LazyModernTraveler

Category: poetry

  • Dreams of Autumn

    Last weekend I found myself on a drizzly Saturday avoiding a Tommy Robinson demonstration in Bournemouth and taking it easy before what was going to be a busy evening of socialising and dancing at a black tie evening.

    The weather had started to change, it really felt like autumn and as I hid from the march and the weather in a waterstones cafe with a pot of tea. I noticed the beautiful people around me and it led to drifting thoughts of an enchanting woman…

    Dreams of Autumn

    I dream of an autumn woman, with warm auburn hair, one who wears mustard and olive sweaters and ribbons in her hair. With a scarf around her neck and a complexion so fair, contrasting her warm brown eyes as she gently stares.

    I dream of an autumn woman, the type that kicks the leaves, and spins, smiling and laughing at the nesting mess she leaves. Frollicking so happily in the cold autumn air, as her hair catches in the wind and she dances without a care.

    I dream of an autumn woman, who’s not afraid to show her scary knife skills as we carve pumpkins and prepare for all hallows. Her witches hat on crooked and a smile that shows, despite the sweet aroma of cinnamon and pumpkin spice, she knows how to be just as naughty, as she does nice,

    I dream of an autumn woman, so warm, so cosy, so free, with a little giggle as she passes that fills me full of glee. A glee that comes from the knowledge that with her by my side we can hibernate together till spring time brings us alive.

    Me in my Black Tie attire that evening

  • A Bookshop Encounter: Tidying Religion in Thought

    A Bookshop Encounter: Tidying Religion in Thought

    At the end of August I was walking with my family in Winchester, we cut through the back of the cathedral, wound round through the gates and under the arch way. Hidden in a back road there, a fantastic little bookshop, the sort where a 100 years of patina blesses the shelves.

    I went in for a scan, and after perusing a few books I couldn’t help but overhear the two shopkeepers talking, one was asking the other about the plan for today. As I read the back of a book I un-intentionally overheard a fantastic line, as the small slight woman, dressed embracing the start of autumn behind the counter said not loudly but crisp in reply “I want to tidy religion”.

    I had to hold back my smiles as my mind chewed over this line, and after purchasing a book and continuing on our travels, some 45 minutes of walking later through St Cross we stopped at a Pub and I had to note the line:

    ” I want to tidy religion”

    The initial visual I had to go with this had bounced around and over the last few weeks the below poem has formed…

    Shopkeeper vs Deities

    I want to tidy religion. Said one shopkeeper to another. To me sculking in the pages I couldn’t help but let my mind wander.

    I want to tidy religion. Such a statement, said so proud. But did she mean as an idea or the shelved section I had found.

    I want to tidy religion. It echo’d round my mind, passing quickly through several thoughts, some entertaining, some serious of sorts.

    I want to tidy religion. I thought I am sure you are not alone, but where do you begin? Which religions do you call home?

    I want to tidy religion. It continued to echo, as I questioned alphabetising by deities or group be theme. Do you prioritise on similarity or level of mainstream.

    I want to tidy religion.

    There it rang, as the thought of this woman, Jesus by the ear, and Brahma by the hand, with all the other deities and beliefs across the land, holding council and demanding like a mother so profound, we need to get this mess in order before the inlaws come round!