1479

We are surrounded

By children on holiday

All making a din.

Brian Hick July 2015

©copyright Sally Hick 27.6.26

 1478

Children's voices playing in the tide,

Cut the endless pulsing of the waves.

A  solitary gull rests on the air.

Grey clouds gather in the south

Threatening rain even as we sit

Waiting in the sunlight.

Tea and cake entice a red squirrel

And our table turns

Into a photo opportunity for passing tourists.

On Victoria's private beach the sun

Briefly warms us, then moves north

Exposing the brilliance of a sail

A flash of Spinnaker.

Brian Hick June 2015

©copyright Sally Hick 24.6.26

 1477

I wait until the train's announcement stops

When only the tap of laptops and the click

Of iphones can excuse the hesitation

Before the first ideas begin to tick.

But words lie scrambled somewhere in my brain

And only as they spill out on the page

Shaping themselves into familiar forms

Can I begin to see what they might mean.

Six lines to go after the first quatrains;

The end's in sight and now I must display

A pithy couplet to ensure the tag

Will capture all I really wan to say.

            There, it is finished, but I doubt you'll find

            Any hint of  what's deep in my mind.

This poem is about nothing;

Writing poems is easy -

Saying something is hard.

Brian Hick June 2015

©copyright Sally Hick 22.6.26

 1476

For you are here - felt it from the start

Even though the gale which broke the day

Came near to tearing us apart -

for you are here.

At first I thought you were too far away

And I'd be left in silence and alone

Until your gentle cloud of love held sway

Enfolding me, allowing me to hone

A listening heart, receptive to the way

That leads me to yourself - and we are one

For you are here.

Brian Hick June 2015

©copyright Sally Hick 20.6.26

 1475

The pigeons and the squirrels get along.

Below the garden wall a young squirrel

Forages for seeds

Stopping when she finds one

Alert to any competition

Then

On hind legs

Sits and eats.

A lazy wood-pigeon

Waddles down the path

Pecking aimlessly at anything

Which comes in view,

Back to back

They ignore each other

Only concerned when foreigners -

Magpies casing the garden

Humans putting out seed -

Interrupt their placid

Acceptance

At which point they disappear

But not for long

Having more in common

Than we with them.

Brian Hick June 2016

©copyright Sally Hick 17.6.26

 1474

Budget

Apart from the one in London

They have a house in France

A home in Grindelwald

All big - so everyone can congregate.

On the day the poor were

Smashed, income decimated

And those without

Promised less.

How can I do this and not feel guilty?

How can I be giving up the fight?

While I am drinking Pimms and eating Salmon

The country's poor are sinking out of sight.

A   Budget which has ripped the heart from families

Who up to now have just about survived

But take away all benefit and succour

And how are any of them now to live?

But carryon! Don't worry for the people

The champagne dregs are bound to trickle down

Or better still if IT takes their places

We're shot of them for ever - thank the Lord.

Brian Hick June 2015

©copyright Sally Hick 15.6.26

 1473

Today I am a

Real commuter with coffee

And croissant in hand.

Brian Hick June 2015

©copyright Sally Hick 12.6.26