Straw hat on top of my bookshelf.
no,not straw. That's what donkeys wear in Spain
ears stuck through. It's plaited Panama, though not, I think
superfino. It kept the sun off his head, until September
when he no longer needed it.
Monday 23 January 2012
Sunday 22 January 2012
22nd January 2012
Queen Anne's Lace
Starbursts of dry flower heads
firework from the glass, such
casual elegance.
Starbursts of dry flower heads
firework from the glass, such
casual elegance.
Saturday 21 January 2012
January 21st 2012
Found: a silver Christmas tree bauble lying in the grass
reflecting an arc of joined branches
and another sky.
reflecting an arc of joined branches
and another sky.
20th January 2012
Ain't ya got no rhymes for me?
Today the interviewer says, "You're bright and creative, did you not want
A different career?"
I am nonplussed. What other life
Than my life? It would be another life.
And I walk down Kingsway, and think, but my life, my loves,
my voice,
Here in the sound of my footsteps and softness of my gloves.
Today the interviewer says, "You're bright and creative, did you not want
A different career?"
I am nonplussed. What other life
Than my life? It would be another life.
And I walk down Kingsway, and think, but my life, my loves,
my voice,
Here in the sound of my footsteps and softness of my gloves.
Thursday 19 January 2012
19th January 2012
Driving back from the coast
the sky melting in three levels of cloud
On the horizon, a striped pink curtain hangs then
Layers of washes, bleeding and running upwards where
high cumulo nimbus, Payne's Grey, almost
solid, dark overhead. Yet the land is illuminated.
Oxford Castle taken by Niamh
the sky melting in three levels of cloud
On the horizon, a striped pink curtain hangs then
Layers of washes, bleeding and running upwards where
high cumulo nimbus, Payne's Grey, almost
solid, dark overhead. Yet the land is illuminated.
Oxford Castle taken by Niamh
Wednesday 18 January 2012
18th January 2012
Japanese Garden
Leaves collected in the fall
and put into a press, the better to keep the crimson and orange
of the Japanese maples; and the yellow gold ginkgo fans.
I got them out today
the fall's embers in winter
and the bamboo spears still spring green.
Leaves collected in the fall
and put into a press, the better to keep the crimson and orange
of the Japanese maples; and the yellow gold ginkgo fans.
I got them out today
the fall's embers in winter
and the bamboo spears still spring green.
17th January 2012
Le debris d'un poete
Le poete
ramasse ses feuilles
en reprend une
une autre
les poemes
des plumes qui tombent
en l'air
forme d'effraie.
image: http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/biodiversity/sap_uk/key_species_barn_owl.htm
Le poete
ramasse ses feuilles
en reprend une
une autre
les poemes
des plumes qui tombent
en l'air
forme d'effraie.
image: http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/biodiversity/sap_uk/key_species_barn_owl.htm
Monday 16 January 2012
Sunday 15 January 2012
15th January 2012
In memoriam
Near the windmill
The sweet chestnut tree
Leafless now, planted
in memory of her mother.
In Lunigiana,
I have seen a chestnut leaf
in the base of each round loaf.
In Spring
we should bake bread.
Near the windmill
The sweet chestnut tree
Leafless now, planted
in memory of her mother.
In Lunigiana,
I have seen a chestnut leaf
in the base of each round loaf.
In Spring
we should bake bread.
Saturday 14 January 2012
January 14th 2012
Blood Oranges
A Sicilian fruit.
Oranges, suffused with a modest blush.
Cut them open and they bleed.
But that's our thing.
A Sicilian fruit.
Oranges, suffused with a modest blush.
Cut them open and they bleed.
But that's our thing.
Friday 13 January 2012
Small Stone January 13th 2012
Van Gogh's Italian Girl
Palette knife slices, turns over
Cadmium red and viridian green:
Mixed complementaries extinguish
Into black; unmixed
Colours sing..
..the Italian Girl's skin burns, flame and leaf.
Palette knife slices, turns over
Cadmium red and viridian green:
Mixed complementaries extinguish
Into black; unmixed
Colours sing..
..the Italian Girl's skin burns, flame and leaf.
Thursday 12 January 2012
Small Stone January 12th 2012
Gina wears a black dress
carries an orange handbag, handles
just crossing over her wrist.
Black hair, red lips. Ah yes
Italiana.
carries an orange handbag, handles
just crossing over her wrist.
Black hair, red lips. Ah yes
Italiana.
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Small Stone January 11th 2012
I thought, that bleach solution is too strong, surely.
Dropped the photograph in, to see what would happen.
The image gracefully slid off,
Pool of blue, child gone, gone, gone.
