Making the fire

Each morning I’d get up and make the fire –
a pocket-money job , and yet
one I enjoyed. The house was still and cold.
A thin, insipid light seeped through the blinds.
I riddled last night’s embers , watched the ash
float down in feathers to the tray bel...

Picking pears

Like people, pears will ripen
from inside.
Picked too early, you will find they’re
hard, unyielding.
Leave it late
and there’ll be nothing left
but wasp drilled carcasses
and mush.

Choose the moment.

A cool September evening seems right-
shifting sunlight a...