Scotland through the car window

huge wind turbines sprouting from breezy hilltops

heather clad mountains

famous rivers

railways

passing trains 

famous bridges over famous rivers

forests 

pylons striding across the countryside

locals walking home with a 'bottle or two' 

long rows of tiny cottages with tiny doors 

hill tops in the sunshine

huge black clouds

a women on a mobility scooter

roundabouts

vast skies and huge vistas 

holiday locations

an old lady smoking a fag

fields full of combine harvesters 

antenna topped mountains

Christmas trees in August 

fields of corn and sheep

bales of hay awaiting collection

highland cattle with huge horns

places whose names appear on the football scores

castles

old castles

very old castles

newish castles

ruined castles

foreboding castles defending their hill tops

vast golden fields and remote farmsteads

small fields

huge fields

petrol stations

funny looking stone barns in the middle of fields

houses with stepped gable-ends

long stone walls

posh gateways to posh houses

posh hotels with fancy prices

signs to places with familiar names

famous golf courses

Lochs and Universities you've heard of

beautiful harbours you haven't

caravan parks 

stacked precariously on shear cliffs

stacked full of caravans 

village shops

'nic-nac' emporiums

tea rooms and cafes

pubs full of people outside

post offices and delicatessens

churches with ornate towers in villages with pretty names

harbours and boats and ships

people you know

people you don't 

crows and seagulls

coastlines and country lanes

oil rigs

dogs on leads

islands

people exploring streets with funny sounding names

busy towns

quiet villages

quiet towns and busy villages

queuing motorways

the police at speed

and chip shop suppers

...the Scotland we saw through the car window

There Sits I - Transmogrify!

There sits I - transmogrify

(waiting)

time passing by

(frustrating)

staring at the sky

(debating)

what if I?

(contemplating)

wide open eyes

(dilating)

mind starts to fly

(speculating)

to live or to die?

(equating)

bigger fish to fry!

(placating)

Hello or Goodbye

(rotating)

cause an outcry

(agrivating)

mess like a pig sty

(agitating)

be the wise guy

(advocting)

the palace of Versailles 

(migrating)

do I qualify?

(indicating)

Let me simplify

(call waiting)

here, let me try...

unhesitating

reverberating

undiviating

subordinating.

Oversimplify?

There sits I

Transmogrify!

Dudley Wood Road

Dudley Wood Road.

A street of aspiration

nearly new cars parked in nearly finished front gardens

their cherished number plates don't quite say the names of their owners

and hide the real age of the cars!

Dudley Wood Road.

A road of showmans compounds 

barricaded in behind threats of prosecution and two very real alsatian dogs

a pub with a 'Sky TV' sign tied up outside on the railings

creased and fading

like the carparks half tarmaced surface

like the pub itself!

Dudley Wood Road.

Tarmac and gravel where lawns and flowerbeds should be

a street of many house designs

an occasional run of similar houses 

interspersed with a mix of old and new 

in all sorts and all sizes and styles

a sort of planners 'free-for-all!'

Dudley Wood Road.

Cars

half completed cars

half completed cars half on pavements 

half on the road 

car parts litter front gardens

an old landrover which has long since seen the road

yet faces the it

more in hope than anything else

maybe there's one more adventure left in its wheels!

Dudley Wood Road.

The signs of rebuilds

up-grades

improvements and extensions

huge sacks of gravel

sit amongst the weeds in front gardens

one planned to replace the other 

The occasional skip

A recent delivery

An old lady with purple 'upgraded hair' walks her dog,

says hello!

Dudley Wood Road

is any road

any town

any city.

Dudley Wood Road 

is every road

your road

my road.

Nobody's road

Art

Art is something that catches my eye

some thing that makes my soul want to fly.

Art is something that warms the heart

something that blows the mind apart!

It's bright and it's cheery and makes my day

I know it makes others feel that way.

If I see something I'll stop and I'll think

It brings us together; makes the world shrink.

Art is personal; you see it from your view

art has the power to do this to you.

It starts conversations; things to discuss

and I think that art is bigger than us!

I'm Not Sure Any More

Is that a women or a man?

I dont know,

I'm not sure anymore.

Can I say that?

I don't know,

I'm just not sure anymore. 

The World That Betjeman Knew

The world that Betjeman knew is not that which we know now.

For the 'conifer county of Surrey's' now skirted,

the 'avenue to the potting shed's'; traffic diverted

the 'black stockings legs' to comfort converted

and there still isn't grass enough to graze that cow!

And what of 'the hockey girls; their tennis or gym'

'the liberty lampshade that shone on them all?,

'Oh! Fuller's Angel cake' went to the wall

gone like the alcove; along with the hall

(as did the baths where they taught her to swim)

Oh dear! The flesh no longer needs to be subdued!

'The early light on Beaulieu water',

no longer shines just like it oughta,

'and Clemency; the generals daughter'

no longer 'tulip figured'; I must conclude.

The nightclub; whose cleaning just wasn't attempted

knocked down; the 'regency curtains' disappeared 

a site for a 'Tescos' quickly cleared

the 'host of spiders'? Lost it's feared

and alas; the ashtray's still waiting to be emptied.

The 'ash tree' that up the sun and ivy rose

like the 'leathery limbs' the 'final entrance fee' paid

despite them both finally dying; fade

succumed the two; to a disease I'm afraid 

'swarm over death'; I do suppose.

The bells of churches these days must adapt

'oh why must they make such a din!'

and 'shake the floor and smudge the ledgers' in time for a very large 'lime juice and gin'

and the 'blackened girders of Cricklewood'; now scrapped

'the polished oak desk; smashed' - seems apt

'Metro-Land' gone; the builders cash-strapped

and the bells; a noise abatement slapped!

Perhaps the 'friendly bombs did fall on Slough'

for the world that Betjeman knew

... is not that which we know now!