Farewell

Dear friends and followers of Jeff'sblog, I have long dreaded having to post this message but, sadly, Jeff  lost his battle with MND and died on 30 April.  You will have picked up from the blog that he went into the hospice last week. He was utterly exhausted and he decided that enough was enough. He slipped away very peacefully and must now be in a better place.

Jeff was a remarkable and talented man; we shall all miss him.

Nora Lynam

The hospice

Energy drips
From my fingers
Images marooned
By my tired tide.

This place venerates
Weakness
I have not got its measure
Yet.
Too many mixed voices
Helping and so slip
Between the aid and aided.

The jigsaw will
Fall into place .
Happen!

JL April 26 13:4

Tomorrow

Today
I see tomorrow
A gentle nudge
No leaves on my tree.
Smile for me.

JL April. 18:29

Smile

Splash my hands
With sunshine
Give all a golden glow
Donate a smiling gift
In spite of feeling low.

JL April 23. 17:11

Cold Farm

Good Shepherd Sunday.
Plenty to do now
The snow lifts
To look upon the undoing
Of the time.
Death at every turn
Daunts faith
And yet hope sets a grim smile
On human trials,
And determination
Has a firm step
Looking at the fiery sunset.

JL April 22 16:48

Cold Stone

Wild white moors
Beginning edges
Snow behind walls
Create an etching
Of wild grasses
Etched with grey stone .
Whipped cuttings
And barest trees.
Farmhouse dereliction
Strains the soul
With a cold grin
I hold a smile.

JL April 21. 19:22

Remember Spring

I have known
Sunny afternoons.
Warm back
In a field of hay

Today high and bright
The cool of spring
Flutters daffodils
And early blackthorn

How the season
Does belie my state
Burgeoning blossom
Against my mounting ash.

At least the brightest colour
Draws my face into a smile.

JL April. 20 15:53

Fresh Air

Ah fresh air
Albeit by ambulance
No leaves
But the willow
Has a pleasing
Pale green hue.
What promise
For a Thursday afternoon .

For me a real breath
Outside the room
A touch of silver
To my aid my tune.
To glide from deepest sleep
To shining noon


JL April 19 15:35

Subdued

Subdued
By chemicals
Through the night.

I wlll return.

JL April 17. 15:5
9

Embers

Every word
Has begun
To weigh a ton.

Every idea
Requires
Some fire.

I pray
For breath
To light
An ember.

JL April 16. 17:13

Game Over

Tide's out,
Seagull's sentinel
On the chimney pot
Takes
A commanding view
Above the bungalows.
Lifts off to challenge
The jackdaw's foray.
No contest.
The ragged flap
Before the supermarine
Smoothest gliding turn
A conquering cackle
To settle back in place
Within his ring of confidence.

Game over

JL April 15 16:16

High as a Kite

The scent of spring
Enlivens things
Tempts the circling height
Of mating kites.

Above the down land
A late harlequin of geese
Moves with the first sou'wester
To steal a late release.

The local hand of sunny dawns
Have encouraged mister finch
To show his flashy colours
Along the margins of the lawn.

JL April 14 16:27

Surrender

Through mist and rain
Your shadow calls me
Once again.

So far away
Keeping your dream land
Beyond my touch.

Separated by sunshine
Imposed upon my world
I admit surrender.

JL 13. April 17:14

Sirens

Soft power
Have gentled me
Along a very stoney road.

I am open
To a soft touch
Of dark velvet petals.

Siren voices
Call me across the hill
To an upland plain.

Looking towards the horizon
No distinct slanting light
To guide me into flight.

JL 12 April 20:23

Escape

Beyond the bank
Beneath the hedge
Primroses give way
To violets
A fragile purple carpet
A transport of delight
To a pool of fragrance
Where I would let my soul rest

JL 11 April 18:59

Warming

A warming Wednesday
Now we wait for April showers
To kiss the frail green shoot
To brightly burgeon
The early butterfly.

JL 10 April 19:01

So Cold

Tuesday
Before the tide
And withering wind
Draw down the close of day.

