Author Archive
Sunday, April 4th, 2010
click here for part1
I’m back in my usual seat in the corner of the kitchen. It’s a pew we bought from Anne’s church, St Peter in Eastgate, for £130. I’m told that the going rate at auction is £30 but what the heck. It’s charidee. £130 is what the new flexible seating costs per seat.
The church’s loss is my gain. As seats go it is absolutely rock solid. Bedded in by thousands of bottoms, mostly now dead and buried. There is something poetic about having it in the kitchen with me, a confirmed atheist, sat on it writing. I also eat on it of course. The kids fight to sit on it when we are eating.
(more…)
Tags:Isle of Man, Laxey, Lincoln, Peel, St Peter in Eastgate, third law of tinternet
Posted in 3rd law, prose | 4 Comments »
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
The April rain beats down on the roof. It comes in waves, like I’m being gently massaged by expert hands. Not showers but steady persistent wetness. Looking out I am comfortable. My face slumps. I can feel those fingertips caressing my temple. “Relax” the voice says.
The stillness inside contrasts with the constant motion of the hedge outside the window.
Drops convene and race others down the glass. Every one is a winner.
Tags:April rain
Posted in poems | No Comments »
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
The end of the road is a long long way
and with storm clouds gathering
there is no place to hide,
I think of the friends I have left behind
and wonder what they are doing,
wish they were with me on this long long ride
Photo – Lewis weather by Blues
Tags:Lewis weather
Posted in fusion, Land of Bent Grass, poems, the art gallery | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 29th, 2010
Dilapidated house in Lewis – by “Blues”
It was not an easy living and the kids eventually had to leave home to work over the water. They came back from time to time but then the old man died and there was no longer a reason to make the trip. The building lay empty and locked until one winter a storm ripped slates off the roof. The subsequent decline was rapid and the cottage soon became fit only for sheep and nesting birds. Never again would that hearth see a roaring fire in the grate.
Tags:Lewis
Posted in fusion, Land of Bent Grass, poems, the art gallery | No Comments »
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
South Uist Sunset – by Blues
I look at this scene and feel calm, the serenity of the South Uist sunset. The derelict building, a black cut out on the darkened promontory, is a focus for the mind on life on the island. Summer now but a different proposition in winter. As if I am being lulled into a false sense of wellbeing.
I spend a few minutes gazing and then retire to the cottage. The oil lamp is already lit. There is no fire in the hearth but the smell of peat lingers, mingling well with the whisky in my glass. We sit around the table in the kitchen and talk long into the night.
Tags:South Uist Sunset
Posted in fusion, Land of Bent Grass, poems, the art gallery | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
photo – “jura dawn” by Blues
waters gently lap
whilst the light slowly
grows in intensity,
nature’s perfect alarm clock
a gradual awakening,
reflection on the day ahead,
eastern promise exclaimed
in western islands, perfect
Tags:jura
Posted in fusion, Land of Bent Grass, poems, the art gallery | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
roll ‘em
fill ‘em full of whisky and roll ‘em
line ‘em up like gas-bloated porkers
brim with potential and gasping for kicks
release to an audience of nosey savants
significant savour,
bar brawl, shameful mix
full, of anticipation
empty, filling with expectation
or deepest reflection, innermost feeling
a cycle, start again
roll ‘em
fill ‘em full of whisky and roll ‘em
photo – Barrels by Blues
Tags:whisky
Posted in fusion, Land of Bent Grass, poems, the art gallery | No Comments »
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
My homepage is Google. It all started there. Don‘t ask me how because I never know where it is going to take me. Normally I just sit there and let it take over. Sometimes I just visit the same old sites. Every day. No imagination but I don’t really care. It’s a comfort factor. A bit like sitting in the same armchair day in day out. Same pair of familiar slippers maybe.
Anyway on this day I decided to do it differently. Like driving to work in a different way to the way you normally go. When I drive to work I’m usually on autopilot anyway. I don’t notice the route. I set off and I get there. Sometimes I (more…)
Tags:google
Posted in 3rd law, prose | 9 Comments »
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
The suspension on this one can be quite firm. If you are looking for passenger comfort you want a Mercedes.
Conversation overheard whilst passing a parked coach, one driver talking to another.
Tags:driver talk
Posted in miscellany | No Comments »
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
Landlords at the Strugglers Inn, Westgate, Lincoln.
1838 Philip Ball
1854 Mary Ann Ball
1856 Philip Ball Jnr
1869 Charles Frost
1875 William Roberts
1890 Thomas Thorndyke
1899 Charles Hagues
1904 Frank Brumpton
1917 Harriet Brumpton
1924 Patcick Markham
1935 Arthur Woodcock
1944 Amelia Wardle
1960 Charles R Wood
1966 Frank Ormsby
1988 Philip Hockney
1996 Anthony Reany
1996 Christopher Mansell
15/10/1999 Heidi Raabe
Note I’m going to have to go back and check some of these names. I can’t understand my own handwriting sometimes, especially after a beer.
Tags:The Strugglers
Posted in the art gallery | No Comments »
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
I know all the staff there.
Des has been in the chippy business all his life
I went there last Friday
they were queueing outside the door
it was raining and
I had to shelter under the awning outside
the queue was still the same length
even when I got to the front
he is moving to new premises
hopefully in July
the old Waggon and Horses
Tags:Des has been in the chippy business all his life
Posted in poems | No Comments »
