tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70773492817584044492024-03-13T01:31:42.652-07:00veronicabalfourpaulveronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-84038327900596941792019-02-06T10:32:00.002-08:002019-10-06T13:52:18.923-07:00unconditionalCould.<br />
Its sound is hard<br />
like a tool<br />
slicing through turf<br />
exposing the meaty density<br />
of life.<br />
Cold, calculating<br />
and probably<br />
too late.<br />
<br />
Should<br />
is soft, sodden,<br />
like wet snow<br />
falling from<br />
the roof.<br />
A dithering<br />
guilt-ridden<br />
afterthought.<br />
Definitely<br />
too late.<br />
<br />
Would<br />
has a dull sound<br />
like a steak 'tenderizer'<br />
beating the Hell<br />
out of possibilities<br />
and walking away<br />
wiping hands<br />
on a well-used<br />
cloth.<br />
<br />
All contain<br />
a silent 'l'.<br />
Let's use that L<br />
for love.veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-70057707361097781482017-05-09T08:06:00.003-07:002017-05-09T08:07:13.142-07:00Home Alone In A Storm<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }</style>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Home
Alone in a Storm</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Pebble
dash dreams</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">rattle
the window</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">sheet
rain slashes</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the
inky mire.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I
lie in my clay house,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">my
safe house,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">still
awake,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and
yearn,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as
the storm prowls</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the
walls,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">yearn
for his company</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">like
a stove yearns a flame</span></div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-48468310426089042522017-04-15T06:07:00.002-07:002017-04-15T06:07:28.919-07:00The Moon, The Owl and The NightingaleThe moon, <br />yesterday's fool,<br />wanders, <br />now rather beaten on one side.<br />Past her bloom<br />she glows less bright,<br />destined to follow her path.<br /><br />An owl hoots from high<br />in the bone-white<br />eucalyptus tree<br />breaking the silence<br />repeating, repeating,<br />to wit, to woo<br /><br />And then the nightingale,<br />that seasonal opportunist,<br />chants from the lower woodlands.<br />Soft, chirpy bursts<br />of pure song.<br />I am the one, choose me,<br />let me be your destiny.<br /><br />The owl moves on<br />her voice comes<br />from across the hillside,<br />and mole-crickets <br />begin their racket.<br /><br />The ancient songs<br />of call and response<br />through the night continue.<br />Nature holds us lightly<br />that we may taste freedom<br />as we pound our paths<br />to home.veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-17326134988843843402016-05-03T12:21:00.003-07:002016-05-03T12:21:33.208-07:00A Little Flash of Light
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<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Wordle
249</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">A
little Flash Of Light</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Apparently</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">At
that moment</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of
grace,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">When
sperm</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Joins
egg,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">There
is a flash</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of
light.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The
fire is kindled</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">A
cell is created,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Becomes
many.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">From
a glint in the eye</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">To
a silken-skinned child.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">A
boundless journey</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">From
light</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">To
light</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-51372842786274141362015-11-14T09:26:00.001-08:002015-11-14T09:26:32.754-08:00Mandala Doodles<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdSn5oLQFmq0IxLkMgFALkxqMb85gHQgYHSy6qAPJwfyAWSP47SI7Ix9pKuLatO8vZe029IoP-hcsQAKgKxftzHNODbmjbGLPJdwP92M_OEkP51ii15Fjc9gbyBHpkQQLO3eNCr_SjLD0/s1600/SAM_1390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdSn5oLQFmq0IxLkMgFALkxqMb85gHQgYHSy6qAPJwfyAWSP47SI7Ix9pKuLatO8vZe029IoP-hcsQAKgKxftzHNODbmjbGLPJdwP92M_OEkP51ii15Fjc9gbyBHpkQQLO3eNCr_SjLD0/s320/SAM_1390.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the Beginning</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05O04N8LElGNx1mw-OxwiFvkWPMkZ8E3_FWbfQa49fS40yaAA-l4-OrJK1-VQS-9cd7-bcfviJfj4Owi2Q7PczZ4gwDTnos1GioGfiGrxmniQleVcRWi1GJHKix93KZB-lUg0pGiz1G4/s1600/SAM_1394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05O04N8LElGNx1mw-OxwiFvkWPMkZ8E3_FWbfQa49fS40yaAA-l4-OrJK1-VQS-9cd7-bcfviJfj4Owi2Q7PczZ4gwDTnos1GioGfiGrxmniQleVcRWi1GJHKix93KZB-lUg0pGiz1G4/s320/SAM_1394.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add caption</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUBgMR_RL8SlMOUNBqIW0Fh-yKVwt5p62TYEbyAvGtH5xoIt0gWw5U5bbrtw9DycTTjzr8joYCZKGNjSBi6vWFxNamJ1W0S6EwPml5Mf0hNaAd-pfTBfCy5QtIKjLpk107pLw4jZEuB0/s1600/SAM_1395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUBgMR_RL8SlMOUNBqIW0Fh-yKVwt5p62TYEbyAvGtH5xoIt0gWw5U5bbrtw9DycTTjzr8joYCZKGNjSBi6vWFxNamJ1W0S6EwPml5Mf0hNaAd-pfTBfCy5QtIKjLpk107pLw4jZEuB0/s320/SAM_1395.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add caption</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have been doodling with some new pencils by Derwent called 'Inktense'. They look like ordinary colouring pencils but then you paint over them with a wet brush and their colour intensifies and when it dries it is permanent. Lots of fun. I have been browsing through a book of ancient mandalas from Tibet and China and Japan, and found some of the details quite inspiring.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIeYHAFmjYEzbZWpp6JC_7l_hG04nIeSmwBtZ7McxPeutF2nhFeFlAmCRIyAR1NYqXwkGZrJ2801m0yHsPmBgPV7wXOvfiG_KTrBouOskWtZkQYFEHcohq3QtR5LbRVSA6rSmtOaRXZck/s1600/SAM_1391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIeYHAFmjYEzbZWpp6JC_7l_hG04nIeSmwBtZ7McxPeutF2nhFeFlAmCRIyAR1NYqXwkGZrJ2801m0yHsPmBgPV7wXOvfiG_KTrBouOskWtZkQYFEHcohq3QtR5LbRVSA6rSmtOaRXZck/s320/SAM_1391.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-54913898912522771452015-07-19T07:20:00.002-07:002015-07-19T07:20:30.447-07:00Wordle 208
