BUTTERFLIES FLUTTER BY # 1

 

Butterflies flutter by

In Magnolia melancholy

On gossamer wings

THE HEDGEHOG CULL

 

The campaigners have won

The Hedgehog cull won’t be done

They argued it shouldn’t go ahead

It was just wrong they said

Saying they were un putdown-able

I think they are just un pickup-able

THE RICH FED GROUSE THRIVE ON THE MOOR

 

The rich fed grouse thrive on the moor

The golden hare lives on the valley floor

In the meadow you’ll find rabbits there

While the fox sits patiently in his lair

DREAM LAKE

 

The dark lake at midnight reflected back

Her own image, she knew this to be her

Bu why was she at the lake at midnight

Why did she not know how she got there?

And why was she naked one the lake shore

A cool breeze blew off the quiet water

It played gently with her auburn curls

Caressing her velvet skin, arousing her

She felt her nipples erect then shivered

But not from the cold, she felt a passion

Welling up within her, a heat she had

Not felt before and may never feel again

Was everything as it appeared to seem

Or was it in fact just a vivid dream

BIRD ON A REED

 

A reed moves

Under a bird’s meagre weight

The reed disturbs the calm water

Ripples echo outwards

Across the lake

Flat calm on a balmy eve

Each ripple expands out

And with each inch it grows

It stretches and diminishes

Until it is no more

Until another bird settles

On another reeds stem

I WANT TO LIVE

 

I want to live

Where you can see stars

In the night sky

And it actually gets dark at night

 

I want to live

Where the riverbanks

Are grass and reed

And the dominant colour is green

 

I want to live

Where the animals

Outnumber cars

And I know all my neighbours by name

 

I want to live

An idyllic country life

In a village or on a farm

In a chocolate box paradise

GOOSED

 

The snow geese

In a massive flock

Take flight in unison

Filling the whole sky

Like clouds of white smoke

Billowing up from unseen fires

Rippling across the sky

As far as the eye can see

Almost blocking out the sun

So begins the migration

BENEATH AUTUMNAL SKIES

 

Beneath autumnal skies

The suns strength diminishes

With each passing day

Then foliage turns slowly

From green to gold

And finally, to red and brown

Before fluttering to earth

The gentle late summer breezes

Make them dance

And when breeze turns to raging storm

They’re sent swirling

As if court in some frenetic snow globe

The lucky ones escape this chaos

And ends their short lives

Trapped Beneath hedgerows

Or blown into quiet corners

The rest whirl like dervishes

Hither and thither

Until the winter rains

Turn them to mush under foot

OCTOBERNESS

 

Misty mornings

Start dim and dismal

Penetrating Dampness

Seeping into your bones

Some days it brightens later

Enough for shirtsleeves

Then when darkness falls

Curtains are drawn

At the months beginning

Grass is still growing green

The trees are well covered still

Then leaves turn green to yellow

Yellow is burnished to gold

Gold to burning red

Then red to earth

Beyond the equinox

Days have already become

More dark than light

Before the clocks fall back

And the sun sets sooner

Days of sunshine deceive

Sheltered pockets warm and confuse the senses

In the later days

When the residual warmth diminishes

The bite remains

To herald worse to come   

I DO NOT LIKE THAT

 

As by way of a general ruling

I have made this to be my doctrine

To dislike, distrust or fear

Any creature meeting these criteria

Anything with more limbs than I

Anything that moves faster than I

Anything with scales or feathers

Anything surviving extreme weathers

Anything having more teeth than I do

Any creature covered in goo

Anything that growls and grunts

That isn’t engaged in sexual stunts

Anything with claws and talons

Anything that drools by the gallons

Anything that’s excessively hairy

Any creature whose eyes are starey

Anything that bites or stings

Anything that uses wings

Anything with horns or armour

Anything with an aggressive demeanour

Anything too small to see

Anything that’s bigger than me

If you think of anything I've missed

Then I will add them to the list

BARK

 

