1413
Christchurch bells toll out the quarter hours
Across the silence of the city night.
Two-fifteen, two-thirty, three o'clock,
I lie and wait, contented for the light
To cross the Liffey, climb Fishamble Street
Putting dawn's grey emptiness to flight.
Waiting is easy, waking brings back pain,
Recalling all the things I haven't done
And those I did so poorly I regret
The fact I tried, preferring to have won
At very little than fail at something which
Just puts me off before I have begun.
But the night has passed, the day is here,
Your love abides, so I've no need to fear.
Brian Hick November 2014
©copyright Sally Hick 19.11.25
1411
Dublin 20-16 November
Gatwick airport has
Decided to be human;
And about time too.
Forty minutes late
And the plane is as hot as
A wrestler's jock strap.
What she claims to be
Hand baggage would keep me for
Two weeks in the Med!
Our room has many
Hangers and a mini-bar;
They'd like us to stay.
Lunch at The Norseman;
Large party of happy Finns
Slurping up the Guinness.
Guinness has learned from
Disney to turn everything
Into a theme park.
I poured a perfect
Pint of Guinness and have a
Photo to prove it.
Dutch apple cake and
Cream will fill a gap before
Dinner this evening.
Wallace Taverna, Dublin
Grappa and double
Espresso so good that I
Could be in Florence.
Four- fifteen a m
She knocks and shouts to her friend;
Oh these young tourists.
Matt Talbot
They'd make him a saint
But all we can see is a man
Disturbed and alone.
Costa in Dublin
Breakfast at Costa
With Romanian waitress;
Good to feel at home.
Lunch back at O'Neill'sėēēéééééééé
With soup, oysters and Guinness;
What more could you ask?
A final Guinness
A last hot whiskey before
Farewell to Ireland
But we'll be back for more!
Dublin déjà vu
One week on I'm back
In Café Rouge for onion
Soup and minute steak.
I know I'm back home -
The one pub at Charing Cross
Does not serve Guinness.
Brian Hick November 2014
©copyright Sally Hick 15.11.25
1410
The pavement's autumn bronze drifts to the curb
Flowing to the gutter and the sludge
Of last night's rain.
Dying leaves cling near stark silhouettes
Of branches and abandoned nests above
The cemetery wall.
No bird song, just rasp of passing cars,
Slow lorries grinding on their way
Towards the ridge.
Brian Hick November 2014
©copyright Sally Hick 12.11.25
1409
Leaden skies oppress the day,
Poisoning the colour of the Downs,
Deadening the landscape, where the sounds
Of feral winds sweep from the bay.
The pub is full of fucking fans
Heaving their abuse at players - who
Remain oblivious - as if they knew
Better after sixteen cans.
Is this world passing us by,
Its dull depression draining all of hope,
Leaving us with little faith or scope
For any change, before we die?
Brian Hick November 2014
©copyright Sally Hick 10.11.25
1408
Autumn leaves still linger
But winter's on the hoof
Galloping towards us
With winds and lashing rain.
Ice upon the windscreen;
Frost up on the roof.
A dove lights in the garden
Searching for the grain;
Then sunlight rolls away the chilling mist
Raising into life what love has kissed.
Brain Hick November 2014
©copyright Sally Hick 8.11.25
1407
I've glimpsed on starlit nights a flash of light
Which seemed to coalesce into a band
Of opalescent glory, pierced through
With the moon's cool purity and grace;
A presence felt far more than seen
As the light were iron and could cut
Deeper than these ineffective words
Deeper than the praises it inspired
Deeper than the stars themselves are high
Shaming my mere thoughts into a mire
Of ineffective gropings for a truth
So well concealed it smiles at me attempts
Until I leap up and grasp the light
Which made me stand and wonder in the night.
Brian Hick October 2014
©copyright Sally Hick 5.11.25
Returning late from Tonbridge on the train
The taxi dropped me, sped off, and I stood
Alone beneath the silent autumn sky's
Pinpoint brightness stretched out beyond the woods.
Orion smiled, Auriga curved in joy,
Taurus galloped on towards his foe,
Castor, Pollux, the clustered Pleiades,
Sang and circled, while transfixed below
I wondered why this glory of the night
Seemed just for me, as if the universe
At this brief point in time, was mine alone
And nothing could destroy nor doubt reverse
The truth I felt so deep within my heart
That I was loved and love will ne'er depart.
Brian Hick October 2014
©copyright Sally Hick 3.11.25