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Awake, spirit!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Hear the breeze</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
That whistles</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Through the cracks.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The heat has</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Led you astray.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
You staggered</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Seeking shade</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
From any angle,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Bruising your instinct</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Hampering your sight.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Tilt your hat</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And reach the safety</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Of the deep, leafy glade.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Smile and know</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
You are saved.</div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-45396757542349165592015-07-13T05:23:00.001-07:002015-07-13T05:25:30.460-07:00wordle 207Where was the werewolf<br />
When we needed him?<br />
Off playing with Barbie dolls<br />
With his sisters<br />
And here we are, blind as bats<br />
And branded as witches<br />
Not a spell working<br />
To free us<br />
He alone had the ear of the master<br />
Learnt all the words<br />
Hunted out the scorpion of sorcery<br />
<br />
Then used it<br />
For heart breaks,<br />
Cup cakes<br />
And the resurrection of a pet rabbit.<br />
<br />
(warewolf, dolls, resurrection, heart break, ear, blind, scorpion, ball,<br />
branded, hunted, alone, witches, spells)veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-3613359592622808082015-07-06T02:39:00.001-07:002015-07-06T02:39:05.127-07:00Wordle #206<br />Collapsed dream<br />The membrane of which<br />Serves as a trampoline<br /><br />Escaping mistakes<br />On the upward<br />Rush of air<br /><br />Open doors<br />Are conduits<br />In and out<br /><br />Hearts, too,<br />Are conduits<br />For the flow of love<br /><br />Splintered hopes<br />Each shard<br />The birth of a new dream<br /><br />Crack the ice<br />Of fear<br />There is life<br /><br />Quilts are made<br />From many pieces<br />Old and new<br /><br />Crows flap and caw<br />As you stagger<br />Gasping the new air<br /><br />Clay, wet, malleable<br />Hardens<br />Becomes<br /><br />Grain by grain<br />Our life<br />Through the hourglass<br /><br />Bones, linked chains<br />Memory<br />And ancient history<br /><br />Crawled I from the slime<br />To the sublime<br />In my lifetime <br /><br />(quilts, open, grain, collapse, heart, clay, crows, splintered, escaping, crack, crawled, bones)veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-80452144784232678652015-05-21T11:43:00.001-07:002015-05-21T11:43:57.162-07:00Miracles have Legs - Chapter one
<style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }</style>
<br />
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Miracles have legs</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">At first, it was just
one blackbird. Its song moved like liquid silver through the large
leafy trees in the darkness of the park. Andrew lay in his solitary
bed listening and staring out at the orange-brown sky. It was the
very end of the night and London had stopped moving for a moment.
Another blackbird started up further away. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then came other
sounds; footsteps of a lonely walker roaming the streets; a taxi
driving down the road, its engine rattling from years of service.
In the dim London glow he could see his notebook, pens, glasses on
the bedside table..</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Normally, Andrew would
have snapped on his light and written copious notes; about the birds’
territorial whistles in the dark; the sense of space, distance,
destination. He lay there as the almost visible precious moments
slipped away. It was as though a glacier was slowly moving down his
chest. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The birds continued to
sing and through the hours, slowly, the darkness lessened, became
grey. Cars began to move. Soon the roar of traffic drowned out all
birdsong and footsteps. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew reached for his
glasses and swung his legs out of bed and into his slippers, glanced
at the half-filled suitcase and sighed heavily. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Flying was for birds.
To rise into the air in a roaring metal canister … He walked over
to his window. He was level with the tree tops, bird land. Looking
down with tired eyes he watched commuters walking steadily in the
grey light. A plastic bag by the hedge floated in the draught. Up,
up, like a jelly fish, it went over the hedge and into the park.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">On his desk, as though
mocking him, were his two slim volumes of poetry. He stared at them,
wondering how on earth he had managed to write so many words. His
notebooks were gathering dust and he'd even forgotten his passwords
for the computer. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He glanced at his
reflection in the tarnished mirror. Although approaching middle age,
he had a young looking, pasty face, having spent most of his life
indoors. His body seemed boneless. His grey eyes were hidden behind
heavy, dark framed glasses, which acted as a shield, protecting him
from the outside world. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Methodically he packed
the remaining few things and on impulse, grabbed a framed photo of
his mother and father and himself as a child. His father stared out
of the photo, starved and black like a crow. The Rev. John James
MacIntyre had lived within the walls of his Bible. Looking at his
father’s face he wondered how it was for him, now that he was dead.
