The cool domain of fox and geese
Or how they proved to live
The tinted shed was far from done
The staggered lock was loose
Contained in moonlight ere they walked
The geese were faultless there
The ***** fixed her wandering snout
The cool breeze filled her nose
Maintaining position the fox stood fast
Her gaze was stark and still
The errant geese came hoddlng past
Without a gate nor care
Moonlight gathering clouds that passed
Once bright and then not so
Skating by with scarce a look
By gaggle and in pairs
The red predator crouched low
Her nostrils flared as the breath
Eased her silent mouth shut
With gainful stealth her muscle hard body
Demanded freedom from this in-waiting stance
Her piercing eyes strained in the half light
The geese came silent reaching the house
Leaping forward in a trice the vixens sinewy body
Made speed through the grass
The white geese blissfully unaware
The padding paws thudding hard in the fox's ears
As she neared the final ground
Fluttering flapping wings and frantic noise broke the silence
Honking, snapping, darting, red fur and snapping jaws
The *****'s quest held up
But white feather miasma flared like plume
Beating and writhing, hissing and growling under the moon's
Gentle gaze, the ***** retreats her mission falters
Her tail is blood red but no spoils does she take
Retiring away, she licks her wounds and lies
Panting, casting gazes left and right, breathing heavily
This time beaten, thwarted ....

Windward side stands firm and proud
The sailing ship its sails a-straining
Clever sailors move around
Guiding hull through stormy waters
Masts are bending through the gales

Taking gusts within their shape
Canvas flapping then goes taught
Calmer waters seem so distant
Temper timings never fraught
Faces stung with salty sea spray
Leathered hands holding firm
Sheets are straining, weather raining
Noise of waves is deafening too

Sometimes when the ship is yawing
Pitching, rolling, deck like glass
It's no wonder cleats and blocks
Are creaking, matelots lives are holding fast

Fraying portraits of empty souls
Give menacing insight through cold staring eyes
Smoothing skin tones are left
When painters discover
The life in you
Compare the fraught days of flightless birds
making their paradise equal
With men who stalk their ways
In earnest and determined manner
Silently they ensure the vision portrayed
Has no more mileage. But fresh eyes
Must be used to stop contamination
From one to another
Paint and ignore why plenty seem stiff
Even parched from lack of considered input
Each brushstroke emptying their blood
Of many elements, even quelling their breaths
Simply see and lay on..
Don't make it up or smooth that cheek
Give colour and step
The right to be there and develop it
Under the warmth of your love
For this creature
Demonstrate how features can be strong but hold
The famous creations that grab the essence of joy
The grains of lust and manic musings
Lament those days of bored faces
Rejoice as carnage can be raised from modern living
The edges and the softness of found and lost
Will always win through when artist is determined
To give life in paint.

Greatest moments contrived for us
Pleasure warranted but never wholly expected
In as much that time between makes us
Learn again about the people we are
Knowing our foibles and characterful
Voices, carving new ground even softer
Than ever before
If I could truly tell you the love in my heart
For you both it would take a small lifetime
Joyous flights of butterflies inhabit me
As we unravel the life before us
Stories of silliness or episodes of mundane deliverance
No matter what everything is a casket of treasure
Nothing is pedestrian or unnecessary
Imagining lives as our heads discover again
The minutiae of the days and nights
Thank you for making it special
For continuing to be the tiny girl I have loved
Since I held you in that little orange blanket.
Thank you for being the man that cares
The man that supports and loves the daughter
Who has given me so much.

Sometimes the expectations of a journey
Can be foreboding
Even dreadful
Does that make it a surprise
When enjoyment arrives?
Perhaps all aspects of life are similar
But that doesn't help when as a natural optimist
My journey is usually familiar
Whatever my thoughts, the moment is key
The wasted effort of worry and dread
In essence was emotion inevitably led
By confidence or the lack of connected thought
For day to day incidences are often banal
So shouldn't we make each trip much less fraught
By living each minute for all it is worth.

How fitting the autumn leaves fall now
As we sit contemplating the seasons of our lives
Whete even the most confident, ebullient and robust of people
Would consider their mortality
At this juncture in a troubled world

It takes a moment or two, when someone close to us
Puts on their coat and hat, waves good bye
And slips silently from our lives to realise that
The circle of life, of birth and death is a blessing
That we must accept as nature's way.
Hard though it might seem

So should we not be sad now?
Should we not be regretful, tearful nor feel despair
That our loved one has left us for the Summerlands?
Of course we should, it is natural for us
When we love someone we want them near us forever
Regardless of everything.

