the colour of the sand beneath the water
as the sunbeam splits and rainbow lights
the colour of the free-seen sky
and that imagined behind the single cloud
the colour of wishes and desire
Author: simonsalento
I cannot fill my heart with words
I cannot fill my heart with words
but still I try
Aren’t you happy mum?
Nineteen ninety five. We did not know it was the last VE Day that mum would see. There was a party in the street. Mum was indoors crying.
Aren’t you happy mum? We won. That’s why we’re celebrating. We won, we won and you were there. It’s party time.
Don’t celebrate for me. It was not “fun”. A day of sad relief perhaps. It took my cousin, my uncle, your grandad for six years, his health for the rest of his life and what should have been my youth.
Twenty five years on and I see the celebrations on tv and remember mum and the others and I wonder.
I’ll take the shadows
I’ll take the shadows.
They are only possible
because your love shines bright.
Washing up
The ex-boxer looked down at his red thick-jointed hands emerging from the soapy water. So it had come to this. He shook his head, the spirit rising in his chest again. The door opened. “Hurry up Grandad, we want to go to the park!” He smiled and wiped his hands.
The 2.6 Challenge for Edinburgh Food Project
On 02 May we ran 2.6k to raise money for the Edinburgh Food Project. You can donate at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fundforfood
angels do not eat
angels do not eat
their lips for trumpets made
their whitest teeth a forgiving smile
their throats for His almighty fire
workers, flesh men and women,
need to eat for fuel and joy
food brings heat and sleep and sweat
preventing spirits fade
do not pay heroes with silver wings
though in our hearts they fly
do not pay with hands and drums
though our hearts beat because of them
pay what is right, pay what is just
do it while we still have time
you at the beginning
you
at the beginning
at the end
you
Stones fall
stones fall in rivers to her leather-strapped feet
thunder from earth and far beyond sky
she weeps, coughs, as dust grits her teeth
faces the eastern hill and sees the sun rise
Fresh green against impossible blue
Birdsong loud in crystal air
Spring bursts through unfurling leaves
Hope and glory
Hope and you
