Tan Pratonix Poems

Hoosh, whoosh,
The wind is up,
The birds go whizzing by,
And all around
...

Between you and me
Is a long stretch of sea
Preventing us
From communicating with each other
...

(Lines written spontaneously after seeing the photo of the body of a little Syrian boy washed up on the beach of Bodrum, a Turkish resort town, as the family were trying to escape by boat to Greece. Tragedy of the 5 year old Syrian Civil War.3rd September 2015)

The little boy
(A Kurdish toddler
...

A hand reached out from heaven,
It strove to touch my head;
Then I was just eleven
And I ducked and turned and fled.
...

It was in Ruwenzor
I found the Bashan bull,
The purple-headed mount
Was bathed in misty blue.
...

Trigonometry began
When Sine and Cos and Tan
[The latter, a perfect gentleman]
Agreed to work in a Triangle.
...

Where no birds breathe, bird-magic breathes
Bird-beauty, bird-spirit, bird-splendour,
And brings where no bird wings,
Wing-beats that woo me to wonder.
...

DEATH OF AUTUMN

Autumn dazzles with her dress
(Such gorgeous hues of red and gold!)
...

September clouds
Gather over the graying city
Ready to attack
...

Every day
Melanie May
Walks down the shore,
Along the bay.
...