</span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">At the funeral, six
moths ago, he had thrown the earth on the coffin and stood by his
grieving mother. Then he had walked away, to feel the light spring
rain fall on his shoulders and breathe the soft Scottish air. John
James MacIntyre had gone to meet his Maker. Andrew hoped He was a
nicer God than his father had lectured him about throughout his
childhood.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He should have felt
relieved that he could no longer disappoint him, but instead there
was a cold, deadly anger knifing through his chest. He found he
couldn't write and his dreams were of black dark places that pressed
into him. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">At least his work kept
him busy. He was popular. His slim volumes got him invited all over
Europe, to lecture on the making of poetry. In fact it was because of
a two week stint he had done in Lisbon University a few months ago,
that he was packing and flying today. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the students had
encouraged him to take the momentous decision to leave Battersea for
an extended period and had recommended her mother’s holiday
cottage, ‘somewhere lovely’ in Alentejo, south of Lisbon. He
could rent it for the winter. The English department in the
University had offered him part time work over the winter term. So
here he was, flying south. Like a migratory bird, he thought. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">When he arrived in Faro
and stepped off the plane he was welcomed by warm air and a
brilliantly blue sky. There were palm trees and people in shorts and
tee shirts. In his trusty corduroys and tweed jacket he felt a bit
overdressed.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Following Emma's
instructions he caught a train from Faro. It rolled through the
country in a north westerly direction, stopping here and there at
empty stations, giving a little sigh before continuing on through a
wild looking, burnt-up landscape. Andrew noticed a lot of tortured
trees, dry river beds, and brown hills, occasionally blackened by
recent forest fires, and a few straggling villages, or settlements
that clung to the hillside, their whitewashed walls glowing in the
bright sun. It looked so alien.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">At his stop he climbed
down from the train and lugged his suitcase and briefcase towards the
exit to find a taxi. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">An old couple, both very
small and wrinkled, dressed in black, followed behind him. Between
them they had a cardboard box, roughly pierced and tied with string.
From it came the sound of baby chicks, peep-peeping. The woman had a
head scarf and a straw hat over her head. She clutched a large
umbrella, which Andrew thought strange in this heat, but when they
reached the curb outside the station and they all stood blinking in
the sun, waiting, she unfurled it and cast a welcome shadow over
them. Soon the sound of an approaching motor made them look
hopefully along the road and a black and green Mercedes taxi came
roaring round the bend. It parked in front of them, pumping out loud
accordion music. Andrew, being first, went to the driver and showed
him the address he had written on a piece of paper. The taxi driver
looked at it and then at the old couple. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He said something to
Andrew and beckoned the old people. Andrew watched with a mixture of
rage and shame as the driver got out and and ushered them into the
back of the car, talking loudly all the time and gesticulating,
waving his hand out towards the hills. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The driver came over to
Andrew wearing a clownish grin and shrugging his shoulders. He
patted Andrew on the back to reassure him, and pointed to the clock
above the entrance to the waiting room. He held up his hand and
spread out his fingers and counted them. Then he leaped into his car
and zoomed off, leaving Andrew in a cloud of dust. He stood,
mournfully, watching the dust settle on himself and his luggage.
Here he was, outside a deserted, rather derelict station somewhere in
Alentejo. There was no village that he could see, just the road that
the taxi had taken, and the hills, and those tortured, twisted trees
that grew everywhere.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew hoped that he
understood that if he waited here five minutes the taxi man would
return. He looked up at the clock. It said eleven o'clock.
Sighing, he left his suitcase on the curb and wandered back towards
the station. The silence seemed to hang in the hot air, now that the
train and the taxi had gone. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">His footsteps echoed as
he walked through the archway that served as a waiting room and the
way through to the platforms. The station must have been built at a
time when trains were the way forward, in the nineteen twenties,
perhaps. Andrew looked at the verdant art nouveau tiles on the walls
as he wandered around. It was a large building, with many windows
and doors, all locked and shuttered. The ticket window was a blind
eye, the glass dusty and lined with a piece of old cardboard with
some faded copperplate script written on it. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The waiting room had a
wooden bench with names scratched out of the varnish, ('Amo-te Ana'
and 'Benfica'). A timetable had been selo-taped to the wall above it.
