River wriggle

Tears in the river
The bells in Hell
The arrows in the quiver
And the cats down the well
The weather follows the cock's tail
And Captain Ahab hunts down the whale

I have seen you in the fire's shadows
That dance upon the wall
And in the clouds of a rivers shallows
Where the tadpoles wriggle and crawl

Weathering the storm

 Can you hear the gushing sound 

Coming down the roads

The water babies on their bellies

With the frogs and toads

Flowing over grey stone walls

Filling up the gardens

We've thrown down all our cement bags

Now the bloody things won't harden

Out we dash with broom and bucket

sweeping back the waters

Then we lose the broom and think

This preparation doesn't cut it

what was it they taught us?

But who knew it would be this bad?

Who knew really what would happen

If the farmers take down trees and plough

Then surely water will start lappin

At your door and at mine although

You may live at the bottom of the valley

Of course we all know where the river will flow

It's just whether the river will sally

But one thing's for sure, we sure lend a hand

To help out others in need

Give them your arms and legs, hold a wheelie bin

Before it floats off down the street

But there's no need to play the blame game is there?

These things are just acts of God

Except surely we can mitigate against them

By not replacing forests with fields of sod?

Perhaps why not create some catchment ponds

That way it can slow down the water's flow

Some flooded fields further up would help bond

And allay the more tragic affects down below

Some kind of agricultural plan must be thought up

To prevent this ever happening again

It was like this ten years ago when the levels were caught up

Because the rhynes wouldn't properly drain

Why hasn't the environmental agency had 

a more stringent program of maintenance

Then we might have a case of Neptune's Staircase

Rather than a torrent, a deluge of complainants 

Let's try and deepen the River Sheppey

Make it deeper and broader

I'm sure the army of James Heappey

Would be more than happy

To carry out the order

Danube Girl

 Danube girl, on the banks of a brand new world

Making waves with your hand shoe twirl

In the sand by the river

Danube girl, I want to swim with you in the curls

Of the water as you dive for pearls, on the bed of the river

Can you hear me, singing through the sea

Did you hear the voices of a Europe that was free

Danube girl, some where upstream, 

Where they make your dreams

Come true like in magazines

Trying find a new world

Waiting for the river

Its way past the time when I ask for it
Come with the mask that fits
In the second hand kit
But kid gloves are it
In the stagnant pool
Where we sit
Like frogs and think of England

Is this it?
She says jump
And I am afraid of getting wet
Afraid of free fall
Of the height of this wall
I am sitting on

But the water must flow
Somewhere
There must be a river to follow
And I see it snake off
Winding into tomorrow
I must go

There were two frogs who sat on a log
Who sang of the birds and the bees
Along came a dog who howled like a hog
Red-faced it knelt on its knees
And I looked for signs in its face
Of intelligence or innocence or grace
And yet it was wearing a mask
I could not detect or trace

(30th January 2019)

river of songs

 Rivers and streams

I came down from the mountain

into the stream

I was in the follow through

But it rushed as it gleamed

Like golden glitter

Like in a dream

I didn't know I was in the river

But it was only your jet stream

It took me up through the valley

Down the fettered rhines

I nearly felt better

As I saw the green hills

I didn't know where I was going

Only where I'd been

Well I thought it was a river

But it was only your jet stream

I socked a punch at the moon

And knocked out the sun

It fell like a balloon

Down on everyone

Soon we were covered

But the river it flowed on

Well I called it a river

But it was a sea of song

The river green

 Down by the river

The rolling green river

Down by the river I've been

Down by the river

Where flag Irises quiver

I saw the river Queen

She walked like a sliver

Of moonlight, a shiver

Wishing upon stars in the scene

When I went down by the river

Down by the river,

Down by the river green

Down by the river

Where the wag tails bob

And the fish in the flanks

Who finish the bank job

Of eating the insects

That live only to rob

Down by the river green

Down by the river

The rolling green river

Down by the river I've been

Down by the river

When my heart and my liver

Turned a skip for what I had seen

All the bally insects

Flying round like little jets

All the colours of the scene

But one that will know you

Even everytime show you

That's why the river runs green

Red Burn

 Down from the dark, titanic mounds

Runs the Titans blood

Sometimes white as milk

Sometimes dark brown

Dirty blood from its deep arteries

Over salmon flesh, over cod yellow

Over the red Wrasse fish body

That heaves in the Glen

Whose gills breathe rain water

Whose lungs are damp caves

Whose Leviathan mass lies

In these watery graves

 

