Bluebells

Now upon my green, green hill

Fade from view the daffodil
Bluebells wither under sunny sky
Apple blossom ends as petals die
But such joys memory may recollect
When to live within nature we elect

Nemesis

No nemesis ever seemed so unwelcome

The touchstone of delinquent want
Now walks away before the dawn
It has slumbered in irregular thought
Breaching the angry night in dreams
Now it could never be anywhere else
Floating past on chance's ebbing tide
To say goodbye upon a passing night

Wraith

The imagos stir then sleep

Colourless wraiths
Encapsulated in paper
That cannot come forth
Until the wasp colour runs true
And they gnaw out their cell
But their home is cast down
They cannot know
Rain slushes its rigidity away
Or that outside the Queen rages
For she has worked so hard
Chewing wood for a month
To make her palace of paper
Now it is gone; she is lost
Tired; so tired; her children are dying;
Upon the ground in the May rain
She mourns, she regrets, and then she leaves
And the imagos still sleep
Until water washes away coverings
And the blue tit comes
To think nothing of great compassion
When there are young to feed
The Queen must begin again
There is wood to grind
And her abdomen is full of eggs
That will not wait another summer
Perhaps there is time enough left

Summer

A perfect, green day I have to say
Is always found in the month of May
But what delights might come too soon
Now on the horizon is flaming June
On the warmest wings does summer fly
Its zenith reached in hot July
Of all the months of heat and dust
I love most the winds of August

Candle

But no candle flickers in the still, hot night

Nothing that is wrong is yet to be put right
When lovers do feel such unanswered pain
Know truly that there is everything to gain
For if a man does his best in loves fair game
What but his pride, can ever be put to shame?

Yesterday

 

Black headed Gull

 

 

Robin

 

Wholly Dapplement

 

Roe deer last night

 

Late spring lambs last night

Drop

Slither into my bed like a cobra

Bring not one drop of rain
Nor breathe out blowing wind
But together we may raise a storm
If we make no sound;
Moving with the softness of cats
Velvet pads stroking on silken cloth
Till all stills in the sated purr of joy

Veins

See another sun rise out of the night

A dragon aflame, riding morning's sky
Opened by warmth nectar runs freely
From gems that nod on slender stems
Sweet blood from unstoppable heartbeats
That emanate from the very Earth itself
Bees leave comb for these glorious veins
And the honeyed vampires drink their fill

Aegean Flowers of Mykonos

Heartsease

There is no green-eyed monster

Only the dappled shade of May
Jade hills awashed red and blue
Heartsease in the midst of chaos
No ill thoughts may come here
Not till day embers still in the west
Not until La Luna appears icy cold
Full curved and shimmering above me
As crystal clear water slips through fingers
As badgers play outside loamy setts
Then shall I think of you again
See the monster appear in the gloom
Wrapped about in laws and improbability
Stands instance with outstretched hand
And I shall take it and join you; it is time

Troll

The soft light on breaking dawn

Stumbled step and muffled yawn
Mopeds move on dusty streets
Old man shuffles, smiles and greets
A pelican at night does stroll
While under windmills lives a troll
I have not found a golden fleece
But a paradise exists in Greece

Palace letter

Sorry for not posting anything for a while as I was on holiday in Mykonos for 12 days. I'll post some photos soon as I have processed them. When I got home I was given this. Mike had sent a copy of my book to the Queen. I now have a mental picture of them in bed reading it and the Queen yawning.

Oil

From a Tuscan harvest
Of a long past summer
Precious oil flows
Smears on skin like silk
Glides; caresses a covering;
Too many autumn's old
This field accepts the harrow
For the welcome kiss of moisture
And I am ready for growth
After a long lonely winter

Colonnade

Walk in a temple of Spring

One bare foot to dewed grass
Feel coolness slip around toes
Along a colonnade of rosemary
Thyme high priestess of antiquity
Lies sleeping on the altar
One touch awakens all
Eucalyptus lies underfoot crushing
Among spires of wooded antiquity
Rising to meet a warming sky
Pigeons fall into the fluid air
All thought is dissolute at dawn
But tis the first steps to freedom
And the new day brings ever hope

Ragged

And I wander
On the ragged shore
Under Aprils sky
A lifetime gained
Now lost
Where did it go?
Floating away
On chance's tide

Defence

I shall defend you

Though I never knew you
Perhaps you are indefensible
But I cherish my memories
Of you; a mighty force of nature
And I hope to see you
One long day off
See if those eyes still shine
And under your gaze ask
Did I do right?

