bitter reflections
the sad reality of aging… from first-hand experience 😉 Bitter Reflections The bathroom window’s muted lightsoothes the mirror’s evidence of the toll of time, anxiety and stress,fooling the eye into taking less offence But such misplaced vanity evaporateswhen sun’s harsh light savages and dispels the narcissistic momentbluntly baring all the actual ravages For, as towel […]
string theory (a poem)
a poem I wrote in 2022, still consider it to be a work in progress but I thought i’d add it to the archive here ‘for the record’: string theory Puppets all, we dance in response to the Master’s mightWho pulls the theoretical strings so tightHis Piper’s tune makes us gyrate and cavortBut His efforts […]
tsunami — man’s final folly
something I wrote a few years ago. delivered as ever from the ether onto the paper in front of me like a kind of ‘download’, although inspired no doubt in part by the fact that I had recently read about the prospect of a massive (3 kilometer high!) tsunami hitting the west coast of Portugal, […]
the fall
Saturday 26th October 2024 here in rural Portugal, following on the heels of an almost-summer like day, is bleak, wet and dreary so far… ideal weather to bring the muse in from the cold to pester me and insist that I write something apposite to the moment rather than get on with the 100 other […]
january joy
it’s the first month of the year (2024 — 😀 on the assumption this blog may still exist in years to come!) but here in Portugal the weather is unseasonably spring-like…Sun currently shining is mild and tempting all the usual frolics and fecundity of the coming season to erupt a little early: January Joy Percussion […]
happy new year 2024
post-festive, post-covid, post-flu, almost post-human… the muse seemed to be on extended vacation the suddenly she returns with an ironic riposte… Happy New Year Stressed, depressedAnd lacking restBathed in a lakeOf disinterestPost-festive malaiseBesets my daysThrough half-formed thoughtsIt weaves its waysMisdirecting my moodThrough an endless mazeMisbegotten areThe games it playsAs it twists my mindLeaving joy behindMy […]
why we love bees | a poem for children of all ages
originally published in the children’s book ‘Why We Love…Bees’ by A Graham Smith and available for kindle or in paperback here why-we-love-bees
christmas day 2020 | a sad poem
Those out there who know the pain and inconsolable grief associated with having an alienated child might best relate to this poem — and also understand why I am unable to read this poem out loud to make an audio version, like other poems on this site: (You can ‘right-click’ with the mouse on this […]
medicine walk music
with acknowledgement for the inspiration to try and articulate this poem, ‘medicine walk music’, on the occasion of attending a beautiful weekend retreat and course run by the barefootshaman, Dee Kyne and hosted at naturalma venue in Portugal. This is a somewhat ‘finessed’ version of the rapidly composed original — and I felt compelled to […]
jabberwocky | someone else’s ‘nonsense’ poem
jabberwocky is possibly the most acclaimed nonsense rhyme ever written in the English language. Charles Dodgson writing under his pen-name Lewis Carroll included it in his famous children’s story: Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and it tells of the slaying of a fearsome beast called the The Jabberwock! The poem […]