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Metallic Blue
My eyes search desperately for the rainI’ll dance in April’s showers if they should ever come againI know to you, it might sound strangeUnbroken blue fills our celestial spanMechanical streams flow to seaside sandsMy eyes search desperately for the rainDaffodils bloom, shrivel and are goneBluebells hang silent in suffocating sunI know to you, it might Read more
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on reconciliation
to wipe the slate cleanopen your eyes to their painwash their wounds with your tears~n.b. Coventry cathedral, blitzed and rebuilt with this sculpture ‘Reconciliation’ (Reunion), by Josefinaq de Vasconcellos (1977). It imagines a couple embracing over a line of barbed wire. CLP 11/04/2024 Read more
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Mud
They found a pictureFrom before the callMe in football kitArms crossedA scowlI left that shirtSpotlessCleanAnd dryI’ll soon be backMy hollow lieI lovedMudOn my knees and handsIn earsHairWith bumpsA little bloodPromise of a scarColours wonIn sportNowI restUnder some foreign fieldMud’s filledMy throatLungsNose and eyesNaught was sportThat July dayAs my platoonReturnedTo clay~n.b. The simple detail of the Read more
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Ghazal for Gaza
Accursed gates forced open eighty years agoMy mother still a child, eighty years agoWhat happened there must not be forgottenEven fire could not cleanse the earth, eighty years agoListen to the gnashing and grinding of teethAt prising apart Hell’s jaws, eighty years agoOh Israel, how could a nation born from thisLet one man lead you Read more
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Wild Garlic
Shimmering sheets of ramsonsSpread through the woodRipple in the feckless breezeFootsteps fall softAs if in day old snowEvery gentle crunchEmits another pungent breathBetween harsh shadowsOf ash and sycamoreSquinting in steely sunlightShe stoops to gatherA small handful here another therePicking her way homeWith spring-stained fingers~ CLP 07/04/2025 Read more
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Gabriel Visits The Chippy
April, the cityfull of sunshinesky Mediterranean bluethe half moon has beenstrangely visible all dayit looks like the rock it isunder the sea aboveall its craters crayoned inby the same blueclots of touristschoking the footpathsfrom Tower Bridgesouth to Jamaica Wharfwandering thoughtlesslyinto the cycle pathmaking me weave my e-bikeen route to Johnny’s Fish Barthere’s been football todaypolice Read more
Journey of Words 