Previous sunny days
Had tempted buds to burst
Now held to test
Our patience.

I hope for
A spring into Spring
As I hoped before
To lift me into life.

JL 9 April 16:33

Certain Ties

How certain
Is the dawn?
Pretty certain
In the grand design.

Personally
Not so.

But the sun still shines
On the gold finch
Flickering and flashing
In the tree,
The jingle jangle
Of the ice cream van,
And on my shoulder
A friendly hand.

JL April 8. 14:54

Sunday Grace

Strong echoes
As blackthorn
And pear blossom
Hint at fruit to come.

This day
I find myself
Nestling in a grove
Of fronding ferns.

At my side
Standing tall
Figures of triumph
In ages past.

Arms reach out
To free my soul
And set me to fly
Beyond my fastened weight.

The lightness
Of their being
Gives us confidence
To speak of angels.

JL April 7. 13:25

Slipping

Not so cheery
From my room today
Stylus slips
Over the words
Measuring ideas
In my swelling sleep
But refusing
To rise with me
And tempting
My body to slip away.

JL April 6. 20:56

Green Mist

I await
A swing
Into spring.

I resent
The burning kill
Of eastern chill.

When
Will the south wind-blow
Soft and slow

To give the hedgerow
A green mist
With a gentle kiss?

JL. April 5. 15:54

No Iron Bars

Shiny times
Golden finches.

I am become
The cage bird
Singing
Take care
To scatter glitter.
Prompt the ear
To consider laughter
In the grey
And sullen world
Beyond the cage,
To soar above,
To captivate
A soul in sunshine
And share
A gentle song.

JL April 4 13:34

Shadows

Oh for summer
Sunshine on the lawn
A chortle moment
Of fizzy wine .

The westering sun
The flittering shadow
Of the bat wing
And volume of cicada song.

The after dinner mint
Calvados and coffee,
The laughter
Of a distant shattered glass.

Pale green horizon
Venus ascending
Bright above a harvest moon,
A shadow in the doorway
To soon.

JL April 3. 15:37

Dheanainn Sugradh

Struck
By the haunting
Cadence
The Gael song.

Reefs taken in
Reefs taken out
Waves under her bow
Her booming and whistling
And I a promise to keep
And the dark haired girl.
And the sorrow song.

The forsaken fields
And the memory
Of the dark haired girl
Left a sleeping,
And the cold dawn light
And the fallow field
Resisting the plough

And the waves under the bow
And her song whistling
In the reefs
Over sullen water.

JL April 2 16:29

Easter Monday

Holiday
And high bright sun
The ramblers
Muffled to the eyes.


On market shelves
A dearth of daffodils
All gone to Mum's
Chosen vases.

How right and just
To have mothers
In mind
The most vulnerable
Of human kind.

JL April 1 16:16

Easter

A morning
A dawning
Across
The sign
Of suffering
Of hearts
In hope
Soul full
Faith full
Help full

A tiny grain
The seed
Set in hearts
Will grow
Will flower
Colour
Creation
And bless
Without stain
The Word
To come again
Again and again

JL March 31 13:01

Waiting

A quiet empty day
The altar stone bare
A winding sheet
Looped across
A cross
Dominates the empty nave.

The darkness dashed
By sunshine shafts,
Stained glass
Throws red patterns
Before the whiteness
Of the winding sheet.

The great west door
Just ajar
Awaits the coming
Of the Easter fire
At dusk.

JL March 30 17:16

Wakefield 1382

"That takes me back"
Roland said,
Hitting the Roman nail
Squarely on the head.

Most nails were flat round
Sometimes square
But these were diamond head
With room to spare,

Easier to extract with iron claw
From flesh and bone
And soft wood cross
When death is done.

Roland weighs the nail
And contemplates
The women weeping
As they wait

At the foot of the cross
And measure
a medieval history of loss.
JL March 29 16:31

Breath

Sleep again defeats me
Fingers fumble
All things conspire
To take my breath away
I will try again tomorrow

JL march 28 19:21

Spy Wednesday

On the down land
To the sea
The snow
Has stifled
Ewe and lamb alike.
In other years
Holy Week
Would see
Full fields of lambs.
Now the snow
Has stilled all life
Entombed
In nature's sepulchre.
Shepherds
Mourn their loss.
An ironic triduum
Of rescue and its cost.

