"At the violet hour"

Autumn

Autumn

Leaves blaze red, orange, yellow,

Unextinguished by

The cool, reflecting ripples.

Early morning

Early morning

Pastel-bright salmon clouds drift wispily

Across a pale translucent turquoise sky

Still slightly weighted by grey clouds.

Embroidered cushion cover

Bill

BILL

We took you in, Bill, with your one eye,

To keep you safe from predators,

A companion for Ben with his damaged wing

In his solitary aviary.

And after some bullying he accepted you,

Enjoyed your company.

But soon you fell ill and quickly died

Despite the injections and oxygen tent.

And we miss your gentle presence, your sweet ways.

May you rest in peace, dear pigeon,

In your quiet corner of our garden.

Fifi

FIFI

Little Fifi, tiny hedgehog,

Found trapped with your brother

In a wire mesh, your mother dead,

You came to us with a third hedgeling:

Fifi, Riri, Loulou.

Such tiny helpless miniatures.

We fell in love with you,

Watching you suck avidly

At the syringes of kitten milk,

Your eyes not open yet.

But then, Fifi, little girl,

You fell ill and couldn’t be saved.

You have your place

In our garden cemetery

And you are missed, our little one,

As we watch your brothers

Thrive, grow teeth, explore

And learn hedgehog ways

Instinctively, without you.

Night Thoughts

NIGHT THOUGHTS

Such plans I have as I lie in bed!

They swarm and buzz inside my head.

All seem exciting and easy to do –

It’d be such fun to learn something new!

I’ll learn to speak German and visit Berlin;

I’ll go on a diet and be really thin;

I’ll finish that novel begun long ago,

Then there are so many things I’d love to sew.

The clarinet would be nice to play,

And perhaps I won’t give my guitar away.

I’ll go to art classes and paint really well -

Would I want to part with those I might sell?

Then there’s yoga and dancing and gentle gym -

I can imagine myself so fit and slim.

Finally I fall into troubled dreams

And when I awake how unreal it all seems!

I get caught up again in the daily routine

And the day is like they’ve always been.

I watch TV then read in bed

And thoughts start whirling in my head:

What if … ?

Health warning

Dolmen

The dolmen sits squat

Like a giant stone mushroom

In a fairy glade.