Andrew glanced at it and found that it was current, - that is it was
for this year. Trains passed this station twice a day – once going
North and once going South. He wandered ouside and found an enormous
palm tree full of sparrows standing guard next to a dilapidated
concrete building which turned out to be a toilet. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew walked back to
his suitcase with a feeling of growing tension. The clock still read
eleven o'clock. After waiting ten minutes he realised the clock was
not working. He began to wonder if he had understood the taxi
driver's hand signals. Going back through the waiting room he glanced
at a pay phone that hung on the wall. Was there anyone who could
help him? </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He looked along the
train tracks that went off into the hills, and felt as desolate and
deserted as the station. Abandoned was the word that came floating
into his head. He imagined he was in a film set where something very
unpleasant was about to happen, and he, the innocent tourist, was in
the middle...</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The sound of lots
of small bells drew his attention to the other side of the tracks,
past a decaying warehouse. A flock of sheep and goats were moving
through the trees, followed by a man wearing a sleeveless sheepskin
coat. The shepherd walked with a steady pace, his colours merging
with the herd and the landscape. A dog ran alongside. The sound of
the bells was light and musical. His shoulders relaxed as he
watched the herd pass behind a hill, their bells diminishing, and
then he heard the honk of a car horn. His taxi had returned. The
clock still read eleven.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The journey felt as long
and twisty as the music. The taxi man drove with scary confidence,
waving to tractor drivers and flashing his lights at passing pick-up
trucks. Andrew sat in the back lurching and gripping his arm rest,
trying to keep his eye on the horizon, as though at sea. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eventually they turned
onto a dirt track. Relieved at the change of pace, he looked around
the valley. There were two small, round hills through which the road
twisted. On the summit of each hill grew a shrub. An image of
breasts with nipples flitted through his mind. In fact the whole
landscape had a very feminine look; curvaceous. Andrew licked his
lips nervously and glanced at the taxi driver, feeling rather
embarrassed by this unexpected thought. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">When they passed between
the mounds they reached the top of a wide valley surrounded by more
soft hills. The sun was low on the horizon and for a moment there
was a shining strip of gold which he realised must be the sea. Then
they descended into the next valley. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finally they stopped by
a tall hedge of brambles and he was ushered out. The driver wrote
the fare on the dusty paintwork. In London, a journey this long
would have cost a small fortune so he gave the man a generous tip.
When the taxi drove off he was left standing by his long shadow on a
dusty road in the middle of nowhere.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">A yellow dog came out of
a large clump of ivy, barking and wagging its tail. It made its way
down toward him and his suitcase, still barking. Relieved to see any
sign of life, Andrew made friendly noises towards the dog and patted
it, at the same time looking out for any more signs of life. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Shut up!” A loud
voice came from the same clump of ivy.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The dog stopped
immediately. With tail between its legs it scuttled back. Andrew,
who if he had a tail felt it would be well tucked in also,
straightened up and turned towards the figure that was walking down
towards him; a small, curvy, woman with a mass of brown curly hair,
wearing mud-stained jeans and a loose tartan shirt.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Welcome to Tres
Ribeiras” Her voice was softer now. She gave a brief smile. Her
hand shake was strong, her hand warm.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
‘<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Louisa’ she told
him. “Honey” She pointed to the dog.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'll show you the
house. Follow me.” </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">She turned and pushed
aside the overgrown branches along a bushy path.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew walked behind the
woman, looking at her hair. It was very like Emma's but darker. She
looked almost too young to have a 22 year old daughter. He felt he
should say something, but her back was like a wall. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He followed her towards
a small, white building that was half-consumed by a huge
bougainvillea. The dog ran along side, sniffing his suitcase and his
trousers. Andrew stopped to smell some long, white, trumpet-like
flowers which hung over the path. Louisa gave him a quick piercing
look. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Datura. Poisonous.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He inhaled the strong
sweet scent. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">'They only smell in the
evening.' </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew saw that she had
dark blue eyes. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The patio was so
overgrown with twining branches and leaves that it had a green gloom
to it, almost as though it were underwater. She kicked away some
fallen bougainvillea flowers and opened a glass door which led into
the kitchen. Briefly, she showed him how to light the gas water
heater and then she stood in the doorway and pointed towards the big
clump of ivy.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">I've got a stew on
the go. Come over when you’re ready.” </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew stood in the
kitchen after she left and looked around his new home. The rays of
the setting sun shone through the doorway and lit up the clay tiles
on the floor. The whitewashed walls glowed. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The room was simple; a
sink, a cooker, some wooden shelves with plates and pots and pans on
them, a table with four wooden chairs. Bookshelves filled with old
paperbacks lined the opposite wall and a wood burning stove squatted
next to an old well-worn leather sofa. He tentatively sat on the
edge and looked around. He could see a field on a hill through the
window, with trees on the top. He got up and went through a door
which led into a corridor with two bedrooms and a bathroom at the
end.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He chose the nearest
bedroom, his mind in a whirl, and put his suitcase down. He opened
the window and lay down on the antique iron bed, just to rest for a
moment, to get his bearings. What was he doing here? Six months
felt like a very long time. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some bells interrupted
his growing feeling of dread. Not the sweet tinkling orchestra that
he heard at the station, but louder, bigger bells. He listened for a
while and then got up and looked out the window. A small herd of
hairy, red-brown cows were looking over the fence at him. They were
chewing and staring and nodding their bells. Andrew closed the
window. Their baleful stares were too cruel. He was not ready for
such frank curiosity.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Suddenly it was almost
dark. He drew his hands up and down the walls by the door of the
bedroom, looking for a light switch. He moved into the gloom of the
kitchen and repeated the action there. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">By the front door he
found a small niche. In it there was a candle and a box of matches.
