PICASSO
(ACROSTIC)
Peter Woodgate
Concluding that the world of art
Used naturalistic images
Because the masters showed him so,
Irregular lines and shapes and
colours
Surged from his mind and onto
canvas,
Modern art had left the womb.
Riding on a wave of eccentricity
Unparalleled in critic’s eyes,
Lay the product of an inchoate
vision
Expressing abstract thoughts
Symbolic of the man.
Oh, that we could understand
Kinetic brainwaves on the move.
Copyright Peter Woodgate
Bitter Sweet Revenge
By Sis Unsworth
Valerie stood motionless in the doorway. A deep black cloud seemed to slowly devour her, like an early morning mist that appears from nowhere.
She had been in a good mood when she arrived
that morning. She loved her job as a carer at the Bluebell nursing home. The
handover from the night shift had gone smoothly, all had gone well overnight.
The staff nurse had informed them of a new arrival, a Mr's Benson who had arrived the previous evening. She was in room 36, and would they all make themselves known to her.
Valerie had been quite
busy that morning, so it was just before lunch when she arrived at room 36.
There she stood when a strange shiver went down her spine, as Mrs Benson looked
up and smiled.
Something about her looked familiar, she looked just like a little old lady with a friendly smile on her face. Why then was she feeling this way about her? Trying to pull herself together, Valerie smiled, introduced herself, and welcomed Mrs Benson to the Bluebell nursing home. It was when she turned to leave, that something caught her eye. It was a photo on the bookshelf.
With a deep feeling of
foreboding Valerie picked it up. “Who is the lady in this photo?” She enquired.
“Why that’s me!” Mrs
Benson replied. “That was me when I was young, I haven’t always looked like
this,” she laughed.
Valerie recognised the woman in the photo, it was her old school teacher, known then as Miss Hayden, or ‘the dark witch’ as they all called her. Slowly she replaced the photo, so the dark witch must have been married, who ever would have married her, Valerie pondered. She caught her breath muttered a few words and retreated from the room.
All Morning she reflected
on her discovery, ‘the dark witch’ had ruined her last year at school. All the
girls had hated her, she seemed to love to humiliate them, especially in front
of the boys. The cane was still in use in schools at that time, and the dark
witch did not hold back from using it. Valerie decided not to tell the other
carers, if they knew how she felt about Mrs Benson they might report her.
However, she was burning inside for revenge which she was finding difficult to
control. What made her more angry, was all the other carers thought well of Mrs
Benson, saying what a kind old lady she was. This really infuriated her.
Somehow she would make the dark witch show her true colours. She began by
making Mrs Benson wait for everything when she was on duty. Valerie made sure
she was always last to get her tea or receive her mail. Always last to get her
meals or last being put to bed.
However, nothing seemed to
annoy her, and the more Mrs Benson smiled and thanked her, the angrier she
became.
It all came to a head one afternoon. Staff nurse was sorting out the medication, when she was suddenly distracted. Valerie took advantage of the situation; she took some tablets and slipped them into her pocket. Later, she dissolved them in Mrs Benson's tea before she left to go home.
Valerie didn’t sleep too well, realising what she had done. She hurried to work the next day, and was first of her shift to arrive. The staff nurse was waiting for her. “Mrs Benson has had a bad night, she was quite sick,” she explained. “We have sent for the Doctor, and informed her next of kin who is her brother. He is waiting in the lounge. Would you go and keep him company? We have given him a cup of tea.”
Valerie obeyed in silence realising the consequences of her actions. Reaching the lounge she found an elderly gentleman who introduced himself as Mr Hayden. “I am Mary’s Brother,” he explained.
“Sorry to hear your sister is poorly, she seemed alright when I left yesterday,” Valerie felt a wave of guilt pass through her.
“I’m worried about her,”
he said. “She moved here to be near me when her husband passed away. She is
such a lovely girl, we get on so well, unlike her twin sister, we don’t get on
at all!”
Copyright
Sis Unsworth
IN MEDIO TUTISSIMUS IBIS
(ACROSTIC)
By Peter Woodgate
Lonely shadows shift and merge
Enhancing comfort to our souls,
Grey is white amidst the dreams
And we have reached those distant
goals.
Loosen up you hypocrites
Inhibitions thrown away,
Show the world that we mean business,
Eventually we’ll have our say.
Can you keep ignoring facts?
Ask yourself “can it get worse?”
