10-13. Broken Solo Renga

13. Snow-covered cliff bench
      inscribed with two names and dates –
      their mute white wedding.

      With fleeting need for relief
      the seasons rise, dip, lie, sleep.

12. Polythene bag, leaf –
      first and last of the Summer
      on Fisherman’s Walk.

      Their feet brush the gravel path
      with the moon’s masking fluid.

11. A black-headed gull
      wears a brown balaclava –
      no one’s skin has tanned.

      One reason to mask the face:
      wind’s indiscriminate burn.

10. Spring leaf, Bournemouth bus –
      both wheel high by the playschool
      until their routes end.

      All day long sing the children,

      their schedules growing fuller.