Saturday, September 4

bursts of happyfizz when I remember

Friday, September 3

The older boy catches on. He points at the cup the smallest boy is drinking from. His mother takes him by the hand back over to the water fountain, asks him where he got his cup from. He points up to the clean ones perched on the top of the fountain. Far up above him. She looks at the dirty cups piled up in the bin next to them. She takes his cup from him, gets him a clean one.

Thursday, September 2

Lyndhurst

gossip and elderflower cordial in the coffee and chocolate shop

Wednesday, September 1

On route

A hut (eggs and bacon, toasted cheese sandwiches, burgers) next to the fishing ponds down a long bumpy track. We chat about our day. Two teas, a bench, peace. Later, the tea lady brings us the property pages from her paper, passes them over the fence.

Tuesday, August 31

being a therapist

hour after hour of how difficult and how marvellous it is to be alive

Monday, August 30

Sunday, August 29

Littlewick show, in the vegetable tent

cake in the shape of a gammon steak
three cabbages, bigger than you could imagine

Saturday, August 28

a dried-out film of cranberry
the glass waits to be clean

Friday, August 27

rain falls on the skin of the pool, on the red umbrella of the determined swimmer

Thursday, August 26

condensation blooms on the panes: a dying orchid, dust, a dreaming cat

Wednesday, August 25

who will feed these birds when I'm gone?

Tuesday, August 24

the wind in the far trees ROARS

Monday, August 23

Sunday, August 22

not the right landlord for us

'cats can climb up drainpipes, can't they? i don't want cat-flaps in my doors. here, they could jump out of this first floor window onto the garage roof...'

Saturday, August 21

seconds of tart plums from france with biscuity buttery crumble

Friday, August 20

she holds the tears back until we get into the car

Thursday, August 19

orchid

the deep pink alien flowers fall off one by one

Tuesday, August 17

tea-spoon in wine glass: a makeshift standing bell

Monday, August 16

tipped-over-when-tired redbush tea leaves a rosy blush on the carpet

Sunday, August 15

dandelions

rectangle petals with zig-zag tips, the field a galaxy

Friday, August 13

puk

the voice of a blue plastic cup set down on this foot-worn ancient stone step

Thursday, August 12

six tubes of silver mournfully pealing in the wind

Wednesday, August 11

Caroline's bread spread with ginger marmalade
(extra love kneaded in)

Tuesday, August 10

we drive until
the lonely-
pain of being-
with-people-
too-much
drains
away

Monday, August 9

on a small shelf in the kitchen, a sprouted potato in the shape of a heart

Sunday, August 8

red car through yellow-green fennel, taller than a man

Saturday, August 7

Noirlac Abbey

all this stone, and these spaces are lighter than air

Friday, August 6

pairs of red-black stripy beetles making replicas

Thursday, August 5

Flat on my back, earth offers me
this patch of gold-spotted field
to hold my body safe as we spin
at tremendous speed...