31 July 24

Heavy rain at night

And heavy rain during the day

I stayed indoors

Sleeping and waking

Listening and watching

Privileged to be warm and dry

[02 August 2024]

30 July 24

There’s the pain

Of not seeing my children

And no one answering the phone

And then

There’s the pain

Of seeing children of Gaza

Maimed and broken, murdered and martyred

As the genocide

Rages on in

Palestine

[30 July 2024]

29 July 24

that day slipped by

so I’m writing today

for yesterday

probably

a metaphor

of my life

[30 July 2024]

28 July 24

jumping hoops

metaphorically

and filling forms

electronically

[28 July 2024]

27 July 24

 

There’s a fire out west

Between the island peaks

And the clouds above

[27 July 2024

26 July 24

What moment yesterday

Remains in my mind?

What feeling yesterday

Resides in my heart?

What colours yesterday

Are captured in my eyes?

There’s no photos from yesterday

In my phone

Except photos of genocide

Shared on social media

Seared in my core

[27 July 2024]

25 July 24

They stand and they applaud

A genocidal congress

While the lies flow

The bombs fall

And the tanks fire

The people of Palestinian

Are bleeding and torn

Dying in droves

Yet defiantly living

[25 July 2024]

24 July 24

Sunset like a water colour

The palest of yellow

Washes

Deep into indigo

[24 July 2024]

23 July 24

Just a form

And all those attachments

Submitted finally

Will it lead to

Humiliation

Again

Or the success

Of registration?

[23 July 2024]

22 July 24

A down day

Unable to start

Unable to continue

An early escape

For a walk through the trees

[22 July 2024]

21 July 24

Leonard sings he can

He can’t make the hills

But me, I’ve made the hills

My small house looking

Out over the trees

From up high

Here on the hills

[21 July 2024]

20 July 24

Focus

On the screen

to think

On the page

to read

On distant trees

to be still

[20 July 2024]

19 July 24

Clouds hang low

Green hills fade to grey

A steady sound of drizzle

(Is there a word for that sound?)

A piwakawaka flits over

Then flits away

[20 July 2024]

18 July 24

It’s your birthday

Not the day you died

I remember you

All day long

From time to time

[19 July 2024]

17 July 24

When the bombs fall

We all do

Two legs, or four

[18 July 2024]

16 July 24

This body

doesn’t want to move

This mind

doesn’t want to think

Let me hide

Awhile

[16 July 2024]

15 July 24

There’s things

There’s limbs

Strewn all over the place

Remnants of a school

Bombed

[15 July 2024]

14 July 24

In a cloudy sky

Breaks appear

The sun emerges just

As it goes down

[14 July 2024]

13 July 24

Vincent overboard

Her ghostly appearances

More at peace

Than her earlier life

[13 July 2024]

12 July 24

Brave young men

Resisting extinction

Step right up

To the machines

Of annihilation

Place their gift

Run for cover

[12 July 2024]

11 July 24

Another fan!

“…but we have the music”

Lights up my evening

[11 July 2024]

10 July 24

Got to get those emails done

Got to get to bed

Got to get up early

Got (made up) obligations!

[10 July 2024]

09 July 24

Simmering soup

Shades of yellow and orange

Pumpkin, carrot, curry

Potato subsumed

[09 July 2024]

08 July 24

It’s a discipline

To be here

To be aware

To see what is

Just as it is

[08 July 2024]

07 July 24

There’s no mother-in-law here

Just the dracaena trifasciata

Growing strong

Growing tall

[08 July 2024]

06 July 24

shiny apples in the bowl

a pear

peeps

out

[08 July 2024]

05 July 24

A reminder pops up

I dismiss it

Then forget it

Until the next day

The next reminder

[06 July 2024]

04 July 24

Nearly two years

Still surrounded by boxes

Don’t want to commit

To where I am

[04 July 2024]

03 July 24

Sitting at my desk

There’s more space

An open vista

Over the trees

Finding myself again

[04 July 2024]

02 July 24

Missed days

Missed nights

There’s work and kids

Genocide on stream

And just

Remembering to breathe

[04 July 2024]

01 July 24

Seeds planted

but time is up

Will they hibernate?

Waiting to grow.

Or are they lost?

[01 July 2024]

Nearly back

I want to take a photo of the clouds

But the train moves too fast

Slices into the ground

Emerges

Disappears into trees

Green blurs on both sides

A squeaky rattle from the luggage rack

Vibrations from the steel tracks below

Nearly back to Hereford

The sun triumphantly bursts through the clouds

[14 May 2012]

Held

I am grateful

To those that held me

With your words

With your silences

With your arms

It’s been a tough year

On top of several

[24 December 2023]