Dropped the photograph in, to see what would happen.
The image gracefully slid off,
Pool of blue, child gone, gone, gone.
Tuesday 10 January 2012
Small Stone January 10th 2012
Tin Tabernacle Kilburn
The tin church holds
No grim-faced saints.
Grey blistered paint spites the riveted arches.
Corrugated iron, but the Victorians got their Gothic.
Inside, it's marine ply, varnished: lifebuoys: flags.
Shipshape.
The tin church holds
No grim-faced saints.
Grey blistered paint spites the riveted arches.
Corrugated iron, but the Victorians got their Gothic.
Inside, it's marine ply, varnished: lifebuoys: flags.
Shipshape.
Monday 9 January 2012
Small Stone January 9th 2012
Strand
Grey cobble from an Irish strand
Perfectly fits my hand. He gave it to me.
Incidental music: the herring gulls and
sussurration of the undertow.
-" look, the children are skimming stones".
Grey cobble from an Irish strand
Perfectly fits my hand. He gave it to me.
Incidental music: the herring gulls and
sussurration of the undertow.
-" look, the children are skimming stones".
Sunday 8 January 2012
Small Stone January 8th 2012
Sunday Tango
They practice the tango walk
Leandro calls "Forward, right foot first...
Backward, right foot first"
The milonga starts. Off the dance floor, behind the chairs
an old couple dance, hesitant, tender.
They practice the tango walk
Leandro calls "Forward, right foot first...
Backward, right foot first"
The milonga starts. Off the dance floor, behind the chairs
an old couple dance, hesitant, tender.
Saturday 7 January 2012
Small Stone January 7th 2012
Tiny cups
white porcelain, translucent
gold rim, painted gentians
the wedding present
She kept for best.
On my table,
coffee in cup, paint in saucer.
white porcelain, translucent
gold rim, painted gentians
the wedding present
She kept for best.
On my table,
coffee in cup, paint in saucer.
Friday 6 January 2012
Small Stone January 6th 2012
Piccadilly line, rattling along, we're all checking our phones,
messages captive while we hurtle underground.
At the doors, the girl turns: Vermeer face, the
Shock of her red lips.
messages captive while we hurtle underground.
At the doors, the girl turns: Vermeer face, the
Shock of her red lips.
Thursday 5 January 2012
Small Stone January 5th 2012
The New Yorker Magazine 1968 - 1990
The font is so characteristic, redolent of
The Sixties, childhood in the big house, woodsmoke, draughts.
The old pages are yellowing now: fragile unneeded messengers.
... the app has every story, poem, cartoon; ads for J.Jill and Saks Fifth Avenue
And the font-madeleine.
The font is so characteristic, redolent of
The Sixties, childhood in the big house, woodsmoke, draughts.
The old pages are yellowing now: fragile unneeded messengers.
... the app has every story, poem, cartoon; ads for J.Jill and Saks Fifth Avenue
And the font-madeleine.
Wednesday 4 January 2012
Small Stone January 4th 2012
Cotes de Ventoux
Vanilla oak perfumes the kitchen floor
Cotes de Ventoux
Mistral-pierced alleyway
I would fetch my letters from the postman
in the cafe,
Cotes de Ventoux...
Tuesday 3 January 2012
Small Stone January 3rd 2012
My neighbours' bamboo flails the sky,
dustbin lids hit the fence
My blue Spanish plate bangs on the terrace wall,
the sky's in trouble.
dustbin lids hit the fence
My blue Spanish plate bangs on the terrace wall,
the sky's in trouble.
Monday 2 January 2012
Small stone January 2nd 2012
Dennis Severs house, Spitalfields
Three hundred years, the palimpsest of lives, voices off...
A thimble glass glows in the candlelight,
Amber in the chased vine leaves.
Three hundred years, the palimpsest of lives, voices off...
A thimble glass glows in the candlelight,
Amber in the chased vine leaves.
Writing Our Way Home blog: The River of Stones: post your 1st Jan small stone...
Writing Our Way Home blog: The River of Stones: post your 1st Jan small stone...: This is the first day of our January mindful writing challenge: The River of Stones. Each day in January we'll create a post, like this ...
Sunday 1 January 2012
Writing Our Way Home blog: small stones
Writing Our Way Home blog: small stones: small stones will help you connect to the world, in all its richness & complexity & juiciness. To find your own small stones : 1. Kee...
Small stone January 1 2012
Starting the river of stones today
Green dilutes to grey as
Rain dissolves the garden
Yellow fork stuck there, waiting.
Green dilutes to grey as
Rain dissolves the garden
Yellow fork stuck there, waiting.
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