So as the blanket of leaves surrounds us
Like the trees now, we may feel empty and bare, exposed to
Everyday incidents, bereft and lost in our sadness.
But we need not be.
The ensuing winter is joyously filled with warmth
It is filled with the energy, the good cheer and memories
Of the spring and the summertime of our dear loved one Les
We remember the fun, the laughter the joy he brought to us all
The silly sayings, the actions and the way he did certain things
Any failings he had are not even anything to consider today

His obvious love for all of us will continue, as ours for him
It will live within us because he planted it there
He tended and watered it in the Spring and Summer
So that we can reap the benefit in the harvest
Continue to enjoy his love, his care and his presence
Even now as he returns to stardust from whence we were born

Dad will never leave us. I can feel his spark within me now
He is here in my heart and within yours too.
Take his energy, his joi to vivre
And let his spirit lift you and continue in your life
Then you will not feel so sad nor will you feel cheated
But thankful  you were part of his life
And he was part of yours
He was a special man, we must celebrate his life
As I know he would celebrate with his heart and soul
Through every season and every year to come.

Good, we've seen a view that excites us
But is that all you can say?
Where is the heartfelt imagery of your soul?
The faint hearted expression of love or dislike, mistrust or disbelief?
Too much is given over to vision
Although our eyes give birth to many items of beauty
The soulful messages dragged from our hearts
Give a clearer and deeper impression.
Take my painting here of her
Is that not her character, her look or demeanour
But the slant that I made with each tiny line

Take your inspiration and drive it
In every direction
Don't leave your image to anyone else
Do not be frightened to pour out your heart
Or making mistakes right from the start.
Gather your drawings, your sketches your musings
Develop a painting that truly is yours
Envelop yourself in a creative intention
Art is just that an intended finality
Be strong and try painting for all you are worth
Sink yourself inwards whilst looking outwards
Try not to give into quick fixes or such
Be forceful in mind but let your heart always guide you
You'll become a master with each little touch.

Solstice midsummer is famous for revelry around the stones
The sacred stones on Salisbury plain
Laid as monuments by our ancestral people
The henge of countless moons and previous seasonal
wheel turns stands steadfast
Silently they hold the history we crave to unravel
The years of news, turmoil and worship
The rising and setting of our life-giving sun
The bitter cold winters, likewise winter solstice
Where few find solace holding their offerings
Or enjoying the feeble warmth from a far away star

The nature of Stonehenge carries the enigma
Which makes it special, mysterious and commands
Respect, awe and love
I believe like it's close neighbour Avebury
The Henge will remain enigmatic
A giant in the soil of the flat plains
Certain to give us the love it once received from Druidic
Peoples laying down their hopes and their wishes
Spending time absorbing, making and mending
Rekindling the connections around themselves
With the earth, through this massive conduit
The sacred stones everywhere hold their story
Close to their chest, the mirrored knowledge
That embraced the folk that built the magickal elements
Will be there for ever
Claiming the fascination of the masses but the respect
Of few that understand the real Stonehenge

Clever minds that stretch
The many elements which live as our backdrop
Too often everyday is spoiled
By unnecessary people, gathering ammunition
For climbing invisible platforms of command
These are cast aside by simple smiles and welcomes
And it was.
Even if the task was invisible to me at first
My soul felt at home amongst these new work mates
My responsible position was underwritten
Given gravitas and a freedom to which I wasn't quite used

The time was charged with familiar but different
It was fraught but strangely healthier in paradox
The honest fight was taken with gestures of family proportion
Success had waned but the unity of 'knowing' was the strength
That continued to support that Company
In spite of the turmoil my personal facets were given air
To run and to adjust, to temper and to manage
Poor communication was completely disastrous
The confusion of three currencies
And the balance of understanding left us guessing
Never mind agreement or translation

Through all this, looking back my heart is lifted
Not by the freedom or the ability to achieve ...mostly,
It is the strength from our leader,
That calm, silver haired man
When many were distraught you kept us going
And fed us with hope and built our confidence,
Not always with the obvious
But gave us the ability to win through by believing ,
Believing in us and building back our motivation and teasing out
The raw infrastructure of our true capabilities
Never before has anyone, apart from my Mother
Believed in me as you did. To tackle the toughest of tasks
Anything that the industry, the public or our customers
Could throw at us, we dealt with it.
Sadly you could do nothing at the final demise but take the role
Of a father giving news of an aged relative sadly moved by
A force greater than yourself
I know had you the influence, the power and the funding............

You were always more than a boss Chris
Your transparent enthusiasm raised our spirits
And in times of worry I hope we lifted yours too.
I think of you often, thank you for being a friend
After we were no longer professionally connected.
I see your generous smile and your warm handshake
I can hear your laugh now
It's always a treat to catch up over a beer.
I now find you in my phone, in my photographs
But mostly in my heart for being a great bloke
You taught me so much.

Speak soon, with love, Max

Feeling for someone is a burden
A burden that becomes you
It delivers a soulful journey whilst
Both are having connected visions

My desired heart has been fulfilled
No longer is it left along with the washing
It accompanies me as does my love, with
The certainty of tomorrow

Claiming my happiness seems unnecessary
like the sunrise it lives inside us
It becomes our energy
Our natural 'go to' emotion

The journey is green and gold
With silver amulets and chains of memories
slung around our shoulders
Like badges of office

The time of year has connotations
with the longevity of our love
Memories of breathing out visual steam
Or camping in the cool morning air

The emotion is as strong
It lives as we do with tempered faith
Deeper knowledge
And faith in ourselves to keep it right