sijo m7

all day
we heard the chain-saws hum
over the rooftops
two churches now in view
but when again
will we see the magpies flock?

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 16th November 2003

Publication

2004 Blithe Spirit (UK)

Groatsend Found Sound Poem

GROATSEND FOUND SOUND POEM

Landsend
Grumbla
Barripper
Luxulyan
Brayshop
Quither
Zealmonachoram
Shillingford
Stogumber
Cowslipgreen
Ironacton
Slad
Wyrepiddle
Quatt
Muchwenlock
Greatbolas
Swettenham
Broadbottom
Diggle
Friendly
Appletreewick
Buttertubspass
Crackpot
Booze
Frosterley
Muggleswick
Ruletownhead
Dryburgh
Fala
Turnhouse
Burntisland
Wormit
Tigerton
Bridgeofdye
Cambusomay
Cockbridge
Dufftown
Fogwatt
Dallas
Urray
Fourpenny
Doll
Badlipster
Slickly
Johnogroats

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 10th October 2003

Publication

2007 FIFTH INTERNATIONAL ANTHOLOGY ON PARADOXISM (Vâlcea, Offsetcolor)
2012 Ackworth born, gone West (Internet)

National Poetry Day

NATIONAL POETRY DAY

First thing in the morning
I delete 83 pieces of spam,
download the five genuine emails.

Have breakfast, watch the news
the postman comes late
with a credit-card bill
two pieces of junk mail
an avant-garde magazine from New York,
a haiku sequence in Irish Gaelic and Spanish Catalan
and a book of short stories from Japan.

I shower and dress,
make tea and toast.

The storms of last night have abated
but the weather forecast tells of rain and gales.
I wonder whether I'm going to bother
going down to the shopping precinct
where I'm told there will poetry from 11 till 3
with jugglers and puppeteers on hand too.

The cleaners come today
they show up early.

Once the kitchen floor has dried
I cook a frozen pizza in the microwave
have it with carrots and green beans.

The weather seems fine so I venture out
with my overcoat on and a hat in my bag.

A performance poet is amusing
a group of primary school children
encouraging them to come on stage and recite.
There is a table staffed by the local library;
one of the women is reading an Argos catalogue
while the other seems to be promoting
their "trace your family-tree" service.
A piece of paper on the desk reads
"Haiku is a poem of seventeen syllables".

The children are enjoying themselves
most of the surrounding audience
are probably their parents or grandparents.

Not enjoying himself is the man
whose stall has been moved
to make way for the poetry circus.
He is trying to flog his stock of games consoles
but the poetry is drowning out
the sound of space invaders and pacman.

I leave my poems and camera
securely hidden in my bag,
walk off to the supermarket
do the shopping
take a taxi home
in time for "Countdown" and the snooker.

After tea
another 60 pieces of spam
and half a dozen genuine emails.

Poems for Britain on BBC2
clashes with “Eastenders”
so I video it.
I tune into Ian Macmillan's radio 4 poetic tour
and record that too for later listening.

It hasn't rained at all
Tomorrow I may or may not
catch up with the recordings

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 9th November 2003

Unpublished

(t34)

filling the doorways
of a dilapidated dovecote
dusty cobwebs

© Gerald England

Composed: Nottingham, 27th September 2003

Publication

2004 Blithe Spirit (UK)

(t33)

city square
pigeons struggle
with sliced tomatoes

© Gerald England

Composed: Nottingham, 25th September 2003

Publication

2007 Ginyu (Japan)

(t32)

the horse's field
red squirrel on the fence
conker in mouth

© Gerald England

Composed: Nottingham, 25th September 2003

Publication

2004 Blithe Spirit (UK)

(t31)

stolen kiss
as she leans forward
glimpse of blue bra

© Gerald England

Composed: Nottingham, 25th September 2003

Unpublished

(t30)

the hairless nurse
takes my temperature
which is rising

© Gerald England

Composed: Nottingham, 25th September 2003

Publication

2004 Blithe Spirit (UK)

(t29)

closed-down zoo
the lone lion
roars

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 3rd September 2003

Unpublished

(t28)

the brown stain
of a thrown pizza
above the toaster

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 2nd September 2003

Publication

2006 TABOO HAIKU (Greensboro, Avisson Press)

(t27)

after a week
"you have no NEW
messages"

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 2nd September 2003

Publication

2004 Blithe Spirit (UK)

(t26)

the pillow
on which her head lay
so cool

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 2nd September 2003

Publication

2004 Blithe Spirit (UK)

(t25)

snow-capped peak
halfway to the summit
an overflowing bin

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 28th August 2003

Unpublished

(t24)

misty night
only the full moon
peeps out

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 26th August 2003

Unpublished

(t23)

school's out
the bus to the zoo
is full

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 26th August 2003

Unpublished

Hyde, 1st August 2003

Hyde, August 1st 2003

The town is tainted by murder.
From the War Memorial on Werneth Low
we look out over Hattersley,
once the home of Myra and Ian,
their house demolished but still
something remains in the air.
And the ghost of Shipman
can be seen driving down Joel Lane
or visiting homes in Newton
where the smell of tobacco from
"Senior Service"’s old factory
no longer lingers.

Between the sunshine
rain falls sharply.
Overshadowed now by neighbours --
Ashton-under-Lyne, the capital of Tameside,
where sit the council in their chamber;
Stockport, whose postcode
keeps the town in Cheshire;
Manchester, now the “Greater” county --
and yet the market traders
greet their customers with
"How’s your lad today?" or
"Is your missus any better?"
and talk at the bus-stop
is never only about the weather.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Gee Cross, 1st August 2003

Publication

2006 SPIRIT AND EMOTION (York, Fighting Cock Press)

(t20)

above the drain
water obliterates
double-yellow lines

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 25th July 2003

Unpublished

(t18)

rattle of ladders
the window-cleaner's here
and so is the rain

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 27th June 2003

Unpublished

Hillside Avenue

HILLSIDE AVENUE

When I think of Hillside Avenue
I remember the green
where all us kids would play
how some stayed late
while I watched
from my bedroom window;
they saw me peeping
laughed back -- pointed.

and I remember
the huge bonfires we built
each Guy Fawkes'
how once the remnants of a rocket
fell on my head
and singed a patch of hair.


When I think of Hillside Avenue
I remember the steam trains
on the goods line
that carried black dust
from the colliery
where my father worked
to power stations which created,
I was told,
light and power for our nation.

and I remember
wagons that tipped
a pile of nutty slack
outside each miner’s gate
how I helped to shovel it
into wheelbarrows
to store in the "coil-ole"
by the back door.

When I think of Hillside Avenue
I remember the odour of Brylcream
on the hair of my brother the teddy-boy
on the hair of my sister’s boyfriends
she who was “Miss England”
until the day she married

and I remember
the stench of urine
as each day my mother
tested grandma’s water;
I learnt of diabetes
and never again
took sugar
in my tea.

* * *

Now
the green is a concrete carpark;
bonfires are banned,
but from October to November
load bangs disturb night air.
Council houses have been bought
by sitting tenants;
windows are double-glazed;
the coal-hole stores a boiler
that runs the central heating.
Collieries have long since closed.
The railway line is a footpath
to a small-business industrial estate.
My hair is grey.
Still I do not take sugar
in my tea.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 6th May 2003

(t15)

suburban church
by the graveyard wall
bluebells

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 30th April 2003

Unpublished