Confessions Of Chrysthete XVIII

CONFESSIONS OF CHRYSTHETE XVIII

to be a friend
i have to love you

to love you
i do not have to like you

but oneness
comes only
when love
is each way

between
before
and after

© Gerald England

Composed: Maleme, 30th September 2006

Published

2008 Curlew (UK)

Confessions Of Chrysthete XVII

CONFESSIONS OF CHRYSTHETE XVII

no point
seeking
for happiness
just
be happy
else
there is
no point

© Gerald England

Composed: Maleme, 30th September 2006

Published

2008 Curlew (UK)

Midnight:: a cat howls

MIDNIGHT: A CAT HOWLS

midnight: a cat howls
3 am: fox raiding an overturned wheelie-bin
6 am: milk-bottles rattle
9 am: horns blaring at several junctions
noon: schoolkids gather outside the chip-shop
3 pm: range-rovers on double-yellows
6 pm: the early evening news
9 pm: a watershed for walking dogs
midnight: a cat howls

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 20th February 2004

Publications

2004 Soundeye (Internet)
2006 Curlew (UK)

October Forecast

OCTOBER FORECAST

“Bright with sunny periods
some cloud, occasional showers”
says the local TV forecast.

It has been persistently precipitating
for more than twelve hours.

On the doorstep
a soggy mass of pulp
is all that is left
of my note to the milkman.

The dog wags her tail
in a desperate message;
I open the back door,
she steps out,
stops,
looks round,
then dashes for the nearest
patch of green,
does that she has to do.

Back inside,
the hearthrug
doubles as a towel.

Only an incoming aircraft
breaks the greyness
of the birdless sky.

Outside my window,
the sodden rosebush
drips.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 26th October 2001

Publications

2002 Curlew (UK)
2007 Famous Poets and Poems (Internet)

Stargazing in New Zealand

STARGAZING IN NEW ZEALAND

Collected in a transit van
the Japanese astronomer
takes us out of the village
and across two rutted fields
to his tiny observatory.

It is a clear, cold evening;
the heavens are looking beautiful;
we are shown the stars
as they appear before our naked eyes.

He points out the constellations
and the planets, Jupiter and Saturn;
deep inside the milky way
helps us to clearly see
the position of the Southern Cross.

Whilst observing the sky
we catch site of the Mir spaceship
one week before it is due to
splash down somewhere in the sea
between here and Chile.

Inside the observatory
a large telescope is trained on Jupiter.
Through it we can plainly view
swirling gas clouds and four moons
one to the norwest;
three almost in a so'west line.

Outside in the field
smaller telescopes are set up.
we behold Saturn,
its magnificent rings resplendent.
All I can say is
"Wow!"

We also look closely
at the Jewel-box constellation
and the Orion nebulae.

Reluctantly
we return to the warmth
of our lakeside lodge
dreaming of uncountable stars.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 3rd August 2001

Publications

2002 ROMANIAN CONTEMPORARY ASTROPOETRY 2002 (Bucharest, SARM)
2006 NHI (Internet)
2006 Curlew (UK)

*****
PRIVIND LA STELE IN NOUA ZEELANDA

Suntem culesi intr-un camion de tranzit.
Astronomul japonez ne poarta in afara satului
si ne traverseaza doua campuri imperechiate
catre micul sau observator.

Este o seara senina si rece;
cerul arata frumos;
suntem expusi stelelor,
cum si ele apar inaintea ochilor nostri nuzi.

Astronomul puncteaza constelatiile
si planetele, Jupiter si Saturn;
adanc inauntrul Caii Lactee
ne ajuta sa vedem clar
pozitia Crucii Sudului.

In timp ce observam cerul,
prindem si site-ul statiei Mir
cu o saptamana inainte de cuvenita-i
prabusire in mare
intre aici si Chile.

Inauntrul observatorului,
un telescop mare este fixat pe Jupiter.
Prin el putem vedea deschis
nori de gaz invartejati si patru luni,
una spre nord-vest
si trei aproape de linia sud-vestului.

In afara campului
sunt fixate telescoape mai mici.
Observam Saturnul
si magnificele-i inele stralucitoare.
Tot ce pot spune este
"Wow!"

Privim de asemenea indeaproape
constelatia Cutia cu Diamante
si nebuloasa lui Orion.

Fara convingere
ne intoarcem la caldura
casutei noastre de langa lac,
visand stele nenumarate.

GERALD ENGLAND

(versiunea romaneasca de Andrei Dorian Gheorghe)

Publications

2001 SARM-news (Romania)
2006 NHI (Internet)

Following the Final

Composed: Gee Cross, 9th July 2001

Publication

2002 Curlew (UK)

(f40)

[text not to hand]

Composed: York, 25th July 1997

Publication

2007 Curlew (UK)

(f38)

the double-decker
abandoned in the layby
— driver gone AWOL

© Gerald England

Composed: Bury, 4th July 1997

Publication

2006 Curlew (UK)

(f34)

this cold Good Friday
I walk with my son down town
to buy hot-cross-buns

© Gerald England

Composed: Hyde, 28th March 1997

Publications

1999 Sparrow (Croatia)
2007 Curlew (UK)

*****
ovog hladnog Velikog Petka
šetam sa sinom donjim gradom
da kupim vruèe-križ-pevivo


Gerald England

translated into Croatian by Marijan Èekolj


Publication

1999 Sparrow (Croatia)

(f16)

high tops streaked with snow
driving for hours with frozen feet
hands never quite dry

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 26th November 1994

Publication

2006 Curlew

(f4)

weathering well
Victorian graffiti
on glacial rocks

© Gerald England

Composed: Otley Chevin, 16th April 1994

Publications

2004 Sons of Camus Writers International Journal (Canada)
2006 Curlew (UK)

(g13)

in the magpie's mouth
a morsel too big to bite;
gulls hover nearby

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 3rd February 1992

Publications

1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2009 Curlew (UK)

Funeral

FUNERAL

He would have been buried
two days ago
but Christmas intervened
I watched them bury him
in the New Cemetery
on the village outskirts
He booked his spot there
when it was opened twenty years ago
For twelve years
his has been the only empty grave
He helped to lay the track
of the railway line
that ran behind the graveyard
The line of the track
makes a good footpath
The embankment is fine for viewing
his funeral from
He used to play dominoes
in the Boot each Saturday night
I took his place
the day he died
We won every game we played

© Gerald England

Composed: Ackworth, 30th December 1973

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1988 Waterways (USA)
1993 Pomes (UK)
2004 Curlew (UK)