It was a game of bingo
or was it craps
or was it his voice
whispering
my name, softened
and rhythmic
and flowing
arcing
reaching
for a pause
searching
waiting
for the end
14 May 2019
West Sussex

They tell me
I’m dying
I’m breathing
My future
has narrowed
become
all too human
I no longer plan
Every day
every moment
every breath
is a promise
a wish
come true
a stillness
on the edge of time
6 August 2018
It is summer
and I am ill
falling
fast
I am listening
to the blues
to Robert Johnson
and wondering
about crossroads
and old roads
and intersecting paths
and the old ways
chants heard
in lush green leaves
prayers
and blessings
witchcraft
It is summer
and I am surrounded
by roses
and lavender
and geraniums
and hanging baskets
with unknown flowers
cascading
over the sides
like a floral invocation
to unnamed goddesses
everywhere
The wind
blows
in the afternoon
It no longer
plays havoc
with my curls
They’re gone away now
wherever it is
illness takes them
At night the air stills
stars sparkle
and glitter
like you once said
my eyes did
It is summer
and I am surviving
loss
and renewal
and relentless sickness
and time
in all its
temporary majesty
20 June 2018
on the Sussex Coast
the fragility of summer
The past
will creep up on you
when you’re not looking
and slowly
float away
when you are
5 April 2018
Sussex Coast, England
Day 5 of 30 poems in 30 days for Na/GloPoWriMo2018
It’s a short one today because I wrote a longer prose piece earlier and because, you know, life.
We create
And recreate
Ourselves
Every single day
And sometimes
Just sometimes
The heart of us
The good in us
Lingers
Like that late rose
Hanging for dear life
Onto that fragile vine
When all the other
Roses have fallen
To grace the lavender
Patiently waiting below
Creating something new
A sudden floral sculpture
That silently moves
With a breeze
Just on the edge
Of cold, a foretelling
Of the magic to come
But that happens later
Today a rose refuses
To stop blossoming
And hopes she’ll be
Remembered
For her beauty
Even when time
And circumstance
Cause her to wither
And eventually die
But not today
Today in this
Too brief moment
She is merely
A lingering rose
Trying so hard
To be beautiful
Hanging on to life
And the slight chance
She’ll catch your eye
And illicit
The smallest sigh