a single drop of water

invites a pin-prick of light to the dark centre of the sunflower

a concertina of pale yellow paper dies on the motorway

the concrete walkway spirals up and over the motorway connecting green (at walking pace) with green

Jo in her shimmering glimmering dragonfly dress

the most beautiful bride I've ever seen

all that remains of the last wedding party

fourteen pieces of pastel horse-shoe confetti

last night I wrote a small stone in my dream -
this morning I can't find it anywhere

billboard

"I RUE THE DAY I EVER LET MY CHILDREN TALK TO PERVERT"

golden

string of honey from a squeezy tube / ring of fading sunflower petals / burnished buddha sitting quietly

I think too hard: the small stones skitter

look!

double cream dropped into the heart of a bowl of blood-red borscht

end of the season

I am a walking runner bean plant

the cloud curtains part and a triangle of the short-cut lawn lights up

still no email.
click refresh.
still no email.
click refresh.

pj harvey on ipod

...o god i miss you...
...o god i miss you...
...o god i miss you...
...o god i miss you...
...o god i miss you

after handing back my untouched airline food tray

a star-shaped pepper biscuit in cellophane - honey, butter, spice

the end of the holiday

dirty ashtray, trainer stink

The kitten jumps straight up and walks across Steve's knees to form a purring ball in the centre of my lap. When it is time to get on the boat, I carry him over to a Croatian girl who is playing with the other two. 'Number three', I say. 'Number three!' she says, suprised to understand.

in a strange bedroom

every so often a waft of musky honey, or maybe urine

She asks us if we'd take a photo of her. She doesn't have anyone with her to take it. She sits on the city wall and pretends to read, 'a natural look'. She smells of loneliness.

Vegetarian Platter

The sign's boast of 'Vegetarian Dishes' is a little inaccurate. The proprietor describes the only choice with hand gestures and a single word: vegetables. I imagine limp lettuce, cold green beans, but what arrives is a breadcrumbed steak of cheese, discs of soft garlicky aubergine, herby slices of courgette, a mound of potato and spinach salad, and a bunch of the smallest and sweetest cherry tomatoes I've ever tasted.

View from the Buza bar, Dubrovnik

How can I even begin to translate this shifting shimmering seascape into words?

ten thousand feet up

she can't believe the cold green beans are dressed with neither salt nor oil

In our Croatian kitchen

Everything the same, but different.
Everything different, but the same.

supper

neat rectangles of pale mild cheddar slot into the garlic bread and wait for heat

a random young black labrador appears from nowhere

wag-wag!jump up!run low!jump up!bite arms!bite hands!wag-wag!jump up!run low!jump up!

Stonesfield

Bishops Meadow
Cockshooters Close
Boot Street

newspaper billboard story

KILLER OF FATHER OF THREE DECLARED MAD MAN

hiding under the folds of an umbrella in the porch: one dark toad, the size of a ten pence piece

Crows pass overhead, crying out. The hazel trees cast their shadows onto the graveyard.

a trickled drop of liquid on the wrong side of the window looks like blood