monochrome photographs
I remember in colour
photographs and dreams
laptop time
laptop time ticks
lo-fi brush beats
outside the window
if I opened my eyes
long-billed birds stand curved on the wet field
in the wild land
in the wild land the thistle
sways
but is never broken
promises held chest tight
hope never forsaken
sunset silhouette
sunset silhouette
as the tide slowly rises
my breath is taken
imperfect moments
lonely and alone
jagged lines on fresh-mown grass
blackbirds have all flown
flowers and leaves
As I walk up the hill
from a blue sky a hard rain falls,
driving leaves and flowers to the ground.
As I shelter briefly a man
with a broom and a shovel and a puffed-out black bin bag
shouts
Good morning!
It’s like the confetti after a wedding
or after the Lord Mayor’s Show!
Behind him, the bag tips over and a stream
of brown and pink and green gutters down the street.
Told you! he shouts. Just like it!
summertime patience
summertime patience
waiting for the bee to buzz
longing for arrival
powder falls
powder falls as dust
in the meantime so hopeful
we do all we must
Clara and the painter
When Clara opened the door five years ago and let me in, a man was singing opera in another room. It’s the painter, she said, and said no more.
We sipped coffee from delicate white cups and I wondered what sort of artist would sing as he created. Clara flushed and called me bourgeois, incapable of understanding that even workers could appreciate fine things. He was painting the walls.
My cup tipped in its saucer as I lowered it towards the fine lace mat. I righted it and Clara flushed again. Her grandmother had had the sight and saw the future in the grounds.
You should leave, she said.
I did not see her again until a moment ago outside the pavement café. She was pushing a pram and I raised my cup to salute her. She did not respond. Perhaps she did not see me. I did not stand.
planting seeds
planting seeds by starlight
moonbeams guiding their growth
watered with tears and brightened by smiles
the wind from the north and the sun from the south
simonsalento 