There were no light switches. There was no electricity. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">With an unpleasant
feeling of tension in his stomach he put the candle on the table and
decided to find Louisa’s house before it got so dark he would not
be able to find his way. He could see the clump of ivy looming
darker than the approaching night and he headed off in that
direction, holding his arms out in front of him to ward off any
surprises. Some bushes rubbed and swished against him as he went
blindly down the path and then he saw a chink of light to the right
of the ivy, coming from the open door of a tiny, stone house.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He climbed the steps
that led onto a cobbled area in front of the house and stood in the
doorway and knocked. The source of light came from a large open
fire. It was the only light in the room. The dog, which was lying
in front of the fire, looked up at him and gave a friendly wag. A
cat climbed out of a child-sized rush-bottom chair and came over and
wound itself around his legs, tail up and shivering. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hello” Andrew
addressed the house generally, a questioning inflection in his
greeting.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">A muffled voice came
from behind a blanket hanging on the wall to the right of the
fireplace.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Come in. I'll be
right out.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He moved cautiously
towards the fire where a huge tree trunk was smouldering behind
smaller, blazing twigs. On either side of the fireplace were two
small chairs and in the middle of the room stood a kitchen table and
two ordinary wooden chairs. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew felt like a giant
in the tiny, windowless room. The walls were lined with shelves,
randomly laden with jars and books. Some bunches of dried plants and
strings of onions and garlic hung above the fireplace. He felt the
fumes of burning pine and cooking food flood round him, penetrating
his clothes.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Louisa came through the
blanket dusting off a bottle of wine with her sleeve and shaking her
mop of hair.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">It gets very dusty
under the bed, but it’s the best place to store the wine.” She
tossed her head. She had fluff in her hair, a cobweb, perhaps.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">She told him to sit,
indicating the tiny chairs. He lowered himself onto one and watched
her move around looking for the corkscrew and going to a dark shelf.
He heard the pop of the cork and the chink of glasses. She worked
with her back to him preparing the table.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Emma told me that you
make your own wine” he said.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The cat jumped onto his
lap.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes. Last year was a
good year.” </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">She turned holding two
stumpy glass beakers full of dark red wine and he took one, then she
went and sat on the other little chair and put her elbows on her
knees. She cradled her glass in her hands and sipped, tasting the
good year, looking into the fire.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew held the thick
glass in his hand. It looked like a mustard jar, he thought, and
then he too sipped. A taste of cupboardy velvet coated his mouth; it
was very pleasant; blackcurrant, slightly spicy. He closed his eyes
and savoured the taste. When he opened them again Louisa was staring
intently at him, her face lit by the flames. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">That is a good wine,
a very good wine” He declared. Louisa nodded in agreement.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The dog gave a little
groan and moved away from the heat. The cat jumped off his lap and
sauntered out through a round hole in the bottom of the front door.
Louisa put her glass down and picked up a wooden spoon from beside
the ashes and used it to take off the lid of a three-legged pot that
stood in the fire. The room was filled with the smell of smoked
sausage and garlic which bubbled loudly. Andrew stared at Louisa
leaning over the fire, stirring the small cauldron. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">It smells good!”
He tried to keep the surprise out of his voice.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yup, I think it’s
ready to eat.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">They moved to the table
and she ladled the stew into wooden bowls. With strong steady hands
she lit a candle, and then holding a large solid-looking loaf against
her, she drew a sharp knife through it to produce a couple of chunky
slices.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew was used to
eating on his own and hated small talk but he found himself trying to
open the conversation again.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">What brought you to
Portugal?”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Louisa just shrugged,
mopped up her plate with the bread.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">I like the sea.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Had you visited
before? Did you know what it would be like?” </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">No, I just wanted to
go south, to somewhere warm, with an Atlantic coast.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Emma seems to have
adjusted well.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Louisa shrugged again.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">She was lucky. The
natives here are friendly.” </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">They drank the wine,
finished the bottle. Louisa darted through the blanket and came out
with another bottle and a large bowl made from the bark of a cork
tree, filled with walnuts and apples. They moved to the low chairs
by the fire with the bowl between them and the wine bottle glinting
in the firelight.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andrew stretched out his
legs in front of the fire. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">When I was a child we
went up to Scotland every year for our summer holidays. Stayed in a
bothy in the Highlands with an open fire. We burned peat and spent
the days walking and bird watching.” </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">He stopped talking for a
moment, remembering how it seemed impossible to see the lark in the
sky, and the unnerving thought that it was desperately trying to
distract him from its nest, which he never found. And the cloud
shadows, how quickly they flew over the mountains, giving the
landscape motion. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am Scottish. I was
born there.” He told her. “My parents moved down to London when
I was two, but I still feel Scottish.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Louisa sat with her
elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands and stared into the fire
while he talked about Scotland, then she poured them out some more
wine.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have Scottish
connections, too” she said. “I moved to the west coast, near
Oban, when I was twelve. My mother and stepfather bought a house and
started up a bed and breakfast business.” She hesitated for a
moment, considering whether to continue.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">The bed and breakfast
business didn’t suit me.” She gave a bitter laugh. “And I
never felt really welcome there. You know? No cousins over the
hill, no aunties on the islands. I missed that family feeling. I
moved back to England as soon as I could.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Did you find it
there?” Andrew asked.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">What?”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">That family feeling.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have Emma” she
replied giving him a sharp look. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">They sat and listened to
the empty nut shells burning in the coals, both lost in their own
thoughts. His eyes began to droop. It was time to make his way back
to his house. He asked for a torch, and then remembered to ask about
electricity.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Louisa got up and went
to a shelf near the door and picked up a storm lantern and gave it a
shake to hear if it had any paraffin in it, then lit it.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">No electricity” she
told him as she handed over the lantern. “But there is a solar
panel which will give power for a light…”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Do you know if it can
charge up a laptop?”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">I should think so.
