29.12.19

A festive fog clears to reveal a Sunday. Countdown to a new decade reaches main engine ignition stage. A 10 year mission to explore the 2020's. The years shoot by at the speed of delight, leaving some behind. As we head to the future, light from the stars shines from the past.

26.12.19

I wake to empty boxes on Boxing Day. The fridge, full up on sheets of tin-foil, the table dressed for a party that's finished. Bin-bags of wrapping paper might blow down the street like urban, Crimbo tumbleweed. All is calm. All is not yet bright. Batteries on recharge.
Breathe.

18.12.19

I wake to a Wednesday in my street.
21st century cars cough cleanly into life
20th century tarmac has lost its smell
19th century homes have kept their secrets
18th century hills have been lost from view
500million year old slate covers my roof.
I'm nearer that era in bed.

The Gift of the Present

I see the world as a turning, whirling,
Clunking, steampunking,
Gift machine.
Not every gift is great,
But returns are not possible,
And being philosophical,
Each gift an unwrapped experience.
And isn't that life,
A pile of presents
To look back on?
If only I knew
Who sent them.

Living Rock

We must become our dads.
It's written in our genes
Upon the elasticated waist of time.
Our children are our near-rhymes;
Our sons and daughters,
Our sins of laughter,
An ancient echo alive in a river
Cutting through a canyon,
Carving a wasteland
From living rock.

Blank Page

The Sun is an Etch a Sketch
(for those of a certain age)
Wiping clean the Night's work
And leaving all a blank page

Nature's Call

If every human on this Earth
Each wrote us one great poem
Who would hear this global call?
And where would we all show 'em?

Some would say we need The Louvre
Some might say Albert Hall
But I'd pin one to every tree
And return Nature's call

Aldi People #1

I saw a muscle-man in a bright-red track suit
Sporting a tattooed face
Struggling to park his troublesome trolley.
For once he hated the attention.

I saw an elegant old lady in a fine hat and fur coat
Nestling a four-pack of Guinness
Forging her way to her favourite till.
Glorying in the attention.

Haiku #31

Pink paper petals,
Fluttering confetti smiles.
Mix with pink blossom.

Haiku #30

Spring-anewed I rise,
Warm buds of tip-toeing feet
Grow strong in the sun.

Haiku #29

Deep-sleep, the grass dreams,
Under iced sheets of winter,
Atop frozen soil.