I was delighted to be invited as a guest onto the Decadent Airwaves poetry programme on Beyond Radio.
Reading poems from some of my favourite poets and my poems was a pleasure as was the company of Paul Fisher, Matt Panesh and Amelie.
Poetry darts was fun too!
You can listen to the broadcast here
The cool breeze wraps around my ears,
I forget a camera and pause,
absorbed in panoramic view,
the bay brings peace to thoughts,
freedom whispers around in silence,
Cumbrian mountains in mist
like a citadel to a secret world,
not a ripple of water around me
in sight of the ocean.
My eyes close
and reflect this moment of solitude,
the soul calmed and captured in this stillness,
sky reaches out forever
my concern released to the world,
twilight direct to heart,
encapsulating the mind.
Silence echoes in the choice of path,
my feet step in the dry terrain,
trees reach high and light peters through the leaves,
where butterflies glide and bird’s fly
in nature’s spiritual shrine,
unlocks mechanics of mind
like dapples of light from a stained-glass window,
bringing freedom and release,
a new lease of life.
The arched sheltered trees meet,
eclipse the nine to five,
away from that small working room,
here there is everything to find,
when the view opens,
trees stand alone in solitude and resilience
with roots anchored into the earth,
escape in the compass needle,
works the inner dynamo.
Ascend the Old Pale Hill,
look down on the Cheshire Plain,
see the Mountains of Snowdonia,
that distant volcanic rock,
a landscape of mix steep gorges,
a chain of heather clad fells,
between the hills of the Clwydian Range,
sun light projects and hears the heart open,
for nature to carry and lift the soul,
like pollen from the bees,
a rich source of protein
and the sturdy trees feed their wisdom.
I immerse myself in colour,
in a moment my past comes
together in contemplation,
the hard wiring of the world
stripped away.
Layers surface in meditation,
memories dance through darkness,
a life time of work
at my finger tips,
I am liberated.
Looking at my bare bones,
through detachment from life itself,
hidden depths echo,
in between flashes of entity,
memories position in abstraction.
Paintings punctate
in explosions,
freedom in the turbulence,
harmony in division,
bringing meaning closer to existence.
As day draws to its climax,
red sun falls in patchwork cloud;
fragmented colours of pink
lie across the horizon
in fading blue sky’s canvas,
holding onto the day
in mid summer’s moment;
air passes bridges
and trees flower.
If this is paradise, then
I’m in heaven,
cocooned in Nature’s bosom.
For this time I reason with nobody,
nature is mine to see
what I choose.
Inspiration reflects from water.
The darkness cuts through
a thousand images,
as day folds gently
over the bay.
The colour of seasons squeezed on canvas,
like the voices echoing from the paint brush,
mixing the soft and the strong,
echoing and spreading
like the wings of a dove
released into the sea breeze,
waves fold and cast the summer aside,
the days begin to hide away,
looking into myself through layers,
visioning to reinvent myself.
The figure kneels,
strong shoulders carry the weight of waves,
where clouds reflect in water’s still haven
and only birds can fly with their scathing cry,
praying hands remember the tide,
when cracks appeared in sand
engulfing the stars and sky.
A cargo train clatters by,
past the struggle and turmoil inside
shadows at sunrise,
torn from their land
in darkness of current,
exploited by the trickery of the estuary,
This memorial stands
drawing reflection and renewal
from shore’s edge.
Lights project in beats
shadows absorb depths
morphing into a landscape
of voice and tone
fused in the echo of a pin prick surface
penetrating the atmosphere
obscuring worlds within worlds
shadows are ghost
twisted in hues and tones
all forms escape into spectre
shadows turn the texture
twisting into the soul.
Bleak clouds sweep across the sky casting shadows,
like a black and white motion picture,
nature dormant,
a little piece of heaven breaks through,
broken by the blank of Autumn,
shading the mountain tops
like a dull mirage,
fragmenting the fall,
this barren landscape.
Small animals hide away
behind wild blowing heather on hillside,
reluctant in their homeland,
silence echoes in twisted landscape,
belonging to the atmosphere,
auburn colour breathes warmth
like a cosmic charge,
around withered shrubbery
and shimmering time.
I see the storm behind you.
A cascade of sea and sky
moving earth’s core,
spiralling flairs escape,
wind strikes the rain down,
a tsunami blows water into light.
I reach for my compass.
Nothing but the elements,
the wilderness is its own,
outside the sea of chaos,
waves unleash to freedom,
forcing the world away.
But I can’t see you.