Category: Poems

Till over us we heard the waters close. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx— Dante, Inferno The wave that gathered off our eastern shore, Rose on the horizon, blotted out the sun, Engulfed in darkness the lighthouse towers That might have warned us of its swift approach, Drained the springs that flowed from our hills So that all in its … Continue reading The Wave

The name over the bar was ‘Mood For Love’, Drinking in which, we hoped, would put us In the same mood as Wong Kar-wai’s film, Which we’d failed to see in two years of searching In Hong Kong’s commercial cinemas. But, in memory of Douglas Adams, We christened it ‘The Bar in the Hotel At … Continue reading The End

The toxic masculinity Of rutting stags in Richmond Park Is not an accusation That could be levelled at this hart Who whiles away these autumn days (My fallen antlers nests for birds) Reading about English hinds Being mounted by foreign herds. — September 2025 • • • • • Richmond Park is a royal park … Continue reading Rutting Season

Welcome aboard South Western Railway’s Service to Dorking. Calling at Earlsfield, Wimbledon, Raynes Park, Worcester Park, Stoneleigh, Ewell West, Epsom, Ashtead, Leatherhead, Boxhill & Westhumble, And Dorking. Inside my head I count the seconds Before the voice begins again. Please ensure you have a valid ticket. Anyone without a valid ticket Or payment method, will … Continue reading England

The beast we bred in Brussels has broken out of prison And squats today on Europa’s breast. It was not made To keep us safe from harm but locked in indecision. And now he crawls the unlit kerbs of every street at night, Preying on the victims they’ve assigned for sacrifice, And every park and … Continue reading God is Greater

If it were announced to you that the enemy had invaded your cities, your castles and your lands; had ravished your wives and your daughters, and profaned your temples, which among you would not fly to arms? — St. Bernard of Clairvaux, sermon for the Second Crusade preached at Vézelay in 1146 (Joseph-François Michaud’s Histoire … Continue reading The Cathedral in Ruins

In the upper reaches of Tiger Leaping Gorge, Where the rapids of Jinsha River cut their way xxxxBetween mountains of unmelting snow In a torrent of gold water and silver spray, xxxxAnd the shadowed cliffs on either side Ascend to sunlit peaks five-thousand metres high — Chinese tourists, beneath masks and white umbrellas, Queue patiently … Continue reading Crossing the Jinsha River

Her eyes were the empty buds of a beech tree in the autumn, Her lips the honeyed sapwood beneath the curled bark of her skin, The dark down on her forearms were the stripes on a tiger’s coat, Her wrists the burnished tree bole from whose stump white flowers blossom, And her hands, which picked … Continue reading Tiger Leaping Gorge

Ants on the locust tree assume a great-nation swagger xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx— Mao Zedong, 1963 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx1 On this nameless junction, where Fuzhou Road Crosses Jiangxi Road on its way to the Bund, For a hundred years the British Concession In the Far East — Shanghai’s City of London; And where, today, a red light means ‘stop’ But … Continue reading The Circus

xxxxxxxxxx1 She struts between the tables Of the tiny dining room Like a boxer who’s defeated His opponent in the ring Like a prima ballerina Before the corps de ballet Like a foreman watching workers Across the factory floor. xxxxxxxxxx2 She is always on her feet I have never seen her seated Every evening of … Continue reading Black Swan