Their whole life

Is etched into the bark

The trunks wear their story

To be read with the eye

Or touched like brail

Cracked and weathered

Like the face of an old mariner

Showing what was

And what is still

It protects like a pachyderm’s hide

It’s the first line of defense

Against any aggressor

Then when the tree falls

It’s the last to die

PASSING BY

Way up high

In the sky

Clouds pass by

I wonder why

On a bright day

Some might say

I see the milky way

Indeed, they may

Way up then

Near to heaven

I shall know when

Clouds pass again 

WIND

 

Wind is a wonderful thing

Invisibly it makes the leaves dance

And trees gyrate as if shaken

By an invisible hand

Water is pushed before it

Rain and snow are driven by it

It ripples through cornfields

Whispers in the grass

It whistles through canyons

Whines like a tortured spirit

Or scream like a banshee

It is a fickle force

It can be silent like a mouse

Or roar like a lion

Its gentleness can caress your cheek

Its awesome power

Can toss you like a rag doll

Or snap you like a twig

Its power is to be respected

It’s uncompromising and indiscriminate

A force to be reckoned with

Whether from the frozen north

Or a bitter easterly

A stormy westerly

Or a vengeful tempest from the south

PERFECT PARADISE

 

The crystal waters

Wash gently onto

Virgin white sand

Untrod by man

Unspoiled by technology

And no vapour trails

Mark the azure sky

 

The trees untended

Lay where they fell

The coconuts un-harvested

But for the wind

Lay untouched also

 

They beach stretched

As far as the eye could see

Far into the distance

Un-marked and un-scarred

No buildings

No phone masts

No pylons

No wind farms

Or streetlights

The only sounds to be heard

Were the waves breaking,

The gentle breeze in the palms

And assorted birdcalls

No gunfire

No car alarms

No train whistles

No sonic booms

Or traffic

Just a perfect silence

 

No flotsam of plastics and tins

Littered the beach

Just endless white sand’s

And perfect blue skies

The rustles of palm fronds

And warm scented breezes

So where is this paradise?

It’s in the long distant past

SYMPHONIC NATURE

 

Nature fills the world with sound

An infinite orchestra free to air

The wind can caress the trees

Rustling the leaves gently

Or make them beat like a tambourine

It can whistle through canyons

And talk in the high grass

Then add the percussion of distant thunder

Water tumbling down stream

Waves crashing on a rocky shore

And rain falling on a leafy canopy

Then a chorus made up from every creature

The bird world, myriad in variety

From hummingbird to nightingale

To rooks and crows

And then the insects from

Rhythmic crickets to buzzing bees

And animal kind contribute

Howling hounds, roaring big cats

Trumpeting elephants and squeaking mice

And when the elements really get going

They can bring the house down

NIGHT OWL

 

The graceful owl

Hunts at twilight

And listens to hear

A victim in the night

Then swoops down

In silent flight

Not to prevent

Its prey taking fright

But fear of losing

What is out of sight

PANDERING

 

The Giant Panda

To some extent

Is the architect

Of its predicament

Its choice of habitat

And fussy diet

Contributes greatly

To its demise, I regret

KING GEORGE’S PARAKEETS

 

It was unbearably hot

Unbearably humid

Even breathing was exhausting

Overcome with fatigue

I parked my jeep at the roadside

In a shaded spot

I recline my seat

And pulled my hat over my eyes

And tried to grab forty

My shirt was soaked with sweat

And stuck to me and the seat

It was no good I couldn’t sleep

It was the constant noise

But not from the traffic

Rumbling by

It was the birds

Squabbling parakeets

Hundreds of them

Chattering and squawking

I gave up trying to nap

And got back underway

You come to expect this

Next to an Australian highway

But not parked in a lay-by

Next to a reservoir in Staines

THE GIANT ATTRACTION

 

In captivity Panda’s suffer

Great indignity

They’re sexual failures

On display for all to see

MY FAVOURITE TIME

 

It’s my favourite time

A special time

A magical time

A time for romancing lovers

For shared enjoyment

Or solitary reflection

A time to drink in the vistas

Along with the cocktails

Awe inspiring displays

Whether over the open sea

Or beyond high distant mountains

Over prairie or savannah

Or painting barren desert

Or colouring the icy tundra

Illuminating a city landscape

Whether it’s across the river

Or behind the gas works

It’s a magical time

A special time

It’s my favourite time

When the sun sets

DAWN

The distant mountains

Pale in the mist

Reach up to the sky like children

Waiting to be kissed

 

