Limbo Time

LIMBO TIME

two-thirty in the morning
i am wakened by my wife
with “do you want a cup of tea?”
a rhetorical question
it is already made.
we sit in bed supping the welcome brew
“the clocks go back,
we can have an extra hour in bed”
mentally i count them,
bedside, microwave, video,
computer, grandfather …
a baker’s dozen or more
it will take me at least an hour
to adjust them all
it is two fifty in the morning
or is it only ten to two?
we are living in limbo time
have we lived an hour twice
or did time stand really still?
i turn the pillows over
and try again to sleep.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 26th October 1997

Publication

1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2008 Poet in Residence (Internet)

Truth?

TRUTH?

There are 16 million shades of grey
There is no black
There is no white
You have to draw your own line
It may or may not be straight
There are always mitigating circumstances
Judgement can only be based
On passed-down wisdom and self-experience
Stopping to take stock
Is not an option
You can never find yourself
You can only conform or differ
From each perceived image
The cataracts of common sense
Can never be removed
Focusing on reality’s a fallacy

© Gerald England

Composed: Hyde, 28th September 1997

Publications

1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2007 Famous Poets & Poems (Internet)

*****
ADEVARUL?

Exista 16 milioane de nuante de gri
Negru nu exista
Alb nu exista
Trebuie sa-ti trasezi singur linia
Poate fi dreapta sau nu
Exista intotdeauna circumstante atenuante
Judecata se poate baza
Doar pe intelepciune si experienta proprie
Oprirea pentru a cantari
Nu este o optiune
Pe tine insuti nu te poti gasi
Poti doar sa te conformezi ori sa te diferentiezi
De fiecare imagine perceputa
Cataractele bunului simt
Nu pot fi indepartate niciodata
Concentrandu-te pe inselatoria realitatii.

GERALD ENGLAND

Romanian translations by Octavian Blaga and Florentin Smarandache

Unpublished?

September In The City

SEPTEMBER IN THE CITY

Autumn breezes blow coolly
through City Centre Manchester;
a peek-a-boo sun creates sparse warmth.
The peace of Piccadilly Gardens
is shattered by the presence
of Gore & DeKoning’s Family Fun Fair;
loud rock music drives away the pigeons;
teenagers scream on the dodgems;
children dance to the incipient beat.
Queen Victoria surveys the buses
that leave for Glossop or Stockport;
she has her back to the noise;
she is not amused.

© Gerald England

Composed: Manchester, 14th September 1997

Publications

1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2004 The Same (USA)

San Remo Coffee Bar, Rochdale

SAN REMO COFFEE BAR, ROCHDALE

The same formica-top tables;
wood-grain-effect wallpaper
lines the lower half of the walls
the upper — emulsioned plaster-relief;
the ceiling is polystyrene-tiled;
in the centre a huge rotating fan;
wall-brackets at intervals
hold forty-watt bulbs that glow
through plain, frilled lampshades;
above each is a framed picture of Italy.

The young couple with four-week old Melanie
remind me of how in love we were
meeting here twenty-four years ago.
They are drinking the same
frothy coffee;
nothing here has changed.

© Gerald England

Composed: Rochdale, 13th September 1997

Publications

1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1998 Poetry Monthly (UK)

Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester

Photograph © Gerald England.
PICCADILLY GARDENS, MANCHESTER

fiercely competing
for old ice-cream cones
pigeons fly down
from their perch
on the roof of the ladies loo
to vie with a solitary sparrow
that hides in the flowerbeds

over the heads
of single mums
couples cuddling on the grass
quietly kissing
and jaded travellers
who rest on benches
a cabbage-white flutters by

the noise of nearby traffic
and the hoot of trams
barely penetrates above
the gentle cooing
of the pigeons
in this City Centre haven
where the ratrace stops
for a minute or two

© Gerald England

Composed: Manchester, 17th August 1997

Publications

1997 Afterthoughts (Internet)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1998 Lateral Moves (UK)

[Note: The gardens have long since gone]

Viewing the Comet

Photograph © 1997 Valentin Grigore.

VIEWING THE COMET

(for Mother)

The day before your funeral, as I bath my son,
I tell him. "Tomorrow we are saying goodbye
to Grandma; — she is going away
to meet and be with Jesus."

The knock on the door is our neighbour’s child
hoping to borrow binoculars which we lost years ago.
She points out the Hale-Bopp comet, bright in the Northern
sky, visible even above the city lights.

Because of the biting wind, I return indoors
to dry my son and my eyes.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 26th March 1997

Publications

1997 The Pink Cadillac Review (Internet)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1998 Aireings (UK)
2008 Ackworth born, gone West (Internet)

(f32)

first hesitant words
coming out of the coma
— No! Yes! Coke!

© Gerald England

Composed: Woodley, 14th December 1996

Pubications

1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1999 NASA (USA)
1999 Sparrow (Croatia)
2000 MIR (USA)

*****
prve neodluène rijeèi
dolaze iz kome
— Ne! Da! Cocal-cola!

Gerald England

translated into Croatian by Marijan Èekolj

Publication

1999 Sparrow (Croatia)

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)

On The Road

ON THE ROAD

He, bold, brassy, Geordie
She, coiffured hair,
short, white, well-creased skirt
They walk
into the small town Inn,
look at the menu
of afternoon-tea specials
Landlord - Can I help you?
She - Er, just looking!
They walk out,
come back ten minutes later.
He touches her hand
- don't want a drink - she says
He orders himself a pint of cider
They sit down at a table
He drinks
She is trying
to keep her profile low
Returning his empty glass
he asks tentatively
- actually we were looking
for somewhere to stay the night -
- Forty pounds for a double!
bellows the landlord
Regulars look up from their drink,
smile
- Er, right - say our couple
as they head for the door
We see them soon
across the market square,
he leading her by the hand
Shortly they return
He is sweating
She seems flustered
They carry designer luggage,
the same gaudy design
the hardware shop
on Finkle Street
has had in its Sale all week
They follow the landlady
lamblike
Later we find
a farmhouse B&B
for just twelve a night.

