[5q]

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 25th February 1993

Publications

1996 Quickenings (USA)
1996 Mobius (MI, USA)
1997 Lateral Moves (UK)

tanka 7

next door's cats gambol
on our patio, climb up
on to window sills
the dog watches them, her nose
twitching in indignation


© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Gee Cross, 27th September 1991

Publications

1993 Prophetic Voices (USA)
1995 The Tanka Journal (Japan)
1995 Quickenings (USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

The End of the 80s

              THE END OF THE 80s

              That last afternoon
              we went out in the car
              slowly up the hill we call the Low,
              wary of a traffic-shy horse.
              We found ourselves dead-ended
              where roads led only to muddy farms,
              dingy council estates or the moor's edge.
              Up the top of a hill we call the Down
              we stopped at the cafe
              for tea and toast and brocolli soup,
              then edged our dull way home
              across the mist-marooned moors.

             ©  GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Gee Cross, 31st December 1989

Publication

1990 Quickenings (USA)

(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)

By A Sleepy English Village

BY A SLEEPY ENGLISH VILLAGE

            Beyond the wooded embankment home
                   of Flopsy, Mopsey, Bobtail -
            over which the diesels thunder
            on their flight from King's Cross to Waverley
            the village lies hidden from view

            The green is split but each side
                   cottage-lined -
            a wood of shelter for snails
            opposite bare grass and war-memorial
            with Church Lane a "No Through Road"

            Between the Post Office Stores, half
                   of a house -
            and the Elephant & Castle's bloated car-park
            leading to beer-garden, swings, play-area,
            stands the twice-a-week bus shelter

            The parish notice-board is discreet
                   but manifests -
            a note from the US Airforce concerning
            a vital twenty-four hour NATO exercise
            during which the commander will ensure

            night-time flying is to be kept
                   to a minimum -
            On the approach lane to a nearby hamlet
            a warning-sign establishes priority
            - "Slow ! Ducks crossing !"

           © GERALD ENGLAND.

Composed: Nacton, 8th August 1986

Publications

1986 Periaktos (UK)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1992 Quickenings (USA)
1995 POSITIVELY POETRY (Hyde, New Hope International)
1998 Creative Ooze (Internet)
2008 Ackworth born, gone West (Internet)

(50)

balloons vibrating
bodies gyrating in time
to the disco beat

© Gerald England

Composed: Dukinfield, 10th January 1986

Publication

1996 Quickenings (USA)

Flotsam

               FLOTSAM

               The inner tube of a tyre
               rescued from the rocks
               of a west coast shore -
               bouying the waves
               stringed to a boy
               paddling east coast water -
               drifters don't always
               travel with the tide;
               they get unscheduled lifts
               find new uses
               before being dumped
               in a garden shed
               forgotten for at least
               a season.

               © GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Cambo Sands, 10th July 1983

Publications

1984 Orbis (UK)
1990 Quickenings (USA)
2000 Breathe (UK)

Moon Rising over the Shropshire Hills

               MOON RISING OVER THE SHROPSHIRE HILLS

               gently the brown hill slopes
               to forest of hard fir

               above the edge
               in cool, cloudless sky

               a tiny sliver of yellow light
               peeps

               graduates
               into a demon disc

               rests ready to roll
               earthly firs stand firm

               the moon
               rises to its rightful sky

              ©  GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Hope Bowdler, 7th September 1982

Publications

1983 Folio (UK)
1986 FUTURES (Ipswich, Magic Pen Press)
1988 Quickenings (USA)
1992 California State Poetry Quarterly (USA)

Poppies

POPPIES

(for Edward Thomas)

Unrisen the early mower
only the all night lit windows
hint of humanity in gardens
where an indolent owl flies
sleepwalking in the misty joy
past the church by the green
to the highporched barn of a deserted farm
It alone gives life
to the doorless stables and cumbered stalls
The weathervane fox is rusted south
never telling of the hateful east
the rainy west or crude north wind
Luxuriant nettles, tall tansy
fleabane, dandelions, hawkweeds
testify to anxious labourers
leaning on plough or scythe or hoe
to watch the hounds or a carriage go by
Not fifty yards away
beyond a shadowy corner
seen in the broad halflight before sunrise
the crimson of uncountable poppies
enmeshed with thoughts of mist pearl
desirable as an Italian illusion
having the serene strange beauty
of a woman born of summer air

Yet half an hour
would have seen them reaped

To have come thus far
and know the distance less
to be less than the equal of a poppy
- how else retain the courage
still to voyage on ?

