Real Poetry

I have been experimenting with different structures.  Publishing them on the blog is just a way of recording the journey, I certainly don't think that they are good exemplars.

This is my Acrostic. 

I also tried to write a Diamante poem on the same topic but I don't think I have got the hang of that system yet.

Five Mins on RED

A little boy, sits on his own in the sitting room.  His eyes are shut and he is lost in a world of his own.  His looks small and fragile but his face tells a different story.  His blond hair cut in a bob, his red football scarf wrapped round his neck and his feet sticking out over the seat. The record player is sending out the chants from the Kop.
"Wouldn't it be great!" he said, his eyes still shut.
"What would be great?", I said,
"If I was Kevin Keegan and I was walking on to the pitch right now. Listen to the Kop, my heart is pounding and I just can't imagine what being there would be like."
I left him in the world of his own to savour the moment. He was seven years old and Liverpool were his team.  He would watch them on Match of the Day, lying out quietly behind one of the chairs so that no one was aware that he was still up.  I remember my dad having to pick him up and carry him to bed every Saturday, often before the programme had finished but he would have been asleep for quite a time.

Forty three years later he is still a red supporter, his heart still pounds when his team plays.  Hopes are invested in the team, ambition and statements like "This will be the season" are regularly made and the day he listened to the Kop album often referred to.  Family memories are made of things like this.

You set my heart alight.

I stood here for years

Away from the main path

Providing the shade for the bulbs and squirrels

The environment changes

Children call out and play games

The allotments are busy

But people don’t notice me.

I stood here for years

The seasons passed by

And my girth just grew thicker

The wrinkles deepened

And my veins began to rot

But people still don’t notice me.

I stood here for years

When I notice the changes

And my outer skin begins to break down

Smaller creatures take up residence

My core is beginning to break down

But people still don’t notice me.

My time here is limited

It’s lunch time, I hear the bell ring and children call out

There’s a strange quiet

Footsteps approach but only one person

The spark surprises me, but the warmth is surprising

Now people are noticing me.

I stood here for hours

Whilst water covered me

My core disappeared but my girth intact

My charred centre and smoke filled air

I’ll provide a home to different creatures whilst I wait to rot

Then people might notice that I have gone.

The Statue - Albert Rec 2014

Plan for New beginnings

We are just embarking on a major move away from the City and into the countryside in the UK.  Along with other members of the family, we have discussed this idea for a number of years and always had reasons why we wouldn’t or couldn’t do it.  It was a dream that I thought would never become a reality.

During the last summer we began looking in earnest and decided that we would move south of London.  Easy, I thought but this was possibly the hardest part.  We weren’t moving for work, we didn’t need to be anywhere in a hurry or meet any deadlines, we just had a dream of a different quality of life.  For a number of weekends we drove around looking at properties and realised that we really didn’t know what we were looking for.  Moving from the city we were taken up in the dream of living in ‘chocolate box style cottages’.  They look wonderful on the outside but never felt like homes or met our requirements in terms of required space, particularly the garden.  In London we have a small garden and we all felt that we needed space to breathe, enjoy the fresh air and for Jazz, our family dog, to have space to run and play and enjoy more freedom that she currently has.

The time came to plan.  What did we want, what were the essentials and non negotiable and what could we compromise on? It was surprising how varied the requirements were until we saw the house that we have chosen.  Our only problem was that as usual we had chosen to be unconventional by finding a house before we had sold ours.  Now the planning has to start.  Selling our house, having a survey carried out, deciding on a moving date, saying goodbyes to friends, packing, moving and finding a new job for my daughter and new customers for my work. 

If my mum had been around she would have sat me down and helped me to create countless lists to ensure that everything went well.  Just for you mum, I have started a ‘relocating’ journal to keep everything organised and make sure that we accomplish our goal whilst maintaining our sanity.   The adventure begins, within 6 months I hope that I will wake up and look out of our sitting room appreciating the view of open and uninterrupted countryside.

View of the Dorset countryside