I'll show you how to set it up tomorrow.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">She opened the door and
pointed him in the right direction.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
“<span style="font-family: Gentium Book Basic;"><span style="font-size: small;">Good night.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.12in; text-indent: 0.49in;">
<br />
</div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-70993493698645296162014-09-24T05:31:00.000-07:002014-09-24T05:31:03.464-07:00Heaven and EarthWhere the field has been crossed<br />
daily by the cows and the old man,<br />
there is a path that meanders<br />
down the contours of the hill<br />
like a seam of gold.<br />
Sometimes his grandchildren<br />
walk with him.<br />
The valley sucks up their voices<br />
and laughter like a miner<br />
hungry for their young hearts,<br />
searching for a way<br />
to keep them here<br />
as grandfather's mind<br />
widens into the ocean<br />
of thoughts a cowman has.<br />
His expression<br />
sighted mostly beyond him<br />
he stands leaning into his stick.<br />
The cow bells dong<br />
and skylarks sing in the heights. veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-14330736697357330162014-03-17T06:12:00.005-07:002014-03-17T06:12:55.152-07:00Small Green Frogs Wordle # 152
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Small green frogs</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Plop</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
into the ditches</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Still full of winter's rain.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So much fuss</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Before it all turns</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
To dust.</div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-70078614286264743302013-12-22T10:19:00.001-08:002013-12-22T10:19:23.617-08:00Robert the Bruce wordle #140
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There is a story,a Scottish story,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
of a great warrior,a leader,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Robert the Bruce.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
His army was being pulverized</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and he had retreated to a damp, mossy,
cave,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
with barely a thought left intact.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the silence with just the echo
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
of dripping water he sat,
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
listening and grieving
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
for his country and his men.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
He noticed a spider</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
attending to it's broken web.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Broken but not beyond repair.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
To and fro the spider shuttled,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
following it's instinct to mend,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
without despair.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In this dark,damp place,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
the unfaltering work</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
of a small spider</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
cleared his head</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and leveled his thoughts,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
enough to listen to his heart.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
His men would follow if he would lead.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
He would try</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and try,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and try again.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There would be no defeat.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
(Spider, echo, clear, attend,
pulverize, intact, fly, shuttle, means, follow, listen, split.)</div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-59669714444860643752013-11-16T11:32:00.002-08:002013-11-16T11:38:52.711-08:00Parents' Nightmare<style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }</style>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the race</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">to grow up</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was fast.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Spitting out childhood </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">like spent chewing gum.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The whiskey.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The pain.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The befuddled brain.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Staggering home</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">in the murky dawn</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">with razor breath</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and lanky dreams.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Mouth full of lies</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and silky</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">half-truths.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Isolated memories,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">an archipelago</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">of shame.</span></div>
</div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-7066422844086074952013-11-03T02:47:00.000-08:002013-11-03T02:47:07.931-08:00Puppy Love (wordle # 133)
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-BxwaMfrRjWZaDNcbfUt5keETpoWaC6XiCGexxJg0gk4-S2Hf0B9mztM7pU-1VxWM1dZ8C0lW-Tkn1n1Q_JDHK9Z1N3tEmL_HMhNScw93uex9rw-kvw8tXEUUf0mWGATv56RcCc-A3pc/s1600/DSCN0713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-BxwaMfrRjWZaDNcbfUt5keETpoWaC6XiCGexxJg0gk4-S2Hf0B9mztM7pU-1VxWM1dZ8C0lW-Tkn1n1Q_JDHK9Z1N3tEmL_HMhNScw93uex9rw-kvw8tXEUUf0mWGATv56RcCc-A3pc/s320/DSCN0713.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Ah, the love for small,
miraculous creations!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">She's so tiny one's
impulse is to whisper.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I kneel before her and
stare</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">at each little whisker and
claw.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">She toddles, bandy-legged</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">under the sofa, where, </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">lost and invisible in the
shadows, </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">she emits small whimpers.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Outside, in the infinite
grandness,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">she follows me</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">smelling new smells</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and licking dew off the
leaves.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I see afresh</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the beauty of the simple
things,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">close to the ground.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">When she wanders off</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I feel the distance
between us</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the precarious nature
of being,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and being cared for.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">A tender balance, not
precise.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">No bigger than my two
fists</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">her little spark lights my
day.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">(Infinite, hit, invisible,
emits, rhythm, impulse, distance, kneel, creation, whisperings,
fists, precise. )</span></div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-8070423096875277092013-10-28T15:43:00.002-07:002013-10-28T15:43:29.221-07:00Home Alone in a Storm #132
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Pebble dash dreams</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">rattle the window</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">sheet rain slashes</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the inky mire.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I lie in my clay house,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">my safe house,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">still awake,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and yearn,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as the storm prowls</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the walls,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">yearn for his company</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">like a stove yearns a