The poppies still shine
and from his tower of ivory
yet does the blackbird sing

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ashton under Lyne 14th December 1981

Publications

1988 Facet (USA)
1989 Quickenings (USA)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1992 Wildflower (USA)
1998 Ygdrasil (Internet)

Two Souls United Make One Angel

TWO SOULS UNITED MAKE ONE ANGEL

Quietly a hospital lost another patient
while a son was being driven
to his sick father's side too late
It was Sunday but the wrong time of the month
and a woman ill at home in bed
waited the return of the driver
Somewhere in a distant bed
the mother of his child
was mourning for herself
Another mother left her sick child
to attend the bereaved
on a warm afternoon walk
Sympathy saturated souls
sought out the threads that bound
That afternoon
at least one angel was made

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Shaw, 24th April 1974

Publications

1986 Quickenings (USA)
1991 Omnific (USA)
1998 The Wings of an Angel (Internet)
2002 Poetry Chain (India)

Destitute Woman

DESTITUTE WOMAN,
AFTER PABLO PICASSO

Art Gallery of Ontario

       The woman is seated
                  leaning
                          almost
       against the blankness of the wall
       She is covered entirely in her cloak
       Her eyes are closed in sleep
       her pale face tilted
       From the closeknitted brow
       runs her sharp bone nose
       to a tight mouth that is not smiling
       Her hands are closed beneath her cloak
       She remains here
                 nearly
                        sleeping
       Her tiredness
       is what binds her to the world
       which itself is closed in tiredness
                               to her

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 2nd February 1974

Publications

1980 Leeds & Harrogate Graphic (UK)
1980 PENNINE ANTHOLOGY 1980 (Huddersfield, Woodhead Publications)
1991 Apostrophe (UK)
1992 Quickenings (USA)
1994 Purple Pastiche (UK)
1998 Ygdrasil (Internet)

Closing Poem

CLOSING POEM

i could
have closed
the door
not let
you go

i left
it open
you left

i had hoped
you might
have stayed
the door
being open
you not
passing through

so as
you go
i only
ask
be careful
how you close
the door
behind
you

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st September 1972

Publications

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)
1992 Roads (UK)
1993 Quickenings (USA)

To The Wind

TO THE WIND

Be quiet
Behave yourself
All morning
you've been rattling at my window
whistling past my chimneytop
shaking the leaves off the trees
banging the not-properly-shut door downstairs
trying to impress me
with your existence
trying to entice me
out of my Sunday-morning bed
Yes
I know
it is a fine and sunny day
but leave me be
and let me stay

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 14th February 1971

Publications

1972 Agog (Scotland, UK)
1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1993 Quickenings (USA)

*****
AO VENTO

Fique quieto
Comporte-se
Toda a ,manha
voce esta uivando em minha janela
assobiando por cima da minha chamine
sacudino as folhas das arvores
batendo as portas do andar de baixo
que nao foram bem fechadas
tentando me impressionar
com sua existencia
tentando me atrair
para fora da minha cama
domingo de manha
Sim
eu sei
e' um lindo dia de sol
mas deixa-me estar
e deixa-me ficar.

GERALD ENGLAND

(Traducao de Teresinka Pereira)

Publication

1986 International Poetry (USA)

(19)

walking in footsteps
of another's path, dying
where the footsteps cease.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st May 1970

Publications

1970 MOUSINGS (Sheffield, Headland)
1970 Headland (UK)
1971 OVERGROUND (Pontefract, Whitwood and District Arts Association)
1992 Quickenings (USA)