If I Should See You Again: Poem

Today, As Always: Poem

TODAY, AS ALWAYS

Today, as always and as often before
Dreading the light that falls on my face
The fingers that fumble and won’t find
Yesterday, today and tonight.

Worse than the morrow
Is the memory of sorrow
To know at the end of each day
That emotion has flown away.

O desultory rhyme. Time after time
I tried, the paradox of living and forgiving
I can try each day. Each morning the sun
Will rise, will slide, will set

Morning and mourning. The surprise
The yearning, the knowing
Today, as always at sunrise.

Copyright: Rani Turton

Palais de Justice, Rouen

Detail of the courts at Rouen. This edifice was begun in the 15th century.

Clock sculpture, Arman, Paris

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Interesting clock sculpture outside the Gare St Lazare by the artist Arman(1928-2005).

Street Art: Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison, immortalised on a pillar in Budapest.

Wooden Statue, Auxerre: Photograph

Timeworn statue decorating the facade of a house in Auxerre, France.

So Far Have I Travelled: Poem

So Far Have I Travelled

So far have I travelled, from one shore to another.
I saw the sunset and moonrise from various city roofs;
Dusty tracks, cobbled stones and also
The sound of horses' clattering hoofs.

So far have I travelled and heard the lilt
Of speech's cadence;
When sleep touched my eyelids I lost myself
In destiny's strange dance.

So far have I travelled and for so long;
So long the road, so deep the reflection:
There is a moral as ever to be found
Life was never perfection.

Copyright: Rani Turton

Potterie: Photograph

Pottery for sale in a French market.

Pont Alexandre; Paris

Statue on the Pont Alexandre III, Paris.

Lessons I Never Learned: Poem

LESSONS I NEVER LEARNED


Backbencher in grief schooling;
Never able to rationalize my loss;
Questioning pain as though life was
Just another dice's toss.
Whenever I thought of death
Or of people going away;
My breath stuck in my throat
And grief walked beside me that day.

I never learned the right way or the wrong way
Towards and away from loss;
I never thought it could be so hard:
I guess my learning was full of flaws.

Copyright: Rani Turton