flame</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">(waking, sheet, safe,
clay, still, inky, erode, flames, yearn, bend, immeasurable, pebble)</span></div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-28238104019952017602013-10-08T04:20:00.004-07:002013-10-11T13:21:25.732-07:00On Being Born - wordle 129<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">When the gentle, constant
massage</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">of many months, changes,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">becomes stronger</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and more urgent, </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the nest, </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">this watery home</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">becomes too small, </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">this being, ripe and
ready,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">takes the chance,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the journey,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">through that secret
passage.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">So clever, it knows the
way.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">With hands crossed and
head down</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">it travels,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">swept by muscles,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">into the light.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The stars circle above</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as s/he is born</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and, shorn from that rope
of flesh,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">blinking, full of love,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">one becomes two. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">(Chance,blinked, hand, saw, swept, stars, flesh, ripe, secret, clever, basket, nest)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">And here's a sideways view of how I began to put words together. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_se76hZSljdyZu6J5R3HNMAz2ondKl2pi3YBcV2GUjn6UjuAnqVFk_InovL18_b2IhSPnRb_Bm9TB3PE5IIMeDyWzKV-jFtD_rKM1ruposPFTyIAPi9H8OdfYt4ruwbaa-RfjDHIedc/s1600/DSCN0618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_se76hZSljdyZu6J5R3HNMAz2ondKl2pi3YBcV2GUjn6UjuAnqVFk_InovL18_b2IhSPnRb_Bm9TB3PE5IIMeDyWzKV-jFtD_rKM1ruposPFTyIAPi9H8OdfYt4ruwbaa-RfjDHIedc/s400/DSCN0618.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-9160387205278561652013-09-27T01:25:00.000-07:002013-09-27T01:25:06.838-07:0021 Days<span style="font-size: large;">She sits</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">in another dimension</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">oblivious to all.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">She has found her centre</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and only time</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">will shift her. </span>veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-11443712416016616562013-09-25T15:11:00.000-07:002013-09-25T15:11:40.972-07:00Sunset<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXEP20usOXxwruzqBcLu5oxckKDHa0CeuniepyIU33dODJO-_YR-srhA_tZp5DkUvh29t82dsZSK5xJw5Obq3aV_mpn-Y59Ep_dYKCmEELloBguHiaZfL_78WEtYXRr-ul0y3bkNJ6d0/s1600/DSCN0553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXEP20usOXxwruzqBcLu5oxckKDHa0CeuniepyIU33dODJO-_YR-srhA_tZp5DkUvh29t82dsZSK5xJw5Obq3aV_mpn-Y59Ep_dYKCmEELloBguHiaZfL_78WEtYXRr-ul0y3bkNJ6d0/s320/DSCN0553.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Beyond words</span><br />
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-48569142274904177372013-09-03T06:43:00.000-07:002013-09-16T12:47:00.376-07:00Close Encounter<style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }</style>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQnSKR83R-XaljY6szbzjC0JtyHMZ03iDN94tWtqyzPxNJwYPhKTtpd7ifjYDQxKHQFZzUFHvep461ZnfzSi8Hco8Yh4CNl0HPFHZkSc0sQ1RvhTvgecQzntLGRrgAsWHJzsNj3MZten8/s1600/DSCN0533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQnSKR83R-XaljY6szbzjC0JtyHMZ03iDN94tWtqyzPxNJwYPhKTtpd7ifjYDQxKHQFZzUFHvep461ZnfzSi8Hco8Yh4CNl0HPFHZkSc0sQ1RvhTvgecQzntLGRrgAsWHJzsNj3MZten8/s320/DSCN0533.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">My brother and I took the
rowing boat out across the bay. The sea was smooth, just a deep swell
came rolling in, in long bars, from the North West. We rode the
swells as we headed for the scarlet buoys that were bobbing near the
reef on the far side. They shone out against the sombre greens and
grays of water and light. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat in the front, in readiness to grab a
buoy and start to pull up a lobster pot. I could see the lasagna
seaweed waving darkly, deep below us and shivered at my thoughts. On
the shore line oyster catchers lamented at the rising tide and a sheep
called out.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">As we neared the first
buoy, what we thought of as a swell became an inky black island that
rose up from under us and let out a blast of air. We were so close we
could see the blow hole. We could have leaned over and touched that
oily black skin. A feathery excitement passed between us, though we
dared not say a word. My brother held the oars up and the water ran
off them, noisily, as we waited for something more to happen. The
boat rocked, the water splashed off the oars, the oyster catcher
continued it's song, but we were alone once more. The surface of the
sea was smooth and secretive.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Later, as the evening was
getting darker and we were nearing the last buoy, we heard that
sound, of air shooting out of the blow hole, further away. The small whale was heading out to deeper waters. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">(Wordle words wet, sway, lost, sparks, oiled, feathery, inky, close, hole, scarlet, shoots.) </span>
</div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-71839425535230868762013-08-26T14:34:00.001-07:002013-08-26T14:34:23.595-07:00Height of summer wordle 123Enough<br />
the word comes gusting out<br />
like a sigh,<br />
like a telling breeze<br />
from the South<br />
with the rattle of dry leaves<br />
in the slipstream.<br />
Still the sun keeps belting out<br />
'though the shade netting<br />
no longer filters<br />
the fierce long fingers<br />
of light.<br />
The cows move through<br />
the bitter, burnt dust,<br />
and the figs drop to the ground<br />
half ripe,<br />
with pieces taken out<br />
by the golden orioles -<br />
their cries fill the valley.<br />
This is the time<br />
when I dream<br />
of taking the train North,<br />
to sit by a mountain spring<br />
in the rain,<br />
surrounded by moss and ferns<br />
and green. <br />
<br />
(fierce, filters, keep, enough, pieces, train, cries, gusting, bitter, springs south, out.)<br />
<br />veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-51416238045092974172013-08-20T08:43:00.000-07:002013-08-20T08:43:05.190-07:00My lucky stars Wordle 122
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<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There was a period in my life</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
- years -</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
when my heart was numbed</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and nailed to the floor.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I persuaded myself</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
to live a vision not my own</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and by degrees</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
be slowly driven into the ground.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A few short, sharp words</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
loosened the nails</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and I flew home</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
to a place I had dreamed</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
was lost and gone.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And now I stay, nestled,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
in this hilly space.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My heart grows</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and soars like a hawk.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I give tribute to the stars that be -</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
If not for them
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
there would be no me.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9rmpzKy499sXc9ZsVaYVyoUwtfF5svoK9ekPIGXLR9ov_wxz1yIMukTowdmNsPzGxHm4dhAxGGTeo2RSHXTm4379QFBVOhcG3UhJ513vJ6Jtx99T_Uyx67wZwxs8yZ3fMp6dcDw59Bk/s1600/Our+house+in+the+morning+sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9rmpzKy499sXc9ZsVaYVyoUwtfF5svoK9ekPIGXLR9ov_wxz1yIMukTowdmNsPzGxHm4dhAxGGTeo2RSHXTm4379QFBVOhcG3UhJ513vJ6Jtx99T_Uyx67wZwxs8yZ3fMp6dcDw59Bk/s320/Our+house+in+the+morning+sun.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-61357085079285018732013-08-11T05:49:00.001-07:002013-08-11T05:49:48.576-07:00This is my Home! - Wordle 121
