winter wonder

on path edges
and horses' leavings
flakes of snow

words & photograph © gerald england 2008

in response to the "winter wonders" theme at One Deep Breath.

city haze

city haze
in blue morning air
full moon

words & photograph © gerald england 2008

in response to the "moon" theme at One Deep Breath.

frost

supermarket
through grit and frost
trolley tracks

words & photograph © gerald england 2007

in response to the "frost" theme at One Deep Breath.

Giving

a smile
and a son's hug
no greater gift

words & picture © gerald england 2007

in response to the "giving" theme at One Deep Breath.

A kind of beauty

clouds contrails cross charm the air

words & picture © gerald england 2007

in response to the "kind of beauty" theme at One Deep Breath.

containers

all my goods packeted for a voyage over oceans

words & picture © gerald england 2007

in response to the "container" theme at One Deep Breath.

The original photograph was taken in Dublin, 2005.

on the cobblestones

riverside path
on the cobblestones
a white feather

words & photo © gerald england 2007

posted in response to the "boulders/rocks/stones/pebbles" theme at One Deep Breath.

An earlier version of the haiku and a glimpse of the path can be seen on Poetry Scotland

adventure

mother and child
seek their adventure
below the peak

words & photo © gerald england 2007

in response to the "adventure" theme at One Deep Breath.

belonging

longing
to not be long
waiting

words & photo © gerald england 2007

in response to the "belonging" theme at One Deep Breath.

loneliness

on the steps behind Queen Victoria lunchtime thoughts

words & photo © gerald england 2007

in response to the "loneliness" theme at One Deep Breath.

change

no stopping life calls for a change of direction

words & photo © gerald england 2007

in response to the "change" theme at One Deep Breath.

The original photograph was taken at the Marine Lake in Southport, Lancashire, UK.

Craig and Ian

two sons
so different and yet
so close

words & photo © gerald england 2007

in response to the "closeness" theme at One Deep Breath.

on balance

on balance
dance is all about
timing

words & photo © gerald england, 2007

in response to the "balance" theme at One Deep Breath.

These dancers were entertaining us outside our hotel room in Crete.

Gran

Me and my gran circa 1955.

This post was prompted by the "grandparents" theme at One Deep Breath.

It was twenty years after she died that I finally wrote about her. This poem was first published in Green's Magazine (Canada) and is included in my collection Limbo Time.

GRAN

Like those others whose grans
were growing old when they were
growing boys, I remember you
for your apple pies and golden pancakes, syrup-laden —
my elder brother often being sent
to bring me home from your bungalow
long after my own tea had grown cold.

That was the time when granddad sat
in the high-backed wooden chair
my mother set fire to when he died —
the sort of chair that claims
a fortune in antique shops today — but
my small, frail gran, I remember you much more
than that gaunt, great man who only sat.

You lived later in our council-house front room,
too weak to climb upstairs, too unsafe
to be left with your diabetes -
twice daily my mother tested your water —
and so that we could take a holiday
my sister and her husband came to stay
while I went with Mum and Dad
to a rented van at Thornwick Bay.

Tomorrow would be Thursday and I'd been promised
a trip on the Yorkshire Belle from Bridlington,
but Wednesday night we learnt that you had died.
That means I won't be able to go on the boat tomorrow!
the first reaction of a saddened twelve-year-old.
Dad attempted logically to explain, but all
unnecessarily - I knew that you deserved the sacrifice.

Twenty years on and I've finally made the trip
round Flamborough Head, past Thornwick Bay,
and back to Bridlington — with my own son
and his gran - his Mum's Mum like you.
Gran! — I never begrudged you dying on that day.
The waves remind me always of you, gran, because
the trip was well worth the waiting for!

GERALD ENGLAND

and finally a new tanka

Chapel Garth
granddad in his high-back chair
pancakes for tea
before big brother comes
to drag me home

daybreak

Saint Petersburg docks
to the sound of a brass band
morning breaks

words & photo © gerald england, 2007

in response to the "daybreak" theme at One Deep Breath.

More photos can be seen at Cruise 2006 and at Baltic 2006

a body of water

girders brace the great belt of sea spanned

words & photo © gerald england, 2007

in response to the "body of water" theme at One Deep Breath.

The body of water is the Great Belt between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen.

castle wall

We went to Skipton last Friday and for the most part the rain kept off while we were there, but it was very cold. I took quite a few photographs and will no doubt post some of them here or elsewhere at some stage.

For now, just this with a one-line haiku to fit in with the "feathered friends" prompt at One Deep Breath


narrowboat passes under the castle wall ducks loiter

shadow and light

25 years
Falkland's veterans
still march
Southport promenaders
wait and watch

words & photo © gerald england 2007

in response to the "shadow and light" theme at One Deep Breath.

wrigglers

among old roots
an uncountable number
of wrigglers

word & photo © gerald england 2007

in response to the "bugs and creepy crawlers" theme at One Deep Breath.

wildflowers

steam trains
a distant memory
willow herb thrives

© gerald england, 2007

posted in response to the "wildflowers" theme at One Deep Breath.

A different cropping of the same original photograph first appeared on Hyde Daily Photo.