William Messent

While sailing by beyond the fringe
I caught a song by Ronald Binge,
Heralding the Shipping Forecast -
"Attention, all at sea! "
...

Old Newton
in his darkened room
refracting prism colours.
...

I crave the timeless peace and joy
This music often brings
To souls with whom the world would toy
And run around in rings.
...

Three thousand years I've rested here,
Looking out across the plain,
Watching over Dragon Hill,
Many changes I have seen.
...

Six minutes to six. I'm ready for tea,
The forecast for shipping - what is in store?
My chair is a vessel far out on the sea,
Rain, moderate or good, occasion'ly poor.
...

When life seems tough and full of care
And things go wrong at every turn,
Reach out, there's music in the air.
...

An
Ancient
Alchemy,
Quaint combination:
...

Steeply runs the path down Betjeman Lane,
And swiftly flows the stream that's Letcombe Brook.
We enter through a rusty wrought-iron gate
Arriving at a secret sylvan scene,
...

She always loved chrysanthemums,
my mum.
Those long-lived strong proud stems,
topped with blooms of vibrant colour,
...

The nights are long, the weather drear,
An eastern wind blows cold and keen -
This is the mean time of the year.
...

The gulled sky shrieks above a mournful sea;
In the grey austerity, the wind moans.

Like candyfloss, spun by the waves,
...

Hear the song of humpback whales
Gathering in Hawaiian waters,
Gathering for Cetacean opera,
Male exclusive grand recital;
...

In memoriam, Sir John Betjeman.
He was a nature-loving gentle man,
Anglican by faith, a genial fellow
As bright and colourful as Piper's window,
...

The January snow has thawed and gone at last
And in its wake a single snowdrop stands:
It grew unseen beneath a shining shroud
Which melted to reveal the hope of Spring,
...

Take Five (5/4) :
He was a great man
Our David Brubeck;
Jazz was a big hit
...

My name is Fritz, Shrödinger's Cat,
I sometimes wonder where I'm at.
Within a small world I exist;
My master, he's a physicist
...

Desolate sea
between steel sky and dusky shore.
A sinister mist creeps in,
adds to the grey gloom.
...

So finally the Olympic flame is snuffed.
Two weeks of stress, joy, sweat and tears,
Four years of training hard, rewarded well
Upon the track, the field, on wheels
...

My friend, one hundred years you've stood
With outstretched arms in Ashbury Wood;
Expecting little, giving much,
I wish that man would be as such.
...

With great surprise O king of Letcombe Brook
I find you fishing here in Wantage town.
A flash of blue and copper - let me look -
Iridescent green and arrowing down
...