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I've hitched my heart to a
pocket of dirt</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and my fragile, once,nay,
twice, bruised self</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">cautiously grows tender
tendrils</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">that twist around the
trees and hills</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and tangle me up 'til my
pounding heart</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">beats to the same strains
as the toll of cow bells</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the circling crows</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">on the edge.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">'This is my home'</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I nervously state.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then louder -</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">This is my home,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and with wonder -</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">This is my home -</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">That in all my scattered
days</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I should have struck such
luck</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">to find something
concrete,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">something whole, </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">which provides incentive</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">to grow.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The sun and the moon
illuminate my days. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I feel my pace match
theirs,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">sowing seeds and growing
roots</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">that tether me lightly</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">to this sweet place.</span></div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-39158074013214354172013-08-04T00:24:00.000-07:002013-08-04T00:24:12.544-07:00Scene from Above
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The landscape below us
becomes familiar</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I have a sense of
homecoming</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">in my adopted land,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as we circle Faro,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">defying gravity in this
metal canister.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I see our shadow race
below us </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as the salt marshes come
closer,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">looking like blue-green
curds</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">their organic shapes held
together</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">by threads of green salt
bush banks.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Along the edge of the land
</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">there is the golden sand</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the white, lacy froth </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the blue, blue sea</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">wrinkling into the far
distance.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I hold my breath as we
roar</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">above the runway</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and press down into my
shoes,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">head down, gripping hands</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I clear away all plans</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then we're stopped</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and standing on the
tarmac.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">New
plans are made. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Prayers are said. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Bags are grabbed</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">'Thank you God for our
daily bread'.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">(Gravity,plans, thread,
salt, breath shadow, sands, shoes, bread, sense, head, landscape)</span></div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-13273969244928311992013-07-21T06:28:00.005-07:002013-07-21T06:28:45.790-07:00wordle 118 'If'
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">If I had the key.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">If I could tear through</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the mesh of time.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">If I could repair</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">what's done,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I would go back</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">to that night,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">that room</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and like a slate,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">wipe it clean.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">What would have become of
us?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">All that guilt and longing</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">driven out of our lives</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">with one simple word -</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">No.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -0.08in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">(repair,
time, think, no, tear, slate, driven, night, mesh, room, longing,
key, become)</span></div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7077349281758404449.post-91882059464642473732013-06-29T10:00:00.000-07:002013-06-29T10:00:04.007-07:00Island Home
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I wish I could walk the track</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
back to my old island home.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Retreat to childhood haunts -</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
beech wood forests full of birds and
briars</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and the fantasy thrill of bears</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
living in the root rooms</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
made from fallen trees.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'd wander from the village,
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
along the lane,beside the sea loch,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
its greedy mouth</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
full of black rock teeth,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
sucking sea and sea life
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
through its narrow gorge.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
At the gate, the portal to day dreams,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'd find my wellies in a bush,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and trudge down the track,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
into the wood, past a bit that always
smelled</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
of almonds. I never knew why.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Where the forest had not ventured,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
a meadow, scattered with wild flowers,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and butterflies wove colours in the
air,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
and around the bend a small bridge</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
which gave way to the shore,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
all mud and seaweed and seagulls</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
standing ankle deep,
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
their beady eyes, heartless.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And on the horizon were floating
islands,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
their unstable appearance</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
an optical illusion,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
their names always alluring -</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Dutch Man's Cap, Eigg,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Canna, Muck and Rhum.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
For a moment I am there.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
(bird, unstable, bend, retreat, bridge,
wild, rock, bear, lane, fallen, meadow, island)</div>
veronicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09014627398376882098noreply@blogger.com14