1499

As I went to Sweeny Todd

          I passed a sign

            Which read

      Best pies in Bristol.

Brian Hick October 2015

©copyright Sally Hick 10.10.26

 1491

This is just between ourselves

Just for you and me

And if we want to write in rhyme

Well then, let it be;

For no one else will see the words

Which we put on this page

And nobody will know if we

Are high or in a rage

For this is our own time

Though others call it prayer

And go all holy on the world

As if they do not dare

Admit that it is easy

Listening to you each day

Easy soaking up your love

Letting you have your way

And all I have to do is be -

As best as I can -

Your hands and eyes, your thoughts, your words

To each woman and man;

For, while it's easy for us

To join in love like this

Others find it oh so hard

To accept the bliss

Which your stillness, like a dream,

Wakens in my heart

Till all that you created me

Is you in every part.

Brian Hick September 2015

©copyright Sally Hick 17.9.26

 1488

30. Aug 15

The shower trickled, either hot or cold

But at extremes scalding us or freezing

So we just gave up and had a wash.

Downstairs the cold tap oozed into the kettle

And while we had enough to make the tea

We knew something was wrong.

The website did not help but on our way

To church we got into a queue which crawled

Its way round roadworks by Old Roar.

Only when walking back home from St John's

Did I see the mud, the broken pavements

And curb-stones thrown about as if

We'd had an earthquake.

By eight o'clock that evening all was well.

Emergency supplies from Asda sat

Unused, as all taps flowed free once more.

Normality resumed

But this morning, making our coffee

I gave thanks for this normality.

Brian Hick 30.8.2015

©copyright Sally Hick 7.9.2026

 1444

The Red Falcon is

Leaving for the Isle of Wight;

Would I were on board.

Here they only speak

Italian; how do I

Ask for a decaf?

France 1961

In Avignon the

Waiter joked I was always

Writing; I still am.

26 3 15

Re-internment of Richard III

Today of all days

I need a white rose to show

I am for Richard.

Brian Hick March 2015

©copyright Sally Hick 28.3.26

 1428

Fifty-four years since that first Valentine -

A nonsense verse because I knew no better -

But time does not encourage the sublime

And words are just as difficult as ever.

Fifty-four years of unexpected love

Tentatively etched as if aftaid

That any moment, like a startled dove,

It might fly off before a word is said.

Fifty-four years of constant mystery,

Delighting in the day-to-day unknown,

Hidden within a lifetimes constancy,

A union which endures to make us one.

We may not be as young as we were then

But our love laughs at time - and says Amen!

Brian Hick 14.2.2015

©copyright Sally Hick 14.2.26

 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

 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

 1404

The best thing about

Today was the brief moment

With you on the phone.

Brian Hick October 2014

©copyright Sally Hick 29.10.25

 1400

The lesson is well formed

The students are all keen

But through the window, far away,

The ocean's silver gleam

Draws me to its silence

Sirens me to dream

Of life beyond the classroom

Beyond the wine dark sea.

Brian Hick September 2014

©copyright Sally Hick 21.10.25

 1399

Now that I'm free to choose and you're

No longer ham-strung by my stubborn, crass,

And often childish whims, perhaps we can

Begin to make some sense of what we're doing.

It seems some people don't appreciate

Our offer to speak out, so we must find

The smaller groups, lunch clubs, U3As,

Men's Breakfasts, Ladies Literary Teas,

Anywhere they'll listen, and at least

We'll get to talk to somebody who cares.

But is this enough when I can see

There's so much more, out there, to be done?

             Inspire me with a hope that what I do

             Will make a difference, in the end, for you.

Brian Hick September 2014

©copyright Sally Hick 17.10.25

Possibly a time when Brian had resigned from the Unitarian church and put his efforts into raising money and support for the homeless.

 1398

Last night I sat outside on the bay

But tonight's too chilly, so I'll stay

Inside, knowing I will have to wait

At least six months before the winds abate.

             He asked me what we saw at Garsington.

                        I knew exactly what we ate

                                           But

                       What we saw? Who knows?

Brian Hick September 2014

©copyright Sally Hick 15.10.25

1386

Peace has come into my heart.

After all the stress of work,

The subtle arguments,

The careless words;

Peace has settled in a way I have not known before.

I try to stay on top, make things turn out

The way I think they should

But even when, sometimes, they do

The acid in my gut

 Tells me it is not so.

But now

That I have stopped trying to win,

To be the boss, always in control,

Nothing has changed

Except

The acid drops

Are gone.

I sleep at night;

I feel relaxed all day.

