TRAIL MIX

Sour

2012-02-27T09:30:00.000Z

Sour diesel fumes,
crows crying and the
colour of fear.

Smell

2012-02-26T16:00:00.000Z

An edge of warmth,
a smell of soil and sap
- already?

Sunny

2012-02-25T12:38:00.003Z

Sunny skies
and sunshine on my plate -
pastel de nata.

Descending

2012-02-24T09:30:00.000Z

Dark clouds,
descending mists
of unreality.

Steaming

2012-02-23T09:30:00.000Z

Steaming tea
the colour of honey -
warmth before dawn.

Drear

2012-02-22T09:36:00.001Z

Drear, icy light
strips the air of colour -
determination.

Long

2012-02-21T09:28:00.002Z

long strides and the ground
like a treadmill always
replacing itself

Flickering

2012-02-20T13:16:00.002Z

On the steely ground,
streaks of light and shadow,
flickering, reaching.

Muddy

2012-02-19T07:30:00.000Z

A muddy path
winds between bare trees -
cold, sleepless night.

Flying

2012-02-18T10:30:00.000Z

Passers by
shriek and scatter -
flying dustbins.

Small

2012-02-17T09:30:00.000Z

On the dim ceiling,
a triangle of light -
day starts small.

Mottled

2012-02-16T12:15:00.000Z

Is that really blue
behind the mottled bruising
of the morning sky?

Dead

2012-02-15T08:30:00.000Z

Wake with a start,
mistaking a bird's cry
for my dead cat's.

Obdurate

2012-02-14T12:00:00.000Z

Warmer today,
but the frozen lake
is obdurate.

Black

2012-02-13T14:00:00.000Z

Black pepper
invigorates tomatoes,
scorches my tongue.

Clean

2012-02-12T18:00:00.000Z

Escape from the day
down a long tunnel
of soft, clean sheets.

Infinite

2012-02-11T11:00:00.000Z

The sky has turned
from grey to infinite blue -
pigeons in space

Impatient

2012-02-10T09:30:00.000Z

Fresh snowfall -
so pretty and I
so impatient.

Abandoned

2012-02-09T13:18:00.004Z

After the thaw,
the melted snowman's
abandoned snowchildren.

Through

2012-02-08T09:30:00.000Z

Icicles slice
through the soles
of my furry boots.

Taste

2012-02-07T13:08:00.002Z

Custard: the taste
of childhood and colour
of bananas.

Fade

2012-02-06T09:30:00.000Z

Fade to grey:
the snow slumps
and crawls away.

Muted

2012-02-05T10:00:00.000Z

Muted cracking
of the frozen snow -
no other sound.

Swollen

2012-02-04T16:00:00.000Z

Purple silence -
the sky sidles closer,
swollen with snow.

Inadept

2012-02-03T09:30:00.000Z

Frozen fingers
so inadept at texting -
try telepathy.

Flawless

2012-02-02T12:40:00.002Z

Flawless blue above -
too cold to stand still,
everyone glimmers.

Tiny (2)

2012-02-01T11:16:00.001Z

Glugging icy water -
through the bottle's base,
a tiny winter scene.

I just found out about NaHaiWriMo - couldn't resist.

Tiny

2012-02-01T09:30:00.000Z

Gulping water from the bottle, shockingly cold as a mountain stream, through its base I get a tiny view of black tree trunks stark against the wintry sky.

Shivering

2012-01-31T09:30:00.000Z

ice in my nostrils
from my shivering mouth
a stream of white breath

Frothy

2012-01-30T13:43:00.000Z

The cappuccino, with its frothy, scummy surface and pinkish brown underbelly, its aftertaste both smooth and bitter, inspires ambivalence.

Repetitive

2012-01-30T09:30:00.000Z

Listening to Different Trains:
a persuasive, repetitive, prickly journey to equilibrium.

Undecided

2012-01-28T14:28:00.003Z

The patchy sky of undecided weather: through the dark trees, the faintest smoky fragrance of dreams and stories, better times.

Dazzling

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000Z

A wave of dazzling sunshine floods the window and my startled silhouette springs to life on the white kitchen wall.

Suburban

2012-01-26T12:00:00.000Z

The desultory kisses of a few raindrops, plangent trilling of an unknown bird: close your eyes and this suburban street recalls the fields that once were here.

Curved

2012-01-25T09:39:00.000Z

Unseasonably mild air slides down the old curved stone facades - there's a quiet sense that everything might come to a halt.

