Tuesday 31 January 2012

From the corner of my eye

A black and white, super-furry seat cover
deceives me into seeing, momentarily,
a dalmatian in the driving seat

Monday 30 January 2012

Imprinted behaviour

Never mind that we’ve had this dishwasher several years
I still step back to avoid the dripping from the door
of the previous one.

Sunday 29 January 2012

From my upstairs window

Sandwiched between the background of iced grass
and the sparrow-coloured  sparse-twigged hawthorn hedge
a Sunday parade of buggy-dragging golfers

Saturday 28 January 2012

On my way to buy a morning paper #25

Sadly, the stooped caution of the woman
crossing the potentially icy road
belies the high-flagged confidence
of her vivid scarlet coat.

Friday 27 January 2012

Influence

Awaiting Amazon’s delivery
of the next Mark Billingham
I begin A.L. Kennedy's 'Paradise';
immediately feel altered impact
and glad I resisted Pride and Predj.

Thursday 26 January 2012

On my way to buy a morning paper #24

Pat, of the dirty smoker's laugh
usually in black but today a bright pink fleece
and I try to remember whether
she used to be a head teacher
or was it something I made up
in Alan Bennett mode?

Wednesday 25 January 2012

Yes I know, but now and then, OK?

Smug pleasure as snug
as my tight black jeans
that at sixty-plus
I'm not wearing a nice mauve cardy
and a serviceable-coloured skirt

Tuesday 24 January 2012

On my way to buy a morning paper #23

Recycling bags
straight-sided and close-packed
along the half-dark pavement edge
An instant, urban Giorgio Morandi

Monday 23 January 2012

Requires no imagination

Low sun through the kitchen window
across the white worktop
where I wiped with a too wet cloth:
casts shadows, makes lace.

Sunday 22 January 2012

Hope MuDJoB is safe-housed

Fractals of red in my overnight wine glass
illustrate my concern felt on hearing
of an overnight fracture of earth in Chiapas

Saturday 21 January 2012

Dilemma

The jigsaw he did last week, when ill
is still sitting on the dining table
Now he's better can I clear it?
Or do I need to wait
until he decides he's well enough?

Friday 20 January 2012

Seen from the bedroom window

He wears an army parka
balaclava
goggles over eyes
Holds a chainsaw double-handed
and he's chopping down the trees

Thursday 19 January 2012

Artistic licence?

The hero in the novel I am reading
receives a beating.
Lies there, blood-stained, mucus, vomit, piss,
and I wonder how he ever regains his self-esteem
sufficiently to fully function later.

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Lost time

Waking at seven instead of five
I am surprised at how quickly midday arrives

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Winter art

Scraping frost from the glass
white from black interior
I see another version
of Tony Bevan's 'Rafters'

Monday 16 January 2012

On my way to buy a morning paper #22

Rectangles delineated
by patches of part-frozen ice
scraped from a now-departed car.

Sunday 15 January 2012

End is nigh?

Silence unnaturally thick
and from the window, nothing, very still.
Too easy to believe we're about to tumble off the edge

Saturday 14 January 2012

On my way to buy a morning paper #21

Glorious pink promise
dish of dawn
spiced with a scattering
of silhouetted geese

Padding, not plagiarism

Stories in songs
sung by Dylan and Knopfler
add substance
and voice
to my fictional heroes

Friday 13 January 2012

Dance class at the gym

Seen from behind
one woman oddly lacking grace,
out of synchronicity
with the others in the row

Thursday 12 January 2012

Someone else's jigsaw

my fingers itch
pick up the pieces
place correctly
withdraw quickly
hide them once again

Wednesday 11 January 2012

On my way to buy a morning paper #20

A creamy cloud-escaping moon
an unaccustomed quantity of cars
a startling crow
inject a sense of urgency into the dawn

Tuesday 10 January 2012

At the gym

a set of silver handweights
graduated on a stand
spine of stegosaurus
over-exercised

Monday 9 January 2012

Ninety minutes late for the paper

Mis-matched same-age schoolboys
uniform failing to disguise
the randomness of puberty

Sunday 8 January 2012

Saturday 7 January 2012

Saturday

The house to myself for a whole day
first time in ages
and I am as a long-tethered balloon.

Friday 6 January 2012

Thursday 5 January 2012

Birthday present

A newly unflat-packed bookcase
offers an empty opportunity
to pleasurably refill.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Heard from my bed

Rolling roaring wound round balls of wind
hyphenated by the clatter of the letterbox

Monday 2 January 2012

Silos from the M5

Low sun partly-shadowing
pewter
against a hill of
stubbled bronze

Sunday 1 January 2012

M shed, Bristol

Four dockside cranes
etchable abstraction,
and diamond-mounted squares
in shades of grey.