Toast 25/12/2019

This time of year I think of my table
And those who share it,
No more than a dozen places.
Each year I notice some empty chairs,
Some absent friends,
Some silent faces.

This makes me grateful for my table
And for the wonders who have graced it
Over the years,
And for the mystery,
The faces
Yet to appear.

So I pour the wine
And break the bread
For empty chairs
Just the same.
We make the feast
And raise the toast,
Together we exclaim,
“To absent friends”.
(To absent friends.)

The best friends.

For once they’ve passed
All that remains,
After all the joys,
Beyond all the pains,
All that remains is
Pure
Distilled
Love.


And we take a moment
To be grateful
For this table.




Parkstreet

Ko-Fi

Pavement Poet

Baker,
Polished pavement,
Decades
Of swept crumbs.

Mundane
Boulangerie
Creates
Ode to work.






Parkstreet

You Are Wonderful

"You are wonderful",

His last words,

Spoken to his wife.

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL,

His greatest work. 

The inscription on his grave reads,

Steel true

Blade straight

Arthur Conan Doyle

Knight,

Patriot, 

Physician, and man of letters.

One word is missing.

Lover.






Parkstreet

Gone Native, song lyrics

If the letters stop coming
You’ll know I’m dead,
Or I’ve found someone new,
Or the fame’s gone to my head.

If the letters stop coming,
No words from my pen,
You’ll know I’m back on the booze
Or on the road again.

‘Cos Oregon has called me away,
It’s the most chilled out state in the USA,
While I’m gone I’ll write home every day
Until there’s nothing left to say.

If the letters stop coming,
And I guess they will,
You’ll know I’ve gone native,
Succumbed to that north west chill.

‘Cos Oregon has called me away,
It’s the most chilled out state in the USA,
While I’m gone I’ll write home every day,
Until there’s nothing left to say.







Parkstreet

Helsinki

If you wear a hat
It’s essential
To obtain an obscure
Ferry ticket,
Perhaps one from
Helsinki,
An old
Paper ticket,
And slip it into your hat band,
So when you die
Your friends 

Will always
Wonder.




Parkstreet 

Ko-Fi

Meet You There

Man,
Phone to ear,
Eyes searching street.

Tenderly,
“Oh, I see you.”
And an awkward laugh,
Because she’s on the phone
And in sight
And he’s in love
Twice
At the same time.




Parkstreet 

The Paperback Bookshop

The girl
In the polka dot dress
In The Paperback Bookshop
Doesn’t know 

She’s a poem.




Parkstreet

Ko-Fi