JL March 27 15:27

Be My Guest

Early morn
Sun splashed
My floriales room
Deep reds
And gentle apricot
Pinks and greens
Cheered my
Confinement
But
The monochrome
Beyond my gates
Is temptation too far
For my mental leap.
I will remember
All my summers
Filled with gentle touches
And wine filled
Afternoons.
Be my guest!

JL March 26. 15:34

Bormes Les Mimosas

A tiny golden bell
A lemon ribbon
Mimosa momento
Of an Easter faraway.
Furry yellow flowers
Top the trees
Around the square.
A yellow powder
Dusts our feet.
All our children
Ringing tiny bells
Dance towards
A Jerusalem
Built to fill the window
Of the chocolatier,
Promise of a weekend
In waiting.

JL March 25. 16:59

Palm Sunday

Hosanna day
Palms and flowers
Sunshine
And flurry showers

Hurry home
From early Mass
Winter cold
A stinging blast.

We look to Easter
For a rising son
A spring beginning
And perhaps a warming one.

JL March 24 12:58

Hosanna

Today
My life turns
Into shadow.
As I shut my eyes
The past flows on
Around and down
In soft edges
Of opaque shades
In Lenten mauve.

Tomorrow
The past is full
Sight and sound
Waving palms
And trumpet blasts,
The coming
Of a reluctant king.
Even then the stones
Begin to sing
Hosanna

JL March 23 17:45

Wild Winds

Wild winds
Thrash leafless trees.
Grey sky hints
Once more at snow.

Come spring
Leap before my eyes
Raise my spirits
From sinking low.

Flakes flick
Before my sight
Gathering up
The fading light.

Time to turn in.

JL March 22. 17:33

Shelter

Distant rumble
Belies clear skies,
Memory
Of days in Spain.
Vast fields
Of sunflowers
Turn their backs
On rain,
Silent
But for the pulse of water
Shot from cannons
Against
Our darkened sky.

The first drops
Hit the road
Large as tea plates
As we ran for cover
Beneath
An ancient barn.

How we hugged
And laughed
With the singing
Of that moment
With our beating
Hearts
Falling into one another
Upon broken bales of straw
Never a moment
To compare
The elation of the drenching rain
And our final coming together.

JL March 21. 13:54

Equinox

Vernal equinox
When we can
With impunity
Play Fancy Dan.

We venerate
Green ringed around
Bubbling springs
Silver from the ground.

The return of living
Water to the land
Sweet tasting
Filtered through
The shining sand.

JL March 20 18:08

Born to Bounce

They're here again
Entertainment on a twig,

Indefatigable assault
Launched from lamppost light
To tree top trampoline,

Much March mating
No time to bill and coo
Must match the action
" Keep still woman!"

A cautionary tail:
" Born to Bounce."
Without a feather ruffled
In collared dove love.

JL March 18 13:06

Paddy's Choice

Yesterday
My dad's feast day
Most appropriate
For a kindly Irishman.
Now he could watch
For a kindly day
For potato planting
Kerr's Pink
Paddy's choice.

He was one for spading the ground
In preparation for clinching a deal
In the long run.
With an eye to the weather
He was a wary walker
Tis the bright day
That brings forth the adder.
He knew better than most
Born on St Swithens day.

" Better ask your father! "
Was my mother's cry.
He merely gave knowing smile.
" A nod's as good as wink to a blind horse."
He rarely gave anything away
Being brought low
By a single stroke.
His final request.
A bacon and egg sandwich
Before he slipped
Into the silence and the dark.

"Goodnight ladies",
Would have been
A more fitting
Farewell.