© Gerald England

Composed: Renwick, 26th July 1996

Publications

1996 Boggers All (UK)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2001 Mir (USA)

sijo 1

In the busy waiting room at the Dental Hospital
the blonde-haired receptionist is cursing the computer;
patients losing their patience have too much pain to complain.

© Gerald England

Composed: Manchester, 16th July 1996

Publications

1997 Sijo West (USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2000 THE ART OF HAIKU 2000 (Hyde, New Hope International)

tanka 23

workmen on scaffolds
are still boarding up windows
blown out by the blast;
in cafés across the street
smiling office-girls eat lunch

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 2nd July 1996

Publications

1997 TOPS (UK)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1998 NASA (USA)
2000 MIR (USA)

Five Days After The Bomb

FIVE DAYS AFTER THE BOMB

We drove up from Oxford Street
and turned into Deansgate.
It took us thirty minutes
- but didn't it always? -
In between boarded-up buildings
bright cafés and bars
were open for business
and were bustling
as office-girls in summer dresses
crossed the street
for their lunchtime sandwiches.
Workers whistled on scaffolding
and even the Police smiled.

Near the Cathedral,
a group of camera-laden tourists
were gathered for a guided tour,
but I was unprepared for the sight
as we turned into Withy Grove
and looked up Corporation Street.
It was like gazing through a window
at some scene from Bosnia or Beirut;
the now so silent debris hanging.

The traffic lights change;
we climb Shude Hill
past the dark deserted Bus Station
on the day the IRA say "sorry"
and the newspaper hoardings reply
"HOW DARE THEY SAY SORRY"
to the city that survives and smiles.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 20th June 1996

Publications

1996 The Affiliate (Canada)
1997 MYSTERY OF THE CITY (Tring, Photon Press)
1997 Cyberscribers (Internet)
1997 The Plastic Tower (USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

tanka 22

the frozen river
the ice broken in places
pigeons and ducks
fight for each piece of bread thrown
by the giddy laughing boy

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 3rd February 1996

Publications

1996 American Tanka (USA)
1997 Time Haiku (UK)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2001 ENGLISH TANKA & HAIKU ON WATER, RIVER, LAKE AND SEA (Gifu-city, Japan Society on Water Environment)
2004 TIME HAIKU ANTHOLOGY (London, Time Haiku Group)

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)

(f15)

watching "Lion King"
in the cinema which stands
where Belle Vue Zoo stood

© Gerald England

Composed: Denton, 30th October 1994

Publications

1995 TOPS (UK)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1998 NASA(USA)
2000 MIR (USA)

Gone Not Gentle

GONE NOT GENTLE

on spindrift pages
from the raging moon he wrote
for heedless lovers

by St.Martin's Church
poetry pilgrims honour
a simple white cross

at the Lamb & Flag
talk is of a drunken poet
stripping off his shirt

in the U.S.A.
professors then young students
recall his last lecture

curtains still open
in a thousand small theatres
to Under Milk Wood

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 15th December 1993

Publications

1994 Purple Patch (UK)
1994 Current Accounts (UK)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1998 Black Creek Review (USA)
1998 Perihelion (Internet)
1998 Black Creek Review (Internet)

Putting the Horror Movie in Context

PUTTING THE HORROR MOVIE IN CONTEXT

tensions of the night
preventing sleep
we go downstairs
disturb the dog
share tea and cake
with the "Vampire of Venice"
gape as his victim
throws herself from a pinnacle
then wakes up
not with broken back
but naked in his chamber
blood dribbling from mouth

as the television breaks
to a commercial
for washing-up liquid
we laugh - return to bed
equipped to deal
with our own demons

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 17th November 1993

Publications

1994 Weyfarers (UK)
1994 Mobius (USA)
1996 The Affiliate (Canada)
1997 Gallery Zandstraat (Internet)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

What Father Did

WHAT FATHER DID

my father painted
    the toilet seat
after I'd gone to bed
    I was only six

he painted it yellow
    I wasn't to know
I cried but it was
    their laughter that hurt

Turpentine is cold
    and smells so!
He could have told
    I was only six

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Upton by Chester, 16th June 1993

Publications

1994 Green's Magazine (Canada)
1996 Q (USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2005 The Spoon River Poetry Review (USA)

Mouth Rape

MOUTH RAPE

open wider
relax your lips
fighting to retain
my sanity
as hard metal
probes my insides
water pouring
into cavities
unable to scream
my tongue
desperate
to escape
i grip the sides
of the couch
think of naked
receptionists
relax your lips
open wider
i try
not to resist
to hold back
the choking
come again
soon
he says
handing me
a tissue
and smiling
through his own
white teeth

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Gee Cross, 22nd October 1992

Publications

1993 Mobius (WI, USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

(g18)

under dragon clouds
swallows swarm on their way south
- summer so soon gone

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 9th October 1992

Publications

1995 Sparrow (Croatia)
1997 Lateral Moves (UK)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1999 NASA (USA)
2000 MIR (USA)
*****
divlji oblaci
jato lastavica put juga
- ljeto je prebrzo proslo


© Gerald England

translated into Croatian by Marijan Cekolj

Publication

1995 Sparrow (Croatia)