approaching storm
even the gate
has lost its squeak

Here's an old one. Originally published in Presence a couple of years ago.

To celebrate summer, before I jet off to a cooler Australian winter.

Coast Path, Purbeck (Summer)

sun
sea
skylark

green
blue
yellowhammer

doubting
my skills as a parent
I set the moth
free
from the greenhouse

Sent from Catch Notes for Android https://catch.com

no traffic
for the moment, a fox
as still as the night

Ed Button RIP

I know you had unimaginable troubles and I'm sorry that I never actually got to meet you in person. I'll miss your encouragement and devilish, often self-deprecating sense of humour. It's a pity that some personal demons are so parasitic in nature and so unavoidable that their only method of removal also necessitates the end of a life.

A sense of doom made me check your Facebook page. In your own words:

.Automated Greeting:

"Sorry, I don't want to talk right now.
"You can leave a message after the tone
and hope that I call you back."

I don't believe in any sort of afterlife, and I'm pretty sure that you didn't either. If there was, by rights you'd be riding your hog along an eternal coast road, the wind in your hair, a vibrant Jupiter straight ahead.

So long, Ed, and thank you for all the positives and for being a friend.