Anderwood

First wood crackle of the year

Flames

Just visible in the shimmering

Sun

Then resinous

Smoke

Drifts our way sending

Taunts

Preludes of perfumes

Sausage

Steak

Aubergine

And Peppers to come.

For the family who came on the lovely spring day in the Forest.      ©JohnDaniels2017

Are you alright?

Are you alright?

There is a light

behind these dark eyes

presently shining inward

like a torch searching

for a valued coin

rolled under the

sofa

 

the buzz of tinitus

makes straight cuts

marking templates out

for future sounds

 

so I sit

bound to confess

dishonesties

 

always the pacifier

giving way and

when asked if

‘alright’ would

lie and answer

‘yes, fine’

 

for fuck’s sake

enough

 

the torch finds

the coin and it

is pushed into

the slot marked

‘speak your truth’

 

7th august 2011

©JohnDaniels2017

The seal with the orange hat. [Part 3]

“Oh Wow! Look at that!” she said to herself, “it comes off”.

She was so excited she did a double twizzle roly-poly somersault.

She made such a big wave, the canoe wobbled and the orange hat fell into the sea.

When Solva stopped spinning and looked again, the man was peering into the water.

Solva looked too and could see the orange hat sinking down, down to the bottom of the sea.

Bad luck for the man.

Good luck for Solva.

The hat went deeper and deeper out of reach.

The man had to paddle away with the others.

Solva dived down, found the hat and quickly put it on.

It fitted, but she couldn’t do it up

She did a little test by bumping into a rock and “Yippee!”

It worked, but the hat fell off.

She put it back on, but the flappy strappy bits annoyed her.

Then it fell off, again.

What was she to do?

It sank to the bottom again.

Solva swam down.

This time she picked up the strappy bits in her mouth and put it on.

She tried a couple of double roly-poly somersaults to test it out.

It stayed on.

She felt like the most clever seal that ever there was.

A seal with an orange hat; fancy that?

She wanted to show her friends so she set off up the coast to see them.

A little way along the coast she popped up for a breather

©John Daniels 2014