Greasy

2012-01-24T09:30:00.000Z

Grey, greasy rain soaks into everything and cleanses nothing. Each passing face is sticky, pallid, querulous.

Scrawled

2012-01-23T12:00:00.000Z

Scrawled red ballpoint annotations in the margin: the printed words pursued, exclaimed at, clutched at from behind.

Wine-dark

2012-01-22T14:30:00.000Z

a glass of ruby red:
reflections flicker
on the wine-dark surface

Bare

2012-01-21T15:00:00.000Z

Great swathes of bare branches trailing in the wind

the winter witch
lets down her twiggy hair
to sweep the sky

Silky

2012-01-20T09:56:00.001Z

Glimpsed on the crowded street, a tie-dyed greeny, yellowy, silky parka - reminder of another climate, era or aesthetic in these busy, overcoated days.

Tethered

2012-01-19T09:41:00.002Z

The wind is a muted background snorting and thumping like a tired, tethered pack donkey.

Soft

2012-01-18T09:29:00.000Z

A gentle, downward pressure of soft, grey light and the sound of wheels swish-swishing on the damp road - this weather clings, enfolds.

Red

2012-01-17T09:30:00.000Z

A pair of stiff, red leather gloves splayed against her chest, while next to them bare fingers play on her phone:
an illusion of three hands.

White

2012-01-16T09:30:00.000Z

Leaving for work
moon still in the sky
frost still on the windows
one white blossom
still on the hedge.

Cold

2012-01-15T04:00:00.000Z

The cold air, just like rain, showers from the sky and bounces up from the footpath, clutching and shaking and soaking the hapless pedestrian

Golden

2012-01-14T15:30:00.000Z

Black cat sits up tall on the gate post, golden eyes glinting in the chill sunshine, remembers another life in ancient Egypt.

Clear

2012-01-13T09:30:00.000Z

A clear, sharp, upward-cleaving contrail speaks in the still, dull early morning of light and energy.

Bitter

2012-01-12T14:28:00.002Z

Dark green droplets falling into water, then a bitter, dark green taste that fizzes on the tongue and numbs it: Echinacea.

Sticky

2012-01-11T13:05:00.003Z

The bright, sticky pungency of peel and pith and juice of oranges lingers on fingers and in the air.

Disaffected

2012-01-10T09:30:00.000Z

Tricycle and parent hold hands while the small, disaffected rider trails, sighing, far behind.

Low

2012-01-09T09:48:00.003Z

River at low tide:
mud and stones and plastic bags,
the gulls gather.

Pulpy

2012-01-08T16:00:00.000Z

Pear juice: a pale, pulpy stream gurgles from the jewel-green bottle.

Physical

2012-01-07T10:30:00.000Z

On the radio, gruff talk of the physical crisis - oh no, the fiscal crisis.

Creeping

2012-01-06T09:48:00.002Z

Creeping sunshine -
all along the rooftops
a breath of gold.

Loud

2012-01-05T09:42:00.001Z

A loud wind bangs and crashes against the windows - restless, unpredictable, unnerving.

Burst

2012-01-04T09:30:00.000Z

Rubbish collection day: a big black bird swoops and clatters in the lurid debris from a burst bag.

Blurred

2012-01-03T09:48:00.003Z

Through the restaurant's double doors, a blurred glimpse of many blue lights: are they inside, or outside and reflected?

Glinting

2012-01-02T11:30:00.000Z

Eyes drawn upwards to the topmost glinting branches -shiny silver bark of fairytale trees.

Washed

2012-01-01T09:49:00.000Z

Plummeting rain - the old year washed away.

Back in January

2011-12-12T17:56:00.000Z

for the next River of Stones.

Dark

2011-11-30T17:30:00.000Z

Dark at four -
tomorrow will not come
for sixteen hours.

Close

2011-11-23T09:30:00.000Z

Somewhere close
invisible foxes
cry at midnight.

Blur

2011-11-22T09:30:00.000Z

A black dog runs
beside a bicycle -
blur of legs and spokes

Alarm

2011-11-21T09:30:00.000Z

Walking carefully
on carpets of decaying leaves -
a car alarm screams.

Pale

2011-11-20T18:01:00.001Z

In such thick fog
so little place to hide -
this pale tree.

Already

2011-11-19T17:54:00.001Z

Dark already -
the whole day eaten
by idleness.

Echo

2011-11-18T09:35:00.001Z

Footsteps echo
in the hollow before dawn -
the brain still sleeps.

