I ask myself ‘is there ever a dayin which I do not try?’Death and destruction famine and disease write the headlinessell the stories. The earth is reacting to all of our excessone day may cleanse itself of all of usit’s hard to deny, it’s all a messand yet is this a reason not to try lovinghopewritingpoetrylivingmomentarily learning to be... Continue Reading →
Winter’s Breath by Darius #SonnetSunday
As autumn crumbles into brittle parts,And lifted on a whisper of winter's breath,Another season of the year departs,The cloud's brief tears bear mourning of its death, Cold snatches the pearls of heavenly birth,To sprinkle twee crystal parcels in lieu,Bewitching giggling streams in sheets of mirth,Primed for pebbles to free the babbling blue, Sleeping giants will... Continue Reading →
Spring to Summer by Valdis Stakle #Sonnet Sunday
As summer leaves behind the springThe days grow ever longerThe leaves are green the birds do singThe sun shines ever strongerI walk along the sandy shoreAnd gaze out to the distant seaI feel the warmth and long for moreThe summer sun has set me freeI then ascend a distant hillAnd contemplate a tranquil skyThe night... Continue Reading →
Fall into Winter (Canberra-Australia) #SonnetSunday
I don’t fall into winter, not like the dead leaves,but charge in, daubed cheeks and white breath;eager mornings tugging aside curtains’ sheavesto see the silvering frost-blanket the night has left. I don’t fall into winter, wishing for some brakesholding arms in front of me, trying to stop time.I gallop in gladly, relishing air’s chilly embracefinding... Continue Reading →
Spring into Summer #SonnetSunday
This Spring into Summer has me hangingas if to say, 'Wait - we're not quite there yet!'Long days of rain, holed up in my room singingI have endured, shunning the cold and wet and on days when the bright sea looks invitingI've shivered by the shore bewilderedby those brave souls who think nothing of divinginto... Continue Reading →
The lost tooth #haibun
I remember the first tooth you lost. It was Granollers Day, annual fair of the nearest big town. C’était un jour de fête was playing in my head. Too much beer and revelry and sure, I lost a piece of myself that day. Why do we cling on to childhood? I remember the first tooth... Continue Reading →
‘Sorry, mate…’ published in ‘Through the Looking Glass’
As I sank into the depths of alcoholismdepression and despair not a soul around me seemed to careexcept the man who stood next to me on the tubewhose angry eyes seemed to say ‘how dare you stand so close to me?’Perhaps I didn’t smell too good: Sorry mate, did I spoil your commute? I wrote this... Continue Reading →
Night-blooming flowers #haibun #dVerse
Hellebores, primrose, bluebells, geranium, forget-me-not: how could I forget you? For our love bloomed in the heady time of late spring flowers, around the rising of the late-May moon. Scents of lavender and roses drifted on the air, as the Star of Bethlehem reflected the moon's splendour, shining white. Buttercups and poppies swayed in daytime... Continue Reading →
Sonnet Sunday announcement: Spring into Summer!
I have witnessed the transition from Spring into Summer in several different locations. In the UK, the saying goes, Ne'er cast a clout, till May is out. ('Don't take your (winter) clothes off until May is over.') In Catalunya, it's Pel maig cada dia un raig ('In May, every day a ray' - but the... Continue Reading →
The cloud-capped towers #haibun #earthweal
Driving home from York as a child: it’s a long drive, nearly three hours. First you cross the Vale of York, then over Bowes Moor from Scotch Corner down into the Eden valley. It’s a lot of wide open spaces and even wider, open skies. I can’t remember the time of year, though I’m guessing... Continue Reading →