Tall ship

Tall ship Ready your largest sail. Today promises high winds! The snow blew in. The black waves froze darting shoals. We’ve come to the end of our time. — I’m in the mood for sailing seas. The forthcoming Tall Ships Festival at Greenwich strikes part of me as something interesting. Today it’s been a drizzly bank

he growls today and shakes his whole self

“Look At“, a poem posted this time last year, is a combination of a journal poem and a pavement poem. Derived from mental notes taken during a walk along East Finchley High Road, it documents the comings and goings of an ordinary morning. Observing the ordinary and everyday is a recurring theme. “Look – really look”

Poems about spiders

Image thanks to Wikimedia Commons, contributor: Siebrand. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923. Click on the image above to read these two poems from the archive.

Poems inspired by sea creatures

This poem about scales is a mash-up of ideas about old flames and red herrings. Strangely, yesterday I also wrote about sea creatures. In ‘New ink cartridges‘ I paired cephalopods with writing in black ink. — The image of fish scales is courtesy of Wikicommons Media and photographed by Rajesh danji. View the original image here. You can

Salad with mackerel

tonight I’m gonna feed myself right from a bag with apples and the thrill of eager walnuttes that press the beetroot neat sliced nice over rocket-watercress-spinach leaves stalks ‘n all spring-water washed — Eating right is important for an artist. Even Ella Fitzegerald and Louis Armstrong advocate this in ‘Frim Fram Sauce’. In truth, though,

Genuine

When it is from deep inside and through my eyes, that crinkled nose – my truest smile. — For some time I was a regular attendee of a writing group. I often presented very short poems (some of which were to feature in ‘Shining in Brightness‘, my first volume and others which are earmarked for

Half-a-dozen, a wildcard plus one

A few recent poems have orbited around summer. 29°C captures some moments from the July heatwave. Another Summer’s Day explores more delights of the warmer season. Summer food and outdoor eating, which we enjoy at such times with childlike relish, are enacted by the child characters who feature in Packed Lunches and Summermelon. Tightly Sealed and Look At draw on observations of ordinary

Look At

Today the sour faces coming out of front doors of those who must go to work the pinched looks of those shuffling with shopping trolleys; those who must buy groceries Look at Grey Mullet laid on ice at the fishmonger’s Look at whole others who smile weakly and wave that magazine for the homeless/unemployed outside

Poems about Water Creatures

In subject matter, three of my most recent poems have drawn on creatures that live in or around water. See  Conversation, which references ducks. Tarantella, which might seem to be about spiders, but also mentions a fish. red herring Thematically, all these poems explores internal and external movement. “red herring”considers the pause of such movement;

Two Poems about Spiders (and a Fish in a Net)

Tarantella Once you have been bitten, through your vein the poison curses courses. Through the pain you writhe and sweat – this fish caught in a net – it dances. — The above is a reworking of this: Tarantella Once you have been bitten through your vein the only way to rid yourself is to