Passing On

PASSING ON

(for Gail and her mother)

"grandma has no pulse"

the boy hugs his mother
tears flood
forming a river
that crosses
continents and oceans

strength passes
between young and old

a mother's passion
nurtures
a daughter's spirit
nourishes
a faint heart

waves of pure hope
clean the beaches
the island heaves
with fire

beyond red sunsets
memories live
in the eyes of children
who will forge
their own future

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 23rd October 2001

Publication

2001 Zimmerzine (Internet)

tanka 29

in distant Tonga
the millennium rises
from silence erupts
the Hallalujah chorus
and the fireworks begin

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 31st December 1999

Publications

2000 Zimmerzine (Internet)
2000 Poetry Monthly (UK)

January 3rd, pre-Millennium

JANUARY 3, PRE-MILLENNIUM

Christmas was dull and only full of rain
then the cold was here before New Year tolled.
Beyond the mill-town, hills are capped with snow
where Sunday adventurers venture out.

Parked vehicles line the road where walkers leave
to take the precarious Pennine way.
Low ice-clouds driven by the bitter wind
keep Bleaklow hidden from our nearby gaze.
Past Doctor’s Gate, compare the bare white scree
to the brown of fir trees rising skyward.

Green-wellied children in slush strewn lay-bys
construct snowmen out of embedded cones
On the eighth of twelve days we start to sing
catching the mood, though a little too late

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 3rd January 1999

Publication

1999 Zimmerzine (Internet)

(f37)

all the way to Bury
alone on the upper deck
of the 139

© Gerald England

Composed: Bury, 4th July 1997

Publication

1997 Zimmerzine (Internet)