Easter

Gold is the common currency of spring

Fortunes mass on every slope and common
But the noblest blue is coming
Cerulean edging form on bluebell tips
Sapphires to replace the dragons hoard
Shimmer beneath the ever climbing sun

Temperate winds stride greening hills

Shaking loose the cobwebs of winter
The new leafy suburbia of avian society
Makes of each bush and tree a nursery
And I am reborn by the warmth of days
In a thought never was Easter so blessed

Easter walk

Bilberry Flowers

 

Gorse Flowers

 

Mallard

 

Robbie

 

Heron in Flight

Followers

Spring lambs

Mole

Upon the night that passes

Where the mole burrows
See the slanted moonlight
Weaving through fingers
To lie on the rutted ground
My last resting place of calm
It has now; no lucid thought
But I shall take some comfort
To this wanton loss of spirit
In a flight of lunar secrecy
And touch upon the heavens
For one last, glorious time

Pictures

Swallow

 

Black sheep

 

Black cat

 

Sunset

Seethe

Where do shadows dwell

Soft, flowing grey snakes
Curling across moonlit floors
Climbing starlit walls onto beds
To lie empty in our arms

Spring and Deer

Stag with velvet covered antlers

(Great camouflage)

 

Daffodils

 

Forsythia against a grey sky

 

Cherry Blossom

 

Tortoiseshell Butterfly on Primula

Birthday

Birthday why does thou mock me?

Bitterest savour of sweetest harpy
Give of hope; taker of dreams
You would not watch fate so
Yet you mark my finite time
My lost grace and decaying rhyme
Would your lips death kiss?
So he may know your withering bliss
Why make me wiser year by year
When all is over, too soon, I fear

Weft

Strip away instinct

These wefts of silk
Studded in moonlight
What tales they could tell
Yet in the Vale of Eden
There is no room
Not branch or bush
For a spider there

Frogs and Newts 2014

Elf

Moonlight pours through open door
Spider runs across oaken floor

It needs to cross this silver sea
To come and say so long to me
Firelight warms my eager toes
He turns back; in shadows he goes

In place where fire and moon meet

Sits an elf close to my feet
He has come to escape the cold
He is after all, so very old
He warms himself and when he's done
Fall to sleep and waits for sun

Extinction

Operating systems

Are not a viable species

They offer only

A window on extinction

In my lifetime I have seen eight

Pteradactyldos

Threepointoneasaur

Ninetyfiveus Rex

Ninetyeightus Rex

Diplodocus Two Thousand

XPDimetridon

Stegosaurus Seven

The new species invariably kills the older one

They have evolved to hunt consumers

Predatoradon Eight has finally got me

And an apple will not stay their hunger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thunder

Thunder makes its sonic boom
Wakes up spiders in every room
From rafters, cracks and corner dark
Out they come to leave their mark
Across the house the arachnid treads
Carpets, walls; even sleeping heads
They wreak no havoc to any man
All they follow is instincts plan
So while lightning above does crack
I'll stay awake in case they come back

Artificial DNA

What madness creates artificial DNA?

The one that ignores what nature may say
Think Mr Science of what could befall
If what you do now rebounds on us all
You may think Earth secrets are a prize to take
But it's really a demon you shouldn't awake
And though noble intent should not be denied
What will it matter who is saved if all life dies?
You think you are clever, but really you're dumb
Nature after all, has seen so many species succumb
All that we may create originates of the Earth
And only she may determine its eventual worth
So go ahead and meddle in the codices of being
But if it all unravels its extinction we'll be seeing

From the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26768445

Scientists have created the first synthetic chromosome for yeast in a landmark for biological engineering. Previously synthetic DNA has been designed and made for simpler organisms such as bacteria. As a form of life whose cells contain a nucleus, yeast is related to plants and animals and shares 2,000 genes with us. So the creation of the first of yeast's 16 chromosomes has been hailed as "a massive deal" in the emerging science of synthetic biology.

The genes in the original chromosome were replaced with synthetic versions and the finished manmade chromosome was then successfully integrated into a yeast cell. The new cell was then observed to reproduce, passing a key test of viability. Yeast is a favoured target for this research because of its well-established use in key industries such as brewing and baking and its potential for future industrial applications.

One company in California has already used synthetic biology to create a strain of yeast that can produce artemisinin, an ingredient for an anti-malarial drug. The synthesis of chromosome III in yeast was undertaken by an international team and the findings are published in the journal Science (yeast chromosomes are normally designated by Roman numerals).

