• on time

    midsummer heat-hazefleet shadows of fledged swallowsbarley turns to gold ~ CLP 25/6/2024

  • on the Moon

    Around the converted warehousesDown on the river by the old millSummer clocked inOn Saturday nightLiberated from the chillOf the north-easterlyThe people got out to the bars and clubsCelebrated livingA drunk lad cried“It’s the Strawberry Moon!”Floating up over Dragon HallObserving how the phone cameraAlways makes it look smallHe encouraged his friendTo stop a momentTo feed his

  • on reflection

    Within towersConstructed fromconcrete, steel and glassEyes focused on screensTracking digitalised dataEars plugged into headsetsAircon’s constant humWater coolers, coffee, carpetsElevators, escalatorsArtificial lightingMoney in the bank OutsideBlue skySun as high as it getsGentle breezeAlong the ThamesAir to breatheGoldfinches sing You choose. ~ CLP 21/06/2024

  • on full beam

    Look you damned hippiesI too am worthwhile watchingReflected glory ~ n.b. …give a moon a break, guys. Share the solstice love. 🙏 CLP 21/06/2024

  • on the road

    There is a spy in the cabA dashboard cameraThe vehicleUses GPSUp thereBehind the blueBetween Earth and MoonSatellites track usMonitor each start and stopBut I still have eyesThat can see the skyMarsh harrier sweeping the fieldsFoxes redder for evening sunDeer stepping through the hedgerowPast rambling rosesBarley, wheat and rows of spudsAnd I still have earsGold finches,

  • on light

    There is a white hazeShadowing the northern horizonIt will barely leave us tonightWhile the sullen MoonHas sloped off earlySkulking in the knowledgeThat it is the SunWho we will gather to fete ~ n.b. How have we got this close to the Summer Solstice without any recognisable summer? These past three days are welcome, but small

  • on light

    tunnel’s end in sightfourteen years of unremitting gloombegins to liftwhile cowards flinchand traitorswho read the Daily Mail and Expressdo sneerrenewed hope is residing here. ~ n.b. Phrases like, ‘International laughing stock’, ‘a national act of self-harm’ and ‘in it together’ are about to be seen in a broader historical context. Meanwhile, the UK economy, hanging

  • on memory

    lone sentry at easeevery church goer must passson of the village ~ n.b. At Itteringham, Norfolk, lies 30035 Serjeant LWW Gotts, Royal Garrison Artillery, 26th July 1916. Not for him a place tucked away amongst the accumulated masses of the parish, but a place where he cannot be over-looked, nor forgotten. Age 25 at the

  • on summer

    Hiding in plain siteNot all that it seemsMore than thatTwo-faced deceiverThe Silver Y ~ CLP 16/06/2024

  • on Ukraine

    as if Gaza wasn’t bad enoughand the perpetual terrorismof Moscow’s henchmenthe eyes of Europe and the USAare now distractedby tennis, cricket, football, ice hockey, the Stanley Cup, baseball and Olympicsgames to replace conflictwith civilising pastimesnow acting as smokescreens~n.b. In previous wartimes, games were suspended, but now having loaned Ukraine $50 billion, plus interest, the ‘free’