The kestrel
I have a lot of online essays to mark in the next two weeks and that involves a whole lot of sitting still. Except I can’t. Because my wrist hurts, my back aches and my shoulders get stiff and so I walk, fidget, do yoga, and hug the cat who doesn’t want to be hugged.… Read more
I don’t really know what to think about the Queen’s death…
I don’t really know what I think about the Queen’s death
apart from how old I am,
how time passes,
how lost they look,
how everything ends
everything dies,
how like Ozymandias,
nothing will remain.
I don’t know how I feel about the Queen’s death
..except that I feel as I do when,
with … Read more
Shadows
Shadows
Shin deep,
hands filled with flailing
suffocating fish
I see dark shadows
and call others to see.
Wrist to elbow long,
they dart skilfully,
herding their prey toward the shore
where then they must either turn into the waiting jaws
or die flipping
ever more slowly
on the rain damp
shore.
Mackerel
chasing whitebait.… Read more
Life saving
Life saving
A swoosh of feet
we run to the sea
untethered
whooping
shrieking,
tip-toeing,
running,
inhaling as tummies are circled in waves.
I reach and swim,
pulling through the water,
sand ridges guiding me.
A swoop of silver fish
ripple past me,
through me.
I surface to shout the others
to look see!
Look … Read more
Two worlds
We are walking.
We both see a dead rabbit in the road.
I exclaim and want to move it,
you step in first.
You step in
and kick it to the kerb,
I hurt.
You pick it up by the tale,
fingers protected in a plastic bag,
and let the dogs sniff it… Read more
This is what
This is what death looks like:
small,
silent,
still.
Nothing remarkable.
No great fanfare of mourners,
no pagentry,
just a leaf of brown fur curled up in the soil.
This is what murder looks like:
charming,
engaging,
entertaining,
loveable,
fun.
Ignore the sharp eyed claws
and jaws,
the precise pounce,
the silent stealth
of unsuspected … Read more