AFTER THE STORM
In the dips by the roadside, puddles lie
Swelled by the rains from days gone by
And overhanging trees drip dry
Cloaked in the light of a fading sky
And soughing cars go gliding by
Heading home as the eve draws nigh
While synchronising starlings fly
In the wake of the burning eye
LIGHTHOUSE
Alone in my whitewashed tower
On duty from noon until night
Attending the lens during daytime
In order to maximise light
I gaze through a harlequin window
At the distant ships afloat
And a trawler, alive with dancing fish
As Shearwaters crowd the boat
By dusk the lamp is brightly lit
Circling irascible swells
Too late for those vessels that beached on the spit
And the crews in their barnacled cells
Below, the coarse waves smash the rocks
As I slumber in my bed
Nice and warm in my moth eaten socks
And a nightcap on my head
These beacons have worked, unmanned, for years
Thus a letter I did receive
An eviction notice from council peers
But I will never leave
TURNSTONES DON'T EAT WEETABIX
Turnstones don't eat Weetabix
I learned this just the other day
I took some vittles in a bag
And made my way down to the sea by
Sidling the estuary
I laid a row of crushed up rusk, to feed the birds
(The tide was out)
And from a distance stood and watched
As other waders waded out
A Turnstone turned up, saw the snack
Then sniffed and pecked and
Ran on back
Towards the sinking shingle
It shifted spall in search of food and
Found some cockles in the sand
While gulls descended with their chicks
To scavenge on the gifted mix
While I was left to wonder why
The Turnstone spurned the
Weetabix
DREAM SEQUENCE BY A RIVER
Elusive Goddess
Unique
Floating ball of solitude
I touched you once
By hand
Then brushed a cheek
Held fast by a warmth of
Tranquility
Languishing
A spirit breeched
Burnt by humility
You wander
Flourishing
Wisplike ripples expand
On water
Fingers of gossamer
Nourishing
Ever present aura
Drifting
In and out of
Consciousness
A timeless
Roundabout
Uplifting
DAYBREAK
Daybreak, that on waking finds
Bright sunlight, scorching, through the blinds
As I attempt to shield my eyes
Begging an end to the brash sunrise
Ambivalent it seems, for when
The rain falls, I wish sun
Again