Whose back is a whale- une Roche Baleine

The whale bone ribs have been bent into waves

Whose oil and blubber are buried deep underground

And ambergris in its gut are the minerals yet unfound

They’ve been hunted by Geologists with their hammers like harpoons

Ready for the conquering like men who want rock from the moon

River

 The river babbles, shelves in clam-like semi-circles

These C letters it is spelling out

Constantly, clattering, changeling

Calling in chains

That run like white sausage strings

Over stone rails

Bulbous and fat as onions rolling

Down a cobbled hill

Chattering and chasing each other as children do

Racking and racing as horses out the stalls

All from the starting line over the head of Steall Falls

Song of the Rocks

 Sat on a boulder

With a sac on my shoulder

Watching the river flow

The air grew colder

And I felt  much older

Remembering my time must go

Let go the past

Like a jet it is fast

And flies by just

So and so

I take out my glass

And look at the lass

Who told me my love

Must be slow

Oh come to the hills

Where the Buzzard shrills

And the birch bark peels its skin

And though time marches on

The last words of its song

Have yet to be fully writ in

With a song on my sleeve

And a one to believe

My heart is free as the crows

Who do all hurry on

In their black and white song

Just as the river that flows

Around St Aldhelm's well

 The creatures on the church tower

Running round and round

Protecting the inside from the powers that surround

No evil shall not step inside and all shall beware

To fear God in his house, to come with mortal care

The arrogant shall not be given passage there

Or the wicked or conceited done down by their own care

Only the humble shall have their pass

And all this will not be a grumble of the past

Oh the gargoyle and the dragon in the mouth of the lion

As they reach up out of pits where the fires are besieged

And the unbaptized child who is dragged down into hell

Oh be fearful of the priors around St Aldhelm's well

Come stake your claim in leaves and fallen human souls

And don't take what you don't believe or what you can't control

You shall know the fires if you can't make it whole

Oh come see the priors around St Aldhelm's well

He walked for many hours trying to find his chair

A throne of all God's powers, a throne that is just there

And this is how it came about, it came about in prayer

Never waking time, but in seasons of care

And they all want a water wheel out of their care

Cos it springs up for the villagers, it springs up out there

And yes they brought it to our place, they brought it to our home

When the water came face to face with the enemies of Rome

And they brought it from the land unto the ferned hill

And it sprung up out of hand into St Aldhelm's well

Oh how can you see this place of fettered times

You walk inside the ancient hills and under the sweet sunshine

In the shadows of the ancient ones, by the shadow of the church

Overgrown by many trees and plants that holds its perch

Hold me in your arms St Aldhelm's well

And bring me water charms and quench the fires of hell

Will you drink? Will you come to me? And fetch me sweet liberty

And falling from heaven like rain into the sea

On the river Axe

Along to Marchy farm
Ignore the public footpath and
Follow the lower Axe to the left or West
You face down cows
Who frolick
And get excited
When they see you
You hear the farmers talking from behind the
Shed wall
Keep walking
It is trespassing
But only a minor offense afterall

Next slink down a little out of sight
The lower Axe meets the Axe proper
After crossing a maintenance bridge
Enter the next field and head north
Until you join the proper foot path then you are set

On the river axe
The crows are jacks
Scattered in the fields
Like pepper corns

On the river axe,
Nothing attacks,
Nothing lacks
And Everything is born

Westbury straight rhyne
Into it inclines
And the rustle of reeds
Where Veronica bleeds

Sheep under the solar panels
Sheltering from the sun
Laying down like lambs
To the slaughter
Technology's daughter and son

Thin, starved cows of Yeo farm
Resting under the Poplars
Who looks after the cattle?
I became depressed at the thought
And too much steel
The day wore on
I began to feel weary, and so turned back
As this was leading me further
From home
With a long circle to return by

Unoccupied water rat holes
In the bank
Like the caves
Of prehistoric man
Who might have washed
Their flint axes in this river
Hunting Mammoth near Cheddar Gorge

Old wooden bridge tumble down
See to your left Chalcroft hill crown
Then along Taylor paddock drove
Where I came unstuck
In the multitude of thistles
and rape seed and buck

I turned back and retraced my steps
Back to the river Axe instead
And headed East again
The going is easier
But watch out for the stingers
Hidden in the long grass

You reach another old bridge and the road
Head towards the farm of Knowle
Then pass it and cross onto the hill

