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Commercial Interests
When my father died he had requested that his ashes should be scattered under each of the benches in the town There were thirty-six benches But as I walked around with his urn in my arms I felt a pain as I found that the careless disposal of gum had marred many of these places […]
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Ma femme comme un pigeon
As I had time to kill I explored a lane above the town Apart from a number of farmhouses not much remained to suggest that this was a farming lane Which was once of a great importance to the town I found a seat at the fork of the lane and rested there for a […]
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Salome
You hold the head of John the Baptist Between your bloodied thighs His death has stained your clothing You will for the taste his blood For the rest of your long life Alice Williams (1934)
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La construction de six belles maisons
I visited a building site not far from the coastal road To photograph the construction of six identical houses As it was a Saturday I had expected the site to be closed But I found people there Yet they were not involved In the construction of the beautiful houses Instead they were shooting a short […]
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The fisherman who thought pink was blue
This is where she drowned She did not drown They found her body on this beach She was a strong swimmer Although the sea can be treacherous a sandbank protects this area The waters are never calm On the top of that small cliff there used to be […]
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The History of the Conquest of Spain by the Arabs
I had been at the railway station for nearly a month mapping the stars Due to the complexity of my task I worked mainly at night when the sun was down and the desert was at its darkest During the day I just hung around the railway station helping the staff with mundane tasks such […]
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Blood Wedding
I have called this short piece Blood Wedding after the play by Lorca I did not have a title until I purchased a copy of his play in a supermarket of all places Today was one one of those late spring days where there was still a slight coolness in the air but the strength […]
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Late Spring Early Summer
The freshness of the season has now faded And the trees are heavy with leaves The thin colours of the early flowers Are tired passive and now forgotten Michael Walter Rennie (1925)
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Black Angel Gothic Sky
First of all let me apologise for the title of this poem My idea had been germinating for a while but I did not have a title for this work I wandered around the pleasant town of Devizes trying to think of one But it was not until I was standing next to the Victorian […]
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The Chinese Parlour
My grandfather had been a collector of all things oriental and had housed his collections in his sprawling white mansion He had kept a detailed diary about his acquisitions which helped greatly when he died some twenty years ago But there was no mention of The Chinese Parlour It was as if […]