Two Poems by Ann Smith & One Rengay Collaboration with Keith Evetts

 

Night and Day

After a lousy night
we take his nose
and my stomach
for a walk.
Up the steepy dunes
straying from the steps
we follow the desire lines
in the grass
to a hidden pond
which spangles
with damsels and dragons.
Herb-robert
(or red robin, or squinter-pip
or stinking Bob
or death-come-quickly) grows
on the banks
with wild horseradish
which we pick and slowly
chew and we lie back
and in the blue above
we forget the night -
and the dark
on this day
in the National Park  
with
my
stomach
and
his
nose
and
we
doze
under
the
un
broken
song
from
that
speck
of
skylark

The title's at the end

They arrive
in gangs
goldfinches
that land on the
left or the right
of the small bird
feeder that is my brain.
Gold and bright
taking flight
in shimmers
and glimmers
of zig zag rain
And when I stare
in the mirror
they're there
goldfinches
in those inches of space
between the mirror
and my face
They arrive
in gangs
goldfinches
that land on the
left or the right
of the small bird
feeder that is my brain.

Migraine

Of Mice and Men

A rengay by Keith Evetts (Thames Ditton, UK) and Ann Smith (Pembroke, UK)

midsummer night

when the street's fast asleep

a fox at the trash cans

wake-up call

a bat gets its head down

for better or worse

a pair of slugs coupling

under the drainpipe

getting to grips

with the spider

in the bath

a wife's smile as she says

at least moths like my sweater

on the shelf in the den

mus musculus digests

Of Mice and Men

Ann Smith Born and brought up in South Wales, UK, Ann Smith moved to Wiltshire where she worked for many years in the electronics industry. Ann retired in 2009 and moved back to Wales with her husband. She has been writing poetry for a couple of years and particularly enjoys illustrating her poems. So far she has earned three toilet brushes and two bottles of rum for her poetic efforts. Ann’s work has appeared in many on line journals and also in print.

Keith Evetts A biologist by education, after a career in international diplomacy Keith Evetts writes poetry of all sorts, including haiku and related short forms. He hosts the weekly haiku commentary at The Haiku Foundation and is an editor for the annual Red Moon anthology. He’s married, with five children, a cottage garden, a grey parrot, and a sense of humour.