Mam

It's a perilously  cold night

Icicles hanging from the

Chandeliers

 the oil heater has just run out

 of paraffin because we've just drank the last drop.

There's only our beds and the candle light to keep us warm. 

Oh! Well

  'God save our gracious liver'.

Island Bay

Island Bay

I've returned back home

to the windy bay

the coloured roof tops

and the restless straits

I'm staring at the picket fence

summer flowers

vibrant in the summer sun

grateful to be back in love

with all such things 

a resplendent 

light of familiarity.

Avie.

My Sisters Place

My Sisters Place

The old woman 

at the end of the bed

startled  my attention 

awake from sleep

the dog with the 

one eye sewn up 

like an antique teddy bear

barks in the corner of the room 

senses there is something 

inside the cupboards

hidden from the conscious eye

only Molly can see

the ghost of old Mrs Liberty.

Avie.

St Deiniol Church

 Church of St  Deiniol 

Llanddeiniolen

Yew trees

Witness 

a small boy 

with flowers

a wreath is placed on

Christmas Eve.

The removal of

dead flowers 

the rancid stench of season

is emptied out of green jars.

It is early  autumn

a bumper crop of

wild black berries grow from

the immortal fruit stock

shooting out of 

the skeleton cracks

slate tomb stones

expose dark cobwebs

and the expectation of skulls.

A morbid hue falls 

with rain

it's a dark day

the mountains feel

deceptively close 

over the stone wall

and above the pylon hills

Snowdon is

fading

into sky.

Avie.

The Menai

The Menai 

The sandpiper skims over 

the green rippled contours

of waves

a dark wing

flirts with

the falling light

almost touching 

the moonlight 

but never quite.

my mother is pouring

another glass and asks

If anyone fancies more

cheese and crackers

my Father retreats 

into the back room

to watch Manchester United.

Avie.

Waterloo Underground

Waterloo Underground

The escalators

fall steeply 

into the labyrinth 

the accordion is playing a song

from the Second World War 

how this place sheltered the people 

from the German Luftwaffe.

A rush of warm air

clatters under the city 

signals the next train

doors slide open 

the tannoy announces

mind the gap.

It's rush hour 

standing room only

on the jubilee line

two stops down

from Tower Bridge

my heart is with you

in Island Bay.

Avie.

Christmas Day (Surrey England)

Christmas Day( Surrey England)

Crows caw in the dark forest

the early light beckons on a

gloomy sky

a car drives by with

red ribbon boxes

packed to the brim.

It is a cold morning start 

the engine fume 

breaks the spell

in the hollow silence.

Winter's fallen beauty

broken on the paths of

a brittle season 

darkness and decay

bruised on the floor 

remnants 

of December.

Avie.