Nothing ventured, nothing gained,
Needlessly we face the curse,
All our lives are touched with
sorrow
Bearing scars formed by the lie,
In medio tutissimus ibis
Sic transit gloria mundi.
Copyright Peter Woodgate
MOVING ON
By Peter Woodgate
Glad we were
To leave behind
Those dingy rooms,
The peeling paint
And musty smells.
The old, cracked mirror
On the wall,
A picture of the king
And another that was made
From cockle shells.
The stairs,
That echoed daily,
With the thunder of our feet,
Would fall silent
With perhaps a creak or two.
And the mice,
Unwanted company,
Would be free to roam the rooms,
Undisturbed
And admiring the view.
Our brand new flat of concrete,
Had everything,
Three bedrooms and a bath
And balconies, with views
Out front and back.
Electric lights,
It smelt pristine,
Fresh painted walls,
Nice shiny floors,
Oh, what then did it lack?
Alas;
Our spirits lingered
Where bygone friends
Trod one by one,
Apprehension in that promised land
For we were moving on.
Copyright Peter Woodgate
By
Jane Goodhew
The trees were rapidly changing colour, the verdant greens of spring
and summer had been turned into burnished gold and lost their leaves completely
autumn had come with a rush. The warm
winds that had crossed the
She had hoped to have gone away, overseas, anywhere it did not matter
just as long as she did not spend another winter of doom and gloom here looking
at him across the table and wishing upon wish that she had the courage to leave
him but he had been clever and tied the business up so she could not easily
sell her share. No money, no travel, no
escape. Then she had an idea, how about if she took a job out of the Lady,
someone was always advertising for a companion for an elderly aunt of lonely
widower. He would wonder what she was up
to if she went to the shops at this time of day so she looked it up on her computer. Classified adds and there it was just what
she was looking for.
Elderly lady requires travel companion for 3 months. All expenses paid. Up to date passport required and cheerful
personality. Box666
Well she was not too keen on the box number as it had a ring of the
devil about it but the rest was just the answer to her problems so she composed
a well thought out but witty reply and pressed send.
A few days later came the response she had hoped for but had not dared
to dream of. You sound just the person I
am looking for so meet me at Southampton Departures at 10am Saturday 22nd
November. The tickets are booked and you
will have your own adjoining cabin. Send
me your dress and shoe size and I will arrange for your clothes to be there so
no need to pack, just bring yourself and your passport.
This all sounded too good to be true but she had to get away from her
life here before she did something she would live to regret. She had got to the stage where she could not
bear to be in the same room as him, even eating was, what, exactly what, there
are no words that can adequately describe how she resented every little move he
made, every scratch of the plate, every time he lifted his fork to his mouth
she cringed just waiting for the noise of his chomping. No, whatever was ahead of her had got to be
better than this; she would tell no-one not even her best friend. She would send a letter after the ship had
sailed.
The days seemed to drag, she could barely contain the excitement that
was welling up inside of her and she could not believe that this was really
happening nothing like this ever happened to someone like her. She almost had to pinch herself to see if she
were awake and not dreaming but no, she was awake and she re-read the new email
to make sure there was no mistaking what she had read. It still said for her to
get herself ready as the day of departure was this weekend and a car would pick
her up at 7am outside St Marys Church Hall.
A car was coming to get her, clothes were being provided and oh how she
had believed in fairies at the bottom of the garden, Santa at Christmas, if
there was something to believe in then she would. She longed to talk to her friend about it but
she thought if she did she would somehow jinx it, break the spell after all it
did appear that magic had played a part in this, she had made a wish and hey
presto it was coming true.
The day of departure had finally arrive, her husband had gone out
early that morning and he would not be back until late by which time she would
be miles out to sea and for the first time in decades he would have to cook his
own tea! Her cooking was about all he
would miss about her as they no longer had anything pleasant to say to one another. She wondered how people could end up like
this but many do. Thankfully she had an
escape route and she was going to take it.
The sky was brilliant blue but the air was crisp with low temperatures
that were only to be expected at this time of year. She pulled her hat down low over her ears and
her scarf up until the ends joined, and she felt snug as a bug in a rug. Her passport was in her handbag and a packet
of paper tissues and wipes and a tooth brush and that was it, she turned and
shut the front door and not once did she look back as she walked out of the
life she had known and grown to detest. With a determined step she went forth
to an unknown adventure that was about to begin.
