Sixteen hundred

Part 20 of 20 in ‘The Aegean Shores’ series

And of the sixteen hundred
just one-thirty occupied
Five this week we’ve been to
many more of which we’ve spied

Corfu, Kefalonia
Crete, Santorini, Rhodes
Five islands we’ve just been to
Though Greece, of course, has loads

It’s been a superb holiday
and though we’re homeward bound
we’re far from disappointed
with the joy there that we found

©Jemverse

Photo – the Thomson ‘Dream’ cruise liner – Jempics

[This is part 20 of a 20-part series charting a seven-day cruise with Tui from 11-18 August 2017, travelling from London to Corfu, then Kalamata (Greece), Santorini, Rhodes, Crete, Piraeus (Greece), Kefalonia, Corfu and London, some 3,870 nautical miles]

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Malaga I

Boarding our Dreamliner
Thompson did us proud
For we had extra legroom
and the engines weren’t too loud
The outbound flight as always
thrilled us to the core
England disappearing
through the window there we saw
And just two hours later
as we woke up from a snooze
The wheels touched down in Malaga
for our Iberian Treasures cruise

©Jemverse

Photos (top) – flying over Hampshire, UK; (bottom) – The Thompson ‘Spirit’, Malaga, Spain – Jempics
[‘Malaga I’ is 2 of 14 in the Jemverse ‘Iberian Treasures’ series]

1. Departures (29/8/16)
2. Malaga I (30/8/16)
3. Gibraltar (31/8/16)
4. Gibraltar II (1/9/16)
5. All at sea (2/9/16)
6. Lounging (3/9/16)
7. Three sixty degree sea (4/9/16)
8. Vigo (5/9/16)
9. Atlantic Surge (6/9/16)
10. In from the fog (7/9/16)
11. Terracotta Rooftiles (8/9/16)
12. Lisbon 36 (9/9/16)
13. Seville (10/9/16)
14. Malaga II (11/9/16)

Lavender Nirvana

Found my lavender nirvana
down near Chichester today
A field of purple flowers
gave me heaven by the way
With intoxicating fragrance
and the sound of honey bees
There were tears of joy at just the sight
As I fell down to my knees

Brushed my fingers through the flowers
Walked between the rows
A hundred-thousand bushes
of French lavender there grows
Found my lavender nirvana
in this almost perfect place
A little slice of heaven matched
by the smile upon my face

©Jemverse

Photo – Lordington Lavender farm, north of Chichester, West Sussex – Jempics

The not quite there

Contemplative quiet and still
now seems as good a time
to sit back here, reflective
whilst I’m feeling fine

Can’t quite put my finger on
though I’m trying hard to share
Intangible, perched on the edge
it’s not exactly there

A memory, a ‘je ne sais quoi’
I’m not quite sure you see
It’s really most frustrating
and remains a mystery

©Jemverse

Joie de vivre

Lethargy keeps on creeping in
I think it is the time of year
As we’ve had too much of winter
and although the spring is near
The cold won’t seem to leave us
and though we do have days of sun
they’re not at present warm enough
to give a sense of fun

We’ve had the trudge of winter now
for months and months it seems
But it’s getting really boring
so we need that stuff of dreams
Bring back to us that spring of step
that joie de vivre and zest
and the long warm days of sunshine
which will find us at our best

©Jemverse

The whimsy of treasured memories

Closeted in the cupboards of minds
and kept for a rainy day
memories of the halcyon times
Dreams are filed away

Days from childhood, days from youth
retained to often share
many things taken save for these
All kept and treasured there

A sacrosanct trove of happiness
as the years pass swiftly by
brought out and dusted down when we
with whimsy breathe a sigh

©Jemverse

Sleep

Burning quietly in the night
a single flame flickered
reminding me in its yellow glow
of a distant place
where memories linger
soft in the warm whimsy
of a cathartic embrace.
And, cocooned in this
delicious sequence
the dove-cote doors of sleep
carried me gently away

©Jemverse