The work gets done but there is time to read,

To listen to the Proms, to simply sit

And bask.

I sense you smile at my stupidity

Thinking that being in charge was up to me.

Brian Hick July 2014

©copyright Sally Hick 23.9.25

 

 1384

Off to the Isle of Wight with Emily,

Henry, George and Hannah - till Sunday

When Nick will join them all - with Sally and me.

Off to the Isle of Wight.

We're booked in a Little Hyde near Sandown Bay

Which will be packed with every family

Looking to relax, chill out and stay

Cool, despite the heat, the games and free

Family shows that round off each day,

When calm descends, and time for you and me.

Off to the Isle of Wight.

Are we ready? Are the cases packed?

Is the satnav primed, the OS map,

Towels and tea-clothes, boots and bottles stacked?

Are we ready?

The south coast road is slow and to cap

It all the caravans round Chichester

Are nose to tail, seeming to enwrap

The city in a ring of boils, sinister

White lumps which crawl and ooze to fill each gap

While tempers fray and start to fester.

Are we ready?

Brian Hick July 2014

©copyright Sally Hick 17.9.25

 1375

I cannot go on giving; I need to get

Some sustenance, some spiritual grace,

Some word of hope to offset this debt.

I cannot go on giving.

Day by day and week by week this place

Drains all my energy and won't let

Me stop, unless it needs me to face

Another mountain to be climbed, or vet

My latest failures.  Maybe I should brace

Myself for change, escape from this net?

I cannot go on giving.

Brian Hick August 2014

(leaving the church he was involved with. Sally)

©Copyright Sally Hick 29.8.25

 1371

Cider with Rosie?

Was there a moment in my past

A tipping point when I slipped from one life

To another?

A day with Cousin Claude

Stands out,

But what else, in all those teenage years

Still glows?

If anything?

I hit a blank, and for all the days

Of school and friendship

A blandness of normality extends

Unnoticed, unrecalled.

Stuff happened but my future seemed to stick

At fourteen

And I remained that age until my forties -

Still do in times of stress - 

For even now close to my seventies

The fears and subtle put-downs of my teens

Return to trouble even waking dreams.

Brian Hick August 2014

©copyright Sally Hick 20.825

 1361

The blood test

Was okay.

One day

Soon

It won't be.

Brian Hick July 2014

©copyright Sally Hick  July 2014

 1297

               Bodiam Butts

I loosed six arrows, for three pounds,

At Bodiam this summer's afternoon.

Two reasonable shots just hit the mark

The others would not have impressed the King

Six hundred years ago, when William fought

At Agincourt for Henry, and survived

The dysentery, French horses and mud.

This is a game for tourists, but in France

A kingdom hung upon that arrow's flight

More than heroic speeches or the calm

Of chroniclers at fifty years remove.

So I am pleased my arrows made their mark

And something of those ancient Yorkshire genes

Are, maybe, more than just romantic dreams.

Deo Gracias; William Hick - 1415 survivor of Agincourt

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 23.7.25

 1295

St. Leonards, July night 2013

Hannah wanted to paddle,

So we did,

Leaving our shoes and socks

Dry on the pebble bank.

A haze of apricot from the late sun

Softened the silhouette of Beachy Head,

Where tiny dots of light

Pricked out the line

Between tidal forces and the shore.

The moon,

Unnoticed earlier,

Had crept into a sudden blaze of light

Reflected on the stillness of the sea,

Until it fractured

In the turning waves

To broken diamonds in the evening's blue.

Even Hannah's chatter

Calmed,

As we stood,

While shingle oozed between our toes

And twilight's calm

Ravished all our woes.

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick July 2025

Hannah is our granddaughter, then aged 13

 1293

I know I was wrong to let anger have its way

And even if the argument was right

A violent outburst never should hold sway.

I know I was wrong.

But how to make amends, when passions bite

And tear old friendships, flung in disarray

Like hamsters to Rottweilers, who in spite

Will maim and maul, even as they bay

For blood, blood, blood into a night

Unslaked before they snarl and slink away.

I know I was wrong.

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 11.7.25

 1290

What do I do now, as I have tried

To follow all that seemed to be the Way

As openly as anyone alive?

What do I do now?

It seems that what I gave was not enough

Or wasn't what was wanted by the few

Who kept their counsel till things turned out rough

And change was needed, a new point of view,

To meet the needs of those whose lives are tough

Requiring more than coffee-time in lieu.

What do I do now?

Brian Hick July 2013

On leaving the Unitarian Church (Sally Hick)

©copyright Sally Hick 4.7.25