Tri-Haiku XL (soon)

Soon all these weekends
will be an everyday thing
as I count the days

Soon my time will be
insufficient for counting
on just ten fingers

Soon my every day
will be weekends forever
So I count the days

©Jemverse

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St Lawrence’s Lament

Deconsecrated hallowed walls to commercial gain
Shamefaced the stone walls weep
The ageing tower crenels kiss the sky
and now glazed windows
arch to residential pews

Adjacent still, forlorn the church school doors
etched into stone now hide
the jubilant voice of eager learning
faded into silent time
closed to commercial mind

Yet still an echo calls from  passing years
religion's words still cry
to this edifice, a monument to former days
saved from demolishment
from those now re-interred

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

[St Lawrence’s church was built in the 15th century with 18th and 19th century additions. It was deconsecrated in the early 1960s and had become derelict until 2021 when it became part of the Ballymore led Brentford re-development project. As a part of the re-development, 850 bodies including the Commonwealth graves of two First World War heroes, victims of the 1642 civil war Battle of Brentford and builders of the Grand Union Canal in the 19th century were exhumed and re-interred in a Woking cemetery. The ex-church building has now been remodelled to provide luxury housing].

The hidden poem

There once was a poem, it lived in my head
where it churned and prospered and grew
Words came and went, stanzas they changed
Syntax coaxed old from the new

And unlike the ones that I write every day
this one shunned limelight and stayed
mysteriously there in the background
not yet to be up there, displayed

But then one proud day it appeared on the page
and encouraged my pen with its form
the one it had nurtured all of this time
waiting there in the wings to adorn

My Jemverse poetry blog with the rest
that I publish each day without fail
hoping to illicit from those who read
as another one here to regale

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Old Father Thames and a slow evening

Spent a while with Old Father Thames
as it meandered slow to the sea
far to the east from where I was then
down in the Thames Estuary
As here I am bathed in late evening sun
in Brentford, West London this week
May's weather sees summer returning at last
evident here as I speak

For this evening the peace by the river is fine
almost quiet in a London-like way
slow with assurance now work's day is done
to show itself to me today
In a while I will wander back to the hotel
but for now with contentment complete
I'll sit here and watch as the river rolls by
satisfied and relaxed and replete

©Jemverse

Photo – Kew Bridge, Brentford, West London – Jempics

Night Words

In Brentford, West London beside Father Thames
three in the morning and still
a poet with pen writes lines in the night
to the scratch of proverbial quill

Words tend to flow at this time of night
for the mind is a curious thing
and sometimes when slumber seems eons away
the colour of rhyme will just sing

But cathartic the rhythm and flow of the song
to encourage and coax tiring eyes
as the writer completes the verse with a flair
it will often catch up by surprise

He reads back and smiles at the words on the page
which his pen has etched in the night
before downing his tools for slumber once more
dowsing to silence the light

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Start 10

10 of 12 in the ’12 months VI’ series

I have summer and sunshine here in my grasp
and I'm not letting go, so don't even ask
They're mine and neither is going away
so no fretting there as I start this display

For I am fair June and the summer is mine
so most of my days will be lovely and fine
And you will be warm and blissfully free
as you celebrate this, the summer with me

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Last Day #5

5 of 12 in the ‘Last Day 23’ series

And the last day of May
comes as June takes the stage
with a bow as summer returns
So good at long last to get a warm blast
of the sunshine as strongly it burns

So as May fades to silent
with its last curtain call
we applaud as it gave of its best
and brought us the sun for long days of fun
in exuberance of summer's zest

©Jemverse

Photo – detail from Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ – Jempics

The sunflower is mine

I met Vincent in a painting
there was yellow everywhere
two men who loved the sunshine
for a synergy right there

Cathartic was the moment
though he's no longer here
but the colour in his painting
still brings to us good cheer

And being in that moment
with his life's work on the wall
projected light in motion
I with Vincent stood there tall

©Jemverse

Photo – Emily Rose Croucher

[Van Gogh Alive is an interactive experience of Vincent’s life work in sound and motion which combines projected images of his paintings onto huge screens, ceilings and floors together with quotes from his letters and compatriots. There are animations and stills, extracts and full works all condensed into a 45-minute rolling programme showcasing his prolific 2,010 work repertoire created mostly during the last two years of his short 37-year life, The experience showcased in Brighton as a part of the 2023 Arts Festival].

Five verses five days (5)

5 of 5

I wrote a poem with five verses
one for every day
which I could publish on my blog
whilst I was away

The first one introduced the theme
(you read that yesterday)
but now you will be wondering
if substance I'll display

And never fear my readers
I'll not leave you feeling spent
as never will a poem
leave my pen without intent

The only caveat with this
is you read this through the week
to find out with the fifth stanza
that intent of which I speak

So here it is come Friday
no longer it's concealed
a ploy that kept you reading
til the purpose was revealed

©Jemverse

[This poem was posted over five days on Jemverse between Monday 22nd and Friday 26th May 2023 – one more verse per day, building up to five]

Five verses five days (4)

4 of 5

I wrote a poem with five verses
one for every day
which I could publish on my blog
whilst I was away

The first one introduced the theme
(you read that yesterday)
but now you will be wondering
if substance I'll display

And never fear my readers
I'll not leave you feeling spent
as never will a poem
leave my pen without intent

The only caveat with this
is you read this through the week
to find out with the fifth stanza
that intent of which I speak...

©Jemverse

[Part V – the conclusion – tomorrow]