Friday 25 March 2011

Pooley Hall

Burdened under it’s own weight
Remaining walls hunch tight,
Glimpsed.

No hunting hounds howl, nor boars squeal,
Words of war, knaves and knights lie
Unheard.

Collapsed seams groan no more, exhausted.
The Plover's wings flutter where Kings’ Standards Once flew
Only morning dew offers the hint of a glint of Cockayne’s sword
It's simple truth vanquished in mortal duel.

The Hall finds its place and
Takes it's turn.

Late March

Fragile bulbs burst forth
Softening soil gently yields
Basking in Spring air

Saturday 12 March 2011

Listen

To the slap of the coalers bow wave against the bank
Winding gear groans, creaks and clanks
Ponies whinny in made- made night.
Laden tubs rattle,
Sweat drip dropping to tolling blows.
To the next shift’s hobnail marching beat, it’s
There, as surely as the coal beneath your feet

Version:Listen

The coaler's bow wave slaps the bank,
Winding gear groans and clanks,
Ponies whinny in man-made night.
Sweat drip-dropping to rasping blows,
A laden dram rattles.
The next shifts hobnail marching beat
Is there, as surely as
The coal beneath your feet.

The Oak Tree (Alt: Unbowed)

Standing dead
Hollowed weeping shades
Streaking life
Exhausted limbs sapped
Time chisels
The cadaverous frame
No spring bloom
Offers easy shade
Just taut roots
In defiant grip

Friday 11 March 2011

The M42 at Polesworth

Concrete carcass atop carboniferous compression
From nowhere - to somewhere else
In numb humdrum expression

Horns blare, lights flare, fumes belch, blank stare
Elevated in estranged alien disdain
A tear rent stark undressed and bare

Unearthly beasts whine, mutter and mumble
Rough crude fabric will not remain
As transient needs wane pass and crumble

Decay decomposition disintegration looms
The lifeless corpse will be consumed

Version: Passing Through


The concrete carcass lies lifeless
From nowhere to somewhere else
In numb humdrum expression
Aloof in alien disdain
A tear ripped a careless fold

Inert in unchanging indifference
Rough crude fabric will not remain
As transient needs wane pass and crumble

Decaying decomposition looms
This lifeless corpse will be consumed