Entrenched
(1914-1918 AD)
scars will close
but never go away
wounds so deep
blood just wants out
pop went the weasel
so many good men
lost in the lost and found
never to be seen again
gone over the top
bayonets fixed hanging
on the old barbed wire
turned into rags and flags
rattle of bones
bone-shaker the wind
mud-filled potholes
frozen at night
wandering shells
lullabies of strife
rage against friends
dug out early from life
Shipwreck
(1914 AD)
they came for the burial
more civilized than
ritual burning
one by one
victims gathered up
held in one last hug
empty coffins
stood in rows
waiting to be filled
bodies on the beach
scarred in an after life
black and white
stark their weird
bones bleached
among sea-weed
done the deed now
coffins filled
lids nailed down
high tide mark
carapace charred wood
rusted iron
bright bones
long dead creatures
slow washing of hands
relentless actions
wind sandpaper sea
tear-filled skies
Samaritan
(1890 AD)
I lived with him
he treated me well
to him
I was the other
yet he fed me
when I hungered
gave water
when I ran dry
I fell ill
he cared for me
nursed me back
to health
he taught me
his language
culture history
traditional skills
he loved me
never forced me
to forget myself
and be like him
he made me
what I am today
a discerner
between
light and dark
still the other
Palsy
(1817 AD)
starts with a twist
a palsied twitch a nod
more movement
slow loss of grip
bottle-tops won’t open
things fall to the floor
twist and twitch
turn into shakes
bad vibes not good
words tripping
on not off tongue
stumbling over teeth
vitality extinguished
a dullness in the eyes
a cork-screw turning in
bland the writing
both erased
chalkboard and page
dry honey tunnels
yellow calcined skull
empty hexagonal cells
this lone bee searching
for a special something
it can no longer find
Aye, aye
(8 April 2019)
I am my eye
this eye
my left eye
rapid heartbeat
shallow breathing
tautness in chest
this is all about
my eye
frozen with gel
disinfected
bathed in iodine
it nestles in a nest
loitering with intent
within a blue tent
filled with oxygen
three bright lights
surgeon’s fingers
surgical instruments
moving shapes
this eye my eye
sees them draw near
then fade away
machines hum
laser beams bite
extract then implant
more liquids
face patted dry
dark glasses appear
smiles all around
“Oh my eye
and
Betty Martin!”
this eye
is not an eye
because you see it
it’s an eye
because it
once more sees you
Paradise Lost
(1667 AD)
nobody answers
bewitched by your knock
ultimate betrayal
front door locked
cold finger elegies
devils ascending
rhythmic drumming
rain descending
knock again louder
nobody’s replies
ahoy there the house
nobody’s inside
memories flutter
life’s dead butterflies
doorstep-marooned
look around take stock
ghosts watch from windows
sockets open in shock
that key in your pocket
might open the lock
a mystical place
between heaven and earth
land of my fathers
house of my birth
Ogmore-by-Sea
(1960 AD)
white stone its castle
tumbled into ruin
stones in the river bed
mirrored its image
wind-broken ripples
picture fragmented
mud flats and rocks
stretch out horizontal
distant the sea
Severn mud an obstacle
no swimmers out there
where tides twist and pull
rock bathing instead
wind-whipped bare bodies
blasted with sand
skimpy the clothing
bikinis and pants
intrepid the wearers
breathless young girls
Welsh voices on the wind
always the wind
across rock across mud
dinosaurs walked here
left tracks in that mud
metamorphosed now
into fossil and rock
breeze tickles the nostrils
gulls batter the ears
salt stings the tongue
life on the margin
a bargain a gift
sweet in my memory
her kiss on my lips
Comment: I have no pictures of Ogmore (except in my mind). You’ll have to make do with St. Andrews, also by the sea. My thanks go out to David Watts for reminding me of my childhood in Wales. So many memories came twitching back. I went regularly to Ogmore with one of my school friends and his family. This was while I was still in the sixth form in school … a long time ago … but I remember it well.
Tara Pine
(1770 / 1977 AD)
maritime jack pine
arm-waving
declamation
sonnet to wild growth
a wilderness now
lop-sided
forest church
spired with birds
crows’s nest
crowning savage
extravagance
radical disorder
flustered
clicking needles
clustered
knitting the wind
salted the air
old man’s beard
sprouting fresh bristles
old salt sea salt
“ill fares the land
to hastening ills a prey”
without a helping hand
to point the way
each broken limb
an olive branch extended
scorched earth policy
salt-sown earth
Nightmares
(1797 AD)
coming from nowhere
plucked from nothing
colored vowels
a child’s first alphabet
dark recesses
descending
invading
night’s starless
unenlightened mind
silent owls
flit in and out
predatory beaks
claws clutching
calling for skull
doors to open
sticky silk
this spider-spun
substance clutches
clings like plastic
gluing eyelids
shadowy lives
dance on walls
night’s drugged
dream cave
endless the gangplank
stretched over
troubled waters
reason’s dream
producing monsters
until dawn brings
its swift release
Tangled Garden
(1916 AD)
indoor daffodils
drink water
dosed with chemicals
survive in a vase
refuse to crumple
won’t furl their flags
outside
sunshine and shade
Cape Daisies Peonies
Sunflowers
Black-eyed Susan
threading her colored ribbons
through butterflies
and Bees Balm
towering the Hollyhock
seeded by a surprise wind
coming in from nowhere
weeds crowd together
vox populi
these dandelions
beloved of the gods
ubiquitous
totally indestructible
rogermoorepoet 