A message from Hluhluwe
Jean and I recently travelled in South Africa, and this poem is about an unexpected experience in the Hluhluwe Game Reserve.
Flying close to the sun.
This poem was written about a day at Canopy Tower in Panama rain forest in November 2009. Returning to the Tower we were urged to look into the air where over 40,000 hawks and vultures were circling .
Knees.
Michael Laskey led an interesting workshop ‘Writing the Self’ in October 2009. We were asked to write about parts of our bodies, and this was my contribution.
Hagstones
Hagstones have a hole though them, created by running water over a very long period of time. Running water was supposed to be proof against magic or bad luck.
Empathy and Enchantment.
A poem for performance at Henham Steam Rally in September 2010, about the power of steam and the reduction of ‘Enchantment’ in our pressurised, high speed modern lives.
Home Leave
The poem links back to a war that ended sixty five years ago, but perhaps the experience is still known to military families.
Frenzy.
This poem was written on an Atoll in the Maldives on February 23rd 1991, but the ramifications of idealistic destruction are ongoing.
Portion control.
Here is a poem about the male midlife prolapse, which is when a man’s brain threatens to fall into his underpants.
The Ghosts of expansion.
One theory of our existence is that we are within an ever expanding universe, and our linkages to that condition are confusing , to say the least. This viewpoint is from those of East Anglian stock.
Beauty Intangible.
Some of the most enriching experiences are incapable of touch.
The sound of conservation
Last year the Forestry Commission harvested a large area of pine forest near Dunwich, all the residents had been informed of the action, but had not realised that over 200 American Red Oaks edging the pine forest would also be felled, because conservation bodies in the area did not want a line of trees left in the landscape.
You will remember this.
Surprise at sunrise in Tunisia’s Great Salt Desert
Stratospheric disturbance
Serious family disputes do not always carry early warning signals, especially when the misunderstanding is deeply entrenched.
It’s not much to ask!
A reflection on my father’s attitude to child safety.
Lust
Lust, like a hound from Hell licks no master and howls your name.
Songs of Light and Dark
A stirring of genetic memory
Travel
A life changing experience in Iran in 1967
Scatter the ashes at Holkham Gap
Here is a poem written many years ago, I now find myself closer to the ash scattering moment than the events in the poem.
Perhaps
Moments of reflection do not fit neatly into my two sort categories of ‘events’ or ’emotions’, but are a inter-linked mesh of both, and sometimes that mesh turns into a trampoline
All for thirty Yuan
I visited China, as a guest of the Chinese Government (Ministry of Light Industry) in 1994. This double Haiku resulted from a thirty Yuan rickshaw ride very late at night.