hiraeth

hiraeth

 

often, from nowhere,

an unsettling nostalgia

takes me unawares

for somewhere I’ve never been

and ‘the one’ I may meet there.

 

set off by a scent

or a half-heard snatch of song

or a smiling face

in a random  photograph

or glimpsed from a passing bus.

 

on an evening train

bright-lit windows of homes in

anonymous towns

advertise easy living,

abundant prosperity.

 

I envy those lives -

no pain and no poverty -

mum, dad, and the kids,

enjoying timeless days of fun

laughter, health, and happiness,

 

Christmas time is worst,

the over-splash of goodwill

seldom wets my shoes

as I walk down lonely streets

eyes glancing curiously

 

through crisp lace curtains

at gifts heaped beneath the tree.

a telly playing

to an empty chesterfield,

I wonder who will sit there

 

after dinner-time

pots washed, settling down to watch

Coronation Street

then the little ones to bed

before they spoil the ‘Bond’ film.

 

my life needs warming,  

I want to hold a lover’s hand,  

she will kiss my cheek

because she loves me and I

will buy flowers, chocolates.

 

I’ll love you, sweetie

I’ll make our lives magical

I’ll change the nappies

I’ll sleep in the wet patches

I’ll let you hog the duvet

 

come soon, the waiting is crippling.