Saturday, 26 September 2020

midges*

unable to pretend

their absence

Midges are tiny flying insects with a wingspan of only 2-3mm. There are over 35 different species of biting midge in Scotland, but it is Culicoides impunctatus, otherwise known as the Highland Midge that earns its place as Scotland’s most ferocious foe.

You’ll be an all-you-can-eat buffet for their miniature scissor-like jaws if you foolishly venture out in ‘midge weather’ without your insect repellent.

From

Midge Facts


Wednesday, 23 September 2020

Monday, 21 September 2020

Mustafa

They call me Mustafa

In Karakoy

But dry food is not enough

A bowl of water?

I have no need

I drink from puddles


Crossing the Galata Bridge

They call me Mehmet

They have fish

Some caught, some scraps

But  moist and salty

I drink from puddles


In Tophane

Such riches

Unfinished iskender

I pull the slices

From stale pitta bread

I drink from puddles


Here I have no name

Tophane is no home

For the likes of me

I lower the tone

Tourists don't want stray cats

So I get moved on


Back in Karakoy

Ignoring my progeny

I seek a wife

One who won't scratch me

They call me Mustafa

I drink from puddles

Sunday, 20 September 2020

she stirs my Turkish coffee grounds for divorce

Published (2021) Another Year The London Haiku Group Anthology 2020 page 41

the muezzin's call

reminds me

it's opening time

Published (2020) Creatix March

Friday, 4 September 2020

Sequence 4 with Erin Castaldi

the sour smell
of a cork
popping
****
steam engine
the thick smoke
of tomorrow's wind
****
the hissing smell
of bacon
frying
****
rain washes away
crows soaking wet
with wonder

****
the flickering smell
of a candle
burning
****

Roger Watson
Erin Castaldi

Published (2021) Failed Haiku Volume 6, Issue 64, page 84

on the pavement a beggar outside Tesco  avoiding eye contact