Before moving away from the small coastal village where I spent my childhood and former years I knew a mysterious girl named Dover Anthem She was considered odd by many as she could often be found combing the beach for the lost treasure of pirates or swimming alone in the sea For some reason she […]

Large blood red roses Decorate The walls Of my room Some say That they were stained By the blood of Christ But I know that the weeping poppies Scarred these walls

You are the first poem in a book of Soldier Poets Your poem was written by a Major in the British Expeditionary Force in France during the First World War He is only known by his initials no more H.D’A. B. Marthe of the lowered eyes This is how the poem opens I wonder who […]

Over one hundred years have passed since your poem was written I am in Whitstable today with my family The sun is high in the sky and everything is calm Small children are playing with vacant oyster shells Whilst their parents paddle quietly in the sea Above me umber moths hide in the coastal trees […]

You wrote your essay about Enobarbus quite naked in your bedroom You locked the door to extinguish interruptions and lifted your pen I will do justice to your name You said As I was also Anthony’s loyal friend But you are aware of Anthony’s foolish infatuation He will lose the war So you do not […]

Exiled from your homeland You have farmed This derelict land For twelve winters It is unlikely that you will return To the country of your birth And you know That you will fade Without protest Into these unforgiving hills Two Polish soldiers who were exiled after serving in the Second World War found refuge in […]

The magnificent Frigate Birds were following my yacht I knew that we were not far from land as the charcoal gulls and flying fish were becoming frequent visitors My Portuguese stowaway seemed to spend all of her time on deck sketching these beautiful creatures I had found her under a blanket in the forepeak after […]

A number of railway bridges between Reading and Newbury are currently being either modernised or replaced as the process of electrification gathers pace The passenger footbridge at Newbury Railway Station which dates from 1910 will shortly be replaced by the newer bridge at the western end of the station I had made these notes whilst […]

Shadows strange yellow Dance on your bedroom walls I watch your breasts Rise and fall As you sleep And wait for the late summer rhythms To enter your day

What have you been doing since we last met Saul? I have been reading a book about the Dyatlov Pass Incident What was that? It was about the strange deaths of nine hikers in the Ural Mountains in February 1959 Why strange? Because they suffered peculiar injuries and investigations have not been able to determine […]