Par a noi a- crit i cal town where Sand is raked into waves of a lake Bushes are pruned to resemble rocks Rocks are arranged to represent islands Gardens are raised to look like a mountain Canopies of woods trimmed into clouds And Niwaki trees sculptured like pagodas Whose roofs are pitched to the … Continue reading Pagoda
Beloved of Sen no Rikyū
I shall wait for my friend, compose a poem and dance in play. — Matsumushi (early-15th Century) Winter sun on a wind-rippled pond Waves of light break on the shadowed eaves A garden daubed with autumn’s last brush. — Kyoto, December 2025 • • • • • Sen no Rikyū was a Japanese tea-master from … Continue reading Beloved of Sen no Rikyū
Ice Dragon
Once every hundred centuries He slithers from his mountain lair In a hauberk of silvered scales, Ridged back, snaggle-toothed, ice-blue glare, Crawling turquoise down the valley, Clinging with chameleon claws, Saliva dripped in frozen drools. Everything in his path, even The sun in the indigo sky, Has been slowed to the time of myth That’s … Continue reading Ice Dragon
Herzog’s Penguin
She turns away in search of adventure, A vanishing dot in my fading eyes; But through the binoculars I recognise The deliberation in every gesture; xxxxBoth palms folded flat against her bowed back: Conquering weariness with raw desire; xxxxThe balls of both fists pressed into her hips: Weighing the cost of climbing higher. Below the … Continue reading Herzog’s Penguin
Lost Horizon
What labours must we endure to get there? What effort of muscle and will to arrive? What pains must we suffer under its whip? What concentration of thought and mind? What dust and blood were we forced to swallow? In what dirt and mud must we struggle? As we walk to the horizon What depths … Continue reading Lost Horizon
The Unclimbed Mountain
Fate is the force that pushes the water Down the valley, out of the glacier; Life the contingency of the path it takes, Now meandering through an alpine lake Where many streams converge and divide, Now carving channels steep as water slides, Hurling themselves, contemptuous of safety, With the roar of a lifetime’s worth of … Continue reading The Unclimbed Mountain
No Man’s Land
Till over us we heard the waters close. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx— Dante, Inferno 1. England 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 … Continue reading No Man’s Land
The More Deceived
When your local branch of Stand Up To Racism Contacted you through the WhatsApp smartphone tree, You cancelled your holiday in the Ukraine (Where you’d planned to feed the starving refugees) And went to the demonstration in Walthamstow In your orange bib, keffiyeh and Palestine flag. How you cheered, whistled, clapped your hands and waved … Continue reading The More Deceived
The Wave
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 End
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
Simon Elmer 