Blackberry sweet
elderberry shine
we cannot ignore
the approaching signs
growing along the highway
to Autumn

Without a soul
there is no life
only relentless churning
in a word machine
which has never seen
or sorrowed
or loved
or a thousand other things
for it is this that gives the poet's words their wings
it can but try
but with no heart
it cannot truly fly

Hospital coffee
hopeful light
mixed strong with wanting dark
a bitter longing blend
which burns the mind
but does not seek to fill an empty cup
stirred with memory
amid the bleeps and whines
of a machinery heart
truly a mocha morning

Set free to roam in foam
a windblown mane
follow the herd
come all come chasing
rolling racing
kick up sand
water horse
reclaim the land

A drop of rain
parts the fur of a captive tiger
it reminds him of the jungle that he has never seen
but there is a poster he can look at
vaguely he plans a holiday
two weeks in the sun
then he heads indoors to his food bowl
and watches the downpour
through the window

Through grass grown brown
in sweet air's chill
Summer heart
please love me still
when swallows leave
all wild geese flown
say you'll stay to be my own

Summer's queen no longer fair
wears yellowed leaves in tangled hair
silver spider webs adorn, her faded harvest crown
the living green, now sadly tinged with spots of bramble brown
she wears a faded perfume the fragrance of last year
it smells of sweet foreboding
that Autumn may be here

Bramble jelly
blackberry wine
fruit of the hedgerow
tastes just fine
gloves and a bucket
take a stick
I will lift you
grab it quick
home for teatime
happiness lingers
on purple lips
and crimson fingers

Stand
before those Giant feet in sand
the ones forgotten in a foreign land
look upon the shattered visage lying there
'I am Ozymandius King of Kings
Look Upon My Works, ye Mighty and Despair'
remember well when hubris comes to call
we are nothing but a pile of wind blown dust
that's all

Lay down  
look at the stars
feel the winter grass surround you  
let the universe astound you

a small dragonfly
skims the lazy afternoon
blue on white lillies

The lighted candle
burns for just we two
making nonsense of reason
it brings such happy madness
a joyous moonstruck affliction
from which we hope to never be recovered
love makes fools of us all
and we would ever have it so
for a world without it
is true insanity

Sweetest fog consume my light
curl with me through the coming night
lay with me, stay with me, stroke my hair
sing ye of calm, a peaceful air
land on me, descend oh sleep
in smoky promise of dreams to keep

Stand you on the cliff of uncertainty
all that is behind is done, what is there to come but air
let courage give you wings, to lift you up from dark despair
for nought is worse than standing still
and wondering on that bare accursed hill

Do you ever wonder how the world became so *******
who took this little blue ball and shook it so the pieces rattled
did we lose the picture on the box so we don’t know how it looks
we could all try being kinder, which is how it’s meant to be
but the last time someone said that we nailed them to a tree
we currently face extinction and a halt to evolution
perhaps that is the answer and a possible solution
maybe the human race as such is into extra time
I don’t have all the answers
why don’t you complete the rhyme

Today is just a day
like many others I have seen
the sky is blue the grass is green and yet I find
so many other things are brought to mind
a rushing waterfall beside me puddles at my feet
which charms me as its waving ribbons meet to cool the air
of scented summer trees their fragrance rich and rare
a perfume way beyond compare to many other places I have been
and yet today is just a day like many others I have seen

Chinese harbour junk
sold me a boat load of dreams
then it sailed away

That great blue ocean dog
bites and snaps and roars around my feet
eyes fixed upon my grassy throat
yet resolute I stand
resilient coastal land
above the ever shifting sand
while that relentless cur
which howls and moans
chews slowly on its chalky bone

An octopus is a cephalopod
they are as a species
delightfully odd
an eight legged squiggle
with a wiggle

The roots of art
are often buried deep in childhood pain
every flower needs a little rain

Sweet undercover moon
silence has wrapped you in a velvet bag
so soft and heavy it drinks the light
shakes the glass which holds the night
and makes a cocktail of the stars

Design me a coat for the seasons
remember as you sew
to add vents in the sleeves
filled with crisp Autumn leaves
and to let Springtime breezes blow
why not add a long Summer
as that is in style this year
please try to shorten the Winter
it is looking a bit severe

Time is a blink, a tiny ***** of passing sky
reflected in the cast unseeing eye of Neptune's dolphin
lost to a storm millennia ago
a fountain chained to the deck of a wreck
bound for the palace of a forgotten king
proud ruler of some distant land
yet here it lays in watery sand
and waving weaving fishy grass
only the truly ancient know
that all things pass

