#55 and we could be (for a junior senior)

55

24.2.2020

and we could be… 

for a certain junior senior of my acquaintance  

Barcelona

off the Ramblas

chocolate so thick

you could dance on it

among the winter vines

and walking out to Nobby’s

to see the seal again

sprayed with all that ocean

and biggest pencils in the world

cycling through Imperial Palace grounds

by Nijo Castle, in the tofu steam

in the snow

take a day off for it, why not?

Bennett’s Beach, Hawks Nest

which way to go?

one day we’ll get to Broughton

up the hill on ropes

at Messen to krosfuru

to the little stream

a summer sun plays on

or further, Arctic, midnight with Heidi

in Shiraz of course

or in a puff of smoke

St Ives, along the pipeline

point is we could be anywhere

equally orphaned now

frequently in memory

they’re with us on a day like this

set off across the Botanical Gardens

(but which? and where?)

in certain aches

with an organ recital

middle of the night at home

and we’ve become astronauts

to come this far

squeezed into frail tin

Scotch please

watercolours with our ice

or ink it

swapping seasons as we go

all dressed up

in birthday suits

and casual at times

blow kisses

lost in the act

playground sometimes just of ourselves

and passionate with causes

with world bettering

take time and mustn’t room-to-room

some nights curl into a question

dream all selves away

high over Hong Kong

and hearing the city

tinnitus too

(what a loud building this is)

dreaming of home there as well 

walking tracks we’ve made by own hoof

driving

or riding

or swimming

in galleries, museums

like Marathon monks around Hieizan

fuelled by

okonomiyaki, egg plant mousaka

a spinach pie, our fish

pumpkin soup

the cauliflower

the mushroom

baba ganouch

(nobody really knows how to spell it)

or there was juice

(you see we’re not so kitchen hopeless

though all those cookbooks still accuse)

acres strewn spots to sit and most of them with seats

plan more! 

though everything’s in place now

we place ourselves

in study 

in studio

and off and on the circuit

to, name the stages of the tour  

dairy

hut

and studio

gallery

shedbrary

the tanks

the ponds

the dunny

tiny

and tinier

kitchens too

bathroom of dreams

take the tour if sleepless

anywhere in the world

mindful, lost to the sheeplessness

picturing just what’s to see

in all of our long history

to hold and listen

come to rest

here snuggle in, won’t you?

everywhere we call a home

but nowhere like we build it

it’s in the heart to heart

on-line

or texted

in out of pants pyjamas

in each other’s mother’s homes

treading the eggshells

heads full of one mother or other

some sibling or so

cunning colleagues who get in there too

endless discussion of what’s best to do

and where we’ve yet to go

trek in Nepal?

Grey Nomad business

the six foot track, the Milford

NY, Kerala

and Santa’s Finland soon

even at the end of a scoob

and off to make things great

a raspberry for you

and 1960 threepence ear-rings

teacher and artist and scholar

ping pong player

yoga devotee

beginner of strings

and now beside the tracks

requiring double glazing

floor to polish shortly

let’s argue over a rug

gallerina

studio-ista

away in the trees

charcoal paint and studio ponded

lots of landing

frond swallows of redbelly frogleg

watching them all

swampies jesus about

our adventure

but here we are in Hobart

as and but never before

with mummies

dark passages

vertiginous drops

sheeps back ferry

XR in the park

the bumpings-into

a beautiful day in the neighbourhood

and still a fish you won’t have to fry

exhale to cat

junior senior today

accompanied with little lady

even without the mat

play all these parts

when far when near

with everywhere we are

and fix the world where we can

with care

because we could be

here at home

and anyway

today it’s official

better log on

and register now