1188 Isle of Wight - various oddments (2)
Six empty tables between me and a family munching burgers
Then the window across the Duver, houses half hidden by trees
Grey and distant the open downs, where I would rather be than here
Oh anywhere than here
And why? It makes no sense for you are here as much as you are there
But I'm not here when my heart aches to be there on that distant hill
alone with you and the wind...
Brian Hick July 2012
©copyright Sally Hick 20.6.24
1188 Isle of Wight - various oddments (1)
Nelson
What did he think as
He climbed aboard the skiff that
Last time for Victory?
A green woodpecker,
In the rain, casually
Pecks up unseen ants.
Hannah is crabbing
I have the line and
The ham, Sally the bucket;
Hannah is crabbing
Red whiskered bulbul
With a Mohican haircut.
A red-headed bird from
The Antiques Roadshow.
We read labels, ticked off what we saw,
Amused by birds who tweeted and a pair
Of copulating tortoises....
Thank you for being at the water's edge
Meeting me where harbour footings thrash...
Brian Hick July 2012 (holidaying with our granddaughter on the Isle of Wight)
©Sally Hick 19.6.24
1187
Sunday on the Stade
Sitting in the queue
To park, while you're in Bluereef,
Cuts the parking fee;
However
It seems they are all
Leaving, so I find a place
To park quite quickly;
Which means
Paying for the car
And sitting with a coffee,
While you view the fish.
Brian Hick July 2012
©copyright Sally Hick 18.6.24
1186
Magic Forest
A magic forest, so I looked for You
In the Serpent's Nest and Mystic Pond
The Indian Totem and the forest view;
But it seemed that You were far beyond
These tricks, which made me feel the You were there;
For all I found, thought pleasant, was the art
Of conjuring the surreal from the air
When all the time, You kept from me apart.
Deep in the woods the deer cropped unconcerned,
The peacocks lurked for snacks by picnic tables,
Sheep rambled the vineyards, while I yearned
To find You in the midst of ancient fables.
Then I heard you laugh - Can you not see
That everything you look upon - is Me.
Brian Hick July 2012
©copyright Sally Hick 17.6.24
1185
Groombridge Place
I'd scanned the photographs
Deleted the dull or blurred
And those already lost to memory
But even then the ones I thought I'd keep
Did not beg for comment -
Even the casual lines
My mother used to write upon her snaps -
The endless views of summer flower beds
And country houses visited by us.
It isn't that I can't;
It's that the urge, the urgency,
The fire is not there;
And all the beauties of this summer's day
Are lost when thought, unfocussed, goes astray.
Brian Hick July 2012
©copyright Sally Hick 14.6.24
1184
A team leader for 2012
Is on the phone
In Mandarin
Giving instructions on using the internet
To change shift times
Before tomorrow morning.
I understood it all
And I don't speak Mandarin.
G4S is doing a better job
Than I imagined.
They are all speaking in tongues.
Brian Hick June 2012 (The team leader referred to
was working with Brian marking exam papers)
©Sally Hick 13.6.24
1183
Just as I'd chosen all the verse
To reflect our dreadful weather
The sun came out, the coats came off,
And everyone felt better!
So, back to the drawing board to find
Something a bit more snappy
Assuming that the clear skies hold
And everyone's still happy.
Brian Hick June 2012
©copyright Sally Hick 12.6.24