JL March 18. 15:58

Devastation

Devastation
Leads me across the wilderness
The song of the reeds
Brushed by the rippling wind
The warmness of sun
Along my bare arms.
In the distance
Rising from the earth
The dark army
Raucous with a blare of trumpets.
I will not go there
But turn my face to the sun
And feel the worlds breath
Along my cheek
And lying here among the reeds
Watch the openness of sky
And the powerplay of creation.

JL March 17. 13:13

Silver Bubble

Holding gently together
Lest we fall apart
The way long
And the road stoney,
Kind words
And soft touches
Float my music
Catch my breath,
Silver bubble rises
To break the surface.
Silent lips try in vain
To kiss the air
And begin another song
As I did so many years ago.

JL March 16 15:07

Holding On

Azalea towers
Above my dresser
Unseasonal gift
Of magenta froth
To lighten my room.

To walk with flowers
Along the forest floor
Showering of willow
Above the line of sight
Primrose glow below.

The thrust of spring
Carries me forward
Blesses my journey
With firm focus
And will to hold on.

JL March 15. 16:06

The Ides of March

Daily daily
Night by night
A haunting
Of ancient dreams
A might have been
Of moments
Pleasured
And released from pain.
Soft yielding flesh
Smooth raven fur
Tasting the dark corridor
Revisited time and again
Again and again
Before a fitful coming
Waking to reality
In the deepest corner
Of the night
Slipping into darkness
Once again
Looking to slake my thirst.

JL 14 March 14:12

Eastern Window

My eastern window
Splashed my eyes
With winter dawn

My supine moment
Lent me the freedom
Of a cloud borne kite

My ventilated world
Filled with clarity and
All pleasured possibility.

On rising, grounded
By the reality of flesh
I contemplate my captivity.

What did you go out to see,
A rich man in fine clothes?

My grudged acceptance:
A reed blowing in the wind.


JL March 13. 15:13

Joy Deferred

A joy
Full of daffodils
Soak up the sun
Lift the heart's ease
To a contented one.

A fragrance of flowers
Turns the world
To a softness of sleep
And the swirling mist
Of vanishing hours.

Dreamtime
Where all is possible
Yet undefined.
Upon waking
Clearly undermined.


JL March 12 15:51

Snow Snow

Snow snow
Come and go

Stiff breeze
Helps freeze

Hyacinth
Frothy pink

Tiny daffs
Raise a laugh

And the reason
Due season

All in place
Winter's face

On its heels
Spring heals

At least it feels
Like that.

JL March 11 16:32

Laetare Jerusalem

Laetare Jerusalem
The call down the ages
Relief from self denial
On this mid lent Sunday.

Spring flowers to mothers
Of parent gentleness
Soft face of caring
In a careless world.

Laetare is a moment's joy
Before the rising Easter sun
Where a mother's loss and pain
Offers a redemptive son.

JL March 10 15:05

Caught

Caught the memory
Of a summer afternoon
To paint the future
With the hope of times to come.
The chit chit chatter
Of swallows on the wire
Just to welcome
Spring
With cherry blossom
Birdsong at dawn
And scent of growing under foot.

JL March 8. 16:51

A Sudden Shower

A sudden shower
Has kicked
my senses into life.
Lilac candles
Round the open door
And step by step
Winter ending Daphne
Fill the house
With finest fragrance
Dance along the sunbeam
Scented open hall,
A silent echo
Of my past,
Empty and alone
Beneath a pale blue,
Frosted Friday sky.

JL March 8 15:32

Laburnum Days

Do you remember
Under laburnum days
The lemon cascades
Brought to earth
By early summer rain?

The unfurling crosiate fern
Touched by diamond dew
A quenching fairy thirst
That caught my arm
Along the forest walk.

And now the pleasure pain
Just a memory
Of walking once again
To recapture
The poet's careless rapture.


JL March 7 15:52

Plumpness

A plumpness
Of doveliness,
Buff breasted
Upon the tree twigged trampoline,
A high white collared
Comfortably rotund
Parish priest
Views the world
With a watchful eye.
Confirmed in indolence
Slips off with a lazy glide.

