Peace is my parting gift to you

This is Joanna’s middle son, Jon.

 Joanna died on Aug 21, 2020.

Before she died she asked me to post a message here for you.  (Several times over the last year I’ve heard her say with a firm chuckle “I don’t hold with this ‘passing away’ business – I’m going to die, and then I will be dead.”)

 Her blog was a common topic of conversation with us and I very much enjoyed receiving its weekly updates.  Pictures of me and my kids have been in it, I know she enjoyed running it (and of course the writing!), and I hope you have enjoyed the journey you’ve undertaken with her and her poems, stories, and everything in between.

Take care, be at peace, love each other.

Rathtrevor

We had a wonderful three-day mini-break up-Island in May, all Covid protocols followed:
masks, social distancing etc., with sun, wind, kites …

RATHTREVOR                                                  

the beach stretches
to distant horizon

a faint line of waves
breaks on far sand

a couple with their dog
at the tide-line

I watch crabs scuttle
into the shade of pebbles

small cone-shaped shells
rock to their movement

a thread of seaweed stirs
the sky flickers
in a tide-pool

A

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Frame and The McGuire – ‘… a gentle yet striking novel about the way our perception influences our judgement of others.’ Amy Mathers. For ages 8-13 … published by Tradewind Books available on Amazon or your local bookstore.

Baseball Distance

The stands have virtual sound, virtual hot-dogs, and the game goes on
with runners at bat, everyone on the field …

BASEBALL DISTANCE                                 

the stands are full
of ghosts
the lingering smell
of stale hot dogs
and forgotten cheers

the bowler
sends a forkball
down the line
the base-runner
leans forward
right fielder leaps
shortstop lags
and a spectral
home run curls
over the stands

A

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To Bethlehem: ‘This little book is delightful, full of … poems on this timeless subject. … the most fun is the little prose vignettes of the common people in the Christ-child story. The slave who looks after the wise men’s camels, or the overworked maid at the inn who has to fetch water for the birth, and many more. A lovely gift for the reader on your Christmas list!’ Rosalind Adams. Available from Amazon and Kindle.

Collectively Speaking

I’ve always loved collective nouns, they can be such fun, definitely worth making a poem out of them …

COLLECTIVELY SPEAKING

for a craft of hackers

a gambol of dancers
sends a poke of fencers
past a staff of employees
who gossip about
an indecision of managers
wanting to introduce
a bond of secret agents
into a quarrel of lawyers
which will only confuse
a ream of bureaucrats
asleep behind
a craft of hackers
unheard under
the whistle of modems
used by a flock of tourists
in a maze of canyons
where a fright of ghosts
sends a run of cowards
into the arms
of a gossip of columnists
to be seized by
a clutch of kleptomaniacs

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A Bedroom of Searchlights’: poetry. This collection draws a picture of the poet’s divorced mother, an artist with two children, who struggled with poverty, war, and the realities of daily life, yet still found beauty and comfort in her garden, and her art. From Inanna Publications, 2016.

Going Shopping

So many of us have stayed away from stores for months that, when we
get there, it’s become a real treat …

GOING SHOPPING

trawling for groceries                           
collecting masked smiles
kindness & directions
between cans    packets
before finding prunes
cucumber & jar lids

these necessities
of the moment
as we spin
in pandemic     fear
from village to city

a man at the check-out
laughs at having
extra time off

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Frame and The McGuire – ‘… a gentle yet striking novel about the way our perception influences our judgement of others.’ Amy Mathers. For ages 8-13 … published by Tradewind Books available on Amazon or your local bookstore.

Fortified

I’ve posted an Adnomination before, where I take a morpheme (a root meaning that is shared by many words) and use it in multiple ways. Fun to do and, hopefully, fun to read. Here, as you’ll see I’ve use ‘for’ as the root …

FORTIFIED (Adnomination)

it took forever
for him to get the forecast                                    
from foreign parts
so it was a foregone
conclusion that his forfeit
would not be forgiven
until he had forged
a formal description
of the foreclosure
on the forestry
though he forgot
both day and a former
colleague’s form-work
on the fortification
with a perfectly forced
foreground made four
times fortissimo

A

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To Bethlehem: ‘This little book is delightful, full of … poems on this timeless subject. … the most fun is the little prose vignettes of the common people in the Christ-child story. The slave who looks after the wise men’s camels, or the overworked maid at the inn who has to fetch water for the birth, and many more. A lovely gift for the reader on your Christmas list!’ Rosalind Adams. Available from Amazon and Kindle.

Total Eclipse

I’m an avid moon-watcher, love to see it through the trees round our home, its changing position and light as the night rolls round (I’m a poor sleeper!) …

TOTAL ECLIPSE

the moon followed me
home one night
slipped each beam                                 
in a footprint
spun lengths of shine
about my head
whispered light
against my eyes
then opened the door
and slid into the house
before me
to lie on the floor
catch my feet
and take me back
out and up
up and into the sky

A

first published by Tree House Arts

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A Bedroom of Searchlights’: poetry. This collection draws a picture of the poet’s divorced mother, an artist with two children, who struggled with poverty, war, and the realities of daily life, yet still found beauty and comfort in her garden, and her art. From Inanna Publications, 2016.

3 Heron haiku

I love herons; they are so elegant. I love the way they stand in the shallows, or on banks, watching. Their slow flight, beautiful to see …

blue heron
hunched on a post
The Thinker

Great Blue Heron

*****

boats keeled over
on the mud
a blue heron

*****

one heron keeps watch a ferry docks

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Frame and The McGuire – ‘… a gentle yet striking novel about the way our perception influences our judgement of others.’ Amy Mathers. For ages 8-13 … published by Tradewind Books available on Amazon or your local bookstore.

Tired Language

Platitudes, clichés, banalities … they show up newspapers, magazine articles, and on the daily news, until I turn my hearing down and reach for strong words. Or just turn off altogether …

TIRED LANGUAGE

I deep-fry the alphabet                                       
in pure olive oil
dip a spoon to gather
leaves of novelettes
scatter exotica in mail boxes
to be hand-delivered
dripping vowels on doormats

then slide in pages of dialogue
over the floor up & downstairs
to parse each riser before
wiping down the banister

A

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To Bethlehem: ‘This little book is delightful, full of … poems on this timeless subject. … the most fun is the little prose vignettes of the common people in the Christ-child story. The slave who looks after the wise men’s camels, or the overworked maid at the inn who has to fetch water for the birth, and many more. A lovely gift for the reader on your Christmas list!’ Rosalind Adams. Available from Amazon and Kindle.

beach scene

It’s beach time, summer and the lazy days of sun and watching waves
splash on sand. Time to swim or read or do absolutely nothing and all
of it outside, as long as it doesn’t rain …

BEACH SCENE (chain verse)

a single gull hangs above the lake                                   
hovering on the wind’s wild roar
and watches waves

and watches waves curling white, break
against the grey and sandy shore
where a child braves

where a child braves the water’s chill
by dashing in, and out again
it is too cold

it is too cold to be a thrill
though it is July, clouds foretell rain
and blowing cold

A

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A Bedroom of Searchlights’: poetry. This collection draws a picture of the poet’s divorced mother, an artist with two children, who struggled with poverty, war, and the realities of daily life, yet still found beauty and comfort in her garden, and her art. From Inanna Publications, 2016.