Between Clean Sheets
Twenga #8
31 December 2017 – 3 March 2018
Alison Raybould @jamray
James Kennedy @jameskcentral
Cathy Wade @cathy_wade
Emma Bolland @emmazbolland
Mathew Parkin @mathewparkin
Paul Conneally @LittleOnion
Yvette Gresle @yvettegresle
Gavin Wade @eprjcts
Patrick Goodall @artpickdarkpot
Sid Sidowski @sidowski
Tina Francis @tinafrancis15
Brenda Hickin @brenda_hickin
#twenga is an annual renga of 100 Verses on Twitter
www.eastsideprojects.org
Sabaki – Gavin Wade Host Poet – Paul Conneally.
#1
first footing
a hot drink and a mince pie
to see in the year
#2
a circle of plant pots
haloed by thawing snow
#3
days off and on
till the moon falls in line
with the calendar
#4
cold down pressure
back from daylight saving
#5
in crystal peaks
Tom whispers a familiar joke
in his husband’s ear
#6
delicate raku pots
pulled from the embers
#7
the swirl and swoop
of late evening bats
over Lake Wannsee
#8
high tea taken
on the low veranda
#9
before the bridge
at Stratford be sure
to remove your stove pipe
#10
grinding to the skatepark
on Chelmsley Wood
#11
a line of patients
on stretchers and wheelchairs
outside A&E
#12
roles reverse as she rescues
her mam’s dropped stitches
#13
crying on the stairs
she sits with me and says
let's have five minutes
#14
absorbed in each other
we form a looping meniscus
#15
buds come back
you don’t expect it
but they do
#16
trip you up in blue bell
patches of sunlight
#17
Alexander holds up
the weirdest looking kite
Mabel has ever seen
#18
eternal footprints
in pristine moon dust
#19
faces lit
by bottle rockets
and Catherine wheels
#20
the Empress dreams
of an October revolution
#21
for years they talk
this and that
until one moves up
#22
in the dog days dogs
nodding in the dust haze
#23
Abu Wad’s roses
bloom in the rubble
of Aleppo
#24
x stitch more radical
than socialist worker
#25
without reserve
bravely we fight against
all backwardness
#26
the compass in the heel
of his first lace ups
#27
a song rings out
from deep in the hawthorns
a fallen blossom
#28
the meteorologists
plan a spring wedding
#29
his daughter asks
where the bunny comes
in the Easter story
#30
dwarfed by the
ovum’s corona
#31
her busy thumbs
emoticon love
on the Waterloo train
#32
a car park corner
one shoe left behind
#33
hurling insults
at the presidential
press conference
#34
kayaking solo
fighting the raging current
#35
a hedgehog
ready for hibernation
walks the back border
#36
ochre moons
pressed into clay
#37
bitter fruit
stains the gin magenta
curls my tongue
#38
his wild drag
stuffed in a rucksack
#39
the whole family
piled on the sofa
in post lunch rapture
#40
her foodbank donation
weighs heavily on her
#41
lamentations
are also songs
voices lost
#42
will action be taken
in the wake of Grenfell
#43
maybe we can trust
the blockchain
as it kicks into gear
#44
we search in vain
for a public toilet
#45
repeatedly
slashing the canvas
Lucio vents his spleen
#46
feasting parasites
outside and in
#47
archipelagos
off the coast
of Mozambique
#48
bandits in the hills
not far from Guernica
#49
writhing on the floor
howling and desperate
for quick fix cat sex
#50
take me to the Limit
one last time
#51
Tina’s love letter
breaks the rules
in writing class
#52
at Sunday School
a non-believer daydreams
#53
our skeletons show
a symmetry
so often denied
#54
moons cluster
around your neck
#55
after torrential rain
wandering stars
pause on pavements
#56
head torch trails
my Autumn morning runs
#57 w
here goats fear to tread
vertigo strikes above
the inviting Greek surf
#58
paterfamilias
lost lines folding over
#59
between clean sheets
we two boys together
clinging
#60
soft catkins
are hawthorn too soon
#61
even the old
feel the sap rising
with the day length
#62
greens in a pan
with ash and ember and fat
#63
a suitcase of lemons
a parting sharpness
smoke in our trail
#64
that face you pull
that says I'm sorry
#65
drunk on moon rays
dysphoric octopuses
dream of the city
#66
conkers cascade
onto infertile tarmac
#67
in the puddle
a skein of geese
is heading south
#68
alliance not defiance
painted on a banner
#69
the staff meeting
about the upcoming
women’s strike
#70
sweat and dust map
the pitcher’s forehead
#71
eyes back and forth
nose up and down
breathing sweet box
#72
Lucy’s lungs relax
after the initial chill
#73
Zephyrus leaves Thrace
to warm Hyacinth
by the West wind
#74
cast off figureheads
on museum walls
#75
she sends me
a pair of long socks
and tells me to visit
#76
your travel
is covert colonialism
#77
sharing a Fluitje
in traffic watching
the sirens pass
#78
the sex museum
is closed for repairs
#79
our love, not archived
as acts and artefacts
but fluid, live
#80
nice people
look the other way
#81
carillion calls
for help for help
the wolves the sheep
#82
standing in the snow
singing bloody hymns
#83
steam rising
in the vestry a kettle
to defrost the font
#84
text me
when you get home
#85
pages of passion
he speaks with the rhythm
of Wolverhampton
#86
graffiti blooms
hunting pike down the cut
#87
en passant
chess and chorizo
in the olive tree’s shade
#88
public private partnerships
asset stripping schools
#89
doodling furiously
super heroes appear
during chemistry
#90
silver strands
caught in a hairbrush
#91
half-remembered
a bowl of persimmons
by the window
#92
moonrise, Puerto Rico
1995
#93
the rice planters sing
of earth wind and fire
the birth of art
#94
they search for a code
to unlock the response
#95
a four colour
cherry blossom tattoo
to cover his name
#96
young hummingbirds
hone their skills
#97
angling the jib
to mark the equinox
Tony parks the crane
#98
rough sleepers waiting
for something to change
#99
everyone knows
there's nothing better than
clean fresh underwear
#100
lemon, cucumber, tonic
and evergreen pleats