JL March 6 13:41

Star Flower

Soon will be
My blue star flower,
Filling cracks
Between places,
Under coping stones
A delicate cascade,
A filigree of pastel
Marian blue,
Born of darkness
Softening
The cold reality
Of confining winter walls.

Give thanks
For dark places
Between the stones
That give a smile
A birth unasked for
With a gratuity of grace
That faith and hope
Have fastened into place.

JL March 5. 14:40

Seagull

Such a turbulent spring
Across a wanton world
Just below the surface
Are the working
Of such cardinal sins.
Discordant banging
Of the social dustbin lid
The raucous gunfire rattle
Covers the surreptitious
Whispers of more secret sins.
No amount of cries of Shame
Will stop it rising again and again,

Like the seagull depositing ordure
Tis the nature of the game.

JL March 4 15:17

Fig

An infinity
Of sky
And freedom
Beneath the sun
To ripen
All fruitful things
Figs, oranges and plums
All in due season
Spring has begun
A fig leaf
What will summer bring?

JL march 3 15:55

Grouse

Too sleepy
Weakly
In the land of dream
And memory
Of walks in the hills
Grouse rising
And wind in my hair.

JL March 1. 20:30

Gold

This morning dawned
Curtains drawn
To splash my world
With brightest gold
And smiled
Me from my sleep
To spring my flowers
Towards a symphony
Of yellow, pink and green
Lifting my soul from out
The prison of enfeeblement
And setting me to smile,
A smile of thanks.

JL Feb 28. 12:53

Trout

To create a picture
To catch the light
The trout sparkle
Over gravel stream

To share a thing of joy
Colour in a dark world
Tis a fair purpose
For a framer of words.

I aim to join you
In bright sunshine
But smile with me
Then my job is done.

JL Feb 27 14:51

Bonding

Sunshine morning
Spring nudging
Lenten leaning
Soil stirring.

And as usual
My collared doves
Bounce bonding
Bashing branches.

Natural swingers
Getting it together
Galumphing gaily
In clumsy copulation.

Soon to be privatised
By luxury of leaf
Hiding way beyond
My prying eye.

JL Feb 26. 12:57

Gold Leaf

Towards the dark
And deepest forest
Below the moon and stars
Gold and silver leaf fall
Light the way.

Words of mystery
And of wonder
Echo in my head
Give me thoughts
Of love and caring
My tongue tied world
Cannot express.

I shall listen
To the harmony
Of flowers
To show me peace
And lightness of being
As I fall asleep.

JL Feb 25 16:34

Birthday

A soft and comfort day
Round clouds
And gentle words,
Bladeless billows
On a swelling tide.
Smiles cajole
The snaggle harsh
Of dull reality
And give space
In recollected silence
To a moment's grace.

JL Feb 24. 15:24

Flowers

Many flowers
Bedeck my room
A touch of spring
Of hope delight.
Confined here
By care surrounded
Sunshined
By morning sun
Another day.

JL Feb 23. 20:26

A Gift

What a gift
The mind's eye:
All seeing
At once past
And present,
Coloured
And monochrome,
Sunshine and in shade.
Memory of a touch
As one walks
Under a nave of trees,
The scent of rain
On summer pavements,
Bruised camomile
Along a rose-banked lawn,
And at last
The solitary rose
Filled up with early snow.

JL Feb 22. 13:01

Crisp

Crisp crisp
Dry and cold
Just another
Winter's day
Gladdened
By the gift
Of a warm heart
A child's jolly smile
And the colour
Of a garden sunrise
Caught in my mind's eye.

JL Feb 21. 15:28

Early Day

My hyacinths
Explode into blue
Scenting sensual
Across the room.
Finches early
Morning tweets
Mating for lent
As I rise betimes
In darkness
And return to bed,
Unwilling to meet
Another enfeebled day.

JL Feb 20. 14:57

Barcelona Haunting

Girl on a swing
Singly to and fro
Within a cypress circle
High and low

Circle hand in hand
Come upon by chance
Around the marble fountain
Rainbow children dance.