The car was already waiting for her as she got to the church hall, the
driver was smartly dressed, suit, tie, and yes he even had a cap, she thought
she was about to faint, this was all too much for her to comprehend. Life was looking good, what was she thinking,
good, it was brilliant and she was intent on making the most of every
minute. She climbed into the back as he
placed a blanket over her legs even though the car was warm, he said it was
going to be a few hours before they got there and she may as well take a nap so
that she would be fresh for the voyage.
This suited her as she was not up to making small talk and had had very
little sleep for some time. She was too excited to thinking about what lay
ahead of her and surprisingly enough she felt guilty. She had not expected that, after all their
relationship had not been loving for many years. Although he knew she was not
happy remaining in the wilderness for the rest of her life he made no plans to
move. His life continued and she knew it
would without her there, he would barely notice her missing apart from when it
came to the evening and there was no meal on the table but he would survive and
soon find someone to replace her, if it were only to employ a housekeeper.
She saw the sign for Departures or was it Embarkation after all it was
a cruise ship and not a plane that she was about to spend the next three months
on. She suddenly began to feel a bit
nervous and why not for she had no idea who she was meeting, where she was
going, would it be 3 months at sea or would some of the time be spent on land
and if so which country? Too late now
she had gone too far to change her mind or to let the old lady down, she just
hoped it would all turn out okay and they would get along with each other. The car had stopped and the driver opened the
door and smiled as he could see the mixture of fear and excitement in her eyes
and he wished she could tell her that it was going to be fine, that she had
nothing to worry about, life was about to become everything she would ever have
dreamed and more.
She stepped through the door and someone with a board with her name on
it was standing just inside so she walked over to him and he took her into
another area which was obviously for those who were travelling deluxe
class. There on a sofa which was far to
large for her was a petite lady, elegantly dressed in a lilac silk trouser suit
and a smile that lit up the room. She
introduced herself and at once she was able to relax as she just knew that
everything would be fine, that she could get on with Eleanor and wherever they
ended up would be more than acceptable for her.
They chatted as if they had known each other their whole lifes, they
could so easily have been sisters or perhaps because of their age difference
Aunt and niece. It did not matter they
were going to be friends of this she was sure.
After all the procedures had been followed, passport checks and tickets
being given with cards that had your photo included on them, this would open
your cabin and also allow you to have as much food and drink as you wished to
indulge in throughout the voyage as well as other extras too many to
mention. It was not a large ship of which
she was glad as she did not like to think of some of the cruise ships that
sailed the seas these days. They were as big as a small town if not bigger as
some could hold over 5,000 passengers, far more people than lived in her
village and even those for miles around.
This could take only 500 and that was more than enough for her
especially as this was her first cruise and what a first it would be.
They entered on level 3 but they were shown to a lift and taken to
Deck 5 which was often referred to as the pay and sway as the higher you went
the more it would move if the sea was rough or the winds strong. She did not care, she did not get travel sick
and the higher she was the further she would be able to see in the distance as
they crossed the Atlantic and made their way up the might Amazon and then onto
the Caribbean. Finally she knew where
they were going and she could not believe it, the Amazon then
Copyright Jane Goodhew
Oblivious
of men, she keeps her small safe world, locked away from crashing waves, but she
never makes a pearl.
No
precious jewels are secure and safe inside her secret cave. She has no time
between the waves to be a human’s slave.
Record
of the years, the cycles of the moon, marked in calcium layers, she paints her
little room, now dark now light, now blue now white, the health of the sea is
held in each, the container of her life.
The ebb
and flow of tide, are her night and day, now wet now dry now hot now cool, deep
beneath the waves.
Slowly
graze the limestone crags, the gravestones of the ships of men. Hold fast, be
strong, all winter long, when storms must always come.
Hold
tight, hold tight, with all you might, when the pecking seagull comes. be tough,
survive and live your life, my armour plated one.
Like the
grooves of a record or the rings of a tree, she marks the years of famine or of
plenty. First he then she, then young now old, the solitary life of the limpet
is seldom ever told.
©
Christopher Mathews
By Robert Kingston
all at once
Out into the shadows of mighty cranes trod
the cherry on the corner
Distant sound of pulleys, wires whining through the sky
releases its blossom
Muffled sounds of toiling, on occasion a ship's fog horn
we reflect on memories
A milkman laughs and whistles,
in the family home
As birds traverse through Autumn's dewy ply.
By Robert Kingston ~ from (Pan Haiku Review, August 2024)
