Sunday, 1 June 2025

March - May 2025 Collection

There is a good helping of green shoots and spring flowers in my latest blog post. I hope you will enjoy this poetry collection, covering the months of March, April and May.  


March rain gently falls
Waking sleeping daffodils
Spring is in the air.


Shy hellebore
Why do you
Cover your face?
It’s as if you are trying
To hide your true self
Remain incognito
Scared to engage
Can I coax you to lift
Your fragile head
And look me in the eye
Help you emerge
From the world
You’re locked in
Please can we
Give it a try?


Joyful kalanchoe
A splash of Madagascar
On my windowsill.


We have many lines
Of communication
Or at least that’s what
We’re led to believe
A mesh of chat bots
Direct messages
Emails, FAQs
Portals, newsfeeds 
So why is it
Such a rigmarole
To speak to
Another human being
When a simple
Yes or no answer
Is all you really need?


Immersed in a world
Of misty isolation
Lost in the moment.

 

Early pink blossom
Confetti in the hedgerow
A sprinkle of joy.


We sit and watch the sun go down
From a distant riverbank
Swooping birds
Etch transient circles in the sky
A cobalt breeze blows ripples
Through soft clouds
Into our minds
Sharing the moment
Yet lost in our own thoughts
Basking in a twilight lullaby.


Adjusting a myopic outlook
Looking upwards and beyond
Extending parameters 
To incorporate the sky


Face the onshore breeze
Feel your tears evaporate
Nature gently shows
It serves no purpose crying
Over things you can’t control.


Clumps of resilient daisies
Raise their cheerful heads
On the grassy bank near
A landfill site
Home to low level
Radioactive waste
The earth around them is splintered
But their feathery petals are seen
As a symbol of hope and beauty
The antithesis of what lies beneath.


Kissed by morning dew
A cluster of primroses
Smile and greet the day.


Absorbing shadows
Devouring clouds day and night
Insatiable lake.


It must have been
My imagination
Gossamer clouds
Eclipsing the sun
But I thought I saw an angel
She somehow seemed
To unfurl and blossom
She hovered silently
For a while
Spreading calm
Through my tousled mind
Then floated away slowly
On the back
Of a sunbeam tide.



All of the other flowers
In the February bouquet
Faded and wilted
Once March was underway
Apart from one carnation
Tissue thin yet oh so strong
Exuding creamy happiness
And pink-tinged euphoria.


Teardrops gently cling
Like sweet fading memories
Grief-stricken tulips.


Hazy April sun
Dances on grape hyacinths
Bumble bees' vineyard.


A wise old oak tree
Stands by an ivy covered path
Sheds acorns in the autumn
Waits for winter to pass
Keeps a watchful eye open
For signs of the first offspring
Prepares to share stories
Of those no longer here
Bracken remnants
Nurture new beginnings
Woodland elegy.


In search of pale sky
I trace pathways with my mind
Through emerald leaves.


Splashes of colour
Soft, silky and curvaceous 
Enchanting bluebells.


I could not walk past
Without acknowledging you
Flamboyant poppy.


Gorgeous clematis
Blowing candy stripe kisses
In my direction.


Clear deserted beach
She is a vision in blue
Soul pacifier.


Rain splashed pink flowers
Each pearl nurtures a promise
Of red strawberries.


The sun slowly set
On hopes held close
The rocks she would
Have crawled across
Tearful exchanges
With the breeze
Thoughts that tumbled
Into her dreams
Releasing ghosts
Drenched in 
Pale winter sun
To a world
That was now
Untouchable
Beyond the balustrade. 
<><><>

Thank you for reading. You can find me on both X and Instagram under @jillwebbwords. Links are provided below.
       

Friday, 28 March 2025

Spring Haiku

Throughout 2024 I saved the haikus I posted on X and Instagram with a view to compiling a poetry book at the end of the year. After some deliberation I decided to have the book printed for personal use only. I named the book "A Haiku for all Seasons" and gave it to close family members as a Christmas gift. It was a special moment.

To mark the start of each season in 2025 I have decided to post the corresponding poems and photographs taken from the book, here on my blog. I had some lovely feedback about the winter poems posted earlier in the year

Now that daffodils are in full bloom and blossom is appearing on the trees, it seems like the perfect time to post the spring poems. I hope you will enjoy reading.



Bursts of daffodils
Sunshine voices calling out
Spring is almost here.


Like birds in a nest
Crocuses open their hearts
Sing in harmony.


Unfurling blossom
Drenched in beads of morning dew
And April wishes.


Robins and blackbirds
Garden campanologists
Softly ring white bells.


Miniature vineyard
Oozing with grape hyacinths
Springtime Pinot noir.


Magical rainbow
A little piece of heaven
Stretching down to earth.


When I close my eyes
The magic of bluebell wood
Lingers in my mind.


