My Pentimento

Higher and higher I jump, harder, pushing you down deep
No, you cannot be seen! Especially by me!
I wrap you tight in wool, in wood, hard steel
I bury you in a jewel inlaid coffin. 
Oh be happy, I am singing lullabies to you. 
See how they soothe! Listen, listen close and forget.
I push you out, far into the sea. 
Why haven't you capsized and drowned?
Memory rub worked on Anakin 
So I scrape, erase you out
I drink from the Lethe
Bathe in salt but you stick 
Yet you peep my heart, you weep. 
My indelible palimptest, my mellow
My obdurate, my pentimento unobscured

Serendipity

Oft have I seen you, near and far

Sometimes playful, often shy

Yawning, stretching, waking up

Rubbing your eyes, squinting at me

You giggle, you run, bounce around

As your half blond half black curls flounce

Twitching your flowery dress, little girl pink shoes

Little bucket in hand, watering my plants

I  sit and watch and I wait

Oh how I have waited. And I wait.

You give me enough but never quite enough

As they say there's no such thing as serendipity

Blind man's bluff

Blind man's bluff

Snakes and ladders

Hide and seek

Noughts and crosses

Hopscotch, 'without rock and 

Against time',  dodge ball

Trial and error

Hit and run

Sometimes you fly

Sometimes you burn

But you learn

You eventually learn 

Inside Me

Inside me is a word I cannot pronounce

A picture I cannot see

A song I cannot hum

Inside me is a face I do not know

A memory I don't remember

A wish that is not mine

Inside me is a world I do not inhabit

A space mine but not mine

A void devoid of me

A whole symbolic, anomalous me

Of quarters, halves, entireties

The aggregate, grand sum total of me

Till Then

I suppose it will all make sense one day
It will all come to pass some way
The heart will prevail, mind will repose one day
The whole will abide some day

Off kilter, a little off centre till then
A little broken, little chipped till then
Off key, perhaps adrift, askew
Skewed as per requirement till then

Fit to purpose, made to order as such
As intentioned, as intended as such
Intrinsic, fundamental, in full essence even 
My soul, spirit, life blood as such 

The Mis-measure Of Man

The mis-measure of man 
And of woman
Ensuing expectations
Hopes, dreams, feelings
And then the fall
The crunch, bone-shattering
Sickening, the after-shock 
Love; a dizzy spell
Until the resultant calm
The quiet hush, peace 



December 2014

The Storm

Inspired by a quote of Kafka 'The storm which blew me out of my past eased off.'

Now and then, the storm which 
Blew me out of the past eases off
I part its curtains and peep in
Into boxes of hope, dream and pain.
Some colour, some light, death in vain.
Tiny footsteps between flower beds
Shiny barrettes, a pink watering can.
Blue shoes, broken tooth, yellow school van.
Marigolds, pansies, sweet pea
Apricot jam, hunter's beef, patties
Jude, Tess, graveyard, pink tea
The storm blows, it eases off
The reel hiccups, splutters and stops
Credits roll, eyes fill and we have landfall





Jude - Jude the obscure by Thomas Hardy
Tess - Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy