Friday, March 29, 2024

 1146

Friday


Jesus was dead - the soldiers made that certain.

They wouldn't let a criminal survive

Particularly a nasty trouble maker

Who claimed to be a King whilst still alive.


And so they broke the legs of the survivors

To finish them off before the sunset's glow

Then handed all three bodies on for burial

To anybody willing to do so.


But then all hell broke loose after the Sabbath.

The tomb was empty everybody said

Even the priests who'd set a guard upon it

And wanted him kept well and truly dead.


Rational thought can bring a thousand reasons

And Science knows the way things ought to be

But neither law nor logic seem convincing

For what went on at Easter Thirty-Three.


Brian Hick April 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 29.3.24

Thursday, March 28, 2024

 1145


If you are me and there is nothing else

If you are me and nothing is not we

Why should I fear, or doubt your gentle care

When all that is exists that we might be.


I do not mind that time limits my thinking

And that soon this mind will cease to be

For I was present before time existed

And will be present, with you, when we are free


Of all the shackles of temporal thought or being

Of all the words which try to pin us down

Only then, when all has ceased to struggle

Shall unity laugh at the victor's crown.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 28.3.24

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

 1144

Psalm


I love your silence

And the way you smile

When I rave and curse

Demanding you act now

Saying you don't care

You never listen,

When all the time

If only I would stop

For just one second

Your silence would speak worlds

And in the flow

The heat would melt away

And I would grow.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 26.3.24

Monday, March 25, 2024

 1143

The owl, unseen, sweeps silent on the vole;

The cat sneaks up upon the baby bird;

The tied dog howls into the coming dawn;

The brown rat scutters darkly and unheard;

Each one happy, living in the now,

Oblivious to death which lurks unreckoned

A breath away, yet cannot terrify

Where minds are focussed only this second.


          But human minds fret endelessly between

          The faulted past and the furtive void

          Knowing failure cannot be restored

          Or coming challenges, by thought, ignored.

          So we endure the present as we are toyed

          By Time which does not care to intervene.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 25.3.24

Friday, March 22, 2024

 1142

Dilemma


The pint is nearly empty:

I do not need another;

I do not want to leave.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 22.3.24

Thursday, March 21, 2024

 1141


The White Rock Terrace;

Sun and a pint of cider;

Human happiness.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 21.3.24

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

 1140


My first pint of cider of the year

On the terrace outside the White Rock

In heat, which would be suspect in July,

Unheard of in March and yet the shock

Is welcome - everyone I meet is happy.

Bands of students strolling by the beach

can't believe their luck, as they have heard

It always rains in England, and can reach

Minus three at Easter - but I digress;

Sitting here - it doesn't get much better.

Over twenty years this seat has gone

From somewhere to lurk while taxiing the children

To a poet's muse where sea and sky

Merge with the cider and the perfect I.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 20.3.24

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

 1139


The Chattri


Let my soul rise above these English hills

Then spread my ashes in the English sea

Whence time will bring them to the Ganges steps

And all will be as it was meant to be.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 19.3.24

Monday, March 18, 2024

 1138

Equinox


The title word was all that I had written

Assuming more would follow and that I

Would easily round it into a sonnet

Or some such form I chanced to try;

But - no - I'm stuck with these iambics

Hoping that the lines would free themselves

From such conservative versification

Yet knowing in my heart I could not shelve

The habits of a lifetime's introspection

Where the new is troublesome and hard

While the tried and tested, though a cliché,

Comes easily and rolls out by the yard.

            This poem wrote itself; I can't complain

            But craft is light years off of Art's domain.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 18.3.24

Friday, March 15, 2024

 1137


Getting old is not the problem

It's minds that age far more than skin

And what are flabby arms and wrinkles

Comared with brains that have worn thin?


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 15.3.24

Thursday, March 14, 2024

 1136

The tide is going out and where waves turn

Small patches of damp sand appear

Dark against the brilliance of the foam

Which idles on towards the rotting pier.


The wind has dropped and some folk even risk

T-shirt and shorts to jog along the prom,

While I lean here, watching the time run by

Unconcerned at what's about to come,

Accepting that the beauty of this day

Suffices - no - is more than I could ask

And far more than I could dare demand

Of life, which wraps its warmth around my hand,

And leads me on towards a greater task

Which lies in wait, somewhere along the way.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 14.3.24

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

 16 3 12 Moving on (4)

            Still nothing in the post but we've purchased

            A wardrobe, as I'll need the extra space,

            And seen a G plan dresser which will tone

            In nicely with the sideboard which we own.

            Meanwhile we're back to working on the nooks

            And crannies to make room for all our books.

17 3 12

            Another lot of questions, most of which

            We answered last time, though it seems that each

            Needs amplifying - to prove beyond doubt

            That living in the loft is really out -

            And FENSA documents, we've never seen,

            Are held by the Council, which will mean

            Another £60 we'll have to find

            To prove they were in place all of the time.

20 3 12

            Today I found the invoice for the floors

            Plus the FENSA certs for the new doors

            And windows which were put in back a while

            All of which charmed RB and made him smile.

24 3 12

            No post today, which may go to prove

            We only need a date, then we can move.

27 3 12

            A wodge of papers needing to be read

            Arrived today - but all that need be said

            Is that tomorrow we've arranged to sign

            The contracts - so now everything is fine!

28 3 12

            Meet with RB to check the reams of facts

            Before, at last, we sign both contracts;

            Now all we have to do is sit and wait

            Until we can agree a moving date.

            Meanwhile phone our house insurers so

            They can set up cover before we go

            Then if someone lets the new house burn

            At least we'll have some cash back in return.

29 3 12

            Into town to drop off the final form

            Which Sam has signed simply to confirm

            That when we move, he doesn't intend to stay

            Up in the attic, as a stow-away.


            A call from RB's secretary to say

            All signatures are in - let's name the day!

31 3 12

            Twenty four hours and nobody has rung

            So we've no idea when we'll be gone.

            Set up postcards with our new address

            And pics of both the houses - to ease the stress.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

 1135


A netted trampline,

A dozen balls.


They throw them out,

We throw them in.


It's better than a workout

At the gym.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 12.3.24

Monday, March 11, 2024

 1134


It's mother's day

Hip, hip hooray,

So, why do you lurk

Playing with the grandchildren

While their parents are at work?


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 11.3.24

Friday, March 8, 2024

 1133


A glorious spring

Morning; so what am I here

Still working indoors?


Brian HIck March 2012

©Copyright Sally HIck 8.3.24

Thursday, March 7, 2024

 1132


Can I write of the sublime

Or must these words remain

Tied to this page with no more worth

Than footprints in the rain?


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 7.3.24

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

 1131

Lenten Psalm 12 3 12


The sea mist over Galley Hill greys out

The western cliffs,

But on the beach, east of the pier,

Sun calms the tidal drifts

Where scarce a ripple turns the edge

And gulls, far from the shore,

Call lazily above the waves

And do not ask for more.


I sit and know that you are here

In everything I see,

In every pebble on this beach,

For all are here for me - 

Not because I am special

Or subject of this scene

But because I'm part of it

As you have always been;


And here, this quiet morning,

Delighting in the peace

Which I know you alone can bring

To us, help me to cease

The strife that separates us,

Pour on us from above,

Like this sunlight which warms our hearts,

Your never-ending Love.


Brian Hick 12th March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 6.3.24

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

 1130

BMAG


I stroll by famous paintings

Stopping at first to view with care

Then passing some

Until they drift unnoticed before my gaze

Which now is somewhere else;


And all that power and effort, skill and strife

Which went into each canvas

Counts for nothing

But a nod

As I drift down

Towards the shop.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 5.3.24

Monday, March 4, 2024

 1129


A fox, behind next door's laylandii,

Basks in the mid-morning sun

Oblivious to the cats which run

Close to his spot, or chance to catch his eye;


For he knows that spring is on the wind,

Food comes scurrying to be caught

Nights are mild and females aught

To be prepared for what he has in mind.


The gloss upon his coat and black tipped ears

Suggests the winter has been mild;

No mange has sapped nor dearth beguiled

His readiness to find a mate this year.


And we who watch him from the kitchen door

Admire the grandeur of his pose

As, at the unheard cue, he goes

The sacred way all foxes went before.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 4.3.24

Friday, March 1, 2024

 Moving on (3)


5 3 12

          The estimate is here and I must check

          That they'll provide the tea chests we will pack.

          No problem there, they'll give us all we need

          And collect them without extra fees.

6 3 12

          Andrews rang - the survey wasn't nice

          It seems that we will have to drop our price

          Substantially to keep the sale on track

          And hope there's nothing more to hold us back.

7 3 12

          Meridian email their survey for us

          Nothing of note, so no need to fuss.

          Try to contact Andrews to ensure

          Mrs M's ok and nothing more

          Is needed now to hold up the exchange

          Of contracts, so a date can be arranged.


          Waiting for a call which will confirm

          That all is well and sales each side are firm.

          Ring Bob who says the letter's on its way

          Confirming all is settled - hip hooray!

8 3 12

          And now we wait - until Solicitors

          Decide aamong themselves it will be ours;

          Meanwhile we rearrange the clothes and books

          Into piles for packing into nooks.

9 3 12

          More forms to fill; and we must sign a list

          To prove that no-one has the right to fish

          Or remove hay from off of our estate

          Nor cut the trees or dig for coal or slate.


Brian Hick March 2012

©copyright Sally Hick 1.3.24