An evening out

A manic day, rushing about
More emails in than emails out
Early start and finish late
Not denting much my full workstate

So what a pleasure now to find
Time to relax, chill out, unwind
Companions best to ever be
Far more than friends, my family

An evening out to celebrate
Forgetting work and feeling great
The seven of us at Hare & Hounds
Laughing loud and out of bounds

©Jemverse

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Two ‘somethings’

I had two ‘somethings’, threw them high
watched them as they kissed the sky
Today was grey, but has been blue
and I’ve known it red and yellow too
First of summer here today
Though you’d never know from all the grey

The howling wind, the temperature
Still pretty low for time of year
But days they will be longer now
and lighter evenings do somehow
convey the sense that summer’s here
bringing warmth with smiles and cheer

I shouted then and laughed aloud
as I watched the sky with heavy cloud
For plenty have I in my life
Four loving children, lovely wife
A house I live in, close to sea
Two dogs that grow old gracefully

Two ears to hear the music play
that greets me almost every day
Two eyes to see the pleasures fill
a life complete but fuller still
So care not I that outside today
It’s fairly cold and prone to grey

For it’s April soon and that will bring
Some warmer days and cause to sing
And meantime the ‘somethings’ that I snare
I’ve thrown away with no more care
And I’ll laugh as they are blown away
on the back end of a winter’s day

©Jemverse

Hidden Strength

With a calming serenity, the lapping sea
silently approaches the shore
and with the faintest of whispers, turns on itself
before slipping back for more

Best sampled with naked toes
when the summer’s at its height
this kiss of soft warm water hides
the ocean’s strength and might.

©Jemverse

Reunion

We last
saw our
only son a long year gone
but yesterday reunion brought us all
together again
as one
Big smiles

Ten thousand
miles apart
Far too many degrees of separation
(Thank goodness for FaceTime and Skype)
Yesterday ended
that need
Big smiles

We six
now one
Completed family, friends together, united again
like Christmas and Easter and birthdays
at the
same time
Big smiles

©Jemverse

This written in ‘Trinet Poem’ form – three verses of 7 lines, centred and with a repeated sequence of 2, 2, 6, 6, 2, 2, 2. Together they form the shape of three crosses. 

Happy thoughts

Another journey, ears are cold
Morning’s here (or so I’m told)
Five forty-five, a half light’s here
Find the time, get back in gear

Another train, a few more miles
Put on brave face, greet it with smiles
Find some words, write them down
as on I go to London town

Coffee would go down a treat
but I’m thankful that I have a seat
For every single one is taken
A packed commuter (not mistaken)

So, Victoria bound, I sit and write
as fields pass by all clad in white
For though late March it is still cold
And winter still has a firm hold

Yet there is promise and the sun
Tells me that warmth is still to come
That thought alone will spur me on
Retaining smiles ’til journey’s done

©Jemverse

Five bridges

Gleams the sun
on slow Tyne
Five bridges reflected
the moment, mine

Silence reigns
Newcastle stirs
Five bridges reflected
vision blurs

Brief a shiver
morning chill
Five bridges reflected
spurs my will

Captured a view
and looking good
Five bridges reflected
where I stood

©Jemverse

Blurred fields

There are no hills out there
Quickening, as light fades
the green speeds by

Yellow, a far horizon glows
‘neath a darkening strip
with smoke drifting

Barren trees in sparse hedgerows
The cast light of dusk falls
as wheels clatter

Cocooned in warmth within
the chill’s respite hastens
and blurred fields pass

Then, as light finally whispers away
miles of wide green darken
and a journey continues.

©Jemverse

Nuts

Squirrels at play in the sunshine
Chasing around and around
One eating nuts in the branches
Two playing games on the ground

Paused for a moment to watch them
Simple pleasures to linger to see
Three squirrels just doing their squirrely things
And posing for pictures with me

 

©Jemverse

Daffodil

I think that if there’s one
thing to remind me of the Spring
It is the humble daffodil
and the pleasure it will bring

It’s all about the yellow
Bringing warmth sealed by the sun
and it’s something of the promise
at shadow’s end with light begun

From the monochrome of winter
the brightest colour for a while
The bright but humble daffodil
is sure to bring a smile

©Jemverse

Flight of the Pelican

There’s a tall ship in the harbour
I can see its three masts pointing
Above the houses at the waterside
Like a landmark to the sea

There’s a tall ship in the harbour
I can feel its ropes and rigging
Almost like a distant voice
that echoes down to me

There’s a tall ship berthed in harbour
In dry dock with people mending
Whilst the waves out there they linger
At the passing of each hour

There’s a tall ship berthed in harbour
Hear the song the sea is singing
As it waits for keel to join again
with its majestic power

There’s a tall ship leaving harbour
Sails fill and find the wind again
And water of the waves embrace
To kiss the rising keel

There’s a tall ship leaving harbour
Setting sail for Weymouth waters
The Pelican in ‘flight’ again
with aplomb and flair and zeal

©Jemverse

The ‘Pelican of London’ is a three-master Barquentine with a keel laid in 1948. She’s unique is being the only vessel in the world to carry a rig based on the 16th-17th century Barbary Coast ‘Xebec-Poleacre’, successfully used by pirates for over 200 years. Originally serving as an Arctic trawler and coastal trading vessel, she is now a full-time training ship. In September 2012, the Pelican attained worldwide notoriety as being the first sailing ship to carry fare-paying customers across the Atlantic from Liverpool to the West Indies in over a century.