goes where it leads me, a kind of conversation between me and the work, but drawing on what is in mind.

“kind of a diary?”

he seemed surprised yesterday that i had completed the task


to ensure the proportions looked right for me


it is part of the job and if it is diaried must be done

seems maybe if it is written down

for tomorrow

in the diary

it gets done today

finalised with finesse tomorrow

like

the stick fence and composting

and other varied tasks

pottering in and out

did you see that river stone there

adding accent

do you see the chicken wire behind the ivy covered some time ago

do you find that predictor adds words not required and meanings irrelevant

even the thorns came useful

they did not know she had many, neither did she. just collected one item at a time, cared fully for         each one of them.                                                                                                          catalogued

did the breeze come
late last night, or did
some one slip into the room.

you were sleeping.

was there some one in the house
creeping
down the stairs. looking,
another time for thinking.

you were sleeping. now waking
wonder at the blessed company
of mindful thinking.

tidy the curtain.

did you find a pin there, did you pick it up and stick it?  

did you stay safe, wrap the shawl around and hold    it   close?    

   did you see my life breaking, bring me pins for mending? …

yes i did.



each spring

before easter came

she bought me a new cotton dress in m&s.



st margaret.



a bigger size

taken up, tucked in with

room for growth.



the next year it was second best for school

taken down , let out

and fading in the summer holidays.



the jackets were my brothers.

it all gets delivered here
nicely

except when it gets misdirected
to the big house
the holiday house

i guesses so
nips down the hill
their drive

collect, reverse

only fuel for the cars
has to be fetched and
they have a pretty shop

except once in i steam
so cannot see most things
that are in front of me

james

it is suggested I become seasonal

again

although I don’t remember this arrangement

as it is usually vegetables

that come so

slipped sideways.

while all remains the same, something is different.

comes a differing hue
with duck egg blue


the ironmongers in town
at one seventy nine


we can walk there and back or there
and bus back you see


he said folk get used to anything

there on the road ahead.

looking toward me with dead eyes.

mouth open.



i could not stop

nor swerve

for sunday traffic.



slowing i gently made sure the body

was not touched by wheels.



straddling.



as did the car behind

me.



after i stopped to post a letter

and stayed a while to look

at the fields around

me.

it will pool, deep and dark,

still, inviting.

deep waters to sooth pain,

tell you about the villages
close by yet still over the
mountain

where the good grub is
for midwinter

it was boiling water them days

plates and cutlery dipped

hands minded in industrial gloves

pink rubber

scalding dishcloths and sinks

down on knees blindly scrubbing floors

through insults and watery fears

we are a team , shouted regularly

while we took the comments seriously cowed with blisters from cold water on the other hand

a world of extremes

or maybe the contradictions

were dreamed

told him when he asked about dinner
with his sister


we laughed and the wind blew things
away

there have been a couple
of incidents but now she
is in disguise
with different
hair

think i heard a night jar

up the valley here.

it was a quiet night except

for that.

we have the window open now.

it all starts here today
and will take a long time

there are so many many of us
lots upon lots

though early the lanes are clear
he sees no one
only the ice and frost

goes tentatively in the wrong boots

imagines the slipping so moves
the phone to a front pocket in

case

his imagination runs riot
as before and remembering

not to use the first word
that comes in his mind

or too many recognizable
cliches james

so we talked about dna alterations
those tracking devices they say are
inserted

and laughed over the silliness
of our conversation and then

i drew the tidy face and then

the scaffolders came

it came gradual some time back

no one memorised the date

at all

not at all

we felt it was not right especially

the day on the bus, remember?

over time with help from friends and durability

all came better again.

special thanks to those mentioned.

#doll
#starry

should that dot be approved

and how about the predicted?

we came here early with many thoughts and remnants of the dream

it was another lockdown

with discussions on milk

that seemed important

then we heard voices distant, watched with a comma, saw the group walking the lane early

red tops and shorts

six thirty a.m.

spread out as cotton threads

knotted

&

i will not mention the word

should that dot be approved
and how about the predicted?

we came here early with many thoughts and remnants of the dream

tapering off into dots repeated
the fall is abrupt and possibly dramatic

on looking at todays work
i see the spots are appearing

covering the plainess

i give them cardigans with buttons
and sometimes dots

i looked out yesterday at the rain
on and off all day

decline

to say no, or even to fail softly with a sloping line

tapering off into dots repeated

the fall is abrupt and possibly dramatic

drawing the child with found fabrics

watching the marks come good, no dots
intended
yet they came
without warning

doubly,
font and image.
to twice the normal extent
or degree.
things happen, we deal,
cards are set, dice thrown.
life moves on.

doubly,
font and image.
to twice the normal extent
or degree.

things happen, we deal,
cards are set, dice thrown.

life moves on.

life moves on.

no time to double check,
change things before

is set in time , in memory.

two times,
in two ways

we multiply.

some doubt climate change
despite the science
she says we shall have sunny spells

just now on you tube  saw

a photo of douglas bader

you know

the pilot

& you know

was surprised he looked nothing like

kenneth more

early sunday


traffic back to usual from lockup

which came quiet


we went down along the river

a new route to hear the cockerel

to find the little flowers

plus evidence from the night before


she remarked that animals spread disease

as do people just as much as we have noticed lately


they say they feel safe

yet

that don’t mean they are



the zoo is back open again today

who knows what lies underneath

here the land goes up and down

water drains

into rivers

who knows what lies underneath

here the land goes up and down

water drains

into rivers

along the edge, the edge
of season. the coast with
slow limits.

the glass anomaly
swept the edges
golden, in proportion.

an osprey flew down the estuary late
while I hung out the window
to watch the propellers spin

upwards

yesterday four private planes came
explained by the app

undeniably the white microlight
sounded odd while we shouted

words  lost in air

as a child walked down the airfield to see

the buckle broke
caused great difficulty
in walking

i always like planes Jim

overcast today

drawing the child with found fabrics
watching the marks come good, no dots
intended
yet they came
without warning

we listen to the rain early

with mixed feelings

there may not be gardening done today

there may be drawings

we shall have more drawings
i can see the marks & lines
pushing through
despite the weather

there was lightning in the night


the phone told me

an alert on my app

comes yellow


it has been one year today

and that is plenty days and

there will be some more

of that I am sure


we listen to the rain early

with mixed feelings


there may not be gardening done today

there may be drawings

see exhibitions

quiet slow and uneventful

& lasting impressions

a simple drawing out

no fuss

and sometimes late in the evening

think of it

leave the house

and return to the simple line drawing

carefully we drew her out
all tidy with reason, wearing
us down

what there is may seem paltry to others

in their grander scheme of things

yesterday bought a new pencil with a number that i dismissed

liking chance

meeting
in the chapel,
house to pray on
small birds, charcoal
drifts. in air, in words.

symbols of poetry,
cut and pasted.

literally.

naturally .

the talk
came back to electrics
and ironing, side effect of
the tabernacle machynlleth.

drawing.

so flimsy it is hardly there.

so worn, it is almost dead.
recreate the dying in your head.

so small it is hardly there.

so cheap it is almost dead.

draw it. recreate the scene in your head.

make some thing of the scratches and nibs,

home in on detail

and begin

to enjoy

the cuts and scrapings.

while all around is trembling , we weave together
with dreams and possibilies.

there is not much more to add, it is lighter
now.                                       birds sing early.

once again we come back to ourselves.

there a little cloud with teardrops

a wash of shadowed grey

looks like you are drowning and

hope i am wrong. i can see the

struggle

the turn about in water.