Stealing Kisses

              STEALING KISSES

              He loves pretty girls,
              singles them out,
              goes straight up
              and plonks a sloppy kiss
              on their hand or face or cheek
              and looks for the twinkle in their eyes

              Because he is small
              and handicapped
              and loveable
              and totally irresistible
              they hug him,
              cuddle him and kiss him.

              I am jealous of my son.

              If I tried the same,
              they would probably belt me;
              certainly his mum would.

             ©  GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Banchory, 11th August 1989

Publications

1990 The White Rose (UK)
1990 Bardoni (UK)
1991 Hybrid (UK)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1993 Prophetic Voices (USA)
1997 Cyberscribers (Internet)

Craig

           CRAIG

           Craig is three now

           Last year he climbed
           the height of the
           Giant's Causeway

           Today he crossed
           in wave-sprayed boat
           to Staffa and probed
           the depths of Fingal's Cave

           Craig is handicapped

           In one year
           he has crossed
           the Giant's sea
           from Ulster to the Hebrides

           How many years
           will he take
           to climb other heights
           probe other depths
           cross that other sea
           others label "normallacy" ?

           © GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Fionnphort, 3rd August 1984

Publications

1984 New Hope International (UK)
1984 International Biographical Centre Magazine (UK)
1984 Boyds Walk Newsletter (UK)
1986 FUTURES (Ipswich, Magic Pen Press)
1987 White Rose Magazine (UK)

*****

Portuguese translation by Teresinka Pereira

Text not to hand.

Publication

1985 International Poetry (USA)

Mother England

MOTHER ENGLAND

She is Mother England
suffering a modicum
of morning sickness in the evening
and feeling somewhat heavier
than in her slim-trim days
of pre-pregnancy dieting.

She is Mother England
busy knitting babygros
and searching all the ads
for secondhand cots,
trying to remember
her antenatal clinic dates.

She is Mother England.
The taut swelling of skin
from where comes kicks
hides the lap on which
a three-year-old would sit.

He says there's a baby there,
the result of "Daddycation".
She is Mother England.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ashton under Lyne, 1st January 1981

Publications

1981 DADDYCATION (Ashton under Lyne, New Hope International)
1986 PENNINE POETS 1966-1986 (Heckmondwike, Fighting Cock Press)
1989 White Rose Literary Magazine (UK)

Haunted

HAUNTED

"The day that the rains came down"
This is the melody that has haunted me
since we first together to Bury went
I had hared over the Snake to see you
with just another weekend's courting on my mind
You asked me to take you to Bury via country lanes
It rained so hard I think I might have been drunk on the outside
The water fell flop flop from our coats
forming deep puddles in the thick pile carpet
of the jeweller's shop where a month's wage
disappeared in a diamond ring
We were engaged before I really knew
Everyone else was rushing round dodging between doorways
while we in a dream walked wet but not weary
Once we visited Bury in a warm October sun
buying clothes for our daughter
the day before she died
Our years of happy marriage don't rely on the sunshine
for it is the rain that has haunted the memory

© Gerald England

Composed: Bridlington, 6th June 1978

Publications

1981 DADDYCATION (Ashton under Lyne, New Hope International)
1986 White Rose (UK)
1995 REMEMBERING FORGETTING (Hull, Psychopoetica)

On An Early Morning Walk Through The Park To The City

ON AN EARLY MORNING WALK
THROUGH THE PARK TO THE CITY

I stood and watched as the lights played
on the waters of the Kelvin;
the lights of houses on Dumbarton Road
in the background
It was still dark
but sun was beginning to dispel
the frostiness of night
In the open park — a beautiful scene —
the bare-limbed trees standing against the sky
the cold winds reminding
- it is December -
I did not stand for long
but wrapping my scarf
securely round my neck
walked on
At every step the sky
lightened as the sun climbed
The only other person I passed in the park
did not return my "Good Morning!" — I supposed
that was what came of living in a city
or perhaps he was just cold
and not in a very good mood
I walked into the lights of Sauchiehall Street
where cars were already on the move
and pedestrian numbers increased
as the small hand crept towards eight

And the darkness was soon all gone
'Day' was the term in use
The city was awake
but I was falling back to sleep

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Glasgow, 1st December 1966

Publications

1988 The White Rose Literary Magazine (UK)
1996 Mobius (MI, USA)