Shire horse upon the hill
Flies buzz around muddy puddles
And cows stand on the prow
Baking in the sun
I chased one to pull some bailer twine
Out of its mouth - no thanks there

From there you run on down a wooded glen
Shaded and cool
With ferns and high banks
An old tractor wheel full of water
And the dry mud path scattered with dry twigs
And sticks

Then the tunnel opens out into sunlight
And the dirt race track is on your left
Follow another track until you hit the road
Take a right
Then dog leg-second stile on the left

Cut through a wild flower meadow
Farmers lifting high the bales
Hauling up upon the trailer
rolling on green pasture sailors
On their hay ships
like barges pulling through
drawn by grassy charges

Down moor drove to Bleadney
The smell of Chamomile
and borage
Bind weed flower white in the hedges
Bramble tight in the sedges

Bulrush tower like Massai sages
Swaying power of windrush ages

Twisted oak whose limbs are dancing
Old buzzard swoops above barren yellow
Entrancing, the limits of childhood ages
Time has moved on turning its pages

See the bridge at Webb's Rhyne
Tyres on the rhyne bed recline
Where little minnow take turns to dine
As part of the aquatic furniture

River snail hang suspended there
Like bats above a darkened lair
Foot prints stick to the sky
Walking on glass ceilings

Grasshoppers leap and jump in clover
They are the ones who think its all over
But then they land and can't understand
What all the fuss was over

With each step the field comes alive
With crickets singing
Bees buzz in the skies
Hopping from warm blades
Where they sun bathe
Their joints warmed up
In the summer haze

Shooting, teeming, darting
In the bow wave of my shoe
And scatter in my wake

Dandilion clocks tick on
Their seeds are sewn
The dock's rustic red
Waves  at Babylon

Buttercups turn their heads to the sun
While butterflies like petals
Dance and flutter on

And low down the bed of pink-white bind
Brings to mind, nature is kind
As the promise of sweetness
From underneath
The light hearts rising
From the mud beneath

Down by Marchy farm
The sheep quietly eat
From fields replete with fodder
From the hearth and home
Always living shoulder to shoulder
Though each will die alone

A little pheasant or grouse
Slinks behind the house
And youngsters are chatting down by the stream
The Lower River Axe again

Dry baked in ground
Cow pats,
The crows fly up like bats
They are chatting in parliament
And the voices of civilization surround
The signs of government
Return me to my senses

Pigeons coo, awakening
All is replete with fields of wheat and rye
An adder slithers inside 
The stone crevice of an ancient bridge
After it senses my footfall
Or the scent of rain
As from one ash tree to another
The crows flock back again

Spring time in the smoke

All the sexless numbskulls are trying to trip me up
In the forests of the evening and at the hour of the dusk
The candles they are leaning through the shadows of the tusk
And swallows tell their meaning in the narrows of the musk
Between the roof tops and the ceiling
Where they are all layed up
I think therefore I migrate,
I'm an immigrant of the brain
There are only seasons in the neural networks of the south
And the river flows with the blood of change
From its source right to its mouth
So silent, cold and unchanged
beneath the Danube rolls untouched

Can you clear a heart hole
Let the gold flow in its space
But no its full of pennies
And your heart strings are tied in knots
Nothing plays on the harp, the lute
The dulcet tones are strangely strained
And its all on waiting for the winter throes
Out in the fields of rain

The river with its tongue

The river with its tongue so cold

Speaks in slow vowels rolled

The bridge with its mouth bowed

Swallows all that it is told

And the bank side buildings' walls

Listen with ears numbed to stone

Strange gases emit and drift

Along the surface water sunlit

And race at faster speeds yet

Than the river boat captains can bet

Like a substance unknown to man

This life force moves with a mysterious plan

When asked who will understand

It answers only that women can

Yet lions guard the gates of freedom

For some things of stone may still have reason

And ideals of ancestors long dead bones

Resonate with the striding feet of tourist season

roots

Roots of this city

This is the tree

The plants are the people

They settle they join 

Spread their fingers to the water

Feel the river

Some are born here by

Rights to die

Some have lived

Such separate lives

But their roots are set down

Like stones writ in blood

Deep in the heart of the ground

Where they tread

While acacia trees tower

Like the panel buildings above

And bees beside garden fences

Drone and buzz

My heart is in the river

The peace keeper of love

It sings all the sweeter 

For chestnut leaves above

That drop brown to the nutty ground

And crinkle when crushed

Like foot on a crown