Journey of Words

Category: Poetry

  • Lyon (II)

    “The best city in the World” She said One so young that I ask “How can she know this?” It is not knowledge I understand She is happy to live here In this time Grateful for all who went before Hopeful for those who follow . CLP 22/11/2019 →

  • Lyon (I)

     Confluence of Rhône and Saône Spreads flat out beneath the basilica Alps far beyond, pinked by evening Whilst here it is still autumn afternoon Those distant peaks stand tall Even against the glass and concrete That puncture the city’s sky No trick of the glass Majestic mountains wall the east Their massive scale weighs →

  • Leaving

    Separation Leaf from stem Releases the bough To face winter’s drag Saves the tree Winter buds all ready For spring . n.b. The following website considers the timing of arboreal leaf growth. The discussion about winter bud formation is found at the foot of the article. https://sciencenorway.no/forskningno-norway-trees/how-do-trees-know-when-to-awake-in-spring/1455135 CLP 20/11/2019 →

  • Happy

    Her smile is wider than her head A photo shows this when she was ten Her brilliant eyes then shone so bright Her teeth gleaming in black and white And still after many colourful years When distant childhood memories may bring on tears She has that smile as wide today What might spark it I →

  • November 18

    What light there is not quite enough Trees spread their boughs Further, wider, darker Leafless forms leave the eye prey To sleight of those bony hands And to imagined shifting serpentine roots From where subterranean shapes emerge While night’s curtain to silence falls Leaving the owl to hunt at will The little creatures that dare →

  • Up-date to “On Bristol I”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/18/air-pollution-kills-bristol-health n.b. Bristol is one city in the UK that is beginning to understand the danger to lives brought on by air pollution. Here is a list of other cities in England I have visited recently who are blighted by traffic congestion and whose councillors need to take urgent action: Walsall Lincoln* Norwich* Chichester* Portsmouth →

  • Mobbed

    This drab, dull day Its natural sounds subdued by drizzle Are cut through by her sharp cry above Kehwee! Kehwee! To her mate unseen, but somewhere near Stirred up, crows lift from dark hearts of oaks Gather as a loose assembled mob A flight of five, or six, or more Rough circle spreading, all alert →

  • On Winter

    Enough with haiku And seventeen syllables Time to expand thoughts . CLP 16/11/2019 →

  • Spellbound

    The Earth turned As we came upon autumn And ploughed The last of summer’s crop Into the dark, cooling soil We retreated from advancing crystalline nights Wrapped tight in memories of past seasons’ warmth To insulate ourselves from winter’s separation Of light from day And thereby broke the magic . CLP 16/11/2019 →

  • On Time

    Stooped by old age Unable to stand up straight Until stepping out . n.b. Ancient dwellings are never easy to negotiate without bending at the waist. Head wounds are annoying in their frequency. . →