There was a hotel here:grand it was before the ground slipped awayfrom under its feet,leaving doll’s house roomsopen to larger eyesbefore reaching the tipping point,doors sliding into dust Now tree roots bind its remainsinto packed bunches below the surface:a kind…
Read: Landslide
When I visited Israel at the beginning of 2020, everything seemed fairly peaceful, although there was a rumour going round that a nasty new virus was becoming a threat. At the airport they asked us if we had been to…
This is not Phoenix, though birds are born again from the mysterious marshand recycling is in evidence There is heat too,feet on burned ground,suspicious vehicles surroundingthe hidden broadand desertout beyond the Yare:ruins of old civilisations,sails and wheels A marsh harrierdisguised as a…
Read: Not Phoenix
I have short fingers, which is bad for a number of reasons. If you’ve met me, you may not have noticed, and so I’m taking a risk in pointing it out, because longer fingers are quite attractive, and I don’t…
Autumn comes lapping round my ankleslike an incoming tide It is a Sunday in Augustand I stand barefoot in the sands of time An unexpected breeze touches my mind – flames in my brain set by an arsonist:parts of me are…
Read: The sands of time
Consultations by public bodies have long been used as a rather obvious device to pretend that they are acting democratically. “Well, we did ask you,” they protest indignantly when questioned. But of course we know the truth: consultations are presented…
In the clifftop garden the flowersare orange and yellowbut the stream is dry She gazes into the futureI stare into the past: I need special glassesbut still the image is fuzzy We play crazy golf:it is a close match Out at…
Read: Crazy golf
Life is hard, but it bounces. So while variously tinted media chew away at loosely disguised propaganda about the state of the nation – and indeed the world – there remains within our grasp an alternative reality, known usually as…
Can you remember when highways authorities saw it as their job to improve driving conditions? This seemed to work well for very many years, but now the worm has turned, and up-and-coming highways engineers seem to see it as their…
We all know by now how difficult it is to get hold of a doctor. I have got hold of a couple of nurses recently, and there is a lot to be said for that – in fact, some might…