A Fresh Start

Last night's promises
lie in splinters near the door;
Each one glinting
in the morning sun.
Step quietly over them,
And start afresh.

Last night's kisses
have attached themselves to the wall
in single file;
Each one folding
into an upturned smile.
Step slowly around them,
And start afresh.

Last night's dreams
lie strewn across the floor;
Each one like old clothing
devoid of meaning.
Step gently through them,
And start afresh.

Last night's emptiness
filled you up,
Despair dripped from out of a paper cup
and formed pools of loathing
that gathered by your bed.
Step softly beside them,
And start afresh.

Outside the window
a new day awaits-
like virgin snow.

Step lightly into it,
And start afresh.

Singleton Park

I cross from the light into the dark
to this place where I come to drown
out the sounds, alone in Singleton Park.

Outside, the evening rituals of the town
take place without a thought
for those who wander on their own.

I was a child when I first brought
myself here and stopped to nuzzle
the moon and all ambition came to naught.

Returning since then like a dog on a muzzle
to watch countless mysteries unfold
and search for pieces of the puzzle.

Words, like memories, mean nothing I am told
But here the silence is something to behold.

LADYBIRD

A thought arrives like a ladybird,
From out of nowhere, without a word
Softly landing on an unfurled palm,
Crawling up an outstretched arm
The slightest movement will scare it away-
Instead, let it stay and watch it play.
When tiny feet brush against collar bone,
Do not claim it as your own.
Just sit still and marvel at the way
It chose to spend part of its day.
And whether it stays or leaves matters not much
If you are subtly changed for having felt its touch.

SPRING / spriη / noun, verb


The season between winter and summer
As in, ‘The spring flowers are in bloom.’

A thing for which you would ring a plumber
Not as in, ‘Hello, yes, could you spring a leak in my room?’

Someone who is full of annoyingly good cheer
As in, ‘She’s always got a spring in her step.’

To suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, appear
(Used for dramatic/poetic effect)
As in, ‘Oh, the tears would spring to her eyes as he slept.’

A place where water is bottled and sold
(The mountain spring)
As in, ‘Full of vitamins, Sir, and even cures a cold.’

Something you weren’t expecting to be told
As in, ‘I’m sorry to spring this on you, but this just isn’t real gold.’

A quick sudden jump, upwards or straight ahead
As in, ‘With a spring, the cat got the cream.’

To free a prisoner, before he’s actually dead
(He’s going to spring me, he said.)
Not as in, ‘No Sir, you’re in for life, you’ve just had a bad dream.’


Spring clean / Spring for beer / Spring green / Spring is here.

Chocolate Santa

For nearly a month now you've stood
silently overlooking
my desk,
with a crinkled smile
that never left your face.

You watched as I unearthed
stories of birth
and death,
slaved over
endless drafts of haibun and englyn,
and when they were done you seemed to nod
in mute appreciation,
giving me the non-critical approval
that I so craved.

For three months you stood on the shelf in Tesco
somehow surviving
the Christmas frenzy.

And then enduring the shame
of being marked down
ten per cent each week,
until the final humiliation:
‘Clearance!’ it said, in big dismissive letters
when they had no more use for you.

That's where I found you.
Or did you find me?

Did you think you would still be here,
past the New Year
approaching Easter,
long after the trees came down,
and the fairly lights were packed away,
finding a new life
as a reluctant muse?

A strange turn of fate it was
that brought us together.

You, chocolate santa; and me,
with nothing in common,
save an expiry date.