Alan Halford Poems

Ring a Ring no Rosary
Standing in a row
Waiting for the hand to fall
God's children take a bow.
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I do not want to die on a Monday with rain raging down on my pain
my mind drifting back through a lather of dreams and fear grabbing hold of my name.

I do not want to die on a Tuesday it's the least of my favourite days
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She placed it down-
Something you can leave behind she thought but wouldn't say
A green plant in a tub rested next to the bed
A lead laden hand stretched to touch its broken soil
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Once beneath the Christmas tree
Granddad told to me
Santa left what was to see
His Teddy bear Henri.
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'Santa' he whispered from behind a chair
as I sipped on a beer in a sunny Ghent sq
'Santa' once more with greater intent
now arms on my table and closer he lent.
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The Well

Longer days offer hope.
From deep my waters feels fresh light
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Oh what a night for childish delights
cycling through the back of night
sitting astride my grandfather’s bike
as we freewheeled all the way down.
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She mangled my heart
The girl who cared for the sun.
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What could walls tell now of Dylan Thomas
speak to me of love and death
of madness of a kind he sometimes knew
beneath the paper cracks of genius
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