Compassionate wind
blow soft upon my face
caress my skin
from brow to nose to chin
linger with your fingers
comb my tangled hair
strong but light as air
let me know that you are there
and that you care

Garbage can summer
your breath smells of dust
sticky cola fingers and ice cream faces
mixed with orange from the wrappers of long dead lollies
hot tarmac and the heady fragrance of sun dried dog ***
hot girl you need the mouthwash of rain
and perhaps an Autumn flavoured mint

Draw down the waning moon
hold back the gentle light of fading stars
take not their beauty
nor their shine to be extinguished one by one
I love you, let this night be never done

Dance me to the music playing soft inside our heads
rock me to the sound of words much better left unsaid

Catch me as our feet tread light on old familiar ground
starry eyed and moonstruck as you spin me round and round

Remember me in better days that now have come and gone
waltz me to forever so our tune can carry on

Kiss me when the lights have dimmed and the tempo starts to slow
dance with me one final time, hold me don't let go

Haiku butterfly
sips nectar from word flowers
makes a poem grow

Winter has a raw and savage charm
he will not bow a knee to Spring
nor Spring bend down to Summer
for the fertile warmth she brings
and in her turn that green and gracious lady fair
makes no atonement to the Autumn
for the fruit he bears

Autumn leaves blow random wild
a Harlequin in scarlet cloak
spring and summer's fated child
he dances freely with the breeze
and does not seem to know or care
that harsher colder winter winds
will one day strip him bare

Summer winds will sweetly sing
of fresh ideas that grew in Spring
Autumn winds will heave a sigh
to bid ideas of youth goodbye
Winter winds will cry and moan
they face the coldest months alone
with old ideas set hard as stone

Invisible breath
sometimes in the colder months
she wears a white coat

On my kitchen shelf
happy little saucepan birds
nest inside each other

Sea-Flower
you were never one of us
not really
I think you drifted
perhaps we cut you loose
I cannot remember
anyway we meant no harm
we had the shallow callow charm of youth
a cruel chant
which slays the slayer in the end
how could we comprehend your need
or the way that it would end
one cold October day among the ****
pale as apple blossom
Sea-Flower indeed

Bittersweet words
drip from your tongue
in a pool of deception
through which we wade
the silent rain of promises made

I loved you most
in our bittersweet years
a taste of honey
wrapped in tears

A scurrying wind is a tidy wind
a helpful picker of discarded litter
things that we should have put in the bin
but it has no bag to put them in

Fields of white crosses
to mark out the losses
of harvested poppies

Willow hair
sky reflected
Narcissus introspected
floats lissom in the pool

Sunlight bathes the sleeping leaves
in shades of green and gold
this was always winter wood
without your hand to hold
now it fills with music
a bird in every tree
your dappled sunlit kisses
a breath of spring to me

Found floating among the ****
one beach shoe sized five
what happened to the other one
because we never found it
perhaps it went with you into the wide blue waves
a faithful companion and foot soldier
comfort for the journey you never said you were making
you might have to hop through eternity
that would be silly
and you never did like cold feet

Found floating among the ****
one beach shoe sized five
what happened to the other one
because we never found it
perhaps it went with you into the wide blue waves
a faithful companion and foot soldier
comfort for the journey you never said you were making
you might have to hop through eternity
that would be silly
and you never did like cold feet

That mournful longing feeling
so sweet and yet so sad
wistful for a something
you probably never had

Slipped over on the ice
she is languid in repose
mourned only by the wind
and the wings of flapping crows

Sumptuous morning
still unbroken
not a single word is spoken
untouched by feet or passing paws
yawning breeze gives soft applause
and combs the bed head tangles
from grasses newly woken

Autumn nights
smoky dusk possess us
brings on a certain melancholy feeling
there is a quality of ending
in this falling light unbending

Oh wind
ill tempered and contrary thing
you drag the peaceful sea  
by the scruff of its watery neck
harrying the sleeping waves  
to rise and fall
crashing at your beck and call
yet when we want to sail
or dry our clothes
you don't appear at all

The dove of my dreams has flown
out through the window of day
to the place where she roosts
high in the rafters of my head
sometimes she will turn pigeon
and bring me confusing ****** stuff
but mostly she brings peace
sleep well little dream dove
I hope to see you later

You are lovely
full of birdsong
and not much dew
was there ever a morning
such as you

Walk to the edge
where words lie unspoken
silent and broken
on the rocks of the sea of you
if you cannot fish for words
how can you feed yourself
when you hunger for more
along this lonely and uncertain shore