The shimmer of noon
Through stain glass glow
Throw patterns to the ground
In the Barrio Gotico

JL Feb 19 15:45

Missed

Sorry to miss
Or even master
A dull Monday
Dissolved
In a Sunday
Night

JL 18 Feb. 21:28

Sunday in Lent

Sunday sunshine
Colours windows
With stories
Above the choir
The great west rose
A panoply of faith
Set to music
The anthem
And the psalm
To end the week
With a rising amen.

JL feb. 17. 19:29

Flapping

Flapping
As a tattered flag
The collared doves
Reflect my heart
Losing the grip
And direction
Of my fingers
Try and try
On the morrow.

JL Feb 16 18:27

Take 5

In daylight
A goodly sun
Has splashed
The snow touched roof
With gleaming gold.

No inclination
Of a breeze
To shift the evening mist
Nor swirl the scent
Of hyacinth.

I am surrounded
With every sign of life
Coming into bud
Another spring
To steal a march on me.

JL Feb 15. 15:47

Valentine

Valentine time
When we can chime
Bound by harmonious chords
Carefully sheathe our swords
From careless hurtful slights
Or ugly bloodless fights.
Out there a message
To intrigue
For future fondness
To believe.

JL Feb 14. 13:05

Shadows

In the softness
Of a sleepy afternoon
Her silken skin
Is draped
In castoff creamy sheets.
Touched
By the westering sun
A succulence
A pinkish peach
Damps her lips,
Just hidden
By the raven darkness
Of her hair.
My penitent memory
A day too soon,
Is thrown,
Thrown into the ashen grey
Of this the first
Wednesday afternoon of Lent.

JL Feb 13. 15:45

Shrovetide

Shrove
Shriving shriven
Soul cleansing
After naughty
Winter nights.

Dark thoughts
Lightened by a finch
Buff breasted
Beyond my windowsill
Silently keeping watch
As I watch on
Silently waiting.

There will be pancakes later.

JL Feb 12 16:34

Monday Business

Early morning
Turns clear
Delivery day
Feeds for a month
Adjustable bed
Technical solutions
More electronics
Complete care
Renders me useless
I sit and watch
In gratitude .

JL Feb 11. 15:57

Dusk

Look to memory
To colour my dull Sunday
Peeping primrose
By the corner wall
Snowdrops appear
From another year
Look away
Steel grey
Winter's ending
Nudging into Lent.

JL Feb 10. 17:11

Misty Dusk

Laid abed late
Caught a sunny afternoon
In New Zealand
From a grey
Still at home sky.
A forecast of snow
For the morrow.
Can you have a surrogate sun?
It's all I settle for today.
Smile at the outside
I am home and yet away.

JL Feb 9. 16:28

Entr'acte

High bright morning
And a glitter of finches
Among the branches
Catch my eye.
This time of year
A treasure among
Bare trees,
A benison from
The high sycamore
Praise be to spring
Waiting in the wings.

JL Feb 8. 12:57

Cool Hand

The greyest of days
Where the mist
Seeps from
Feet to knees
A cooling hand
Contains my heart
And constrains my soul
To dance along
A memory of lanes.

JL Feb 7 17:43

Pink

Pink sunset
Soft ending
Slips into the sea
My weary hand
Wishes it
A fond farewell.

JL Jan 6 17:15

Rolling Wind

Last night
A great rolling wind
Full of hail and rain
A tumbril of a wind
Clearing all before it
Reverberating
Through cosy corners
Whinnying round
Church's steeples
Dying with the dawn
To leave a fresh scrubbed morning sky.
Today

JL Feb 5 16:05

Dark Marsh

The dark draws in
Late geese arrow
Towards the marsh

Reds and greens
Flicker along the channel
Towards the harbour light

Hear the chug chug
Small craft struggle
With the rising tide.

I feel my consignment
To the night.

JL Feb. 4. 17:50

Swirls

The ,medication
Takes over today
Images. Hurl
Have to wait
Until the squirls
Cease.

JL Feb 21:322

Snow White

There is movement
In the quiet
Raindrop glistened
Twig and branched
Sleeping garden.
Bulbs are spiking through
And a tribute to the waking,
The humble head bent
Perfection of the snowdrops
Green etched centre
Within the Snow White tear
A definite harbinger
To the spring new year.

