In remembrance

In a clearing
next to the belvedere
on a dark
December day

Shots rang out
and a dozen
lives ended
for what?

It's 1944
they stood up
against
the oppressor

Dared stand up
for what
they believed in
and fight for

They paid
the price
the ultimate price
their lives

So we
could lead
ours
in freedom

were they
prepared
to sacrifice
their future

RIP

Of trees and the sea

Rising straight up
close up
side by side
marching endless

The low December sun
doesn't rise above
their empty
canopies

For trees I can't espy
the distant horizon
the slow meandering
river to the sea

I miss the sea
its open vistas
where unimpeded
the wind blows

It'll be a while yet
before the moorland
feels
my footfall

It'll be a while yet
before the surf
laps
at my feet

It'll be a while yet
before I return
where the lighthouse
lights up my night

Yearning

Where the sea
and the distant mountains
are my horizon
in the islands

The trees
line the boundary
of my line
of sight here

The sea
ripples
glistens
ever moving

The trees
sigh and stir
in the slightest wind
leaves rustling

The lighthouse
now winks
far far away
across a darkened sea

The sun rises
through trees
no mountains
east of here

It'll be a while yet
before my steps
head northwest
to the land on the edge

Home is there
Home is here
I'm like a sailor
always yearning

Always yearning
for where I am not
for the trees
when by the sea

Always yearning
for where I am not
for the sea
when with the trees

Watchnight

The raindrops
tapped
in counterpoint
to the ringing of bells

The wind abated
tapped
the raindrops
off the trees

The lights
reflected
in the shimmering
pools of water

Christ's birth
reflected
in many places
around the world

Merry Christmas

Memories

Motionless
the conifers loom
rising dark
against the wintersky

The barren branches
reaching for the clouds
The last leaves
rustle to the ground

The country park
is deserted
long gone are
the merry visitors

soaked
by the tricky fountain
soaked
by the chained bridge

Memories flood
as the streams murmur
carrying water
down from level to level

Your hand is in mine
but only in spirit
as I stroll down
the treelined paths

Memories remain
as I turn by the castle
its moat shimmering
under the setting sun

Storms

From afar
I watch
as the Atlantic brooms
sweep the islands

Shrieking with glee
flattening
yellowed grass
and blowing away

All that is not
fastened tied down
will be swept away
and discarded unconcerned

Far out at sea
where warm
and cold clash
a storm is born

The warnings fly
The hatches
battened down
We cower

In the face of unbridled force
we marvel
at the beauty
of nature untamed

Force 9

The riders charge
Their steeds fuming
Their caps flash white
in the odd gleam of the sun

Howling with glee
the gale lashes its whips
of whirling spindrift
across the water

Rearing up white
the waves crash
with force
behind the lighthouse

Force 7

Force 7
from the south
steady
unrelenting

Force 7
the riders ride
white caps
frothing at the shore

Force 7
into the night
unrelenting
from the tropics

Force 7
from the south
for the next
few days

Force 7
if you weren't there
I wouldn't
sleep