Loud, proud, flamboyant
The tulip gang are in town
You'd better watch out!


Elegant iris
I see golden butterflies
Running through your veins.


Tumbling over walls
Flowers the texture of silk
Joyful clematis.


I wish I could watch
You chase feathers in the grass
Hear you purr again.


You sting with your leaves
Enchant with your coy blue smile
Exude mixed feelings.

Thank you for reading. You can find me on both X and Instagram under @jillwebbwords. Links are provided below.
       


Friday, 28 February 2025

February 2025 Collection

Here is a collection of poems penned throughout February 2025. It's a mix of sea inspired words, haiku, tanka and vignettes in verse. I hope you will enjoy reading. Any feedback is welcome.

Sturdy old oak bench
Nestled in coarse long grass
Where the river bends
You have absorbed
Many secret thoughts
Tears and smiles
You have been a friend
To those who have taken
The weight off their feet
And watched the sun go down.


She lived alone
In bedsit land
On the edge
Of a one way street
Saved loose change
For a meter with
A constant need to feed
When she’d scrimped enough
To win the fight
She would fill the bathtub
Dim the lights
Mask advancing mould
On jaded cracked tiles
Bask in popping bubbles
Then drift through the night
On curls of rising steam.


The love they once knew
Silent diminishing cloud
Paths they walked upon
Sunshine tinted thoroughfares
Drift into oceans apart.

Frayed petals a sign
Of what life has thrown at you
But your heart still sings.

Mavis had never married
She led a modest life
Spent her life
Working behind a desk
Dressed in shades of
Vanilla and white
Until she met Roberto that was
Through an online dating site
He smoked big fat
Cuban cigars
Told her tales of
Star studded nights
Took her to casinos
Bought her cocktails
Ignited a fire
Reflected in her shy grey eyes
The first time she rolled a dice.

Summer 1984
Walking away
From the dole office
Chasing dust
Through cracks in the tarmac
He counted loose change
In his denim 
jacket pocket
The bus fare home
Or a new 45?
There was no doubt
In his tousled mind
Stomping into 
The record shop
Tribal beat igniting
A fire inside
Inhaling, emerging
Emboldened, empowered
He started to think
In a Kirk Brandon style
"I liberate I liberate
Been down down down"
But things are going to change
From now now.

Engraving a dream
Distant birds chase the sunset
Through a hazy sky.

When the sun goes down
A sense of stillness prevails
In this remote place
Coarse grass protects and provides
A safe haven for small birds.


Complex emotions
Rain caught in a spider’s web
Shades of light and dark.

Snowdrops meander
Through tumbling ivy woodland
February strolls.

Transient slipstream
A faint goodbye 
You look out of the window
Into an abyss of sky
Watching clouds
Disintegrate
Before your tired eyes
Rubbing glass
Erasing thoughts
Of the broken heart
You left behind.

Our footprints
Form an irregular trail
On a pristine
Bed of sand
Causing clumsy
Indentations
Displacing the
Immaculate grains
This crude disruption
Is only temporary
Until the
Cleansing waves
Erase all traces
Of us being here
And the beach
Returns to its
Untouched state.

Screens forever
Flashing bleeping
Vibrating reeling
Chiming squealing
An endless onslaught
Of views and memes
Thoughts exploding
Marketer’s dream
Brains infiltrated
Absorbing time
Emojis blinking
At the end of each line...

Sometimes it’s good
To clear your mind
Of virtual clutter
With no reason or rhyme
Feel the breeze
On your upturned face
Make time to
Realign.

Pale sun overrides grey clouds
And petulant skies
Transforming the landscape
Uncovering hidden facets
Pebbles are dispersed
By unpredictable waves
Forming new patterns
Embracing change.

Bursting into life
Like birds opening their beaks
The crocus choir sings.

A single flower
Smiles through a mesh
Of fading branches
She is a symbol
Of resilience and hope
In the interim
Between winter and spring.

Running slim fingers
Through layers of dust
Around tarnished gilt edges
Of her bedroom mirror
Revealing lines of pain
Etched in contours
Of her typically
Expressionless face
Emotion bubbled
To the surface
Crumpling reflection
Dissolving in slow motion
Tonight she could no longer
Hide from herself.

Overlapping waves
As one chapter finishes
Another begins
In the sea I see stories
Filled with drama and intrigue.

From the first time
He set eyes on her
She was unlike anyone
He had ever met
Words exchanged
Reverberated
Consumed unoccupied
Space in his head
She was a stepping stone
In a swirling sea
Crossing lines
Between swimming
And drowning
Highlighting the beauty
Of fragility
So close
But at the same time
Out of reach.

<><><>


Thank you as always for taking the time to read. You can find me on both X and Instagram under @jillwebbwords. Links are provided below.