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Thursday 28 September 2017

A Haibun for National Poetry Day 2017

I've written a Haibun for National Poetry Day, a first for me. The theme this year is Freedom; I hope you like it and may even try and write your own and read some others. It's a challenging form, be gentle with me.


Freedom: A Haibun


Their paths first crossed whilst backpacking in Marrakech and the attraction was immediate. They moved into a rundown riad which became their sanctuary. He wrote while she painted, and when they made love the entire universe ceased to exist and they were all that mattered. When a child came along they named her Free; she played barefoot in the sun and her skin went brown. When the bills started to come he found work in a local bar and she sold her art at the bazaar. Working all the hours they could they found the freedom they were both looking for, and she was everything.


from the eyrie
yellow eyes see more
than we can ever dream


Sunday 10 September 2017

Read My Poem And Buy The Book

I wrote this a couple of years ago and submitted it to a few publications as you do. It has ended up being published in Creel 3: An anthology of creative writing; a product of the Centre for Creative Writing at Essex University. I could not be happier. I read it at the launch evening, along with some other lovely and talented writers and fellow postgrad students. Held at The Wivenhoe Bookshop as part of the Wivenhoe ArtSea Festival, (and published by their own publishing imprint Wivenbooks), you could do worse than visit a brilliant independent family bookshop and buy a copy for yourself.


Questions

If the Jackdaw that struts across your lawn
like a soldier on parade
stopped and spoke to you of his loneliness,
Would you listen?

If you could hear the cry of the salmon
caught in the eagles claws,
Would you care?

If you saw the fear in the eyes of the moth
trapped in the spiders web,
Would you set it free?

Does the noise the doe makes
as she tries to find her way back
to the safety of the herd
disturb you?

When the leaf falls from the tree
do you feel sadness for its loss,
or joy at the change of seasons?

If you had just one wish
from a Djinns lantern
would you ask for your heart's desire
or would you set another free
from the prison of their own longing?

How many lies would it take
to awaken the phoenix of truth
that sleeps on your tongue?

and how many lives will you need
to live
before you can look death in the face
and still walk the path you have chosen?

Have my questions
tightened the rope you bind yourself with
or opened a door to a greater perception?

Only you have the answer.

I am just a white room
on a sunlit day
with a mirror on every wall.
Wherever you turn
you will see your own reflection
looking back at you.


Will you live here?