JL Feb the first 14:57

Iris

A lady from Turkey
Made a discrete entry
To my dresser,
Deep purple
With a yellow tongue,
Took the place
Of Hyacinth Bianco
Far more brash
With a heavy scent
Than its mild successor.
Iris reticulata
Drawing a fine line.

JL Jan 31 15:30

Frail Days

Frail days
Touching base
A new adventure
On tiptoes
For fear of failing.
Deep wind's rumbling
Would scatter me
Among the shifting sands
Losing a grip
Sliding into sleep.

JL Jan 30. 18:14

Turbulence

Where the fisherman
Casts his net
Over white tipped
Wild and stormy waves

Or at sunset
On a benign tide
Beyond the palm fringes
Of a tropical lagoon

There is a calm
Of the commonplace
Which masks
The turbulence beneath

JL Jan 29. 19:01

Tumbledown

Tumble down day
When the world shifts
And the road is stoney
Hedgerow flowers
Just out of sight
The way
Part of a greater plan
To the vast unknown
Lead kindly light.

JL Jan 28. 14:12

Windflower

Woke to anemone
In my mind's eye,
Daughter of the wind
In this blowing morning.
The windflower
In a Greek garden,
Deep blues and reds
By the Aegean shore.
A vibrant splash
On the florist's shelf,
Windflower brightness
On my cloud grey day,
Another smile
In my mind's eye.

JL Jan 27. 16:04

Jonquil

Tiny daffodils
Peeping through,
Yellow starlets
"Are you Jonquil?
Come to say welcome
To a sunny day,
If so
Hello."

A minuet
Above my dresser,
A delicate dance
To enhance
My afternoon
Pale yellow face
Above a flush
Of jolly green.

JL Jan 26. 13:16

Dark Afternoon

Dark came early
This afternoon
Rattling branches
Wending its weary way
With a dull chimney moan
Echoed by me
And wet withal
I hope for sun
On the coming day.

JL. Jan 25 17:24

Simple Journey

No poems in my head
This sunny day
Tip tap sounds
On keyboard
Salt them all away.

Words ambush me
On the sly.

Crisp winter afternoons.
Dublin daffodils
Envious betimes .
Children sledging
Play school away day.
Surprising tonality of snow.
What was thought the wind
Became a collared dove
Bouncing stupid plumpness
On the thinnest twig.

Caught unaware again
By simple beauty things.
Toddler toddling
In the laughter
Of a yellow winter coat,
What he would do
To escape those reins.

Unconstructed tip tap things
To lighten up the day.


JL Jan 24. 14:12

Snow Drift

Memory turns my head
To the heady scent
Of the sun baked
Fig tree wall,
Or the summer breeze
Of summer rain
On dry stones
Beneath the olive trees
And the pizza smoking
From the oven ash
Among the eucalyptus grove,
When all I see
Is the damp northern snow
Drifting across this winter hill.

JL Jan 23

Inbetween

Oh for wind in my hair
The sting of rain in my face
The slow trudge home
And warmth by the fire
Long past desire.
The sun splash in my eyes
The warm shadows of the afternoon
These things we inbetween ones crave.

Would be nice to feel them once again.


JL Jan 22 15:07

Daffodils

Daffodils
In my room today
A jolly splash
Amid the snow.
Midwinter's
Friendly glow
How well
Does yellow go.
Cheerful laughter
On the dresser's edge
As snowdrops
Just by the hedge.

JL Jan 21. 17:53

Sunday

Since I cannot go
Each Sunday now
He comes to me
And I so far away
Am joined to Christendom
And I am thankful
Though I might forget the road
There s a path to my door.

JL Jan 20. 12:45

Afternoon

In the afternoon
Sun tinted
Ice splintered
Grey sky

Geese chevron
On high
Cross the sky
Silent fly.

Deserted lanes
Warmly coloured
cottage lights
In window panes.