Imperceptibly

2011-11-17T09:30:00.000Z

The hard white cloud
thins imperceptibly to blue -
light, then my shadow.

Skies

2011-11-16T09:30:00.000Z

Open your eyes
and discover blue skies
or grey.

Dragons

2011-11-15T09:30:00.000Z

Dream interrupted
by the clang of morning -
dragons slink away.

Before

2011-11-14T09:22:00.001Z

Foggy silence -
the city hesitates before
another week.

Backview

2011-11-13T17:14:00.001Z

Chilly afternoon -
the earlier sunshine's
receding backview.

Can't be

2011-11-12T18:44:00.001Z

Sweating, shucking off
fleece and waterproof - this can't be
November.

Ambient

2011-11-11T17:50:00.001Z

Friday evening -
ambient sounds
alter.

Ribbon

2011-11-10T17:26:00.000Z

Pale light on the river -
shiny ribbon snaking
through the grime.

Shelter

2011-11-09T13:10:00.001Z

His face in the rain -
a sleeping bag gives
scant shelter.

Glow

2011-11-08T17:44:00.001Z

In the dark day's
darkest corners, the glow
of golden leaves.

Spit

2011-11-07T09:20:00.000Z

Only the rain
may spit in your face
with impunity.

Listen

2011-11-06T16:34:00.000Z

Time has stopped -
listen to the wind
fidgeting.

Smoke and shadow

2011-11-05T19:18:00.001Z

November the fifth:
smell of smoke and shadow
of a cowering cat.

Parquet

2011-11-04T09:25:00.000Z

All the chairs removed
but two - poised to pirouette
across the parquet floor.

Low-flying

2011-11-03T09:21:00.000Z

Sycamore leaves
busy in the wind - a hundred
low-flying moths

Trumpeters

2011-11-02T09:26:00.000Z

Waterloo station
invisible trumpeters
entertain the queue

Heal

2011-11-01T09:25:00.000Z

Soggy leaves -
a poultice will not heal
the earth's wounds.

Imagine

2011-10-31T09:23:00.002Z

Below the bridge,
brown water - imagine floating,
imagine sinking.

Scattered

2011-10-30T11:42:00.002Z

Pale, dried leaves and stems scattered on the pathway: bleached and shrunken by sun and rain, they recall the bones of small, featherlight creatures.

see

Hour gained

2011-10-29T20:07:00.000+01:00

Trees flushed with fever,
dry, coughing carpets underfoot:
delirium of this hour gained.

Muffled

2011-10-28T09:27:00.000+01:00

Early morning streets
muffled in a striped blanket
of moon and mist.

Same

2011-10-27T09:27:00.000+01:00

From behind: two chubby, near-the-ground West Highland White Terriers with a short, stocky woman in a black trouser suit - all three, the same gait.

Orange

2011-10-26T14:38:00.001+01:00

A man walks briskly in the rain with two luridly orange shopping bags - a matching pair of bobbing orange reflections in the wet, shiny pavement.

Loom

2011-10-25T09:20:00.000+01:00

A bright red crane looms suddenly above the trees and rooftops, out of scale, like King Kong - the monstrous beast of endless demolition and construction.

Statues

2011-10-24T09:28:00.000+01:00

The red bus-ticket machine and the woman in a yellow coat: same height, both slim and straight - two bright Brancusi statues on the footpath.

Whited out

2011-10-23T13:27:00.001+01:00

The blue sky whited out -
the light still fierce,
but through a frosted pane.

Low

2011-10-22T12:25:00.000+01:00

The light so strong and, even at noon, so low: every shape and colour - this blue, this square, this curly edge - is distorted, over-emphasised.

Colder

2011-10-21T09:21:00.000+01:00

As it gets colder, everything seems further away - buildings and people shrink darkly into themselves.

Treasure

2011-10-20T09:28:00.006+01:00

Triplets

2011-10-18T09:29:00.000+01:00

Two tiny girls with bobbing afros,
two tiny voices sing off-key,
but this one is silent -
oh, there are three!

Autumn

2011-10-17T09:29:00.010+01:00

Liquid light
and airy shadows -
Autumn trembles.

Invisibly

2011-10-14T09:21:00.002+01:00

In the beam of passing headlights,
the footpath glistens:
it rained, invisibly, before we came.

Stopped

2011-10-12T09:19:00.001+01:00

The bus has stopped and isn't starting: a change in the engine's thrumming and in the thrum of voices, which falters and assumes a plaintive, questioning note.