Gift

GIFT

my son brings me
lucozade and chocolate
at the hospital

© gerald england

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 16th October 2011

Publication

2011 GIFT (Spalding, British Haiku Society)

haiku (d69)

over Ridge Hill
the sun rises slowly
from my hospital bed

© gerald england

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 15th October 2011

Publication

Ackworth Born, Gone West (Internet)

(n6 - n10): a casualty sequence

sunday morning
the taxi to hospital
takes the scenic route

***

back with coffee
she's already gone
to x-ray

***

waiting again
i finish off
her luke-warm coffee

***

large adverts
for compensation lawers
on waiting-room wall

***

no bones broken
keep on taking the tablets
go home and rest

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 31st July 2005

Unpublished

(t50)

in "outpatients"
a hospital drama plays
on the TV

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 13th April 2004

Publication

2004 OTHER (Spalding, British Haiku Society)

sijo 5

her colouring book was open at the picture of a ladybird;
I told her its body was red and the dots should be black
but didn't know the colour of its eyes, having never looked.

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 16th August 1996

Publications

1997 Sijo West (USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

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)

(f13)

not put you to sleep
but make you feel less bothered
the nurse reassures

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 25th August 1994

Unpublished

(f12)

three patients waiting
impending operations
not one of them speaks

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 25th August 1994

Publications

1996 Sparrow (Croatia)
1997 Time Haiku (UK)
1998 Sparrow (Croatia)
2004 TIME HAIKU ANTHOLOGY (London, Time Haiku Group)

*****
tri bolesnika èekaju
predstojeèu operaciju —
ni jedan ne govori

GERALD ENGLAND

(translated from English to Croation by Marijan Èekolj)

Publications

1996 Sparrow (Croatia)
1998 Sparrow (Croatia)

(g24)

church coffee morning
thronged with shoppers escaping
the Saturday rain

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 15th May 1993

Publications

1993 Tops The Toadbird (UK)
1998 Sparrow (Croatia)

*****
crkveno jutro
natiskano kupcima pobjeglim
od subotnje kiše

Gerald England

translated from English to Croatian by Marijan Èekolj

Publication

1998 Sparrow (Croatia)

(g12)

iciest of nights
fish-net tights and mini-skirt
still they dress for work

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 24th January 1992

Publications

1992 The Plastic Tower (USA)
1998 Sparrow (Croatia)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

*****
ledene noæi —
hulaholpke I mini suknje
one još oblaèe za posao

Gerald England

translated from English to Croatian by Marijan Èekolj

Publication

1998 Sparrow (Croatia)

tanka 9

children operate
remote TV volume switch;
central heating plays
at trains, car alarm sounds off;
brain asks - what became of sleep?

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 9th October 1991

Publication

1994 T.O.P.S. The Toadbird (UK)

tanka 6

nibbling bushes in
the supermarket car park
four white nanny goats
as they turn, run, shoppers scream
manager playing cowboy


© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 18th September 1991

Publications

1994 Prophetic Voices (USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

Christmas Time

CHRISTMAS TIME

No sooner summer's end
than supermarkets fill their shelves
with tempters for the Christmas spend.

Civic authorities string up lights
to glimmer through the gloom
of foggy mid-November nights.

Children open advent doors
in calendars revealing scenes
of cribs and candles and Santa Claus.

With the first of the season's pantomimes
or the knocking of the carollers;
Christmas begins at different times.

But the time that Christmas truly starts
is when we open up our selves,
allowing Christmas to invade our hearts..


                          © GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 14th November 1987

Publications

1988 The Third Half (UK)

2000 Breathe (UK)

[6j]

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 11th November 1987

Publication

1990 Iota (UK)

Taking Her Mother's Advice

              TAKING HER MOTHER'S ADVICE

              Her mother adviced,
              "Lie back and think of England"

              She did
              England came
              She did

              © GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 10th October 1987

Publication

1988 Haight Ashbury Literary Journal (USA)

Making Love In The Early Morning

MAKING LOVE IN THE EARLY MORNING

Orgasm approaching
Rumbles of distant traffic
Screech of brakes
where the two roads meet
at the "Cock & Crown"
Patter of elephants on the landing
Sheets quickly hoisted
Movement locked in a still embrace
"Daddy, it's time to get up! Mummy!"
"Thank you, son!"
As innocence departs downstairs
daddy is already up - mummy.

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 1st October 1987

Publications

1988 Agog (London, UK)
1990 The Affiliate (Canada)
1998 The Bohemian Forest (Internet)

Bread

BREAD

              Nutty brown wholemeal,
              wheat germ, standard white,
              supermarket pre-wrapped cardboard,
              stale wedding reception left-overs;
              it's all the same
              to Bewick swans and Mallard ducks
              fighting for every thrown crumb,
              quacking and screeching
              at upstart gulls and starlings
              keen to encroach on banks.
              Only when the last bag of bread
              is emptied,
              the last child departed,
              will they retire
              fat to the island.

              © GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 20th September 1987

Publications

1990 Aireings (UK)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1998 The Morpo Review (Internet)

(c20)

              to light a candle
              in dark December's despair
              would be wasted wax

              © GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 9th September 1987

Publication

1992 Quickenings (USA)

Family Christmas

FAMILY CHRISTMAS

 children pre-rise the sun
 tear at wrapping paper
 while parents sip coffee

 prayers and carols in church
 trying to keep quiet
 adults worship a babe

 turkey and sage, white sauce
 with the pudding and
 all the afters you want

 a bugs bunny movie
 the queen's speech and a game
 of trivial pursuits

 to grandma's tomorrow
 the satisfied infants
 slip silently to bed

 © GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 20th November 1986

Publications

1991 Quickenings (USA)
1992 Mad Poets Review (USA)

Ballade of Arthur Dent

BALLADE OF ARTHUR DENT

Damn the Sirius Cybernetics' Corporation,
there are things not said in the Hitchhiker's Guide.
I need some proper elaboration -
the Nutrimat seems to deliver pesticide!
I'm sure that my brain is about to collide
unless the mind in my head is an absentee.
There's one thing I've craved since I started this ride
- all that I want is a decent cup of tea !

Parts of the Universe defy exploration
but even Zaphod Beeblebrox won't know where to hide
when the Vogon's decide on redecoration
to fill all the lakes with hydrogen chloride -
such actions as Marvin could never abide,
but that paranoid android's only a draftee
in whom scatter-brained humans fail to confide
- all that I want is a decent cup of tea !

In Vogon poetry there's no melioration
but unless you appeal to the Captain's pride
the Heart of Gold won't see restoration -
only Bugblatter Beasts can breath carbon monoxide
and they actually thrive on cyanide.
Once I was an Infocom devotee
but now I'm considering suicide
- all that I want is a decent cup of tea !

ENVOI

Ford, I've followed you all the way across the great divide.
I realise there can be no guarantee
but seven sixes is the answer I'll provide
- all that I want is a decent cup of tea !

© Gerald England

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 1st November 1986

Publications

1990 Weyfarers (UK)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1993 Periaktos (UK)