I got to thinking
Life’s too short
for anything else
save that I ought
to do and think
and be about
and nothing else
there is no doubt
Cos tomorrow is
another day
and what is past
and come what may
For today I am
and that’s a fact
precious little
can detract
It’s what it is
a treasure and
a life worth living
hand in hand
The present tense
the ‘c’est la vie’
is all that should
be here daily
Stepped on a crack in the pavement of life
And heard something chasing me
Turned and saw the bears of the night
Bricked it, suddenly
Ran so hard I thought I would die
But the bears were still hot on my trail
Panicked, I thought of a way to be free
But thought it would probably fail
Knew it was the only thing left to do
So I leapt for the space in between
And behind me I watched the bears disappear
As I fell to the ground breathlessly
Turned my head to the earth to cry
But a strong hand reached out for mine
Led me away from the cracks in the road
Showed me the narrow line
Said it was hard to follow sometimes
But promised to always be there
Smiled and said to follow him
Led me away from the bears
Whatever you do, Whatever you take
Whatever you see, Whatever you make
Whatever you carry, Whatever you use
Whatever you give, Whatever you lose
Whatever you love, Whatever you cherish
Whatever you hold, Whatever you perish
Whatever you tarnish, Whatever you clean
Whatever you muster, Whatever you glean
Whatever you think, Whatever you feel
Whatever you break, Whatever you heal
You are, as am I, not simply whatever
But really quite special, so never say never
Show me a colour, one that describes me
Look at my face – the colour behind my eyes
It cries for the sun and pines away on these rainy days
Curled in a ball and shivering,
It longs for a blue that paints the skies
I have a paintbox here somewhere; it has a bright palette
One I have used many times, mixing over and over
as old and dusty colours
lend their way to young ones bright and new
Blending easily with the marks I have made
There’s one hiding there with a hint of something interesting
I think it’s the one you need; something of the extra mile
Like the spreading rings of raindrops
as they fall to puddles
But there again, perhaps I am imagining things
Come closer. I’ll show you a colour – one that describes me.
Is it blue or a yellow or an autumn gold? Is it mellow green
or amber, or purple or silver or any one of the
hundred thousand colours you have seen? No. It is every one of these
spreading like raindrop rings on water
In the sand we saw footprints that led to the sun
and we followed them true for a while
but then a distraction called from one side
so we scurried away with a smile
But the smile of distraction soon turned to a frown
and could never hold us for long
as we realised its shallow deception
and grew tired of its welcoming song
So we knew then the footprints were where we should be
to follow them on to the Son
for the truth, when it hit us was evident then
as the place where life was begun
Penultimate (11 of 12) in the ‘About Brighton’ series
Wandered round in Brighton
brought a brand new hat
Blue to match my sunglasses
Sylish (that’s a fact)
Felt much like a rock star
walking round the place
with lovely Brighton people
and a smile upon my face
It only cost a tenner
but it’s not about the price
For Jem’s new hat is perfect
and it’s really rather nice
Cathartic this wide expanse of beach
tide low under deep blue sky
just the tonic that I needed
as I wandered slowly by
Splashed winter boots in cold water
found a bright red shell
dragged my toe through the wet sand
with words I'll never tell
Felt the sun warm on my neck
wiped away the tear
replacing that with new found joy
as things became quite clear
With lucidity
lightbulb moments came to me
from left field this week
Caught me unaware but filled
the hole which had been growing
With lucidity
fulfilment left me complete
with realisation
And relaxed into happy
the proverbial clouds parted
With lucidity
the sunshine returned again
and with spring in step
I was dancing in my mind
Some decisions born of that
[Tanka is a Japanese poetic non-rhyming poem with a syllabic sequence of 5-7-5-7-7. ‘Tri-tanka is a derivative of Jemverse making, returned to periodically as part of an ongoing series]
Sat in the hospital waiting room
there with Sal for moral support
on a very cold winters' morning
('cos it's the right thing and I ought)
Here for an eyesight inspection
post-op (trust everything's good)
'cos we're not as young as we were
and things don't work quite as they should
But we're in a good place for the checking
all thanks to the NHS
whose care and attention and treatment
is nothing short of the best
...all about me and my life in words. I write most days, carrying an ideas book around in which I capture a word snapshot of life around me. So there's a lot here about Sussex and the sea and anything else I see that inspires.
The pictures are mine too. Some taken to match a poem; some poems written to match a pic; others chosen because they work well with words written.
Jemverse is life in words. Hope you enjoy the reading as much as I enjoy the writing...
Jemverse 