Sleep, sleep,
my precious brain.
Repair the damage
of the day.
Patch the holes
darn the heels
heal the pains
save the gain
and make me sane again.
poem & pic rachel mcalpine cc-by-4.0
Month: June 2017
Not yet please
Pastels smudging
the morning sky.
Oh no no no no,
oh let me not die.
The pain in his neck
makes my neighbour cry.
Oh no no no no,
oh let him not die.
The hazel light
of my sister’s eye.
Oh no no no no,
oh let her not die.
poem & pic by rachel mcalpine cc-by-4.0
Grumpy hermit
Talking to a grumpy hermit
is a training and a test.
They toggle their manners
off and on to probe your zest.
They have the right to be silent.
They have the right to reject.
Perhaps it is wrong to circulate.
Perhaps they are correct.
poem and photo by rachel mcalpine cc-by-4.0
Flaunt it
I love my hair
because it’s there
not much
as such
but I’m not bare
up there
like you
and I won’t share.
It isn’t fair
and I don’t care
it’s mine
so there!
Photo and poem by rachel mcalpine cc-by-4.0
I saw this remarkable clothes-line last week, and today, out popped a spiteful, Dr Seussy sort of poem.
Heart of world
heart of light
blue light
white fur a shimmer and shelter
dark and dazzle
erupt and jostle
so strong, so long, so longing
benign your spirit
stays and stays
beyond all fair and reason
in a thousand years we’ll get it
serve you, save you
if we can
Do you have better words for this desperate feeling?
When I saw these clouds, they instantly summoned lines from Gerard Manly Hopkins’ poem “God’s Grandeur”— I know my words will never come within cooee of his:
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
pic & poem by rachel mcalpine cc-by-4.0
Listening
I can’t think
with that man talking
and talking and talking
about ethics
and how your clients love you
when you listen.
I can’t think
with that other man
listening and listening
and smiling and nodding
and sometimes
saying Yes.
pic & poem by rachel mcalpine cc-by-3.0
I wonder what you think about when you read this poem…
Wildfire
candle for the planet —
let’s keep the flames
in a jam jar
pic and poem by rachel mcalpine cc-by-2.0
Skies of couple-colour
climate change —
an end to nuance, long text
and dappled things
pic and poem by rachel mcalpine cc-by-2.0
A bad boy
A bad boy
is not so bad.
A bad man
is not so good.
More tips on dying well
Be yourself, and in extremis
be yourself extremely.
For this is the way you will be remembered,
and this is the way you will die.
poem by rachel mcalpine cc-by-2.0
Poems in the wild—Rachel McAlpine 