Saturday 29 December 2012

Fuel

A splash of petrol on the rain soaked tarmac
becomes an iridescent starburst in the middle of the road

Wednesday 26 December 2012

daughters again (again)

ahead of me down the street
sturdy winter boots and long fluttering coats
one aged leather
the other purple velvet

(more daughters)

Monday 24 December 2012

eleven thirty

watching the gold threads in the curtains
while sleep drifts me away

Sunday 23 December 2012

Sunday morning parcel

two muffled voices within 
argue about opening the door
so I leave the box on the step

Monday 17 December 2012

Rain again

the quiet darkness of the Princess Road underpass is a momentary relief
from the incessant pitter patter 

Saturday 15 December 2012

Shadow

A long lean shadow trudges wearily ahead of me down Beaver Road

Tuesday 11 December 2012

poetic puddles

Inky black pools frozen in pavement crevices
surrounded by delicately frosted fallen leaves

Saturday 8 December 2012

Braving the frost

On a sunny window ledge there are strawberry plants in flower
a couple of tiny green buds promise a tantalising hint of summer sweetness

Thursday 6 December 2012

sunrise

a hazy pink stripe across the frosted bathroom window indicates that day has arrived

Wednesday 14 November 2012

university challenge

the three classics students turn and look expectantly along the row
to the blue jumpered physicist at the end

Monday 29 October 2012

train

"The 19.17 to Manchester Piccadilly is now boarding at platform 16."
Not so much a tidal wave, more a rip-tide, of wheeled baggage evacuates the concourse 
and flows down the corridor to the gate.

Thursday 4 October 2012

In Starbucks

Cosy and smug in the leather armchair
relishing the autumn sunshine 
a vague ghostly shadow of the heat haze 
drifts over the page of my book

Friday 28 September 2012

End of September

Looking across Fog Lane park, in amongst the dull green trees 
bright red flames of autumn lick around the edge of an insignificant oak

Thursday 27 September 2012

Frown

I concentrate fiercely on writing 
and when I glance up into the mirror opposite the bed my father's frown looks back at me.

Saturday 22 September 2012

Jupiter

At 6am the air is so cold my skin prickles and my fingertips ache but there is Jupiter, shining alone in a perfect dark blue sky. 

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Gnome

He steps out of the undergrowth
small and rotund with a bushy moustache and spiky hair

Thursday 13 September 2012

Fox

Scrawny and emaciated with sores on its hip bones and mangy fur, a tiny fox trots out from behind a house on Barlow Moor Road. It pauses momentarily then retreats to the garden until it thinks I have gone.

 

Monday 3 September 2012

Carnage

heaps of disembowelled and desiccated bodies are strewn along the path
late arrivals feast on the remains
the trail of tiny blue poisonous pellets leads all the way to the back door

(Slugs and snails seem to be becoming a regular theme here)

Friday 24 August 2012

tarmac

a blast of heat wafts up at me as if from an opened oven door
but the smell is the acrid tang of newly laid tarmac

Monday 2 July 2012

Baby carriage

Whilst the yummy mummies are gathering outside Café Nero with their trendy three wheeler pushchairs, down along Dene road a little boy with a bright red sweater peers regally out around the hood of his coach built Silver Cross pram pushed by his granny.

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Dead thing

The magpies gather, pecking at a carcass surrounded by floating white down
... but it is merely a stuffed toy, eviscerated by the passing council mower.

Thursday 31 May 2012

Snails 2

Do they have a destination in mind ...
or are they just going for a slither in the rain?

Snails 1

the small delicate yellow spiral soldiers on alone
leaving his crushed comrade behind

Sunday 6 May 2012

dew

Tiny pearls of dew shine in the low early sun ... reminding me the grass needs cutting

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Sign of the times

Young man with a plastic shopping bag walks along (apparently) talking to himself.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

More cats

Watching my arrival and departure impassively, one black and white cat and one white and black cat crouch in the lush damp grass.

Monday 9 April 2012

Blackbird

He eyes me suspiciously from the path, fearful I will steal his worm.
He tosses it around for a moment then gobbles it down with a swift flick of his head.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Frost

in the frosty morning sunshine
steam rises from the edge of fence panels
and the playing field is patched
green and white where the tree shadows fall

Saturday 4 February 2012

chilly knees

a mustard waistcoat and shorts
perfect attire for a frosty February day

Monday 23 January 2012

Durham Cathedral from the viaduct

5.20pm and the softly lit colossal building floats eerily
in the darkness above the city

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Monday 16 January 2012

Sunday 15 January 2012

frost

frost on the grass
makes even our bedraggled and scruffy garden
beautiful

Monday 9 January 2012

monday letterboxes

inverse proportions:
the larger the house
the smaller the letterbox

Friday 6 January 2012

togetherness

the only sound in the room
is the clicking of two computer trackpads

Thursday 5 January 2012

café

two middle aged men in the M&S café
simultaneously fidget with their cups and watch for their wives

Tuesday 3 January 2012

More Rain

an abrupt downpour reverberates ominously on the roof light
like an executioner's drumroll