Cold night ...

 

cold night

I find my cat

close by

Technology ...

Technology becomes 

recalcitrant, disobedient.

I can’t bribe a document

or threaten a hidden piece of code.

Time for bed, to read some science fiction,

give up on science fact!

A wave of sadness ...

A wave of sadness 

on reaching the end of a tale 

about people I’ve come to love, 

and won’t meet again 

outside these pages.

Yet, by now, life in general

has become a series of endings.

(Just finished The Books of the Raksura series and a couple of volumes of spin-of stories by Martha Wells.)

We didn't meet all that often ...

We didn’t meet all that often 

in the years she was here

yet now I seem to see her

in various spots around town

not cavorting all over her new city

as her social media posts show

rejoicing in its parks and shops

the new walks for her dog

her fancy new clothes and

the obvious feeling of freedom.

We can still talk, but I liked unexpectedly

bumping into her, that flash of joy.

I remember the smell ...

I remember the smell

of rain on grass outside,

of the wood fire inside

and chestnuts cooking 

in the glowing coals.

I remember Grandpa

teaching us word games

to play around the fire

on those cold evenings …

those cosy evenings.

I loll with my cat ...

I loll with my cat,

for cuddle time,

in a patch of autumn sunshine 

next to a row of windows

above a street of trees 

and the last of the azaleas.

The Queen of Pentacles,

my card for today,

lolls, I see, in a bower

with leaves and roses,

sensual curves displayed 

in a generous window frame.

Image from Lioness Oracle Tarot.

Today felt soft ...

Today felt soft. Sweet. Calm.

I began it with listening to my inner voice

which told me surprising things –

truthful things. I realised

it’s a long time since I listened like that.

I wrote down the questions I asked myself

and the answers that came.

Then I placed my hands where, on my body,

I felt the need for a blessing.

I felt myself still. I felt myself breathe.

Simple things, and enough.

(I was following instructions in a DailyOm course I just began: 

Writing Your Deepest Prayer.)

What shall I do with ...?

What shall I do with all these poems? 

Collect them?

Perhaps I’ll let them simply live 

in their moment.

Of course in a sense I AM collecting them, here on this blog, but I meant in a book.

You think we don't have winter here ...

You think we don’t have winter here 

in the sub-tropics? Already at 4pm 

I turn on the lights and the heaters. 

Friends from the so-called Temperate 

Zone, where I used to live, send messages 

about the Arctic conditions there and I 

shudder. Meanwhile all those Northern

Hemisphere folks rejoice in their Summer

Solstice, also known as Litha. Here, we

celebrate Midwinter, Yule, lighting our 

fires, knowing the temperatures may get 

even colder yet before we’re through. This 

is as much winter as I want! Happy Solstice 

everybody! Many blessings to you! Brrr!!!

Cold!...

Cold! For me it's a source of pain, of 

sorrow: that ache in the bones, in

the very marrow. I wake 

and weep when it invades 

my sleep. As a child,

oh that was wild:

I could faint!

Still can’t

stand ...

My friend posts ...

My friend posts a photo:

herself and six other women

at a Fairy Festival – wearing 

soft, flowing dresses with

hard hats and sneakers.

Quite right too! Real fairies 

are magical and practical,

decorative and down-to-earth.

What if …

What if I were to publish a thing 

called The I Hate to Cook Book? Yes, 

really. Sautéing mushrooms,

steaming asparagus,

all that kind of thing.

Quick and easy.

Works for me!

Why not

you?

I wonder what …

I’m wondering what became of her.

She called herself the Texas Girl,

said her poems were honey

and razors. They were that.

Lost her long ago;

she disappeared.

I hope she

lives her

dream.

I watch beloved Venice ...

I watch beloved Venice die

          on my TV,

and know too well the reason why

          this death will be —

perhaps. Although it’s we who cause

          the city’s end

it’s we as well can make it pause,

          we who can mend

what we first made then slowly broke….

          In ’98,

I fell in love on sight. Now, shock. 

          Are we too late?

I just discovered the Alexandroid form, devised by Jared Carter, 

and of course couldn't resist giving it a go.

The hours pass ...

The hours pass.

The days traverse them

from dark to dark.

Some days I make 

a cave of time,

a quiet retreat

(between the nights

in which I wander

on long adventures).

Out and about in our small town …

Out and about in our small town

I met friend after friend, some

not seen in months. We caught up

with what’s been happening. One’s

elderly husband died not long ago;

also she told me a neighbour’s moved,

whom I’d been wondering about.

She gave me a kiss and promised

to drop in for a cuppa soon. Another’s 

(not elderly) husband is having a show

next month of his paintings; I said I’d

attend. As I left the pharmacy, I was hailed 

from a car behind me, about to leave the kerb, 

calling a reminder: we’ve entered dark moon.

Flitting like mist through our winter town, 

I met friend after friend. I’m warmed solid.

13 Good Things Today

1. My doctor took away some pain.
2. He told me my blood pressure’s fine.
3. A peaceful walk in winter sun.
4. Two friends quoted Yeats online.
5. Another posted from Stonehenge;
6. I loved those calm old stones again.
7. Completing my ‘Manifest’ binge.
8. On the scales my weight was down.
9. I had bright purple panties on.
10. I ate my veggies; they were green.
11. I chatted with my dead husband.
12. I smooched with my cat yet again.
13. Remembered to put out the bin.

For Thursday 13, June 15, 2023.

The substitute cleaner ...

The substitute cleaner tells me she’d love 

a cat of her own, an indoor cat, but 

her boyfriend says it would have to

live outside. I don’t say, ‘Get rid of him,’

though I think it. But when Poppi wakes,

I do say, ‘She’s very friendly. You can pet her.’

(I don’t tell everyone that, though it’s 

mostly true.) ‘She purred so loudly!’ 

she exclaims afterwards, almost shocked 

with delight. I’m not surprised. Poppi and I 

can see this new person’s warm glow.