time Then one day two parcels arrived within an hour The first contained the cool grey mists of […]

The bridge was built over one hundred years ago To enable farmers to move their livestock from field to field Since then the bridge has been lightly improved But this does not distract from its languid history Which is embedded deeply in the rural landscape   From Freeman’s Marsh by Stephen Masefield

Tired and not yet sixty he died in total obscurity But poets never really die in obscurity As their poems are always retained somewhere Whether it be on a scrap of paper or in a scruffy book They survive like unwanted graffiti on the damp walls of a latrine I have found them as rhymes […]

I had found sleeping difficult due to my sleep patterns being disturbed This was due to the change in the weather and the ghostly tree pollens That hung unseen above the moonlit fields   You were sleeping nearest to the window As you always did at this time of year The moon was by now […]

I think that it was Proust that said that without beauty the world is nothing I agree with these sentiments as without beauty we are totally empty I often close my eyes when faced by ugliness of the world And reopen them once the danger has passed   You are walking beside me into a […]

I have been camping in a bubble for a while It is an agreeable occupation The world cannot enter and you cannot escape   I always wake up with the sun shining through my window It warms my body and makes me happy All my dreams are forgotten and the air tastes fresh   But […]

On an island many miles away A volcano was erupting People had been evacuated But this had not been enough And many died They were suffocated by the very lemon dust That had coloured your cotton shirt You were relaxing by our swimming pool I knew that you were dreaming Of sailing a fine yacht […]

A grey dust now covered the small swimming hole Where we had spent some of our happiest years The dust had clogged the undergrowth which looked heavy and tired And floated aimlessly on the surface of the pool filtering its dull reflection I had known for some time that this part of my life was […]

My wife and I were crossing the blue railway bridge near our home We had crossed this railway bridge many times before And as always were discussing the configuration of the signals nearby But this crossing was different as we were stopped By two beautiful policemen in a bright yellow squad car They enquired why […]

Many years ago when we were camping by the sea My cousin Susan showed me her bare arse as she was leaving the tent To this day I do not know why she did so Although the blackberry trees were in bloom at the time   I am stretched on a deserted beach My cousins […]