As the sun comes slowly into view

It turns the vast sky blue

Birds awaken bright as the day

As if to chase the night away

THE ABERGELE ROADS

At dusk we walk slowly by the shoreline

The waves lapping at the sand break gently

While children play among the craggy rock pools

Or happily skimming stones on the sea

Dogs chase balls as we stand to consider,

The tide is it in, or out, no matter

The setting sun lights up the western sky

Illuminating stray clouds with gold strands

Then surrounding them with bright bursting rays

This sunburst silhouettes the beachcombers

Then blinds us all as it hits the wet sand

As quickly as it burst on us it was gone

Until we are blinded by the next one

Before the horizon swallows the sun

BEAR NECESSITIES

 

When in the North America forests

On holiday

Carry with you a whistle

And a can of pepper spray

Because you might meet a bear

 

A small bear eats mainly fruit

And the occasional squirrel

And can be easily scared away

With a sharp blast on your whistle

That’s how to deal with a small bear

 

A large bear won’t be frightened away

By a blast of your whistle

But a squirt of your pepper spray

Will do the trick not a lot just a little

That’s how to deal with a large bear

 

You can check if bears are in the area

By examining their droppings

If it smells of fruit

And contains squirrel fur

Then it was deposited by a small bear

 

However, if the more dangerous large bear

Left its deposit along the way

It will probably contain a whistle

And it will smell of pepper spray

WHITE NIGHT

Like a ribbon of pure white silk

The road crossed the dale

Frost coated the window pains

While the moonlight bathed the vale

 

Under the star filled winter sky

Icicles are illuminated by moonlight

The stark beauty of the landscape

Is best viewed in the glow of the firelight

LOOK AT THEM

 

They appear morning

Noon and night

They swell and grow

Rise and fall

And dissolve and shrink

They are sometimes thick

Sometimes thin

They are sometimes dense

Sometimes transparent

They move fast and slow

They cross treetops and fields

Lakes and seas

Homes and factories

Deserts and swamps

Tropical rainforests

And arctic tundra’s

They are beautiful and familiar

Strange and dramatic

They are myriad in form and shape

A face, a mountain, a fish

They are brown and gray

Steel blue and black

Yellow and gold

Lilac and pink

But mostly clouds are white

A PASSING CIVILIZATION

 

Fast food packaging

Hits the ground

As a car passes

Paper cups dance

In the artificial breeze

As a lorry passes

In the shrubbery

Tin cans and wrappers lie

As a pedestrian passes

Tickets, receipts, cartons

Bottles, tins and old refrigerators

Each successive piece surpasses

But nature will overcome

Our laziness and contempt

When our tenancy passes

WATER WAY

 

From the mountain high

On the summit icy

It begins to trickle

Toward its destiny

Trickle becoming stream

Very quickly

Its method brilliant

In its simplicity

It follows the path

Of least resistance

In its great race

To go the distance

Growing ever stronger

Under gravity

Deeper wider

And ever more rapidly   

A great river now

Heading for its destiny

And it’s fulfilled

When reaching the sea

SHORELINE

We walk together hand in hand

As we stroll across wet sand

The sun sets, as the day grows old

Turning silver seas to shining gold

We continue our walk-in twilight

As the moon illuminates the night

And the stars adorn the heavens

The sea breeze soon then freshens

Surf moves higher up the shore

We head back to home once more 

STORM FRONT

 

The gulls screech and scream

Swooping above the cliff top

On the waves below white horses ride

As the tide surge is broken to a stop

 

Fishing boats appear to dance

Driven by the weather to the south

They make slow progress in the swell

As they bob towards the harbour mouth

 

As the weather quickly closes in

The gulls desert the cliff top

Making their way inland to safety

Waiting patiently for the storm to stop

THROUGH FROSTED GLASS

 

The sheltered lowlands

In valleys by the acre

Dusted white as if

Sugared by a cake decorator

A picturesque fairyland

A scene of pure delight

Viewed through a window

You avoid the winter’s bite

Trees stripped bare

Dressed now in ice and frost

Shiver in the wind

Longing for the summer lost