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Greyfriars

If ever there were dragons
they left their passion here
in garnet schist and granite, 
crazy migmatite
of marbled black and white:
hot scramblings of the pluton.

What's left of monks is bony, hard
to see: a grassy field
where horses crop and starlings pop
and bubble natter-songs
of seed and insect, feeding
over buried walls.

Cobble-flocks and boulders
Cluster; mortared stone
reliques tell crustal stories deeper
than our poor humanity.
Churches pass and minsters fall:
the pagan flints remain.

Tim
Poetry Theme(s):

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Eucalyptus Grove, Nowton Park, Bury St Edmunds

Where koalas climb Your essence exudes Striped bark,  An Everlasting glade Of inspiration Comfort and reassurance In a changing world. Oval olive leaves With yellow veins enriching  The aroma, Crisp and sturdy. Your ghost white-dusted Cigarillo rolls, Like long brittle fingers Scattering the ground. Sometimes smooth and simple, Sometimes crispy and rough, your colourful patchwork;  my secret makers-stamp revealed. Louise
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Walberswick

Walberswick foreshore beneath a bridge, countless silver fry can't make up minds where to swim John
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Green Swatches

My body will forget My thoughts will be Scattered Amongst Winter's Gloom. Amongst Nature’s Seasoned robes I walk and restore My broken thoughts. With widening strides I turn to the botanical essence Leaving traces of desire. To swatches of green I turn my attentiveness To refresh tomorrow’s thoughts. Jim  
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Vivacious Freedom

With vivacious freedom I release My inner voice Thomas
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Ballinasloe Station

Flood plains replenished and diminished, a deceiving here-and-there fluidity and the flat statement of stubborn water. Occasionally trackside trees are stranded, littered in swirling pools that soundlessly disappear. On the horizon, tall walls and radio mast mark the far-off asylum neatly screened with its avenue of trees. The people are hidden beyond the town, their tears reaching as far as the railway lines. The train navigates the flood’s edge like logic escaping emotion, trim engineering escaping danger, holding firmly onto the rails. (Ballinasloe was a major mental home in County Galway) Pat Jourdan
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Acronyms

PTSD PPE BA 2.75.2 Ratios, numbers, percentages “look after yourself…” they said. We were all Marcel Marceau feeling the invisible walls closing in. I was lucky, I could get out for 30 minutes Music in the car on the way home from the crem., to those invisible walls carrying the grief of the world on my shoulders and forever in my heart. Ratios, numbers, percentages “look after yourself… Suzanne
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Twisted Love

Twisted trunk and milky stream, A glacial meltwater on serpent skin. Whirling optimistic messengers, Coherent and flowing, Yet random and broken Waiting to be spoken. Snake bark maple, And milky stream, Twisted love and shattered dreams. Anon .    
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Willow Winterbourne

Winterbourne willow wetland Shooting sinuous sprouts Unforgettably Upright Therapeutic tactile tree Silently silvery still. Robert
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Pollard Willows at Sunset

Van Gogh, 'Pollard Willows at Sunset', (1888) Under a throbbing sun, trees stand tall, coldly blue against the summer glow. Gnarled, knobby and defiant, they raise their hands to the yellow sky, where, high above, a shining globe dispenses lemon-coloured radiance. As the sun sinks, the trees settle down for a brief night of repose, whilst the sap still rises, triumphant, resisting, mirroring the cut and thrust of life. Together, they reach for the sky. Behind them the coruscating water proclaims its own blue indispensability: light, warmth and water, hallowed gifts of life on which the whole earth depends. Julia
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Breath

All round the world people are holding their breath Is it just an anomaly or are we in at the death? Our planet is hurting that we all can see Is this blip natural or caused by you and me? We have to trust scientists to tell us the truth You are our hope and you are our sleuth Do not ignore the cynics they’ll keep you on track Retest their theories, and find out what they lack Is it a sun spot that may cause the crash Or too much abuse, and things that we trash So tell us home truths, even things that we fear Especially those things we do not want to hear So all of the plastic we do not need to use All of our assets we need not abuse Will help just a little, we hope and we pray Seek a safe path, make some headway Let the whole world return to a safer course Let saving people be a founding force Be sure to travel just the trail that is true Lies come back to bite, like an old lover’s tattoo Let’s hope with every hope we’re not in at the death And slowly, slowly ..... release the world’s...
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