Dehydration

“There is not even silence in the mountains
But dry sterile thunder without rain…”

T S Eliot

Unexpectedly
a pressure in my head
that grows to a dull prolonged thud
that settles over my eyes
into a strong persistent drone.

Sometimes I’d wake suddenly
in the middle of the night
uncomfortably hot,
a gnawing anxiety
lying heavy on my stomach.
And the unread books
on our shelves accusing me.

I used to forget about water.

And sometimes now
I forget about silence.
My parched mind
in a desert of noise,
and crowded faces looming
out of the anvil glare of the sun.

Sometimes I yearn for disconnection.




© David Loffman

16 February 2009

Snow Melting

All across the Old Deer Park
in the grey dawn light
the scattered remains of snowmen
loom out of the frozen mist
like the ancient ruins
of a Megalithic temple.

Photograph Snow Melting by Michele Morgan

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragonclouds/3255524246/

Still snowing

through the night suburbs
we slept on a pillow of snow
that fell soft and delicate, down

Photo Still snowing by Goth Phil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_p/3245948000
/in/photostream/

Lichen on bare branches

in dawn light

the lichens shine

from bare branches

Photo: trees in forest by simonsterg

At Rhos Goch Chapel

on the black mountain
outside the windswept chapel
the soft sound of sleet
and gravel falling
on the wooden lid

Fruit and Spices

cinnamon and cloves

hot and sweet oranges

still the smell lingers

Photo Mulled Wine by jsarcadia

Epiphany

Where have you come from?

How have you travelled?

And what gifts can you bring?

Photo coldpath by simonsterg

Winter tree

the thick veins of winter trees
black and knotted
crack the sky to pieces

Photo by Afraid of Ducks'

Winter Sun

Today the sun
is made of water
it rises faint and cold

Photo Foggy winter sunrise by sundornvic

Winter Sunlight

a pale sun rises
through winter's stained glass windows
into the vaulted sky


Photo dawn... by EnKay Tee

Black Lines

the lines of black bare branches,
scribbled across a grey
tent of cloud

Photo soul rising by Justin Gaurav Murgai

Bronzed Leaf Moonlight

bronzed leaf
swings on a still tree
silent chimes

Photo The Last Leaf by mholt

Bare Trees

today the horizons retreat into vague grey branches

Photo bare trees by anOnymOusmuse

Dead Leaves

suddenly a limp and shrivelled fist of leaves

Photo Dangle by Streetwise

Earlier

earlier

a thousand red tongues

squabbling in the wind

Photo Fallen Umber... by Trapac

Autumn Colours Again

a breeze stirs a furnace of trees
and deep embers glow

Photo Autumn Colours by flappingwings

Autumn Colours

A day so clear and sharp it could draw blood

Photo Autumn colours byflappingwings

Leaves in the Gutter

after the party
leaves like shrivelled balloons
discarded

Photo Leaves in the Gutter by Kylie Marie

Golden Leaves

gold spills from the fountainhead of deep autumn trees

Photo Golden Leaves by Mexicanwave

Yellow Tree

a fluorescent yellow balloon
tethered by the trunk
to the damp earth


Photo Yellow Tree by Scraggy & Fluffy

Yellow

yellow slips from the trees
spills onto pavements
seeps into drains

Photo Yellow Lines by M.G.W...

Leaves in Flight

leaves, like yellow kites
threaded on the wind
thrown into a clear blue sky

Photo Leaves in Flight by Benjamin Barnett

Sunlit Bracken

copper bracken
and burgundy shadows
in feathered light

Photo Sunlit Bracken by spodzone

Leaves along the pavement

dry leaves, scattered by the winds, trail sparks along the streets


Photo the leaf by dotpolka

Deer in the Mist

first light,
among ancient oaks and grey mist
a low hollow moan rises

Deer in the Mist by nickmilleruk

Blue Mist

in the still morning
a blue mist gathers
in the undisturbed hollows


Photo Blue Mist by Steve0323

One Line Road Mist

the road dissolves into dirty white

as the early morning unfolds

Photo Road intom mist by DavidInc

One Line Haiku Autumn in a Puddle

after the rain
all summer's colours run together
into the puddle

Photo autumn in a puddle by lo_sgabuzzino (del guercio)

One Line Haiku While Picking Blackberries

the warm autumn earth
reverberates with church bells
rippling over fields

Photo Harrow on the Hill by Kaustav Bhattachary

One Line Bronzed Tree

bronzed leaves slowly corroding in soft autumn light

Bronzed Tree Richmond Park by warren49

Dry Grasses Richmond Park

late summer grasses, bleached white and brittle, their dry seeds scatter

dry grasses 2

by warren49

One Line Late Summer Grasses

the heavy headed surf of white seeds in the late afternoon

waves of grass

by Trillian421979

A Way through the Wood 4

as the afternoon deepens, the arc lines of the coppiced trees, dissolve into enclosing shadows

A Walk through the Woods 4 by warren

One Line A Way through the Wood 3

along the path, the hush of soft moss and fallen leaves

A Way through the Wood8 by Warren

One Line A Way Through The Woods 2

inside, close and humid, a scattered mesh of trees and bracken

a way through the wood 4 by warren

A Way Through The Wood

In the greying light, among the bracken and the ash, there is a way through the wood

A Way through the Wood 2 by warren49

One Line Haiku Storm Clouds

grey smoldering sky
binding summer in chains
a restless confinement

storm clouds by dreambird

One Line At Still Pond

at the still pond even my watch stopped

still pond 1 by warren

One Line At Still Pond

soft morning light falls on to the still pond

still pond by warren

One Line August grasses, trees and sky

the wind's strong currents, scatters clouds, tears at grass and bracken


pastoral perfect by kandyjaxx

One Line White Grasses

like a spring, a crop of wild and white grasses, spray and score the summer air

white fountain grass

by warren

One Line Ivy Collage

on the garden fence, a green collage, like the still and sleeping scales of reptile

Ivy collage

by warren

One Line Green Ferns

the bracken full grown, stands shoulder high, buries sign posts, park benches and Red deer.

Green Ferns by barnp

One Line Summer Grass

the summer grasses brown to a crust, flecked with amber, flash of red

kansus long-grassed prairie

by rita be

One Line Bracken

A layered maze of radiant green

Bracken

by Kwozie

One Line Bracken

wild green light arcs, rises into shadow and light

Bracken

by treescaper

One Line Street lights

the banished darkness hovers above the wide white beam of street lamps

street by Sicko Thelford

One Line June Tree

June, a thick voluptuous green

tree by squeegeed

One Line June Trees

the trees heavy headed, the air drenched in fierce green light

tree by Squeegeed

View of the Road

This is the first full poem I've written since October 2007. It has been rushed and will be edited a little over the next couple of weeks. Hope you like it P?

View of the Road

I miss the nights we lay awake
perched on our elbows
reading the sleeping street
from behind the open blinds,
the black bars of our bedstead
and our heavy headed sleepiness.
Our view obscured by the darkness
And the birch tree
that rung out with a thousand silver tongues
like a distant ocean.

On sleepless nights
when the spell of Faure’s “Pie Jesu” had broken
I’d watch for occasional movement
sculptured out of dark incubating shadows.
A fox rummaging in bins,
a cat’s majestic prowl,
a police car’s purr.

Some nights we’d wake together
to the sudden slam of a car door,
an unexpected cough,
or the wind wrestling the silver birch.
And I’d wake to see our rain sequined window.

And I remember lying on our backs
on lazy Sunday mornings,
watching the shadows of leaves,
and sunlight reflected off car windscreens
through the open blinds and dappled light
throwing pretties onto the bedroom ceiling.

But now the contours of this new road are different.
Instead of the silver birch
an open and exposed view of the road
and a disused telephone pole.
Only its bare wires to hold the weight
of the neighbourhood pigeons,
gold finches and long tail tits.

I watch them from the upstairs window
where I have only a muffled sense of the street below.


© David Loffman

5 June 2008