Love’s True End

When hearts meet and lips touch

And soft and supple bodies blend,

When in joy you give me your all,

Then will I sing of love’s true end.

WHB . . . 1956

Pictures by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833 – 1898) . . . ‘The Heart of the Rose’
Tapestry design, inspired by Chaucer’s adaptation of the medieval French
‘Le Romaunt de la Rose’

SUNRISE

‘Golden Sunrise’ . . . Watercolour: WHB – 2013

The morning threatens to burst its carapace
And I await the beginning of a new day

And as the sun cracks the horizon’s shell
And pours its yolk into today’s cup
The world comes alive
Spreads its panoply of colours
Displaying its wanton nature
In bright yet consoling shades
Of golden yellow
Straining to give back to Helios
Due recompense for his diurnal toils

On such a day as this
Is Nature disposed to display
Its plenitude
To boast shamelessly
Of its joy in bringing
Light and Life
To a sad world

MY CHRISTMAS GHOSTS

MY CHRISTMAS GHOSTS

… Three Christmas Senryu …

They live on in dreams
Friends who once enriched my life 
Ghosts of Christmas Past

Ghosts of Christmas Now
Fill my days and haunt my nights
Bring both joy and fear

Loves I’ll leave behind
Ghosts of Christmas Yet To Come
They are my future

Senryū

Form of poetry

Description

Senryū is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 morae. Senryū tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryū are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are more serious. Wikipedia

CHERITA #3

My third experiment with the poetic form – The CHERITA . . .

‘Cherita’ is the Malay word for story or tale. A cherita consists of a single stanza of a one-line verse, followed by a two-line verse, and then finishing with a three-line verse. It can be written solo or with up to three partners.  (See the website at:   https://www.thecherita.com for further information).

Rhyming is not required, but here is a version which does include rhyme . . .

‘Boo Hoo’ . . . Photo: WHB 2021

3.

I walked along the towpath

Observing each boat as I passed
Until I reached the very last.

A strange name it had
Some may think it sad
But no, it made me glad.

Escape To Paradise

‘A Paradise’ . . . WHB: Pen and watercolour – 2014

our world is not always a nice place to be
so let’s take off for paradise
to do that we must dream
so make a wish and dream
the dreams made from memories
choose daydreams
for they are made from pleasant ones
precious jewels of remembered moments
of childhood pleasures recreated in golden colours
under warm and generous skies
for what is nirvana but bliss
a perfect quietude
remembered from that golden age
when cares were so far away as to be invisible
and joy was present
in the simplicity of a walk in a spring meadow
in hesitant steps across a bubbling beck
in that breath of early evening air
bringing the scent of heather
and with it the rustle of new leaves
bursting to catch the evening air
amongst the rolling northern hills
the cradled landscape of that now distant home
forever a part of my being
both bedrock and comfort of my present
and succour of my hopes for the future

A Spring Haiku

WHB: Pen & Ink – 1981

Joy it is to hear

The sound of birds in springtime:

Life is in their song

A Rainbow Visited Me Today

Photo:WHB  – 2020  …   ©

 

As upon my chair I lay

To my dismay,

A rainbow crept up my leg today.

‘I like it here’, I heard it say.

‘So warm and cosy, I think I’ll stay.’

She whispered to me ‘Is that O-Kay?

Feeling blessed I could not say ‘Nay.’

Of course, I said, ‘Well, Yes, you may.

A joy, a gift, a bold array.

Do not decay,

No need to pay.

So, please, oh please, don’t ever go away.’

Photo by Adrien Olichon on Pexels.com

She Lives

With wizened face and withered arms he looks his ninety years;
His hairless head,  those sunken eyes, not given to easy tears.
Though yet a smile lights up his face whenever he looks at her,
For she it is who lights his life, brings calm to soothe his fears.

But she is now a photograph, an image in her youth,
Mounted in silver, encased in glass, resplendent in its frame.
A memory of memories, written on his heart,
Reminder of a life well spent, of the lovers they became.

Long years, a life, have passed him by, the past now left behind.
What does the future hold for him that hasn’t once been tried?
Save memories, now fading, but alive within his heart,
Bringing rich fodder to his dreams, a full life justified.

 

ANOTHER YEAR

‘Icarus’ … Pen & Wash – WHB – 2020   ©

Another year older
and
against time’s odds
deeper in love –
with life
with living
with a fervid
lust for existence

I want to feel
feel fast
feel free
to fly above my waning world
to feel what Adam felt
when first
he faltered
and fell
feel that Icarus moment
that experienced joy
that knowledge gain
that original lesson
singed
tinged
with both
joy and regret

I fear
I am led
to disregard
inhibitions shackles
and give hedonism
its brazen head

Desire
becomes the imperative
Desire
given to us
to ensure our continued existence
Desire
without which
no history would exist
and all would be
the futility
of Dreamland

Flower of Perfection

Photo: WHB … ‘On a Surrey Grave’  – 2019   ©

 

This In Memoriam
Flower of perfection
No brighter yellow
Offset dark greens
Centred in mauve
Dewdropped
Bejewelled
Delicately scented
Microcosm of
A dreamworld’s core
Promising abounding joy
And a life renewed
In Nature’s gift
To a heart-sore world