Butterfly

A butterfly sleeps

But nothing may slumber now
The vernal equinox has passed
Balance is restored
This sphere
That turns upon gravitous orbit
Now tilts down toward the sun
Light arrives from higher plane
Warmth touches skin
The kiss of lightest oil
Spring is here and winter is done

Hush

In this misty sunset

See the colours fade
Into the greyest calm
As life stills about you
Let it all shrink away
Leave you behind
Alone; but content
Serene in the moment
So you may remember
The wonder you have known

Trouble

Hush take no hurt
Do not trouble for others
Not yet ready for calm
We have just read faster
The great book of life
And we have understood
Its last chapters are blank

Daylights Grace

Only the night is real

But do not doubt
The intention of...
Daylights grace
It springs from hope
 
Wear these days like rain
Falling into a desert
So precious and rare
And growth will begin
For night always ends

Chariot

Of twenty horses and a setting sun

A chariot of fire
And a world undone

He comes in mighty trumpets blaze

Then all is silent
Beneath his gaze

What doth he then to earth descend?

When all is lost
The honour of man he must defend

Transformation

Before

After

 

 

Snowdrops and Crocus

I glimpsed summer today

Sunlight poured through cloudy cracks
Nodding Snowdrops and Crocus bright
Throw off the cold and race to light
Yellow tails wag on branches high
To kiss the light and reach for sky
Mossy carpets thicken and unfold
Renew the cycle that is so, so old
Blue tits wander on thorny bush
Doves do glory in undulating push
They rise and fall; angels of Earth
All is ecstatic on spring’s rebirth

Humility

Beside this passageway to spring
Tomorrow sees humility undone
At the last kiss of consciousness
One white feather falls
Comes to rest on a sandy shore
To be swept out into the sea
Where a mermaid finds it
And takes it down into the deep

Fall

To grown and unfurl in joy

Under a summer sun
Tremorous and uncertain
In life’s breeze
And then to fall
As autumn leaves
Drifting out the mother tree
The circle is complete
To Earth from Earth
I no longer wonder why?
Because it does not matter
Everyone I knew has left
All that remains is air
To shake me down
Onto fertile ground
So I may begin again

Brokerage

You were my friend and comrade

Now we must battle our kinship
For a failure of the wise to agree
When talk fails in a black night
A deal has to be brokered in blood
But such, this precious liquid of life
It flows without end once sprung
Leaching away the best of humanity
Into long, cold, years of conflict
These days rise like spectres of chance
Ghosts shadowing mirrored visions
Empty of all reflected opportunity
Silvered, silent water, at wasteful dawn
No discord is worth an unclaimed life
Where peace hides in dread of its sibling
We should find it and let it seize the day

Oscars

I saw the Oscars last night

A glittering pile of sycophantic trite
I watched as much as I dare
But really; does anyone care?
It wearied me to enhanced distress
To see so many an aged actress
The bearded men and designer clothes
What's it about – who the hell knows?
The ‘Gravity’ of ‘12 years a Slave’
Or ‘Blue Jasmine’ and ‘Philomena’ brave
A ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ and a ‘Frozen’ glare
How many wished they hadn’t come there?
A real ‘American Hustle’ in all but name
Hollywood plays out its idolatrous game
The only high point was Ellen’s compere
A funny lady who is so honest and fair
They took a selfie, or was it really a bung
The phone after all sponsored by Samsung
So am I any wiser than I was last night
Has life been cast in a revelatory spotlight?
I’m sorry to say that nothing has changed
The four hours lost cannot now be exchanged

Titbits

GCHQ is very aware

People so like to bare
To you its innocent chat
With a bit of nudity; no harm in that
If consenting adults its fine
Nobody has crossed the line
But they’ll keep the pics around
Case it’s you they need to hound
So don’t use a laptop in bed
You’ll put your privates on the web
They’re not collecting all this for fun
They got dirt on just about everyone
We reached the final evolution
Of this technological revolution
The days of freedom are lost
Governments want control at all cost
So the citizens must always comply
With the old and very ancient lie
That freedom is really a bad deal
Cos they always find someone to squeal

Spencer Ackerman and James Ball - The Guardian, Thursday 27 February 2014 16.16 GMT

Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal. GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases, regardless of whether individual users were an intelligence target or not.

In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery – including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications – from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally.