Drunk on wine and old rock videos

Yesterday’s gift foretold disaster
A plant spruced up before the closedown 
Instead of a work-based second laptop
To ease my aching back from carrying one. 

And then in sudden, catastophising breakdown
Convinced myself that Brian was going to die
A road death on the trip to Tesco for my lunch
Held on just enough to stop myself
From running after him,
But was then in pieces till he was home safe again,
Knowing I couldn’t, really couldn’t cope
If I were to lose him too.

Redundancy fears faded to trivia
He came back with an Italo-français pun,
Valpolicella ripasso as a reward for his ironing
And we got drunk on wine and old rock videos

c LMCollis 29 March 2019

This photo won’t tell you everything about my Mum

This photo won’t tell you everything about my Mum.

It doesn’t speak of the harshness of her early life,

how hard she worked, her temper or her broken heart.

It doesn’t let you know about her many friends, 
her dancing feet, and how she knew the words 

to so many songs.

How she made all my clothes when I was young

(especially a ballet tutu and a Japanese dress 

I loved to bits)

and knitted special clothes for premature babies at the hospital.

How she baked hundreds of mince pies every year 

for all the family,

or of her green fingers that could make anything grow.

No, it just lets you know of her indomitable spirit,

Her wonderful laugh and sense of humour,

And the fact that not even a Tower of London Beefeater

Could keep a straight face when she was around.

c LM Collis 27 Feb 2019

​

Mum in hospital

They say that hearing is the last thing to go

And so I talk of holidays past

Of Minehead (and my Dad unscrewing the speaker)

Of Lytham St Annes and Blackpool 

Of Jersey with Merlyn, where I learned to swim, 

And when she came to France and Italy, with Brian, Doug,with Rene and with Paula (pole dancing at my local restaurant ;) )

Of days out for her birthday 

The Tower of London, (telling the Beefeater  a dirty joke) the Millenium Wheel, St Pancras and St Paul’s. 

Of the Eden project, Deb and Vicky

And I hope the memories send her somewhere fine. 

LM Collis 17 Feb 2019

February sun

The downside of working from home 
Is that I am fully aware of the beauty of this pre-spring day. 
The birds are going mad, the sun is shining 
It’s no use telling myself, that I can go out, 
once my flexible working is sorted. 
It’ll probably rain then. 
It’s now I want to be out, on this 
Crazily sunny February day.

LM Collis Feb 2019

Welsh for love

Eating a Welsh cake Brian’s tucked
Into my work bag, is taking strength
From the love he’s sent with me.


15 Aug 2018

Art for art's sake

I always thought these
fierce, sudden bursts of creativity
were due to steroids
But this time I'm off for a cracked rib
and joy! I've started ink sketching.
This creativity is MINE, not drug-induced
And I'm as proud of it as when,
45 years ago, I passed the art O level
they'd wanted me to give up. HA!

Easter 2018

We measure her words in teaspoons, 
Sometimes as little as a whispered “no thanks”
Or nothing at all, for my entire visit.
Today she woke, smiled brilliantly, 
Said “I love you” and,
“I’ll have a lie down, now”, 
And went back to sleep.
An Easter blessing indeed.

LMC 2018