JL Jan 19 15:55

Snow

First snow
Across my window
Full flow

Wind blow
Horizontal
Big snow

Where it goes
A drifting
I cannot follow.

JL Jan 18. 09:46

Monochrome

Winter through my window
Is a monochrome
Dark branches
And dark rooves.

The silverness of birches
Leafless
Between the forest
And the marsh.

In the far north
They say
The voices of lost souls
Whisper through
The silver leaves
Of springtime birches.

Today they are leafless
Waiting on the northern wind
To rattle their branches
And bring the silencing
Of snow.

JL Jan 17 14:28

I'm back

High bright day
Where above the muffled world
The seagull claims his throne
Upon the chimney pot

Among the branches
Earlier, the finches ,
Foraged on the lavender .
I am stilled
Waiting on the winterset
And the Internet.

Connected at last

16. Jan. 12:31

Emmie 29

Yasmin was still asleep when Emmie got up and got ready for work. After a light breakfast, she penned a note explaining the arrival of Mary Louise and the need for accommodation.

When she returned, she found the return note :

Dear Emmie
Don't worry about me. I have nearly got things sorted. Thanks for everything.

Love

Y xxx

"Well that's a relief." She sighed and sharply made for the stairs to sort out the spare room. Mary Louise would have to sort out the boxroom for Hayley herself.

JL Jan 12 13:47

Becalmed

Sea is never silent
Even in the frozen
Flat calm moments
When margins turn to ice.

There's a murmur in the swell,
A belly of a whisper
Filling in the distance
With a soulful sigh.

I have sat beside you
Hearing the eternal note
Far from Arnold's Dover beach.
Before a sunset becoming
Beautifully becalmed.

JL Jan 11. 16:35

Waiting

Today atop tall trees
Are seen
Tween foreshore and fell
Winter folded flocks
Footing stone walls
And like me
Awaiting spring.


While birds surprise
With their unseasoned
Pre dawn song
I fear a wave of chill
Will send them back
In silence
To wait upon
A more auspicious time.

Methinks
The jackdaw
Is still asleep
Waiting for a flash of sun
To light a silver penny
Tempting him to steal.

JL Jan 10. 14:50.

Mist

Today I savour
How the mist
In hollows
Muffles distant sounds.
And how the shapes
That crown the hill
Are softened
Until the midday sun
Brings gossamer trails
And whisps
To call it back for evensong.


JL Jan 9 13:31

Early Bird

The coming of the Kings
Arrived in rain
Rain and more rain
The only comfort
A songbird
In my sycamore
And one more
With a song
Just before dawn
A really early bird.

JL Jan 8 17:41

Margins

Do you remember
The silent silver shingle
Of the lakeside
where waves ripple
Beneath the grey peaks.
The wind whispers
Through the frail leaves
Of the leaning silver birch
As the swan flotilla
Is tinged with sunset pink
At evening
Floating on the mountain
Reflected on the water.
Along the margins
We catch our breath.

JL Jan 5. 11:58. M

Hyacinths

Whiter than the snow
My hyacinths grow

Before my bed
The azelia is deep red

Just to be seen
My Christmas tree
Is fronded green

Things grow young
As I grow old
Braving the winter cold.

JL Jan 6. 12:07

Outer Sound

Slip and splash
Wet wheels slick
The road outside.

I hear the world
And watch it
Secondhand.

Bulbs are burgeoning
On my dresser
Spikes of promise
Hearten me.

JL Jan 4. 18:49

All at Sea

How lovely
A frost of winter sunrise,
Sharp and still
Splashes with vermillion
the pewter palette of the sea
And later
Painted in a smoky
Turner sunset Temeraire
A great battleship of cloud
Called forth
The six fold symmetry,
The mystery of snow.
And all such a time of long ago.

JL Jan 3. 13:09

Back Again

Tree top wind
Blows his year
Ends away
The gate hinge
Has slipped
Needs a strong shoulder
To lift and push
And to stand before
The bullrush patchwork path
Along which the swinging cattle came
And all wreathed in their breath
He made his way home
Unconcerned then
About what the future may bring.

JL Jan 2 16:44