`

hold back the spiteful

frigid breath of winter

for just one more day,

to celebrate the dazzling

bronze and ripe lime

autumnal hues spread like

a gypsy frock fanned out

around our feet,

November air hangs damply

rich with the earthy musks

of fungi, wisps of curling

woodsmoke and feint alien

tang of burnt orange rind,

time is measured rhythmically

by the steady woodpecker’s knock

the season’s closure is at hand

*

© Graham R Sherwood 11/26

~

step out lightly on this

much hallowed eve, lest

you should meet an undead

soul adrift along the misty

lanes, for tonight’s the night

that restless spirits share

our path, look to your wits

and say your prayers

*

© Graham R Sherwood 31/10/26

~

there’s beauty within such chaos,

the fall, little more than a step

shallow water tumbling excitedly

mimics children chasing the same

elusive quarry, a discordant melody

neither shout nor squeal just music

playing between a smile and a frown

writhing pell-mell turbulently around

smooth pebbles and sharp rocks

more in playful ecstasy than agony

hiding and re-emerging to glide with

consummate ease past my dapping

toes, such beauty within serenity

*

© Graham R Sherwood 10/26

~

there’s a purity in her voice

a smooth musical breathing,

evasive, subtle, constant, it’s

as if a calm ache is seeping

from her pained lips, a whisper

in the chill of a winter morning,

she sings for herself, impassively

disinterested in those who listen

the few years sit lightly on her

sculpting her finely drawn

downcast alabaster beauty

*

© GRS 10/26

~

it’s too late for me

to be heroic, although

some tell me differently,

the good ship rebellion

sailed without me

so instead I become

a free thinker, seemingly

having paid in advance

for that dubious privilege,

life moulded me into a

philosopher, a lonely

candidate at a seminar

for one, handsomely

rewarded with the bigotry

of my self-confession

*

© Graham R Sherwood 10/26

~

I inhabit a peculiar space 

lying somewhere between 

unwilling procrastination 

and latent impetuosity,

once I begin, there must be 

a conclusion, nothing left 

undecided or hanging by  

a thread, abandonment is 

alien to me, I must finish 

what I start, even if I 

become disenchanted 

en-route forfeiting any

satisfaction anticipated, 

often the joy of completion 

is tempered by the stark

foreboding of the next 

emerging project, which

has secretly infiltrated 

the precious sanctity 

of my peculiar space,

and so my wheel turns

*

© Graham R Sherwood 10/26

~

so, is this all there is,

is there really nothing 

more to come, have I 

already had my best 

with ought left for me

to dote upon,

must my thoughts 

dwell in my past, or 

may my eyes search 

sights yet untold,

where lies this magic 

Rubicon, when will I see

its fabled line unfold

*

© Graham R Sherwood 10/26

~

a welcome bench beneath 

a grand horse chestnut tree,

unwanted spent conkers 

in the grass litter my feet 

a distant chalk lion roars

silently across  the downs,

all this in late summer, early

autumn sun, sitting quietly 

on Rothschild’s leafy acres, 

with Sunday nearly done,

*

© GRS 10/26

~

remember when you asked

for some of my poems that 

you might make into a book

one day to remember me by, 

I replied that one day you 

would have them all and you 

cried at that very thought, 

then you held onto my hand

until we arrived home

~

I go back there

as often as I can

to walk the lanes,

rub my palms on

the smooth stone

walls in the hope

of waking up

another memory,

if my luck holds up

I just might catch

a fleeting glimpse

of the boy I was,

haring by on a bike,

I may shed a tear

and let it fall amongst 

those special places, 

as if to leave

my own trace there