Mass in B Minor

Bach left just enough room
for daffodils
narcissi incarnatus
willow crucifixus
under moonlight
they slowly opened
and their cool wet smell
filled the room

……….  Jan Dean

……….J

Today I did not write a poem, I just messed about.

Store the flapjack in a flatpack
keep it in a knapsack
or a rucksack if you’d rather
ruck than knap.
Keep a tyre iron in a jacksack
and don’t forget your snack pack –
if you get a flat
you might be glad of that.

……….  Jan Dean

Arevegaig

saltmarsh islands
almostglow green
from the air
puzzle pieces
set in sea
the tide froths
the flock retreats
only the sick sheep
is cut off
bleats
a long grey cry
if she steps too far
her fleece will waterlog
and she’ll sink in silt
as thick and rich
as jellied soup
tonight it’s Springs
and high water
will wash her off
there will be eels
then crabs
………Jan Dean

North West Passage

Rae found Franklin’s men
all dead of course
and clear evidence
that in extemis
they had turned cannibal
Franklin’s widow
demonised John Rae
he never got the credit
for the part he played
paving the ice
for Amundsen
…..politics
stories that don’t suit
melted and refrozen
into safer shapes
you could be forgiven
for mistaking Margaret’s funeral
for a send-off for a saint
though there was clear evidence
of cannibalism
…..Jan Dean

the money dances

it dances in its sleep
parcels unwrap themselves
ribbons and tape shimmy
and that sleepwaltzing cash
crowbarring its way now
splintering packing cases
frogs sing
cows cry to be milked
the tide comes in
and fishermen bait hooks
but that money keeps on skipping
while the fences all fall down

                    Jan Dean

Ashton-Under-Lyne FE

Tech in the 60’s
General Studies
sent us to the library
to check the bias
of the headline stories
nothing changes
but I can’t speak for the Telegraph
it wasn’t there
was never there
at 8 o’clock the trades came in
they stole it every day
I thought of chippies
solving 9 across
and brickies pondering
editorials as they laid a course
the Head of Plumbing
looked at me
as if I was a slate short
half a Daily Telegraph he said
is the test of a good flush.
Jan Dean

the next man in

bats with a frozen salmon
his shoes shine
glossy as melted caramel
his laces slip like snakes
into the grass and away
they make the boundary
before the ball
spins itself
into a smart 6
fielders lounge
palm to ear
elbow to the turf
no longer interested
in standing to attention
and it’s not the same
the knock of leather
on fish
doesn’t have the same ring
as willow
Jan Dean