1.

Like snow taking off
from white roofs, seagulls scatter
in the blanked-out sky.


2.

A chaste caress of
sunlight on stone. The coffin
is empty with her.


3.

This whoosh and whistle
of the wind, its summit and
surf, its gunnery.


4.

The thinnest gash of
sudden sand by a cold stretch
of northern water.


5.

Leave on the music
in the office overnight.
No-one listening.


6.

The sky dazed with stars.
That girl with maracas has
all these men in thrall.


7.

Your red roof is tiled
with butterflies, your whitewashed
walls are lizardy.


8.

Pylons have hands on
their hips in the shimmying
heat. Their lines hammock.


9.

This grass is waspish
and the sky darkens. 'You're
beautiful.' 'I'm not.'


10.

Awaking early
again: the track alien
under braking trains.


11.

Trees on that roadside
are Chinese characters. A
twisted static dance.


12.

Crows bring the darkness
down. Shadows, we can barely
make each other out.

Copyright © Nigel Pickard, 2010