Poems

Amongst coconut palms and fallen husks.Chomping on the grass and nibbling the odd shoot.There appears to be a sheep.Here in the tropics ?Not what you would expect to see or hear.A bleat or baa!It’s true. My eyes do not deceive me.I continue to stare at a Hair.So is it a Barbados, St Croix or Katahdin…

The book group come tonight, including Graham.I’m giving them a vegetable tagineand then fruit salad – some healthy foodto counter his usual diet of steak and chips. In Waitrose I fill the trolley with fresh produce:spinach, onions, and sweet potatoes. Then melon,pomegranates, grapes and oranges.Fresh ginger, garlic, cinnamon. Fara’s on the till, her lovely faceframed…

The blackbirds have come back to do their thingto throw their sudden weight and wingThe blackbirds have come back to tell their talesin territorial notes and scalesto wheel and spinand squabble near the garden binsand sing and sing, they’ve come to singand fling themselves at not very much o’clock. Their songs rise twice in the…

To be free, we left our old lives behind,but we never reached the end of our road,even when we reached our shining sea. So many things we never found time for,never got to see the Taj Mahal, or Kyoto,or experience the perfect peace of Iona. Now I have nothing left to lose, but walk on:someone…

A crusty green and whiteHoar, grass and hair frostSoon to be lost.As Spring’s warmth slowly thaws Winter’s blight.The dawn sun turns the water silver.Then orange and bright. Longer days and less night.From beneath the earth bulbs.Seeds start to push and fight.To work their way to sun and light.To appear yellow, blue, red and white. Floating…

Why do I behave the way I do? I wondered as I read and article in i newspaper last Saturday. A feeling of rolling through life like a pin ball in a pin ball machine – jostling in all directions: Being on the outside Looking in everywhere I go A piece belonging to a different…

Only Child and / or Borderline autism; Looking for reference points; Floating in space otherwise Everything means – Different things to Different people; Like colours do – Under various Sources of light. David Allen 20/01/2021

A Freedom of Activity A Freedom of Belonging A Freedom of Community A Freedom of Discussion A Freedom of Expression. A Freedom of Family A Freedom of Generosity A Freedom of Haggling A Freedom of Individuals A Freedom of Justice. A Freedom of Kindness A Freedom of Love A Freedom of Mixing A Freedom of…

To teach and be taughtWhere teacher becomes the pupilAnd the pupil becomes the teacherWe learn the power of wordsThat ring of true knowledge

Just go away that’s what I say cause you’re not wanted here you can struggle and fight but it’s not right why don’t you go away! so I’ll do as I’m told then I’ll grow old cause you’re not gonna get me!!

I’ve counted my blessings… More often than I’d counted sheep. Frequent school/house moves… Adapted to travel light Easier travelling… Needed a minimalist style. Getting my hands dirty… Fixing my own bicycle. Harder to put down roots… Practicality over aesthetics. Kept my expectations low… Enabled need over want.

Wintry wind Slashing sleet In your face, Spiteful, Like blackthorn in the hedgerow, Sharp Against your skin. And then sun, Shining sickly, Barely warm Until you reach The shelter Of fieldside bushes. Clouds disappearing, A grey blanket-like sky Covering the sun – Until it re-appears, Finding blue spaces And glittering, Like blackthorn blossom, In puddles…

Wintry wind Slashing sleet In your face, Spiteful, Sharp Against your skin. And then sun, Shining sickly, Barely warm Until you reach The shelter Of fieldside bushes. Clouds disappearing, A grey blanket-like sky Covering the sun – Until it re-appears, Finding blue spaces And glittering in puddles Of rain water.

So what if tomorrow and the next day are colder or duller than a few days ago? So what if we have to hang on a bit for the sun to come back again? So what?! If I hear “So what?” one more time, I just might… well, you wait and see.