Journey of Words

Tag: Poetry

  • On Playing x

    Can you still call up that glee in the pit of your guts when wind picked up leaves and dust devils spun the whole playground into a delirious flock of crows performing flips and twists free-falling then swooping up to hang on the vacuum formed in the lee of a Scots Pine clump? . Arms →

  • Lockdown 3 (Day 18) On the Streets

    By the time I was ready to get out all light had gone from the sky, bar a faint patch to the south-west above the trees on Carrow Hill. My brisk march lasted ninety minutes, during which I discovered some of the poshest streets of Norwich. They lie beyond the medieval walls, strung out on →

  • On Playing ix

    She asked him who he played as Knowing every boy pretends To be someone else when playing They dream they can be better He wanted to be Best ~ n.b. As a boy playing football I clearly had a failure of ambition. I pretended to be a Welsh international centre forward, not George Best. Who →

  • Lockdown 3 (Day 17) In Sunshine

    My apartment faces south, but is overshadowed by the flats built over the atrium at the front and on its east side. This means no morning light reaches me directly and I have to pull the curtain across to assess the weather. Today the sunlight was blasting down King Street. I just had to leap →

  • On Playing viii

    As children we played It, British Bulldog and Kiss Chase until told not to. ~ n.b. See the power of words? ~ CLP 22/01/2021 →

  • Lockdown 3 (Day 16) Behind the Mask

    Out briefly today in sunshine. I forgot my gloves, but was surprised by the mildness of the air. People maintaining good distances from each other; joggers running well wide of pedestrians; people stepping back to let others pass. There is no rush when people are on foot. A taxi driver tries to squeeze past me →

  • On Playing vii

    Look for quick singles Yes! No! Sorry. My mistake. Takes two to Tango ~ n.b. Continuing with the cricketing theme, communication between batters is either a strength or a weakness. It is about being in tune with your partner. As in cricket, as in life. Here is a clip of a classic cricketing communication breakdown →

  • On Numbers 1820

    Previously just a date from history when cholera took hold ~ n.b. Now 1,820 is the worst daily death toll in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 / 21. This is dreadful. The cholera pandemic around the year 1820 killed uncountable millions. ~ CLP 20/01/2021 →

  • Piped Dreams

    The door clicks a jar compresses the draught to a whistle that wakes me from your arms, her arms, my brother’s hand I held through a summer night in the respiratory ward down the corridor from coronary care where he would be the next summer and no one could visit while he dreamt of life →

  • Lockdown 3 (Day 15) In Books

    Grief is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter is a very clever and engaging book. If you have two or three hours to spare I can recommend it. The subject matter is potentially painful, but the way the book changes points of view from the dad, to his two sons to the crow, representing →