(f24)

alone on the beach
suddenly — the sound of hooves —
race horses training

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 1st October 1995

Publication

1998 Sparrow (Croatia)

*****
sam na plaži —
iznenadan zvuk kopita
rasnih trkaèih konja

GERALD ENGLAND

(translated from English to Croation by Marijan Èekolj)

Publication

1998 Sparrow (Croatia)

(f23)

flu preventing sleep
she eats a bacon sandwich
while her husband snores

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 1st October 1995

Publication

1996 Sparrow (Croatia)

*****
gripa sprijeèava san
ona jede sendviè od slanine
dok suprug hrèe

GERALD ENGLAND

(translated from English to Croation by Marijan Èekolj)

Publication

1996 Sparrow (Croatia)

tanka 21

enticed by brochure
for the exclusive farm shop
we pay a visit
on seeing flies in the fridge
we exit without buying

© Gerald England

Composed: Disley, 30th September 1995

Publications

1996 Presence (UK)
1996 The Tanka Journal (Japan)

(f21)

tough Welsh cob drinking —
two swans slide in and out of
the marsh marigolds

© Gerald England

Composed: Briton Ferry, 3rd July 1995

Publications

1996 Weyfarers (UK)
1996 Target (UK)

[4x]

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 9th August 1995

Publication

1997 Raw NerVZ Haiku (Canada)

Clinging to the Valley

CLINGING TO THE VALLEY

screes of shale
remain where
slag-heaps rose

the machinery
and the railway line
are gone

banks of bleak homes
some boarded up
seem to slope nowhere

in the Station Café
they laugh and gossip
tell tales of holidays
and how nice it is
to get back

rain streams
relentlessly
on rows of pigeon lofts

over the mountain
where the last
driftmine
still works
life takes wing

© Gerald England

Composed: Swansea, 30th May 1995

Publications

1997 DOORS OF THE MORNING (Pittsburgh, UnMon America)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1999 Unlikely Stories (Internet)

(f22)

without a warning
men from the council just come
fell and take our tree

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 5th July 1995

Publication

1995 TOPS (UK)

(f19)

outside the X-ray
waiting patients laugh and joke
— passing matron scowls

© Gerald England

Composed: Huddersfield, 27th May 1995

Publications

1995 New Hope International Writing (UK)
1995 Lo Straniero (Italy)
1996 Sparrow (Croatia)

*****
Izvan X zraka
pacijenti se smiju i šale
— mrgodna nadzornica

GERALD ENGLAND

(translated from English to Croation by Marijan Èekolj)

Publication

1996 Sparrow (Croatia)

Brigflatts Revisited

BRIGFLATTS REVISITED

(A tanka sequence, for Mabel Ferrett)

over Widdale Fell
where the visibility
edges to zero
sheep are heard but are not seen
grazing just beyond the snow

on Sedbergh Main Street
shoppers walk over duck-boards
just to cross the road —
sat drinking in the café
we watch them lay new cobbles

turning the pages
before I sign myself in
the Visitors' Book
I note your name two weeks back
and feel your presence here still

in the Meeting House
pictures enliven bare boards
yet the air is cool —
outside it feels much warmer
though the sun is lost in mist

the burial field
a carpet of daffodils —
just like all the rest;
a round memorial stone
"Basil Bunting" and his dates

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 18th April 1995

Publication

1995 BRIGGFLATTS VISITED 2nd edn (Hyde, New Hope International)

[4w]

© Gerald England

Composed: Salford, 22nd March 1995

Publications

1995 At Last (UK)
1997 Raw NerVZ Haiku (Canada)

Changing

CHANGING

He jumps and listens
 then he doesn't
  though he jumps
 down
  falling slowly
until the insides of his ears
 burn

hot tea
 without milk
  tastes good
 no need
for sweeteners after sex

in the cold night outside
 a cat is heard to scream
   as grief-riders
  race
 trying vainly
to escape
  from the flying pigs

   in the morning
all will be accounted for

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 14th March 1995

Publication

1997 Gallery Zandraat (Internet)

(f18)

walking the shoreline -
suddenly the splash of hooves
riders at sea's edge

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 1st February 1995

Publication

1997 Lateral Moves (UK)

Love After Midnight

LOVE AFTER MIDNIGHT

She had been searching
the origins of quicksilver,
wanted to know
the source of vermilion.

It was only a small itch
on the back of her neck;
she needed deft fingers
to scratch it away.

The digits that probed
didn't stop at her back
but sought out pores
along the whole of her skin.

In the midst of her climax
she forgot about Mercury,
relaxed before sleeping
having drunk a full cup.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 19th January 1995

Publications

1997 TUA Coffee Shop (Internet)
2002 Eastern Rainbow (UK)