A Mr E - Stephen Rowe

A reminder of an actual event whereby I knew someone as the former until it was the latter.


I thought he was a Mystery
Until one day it dawned on me
It may be Mr E

Stephen Rowe

Image : Pixabay - Anatoly777

Reservoir - Stephen Rowe

By the reservoir
In fading light
We walk amongst the gnarled trees
On the banks of a silver sea
Poles like grey steel pylons
Felled in the twilight
By ancient monsters
Who flicked them over
Into tangled bars
That held us on the water’s edge
Struts beneath tree trunk bridges
Reach out from the bank
To the shiny haze spanning the lake
Where ghosts walk in the misty evenings
And birds call from shore to shore
Where the forest is deep with bluebells
Leading into their caverns of canopies
Of fir and cedar in owl light
Half-light streams of hyacinths
Draw us in
To secrets hidden in the depths
Overseen by knotty arbour arms
And woody Abies cones
Like beacons sending signals
To the mystery world
Of ethereal nature
To let them know we’re here
And part of the balance
And the flow
And the stretch of all things
Earthly and surreal
In timeless order
In life

Stephen Rowe

Vazon Strand - Steve Rowe

we would run
ancient heroes
on the long silver beach
chase wild water ’til midnight
on the shoreline of the reach
over timber
to the causeway
'neath the granite of the quay
over silence of the soft wet sand
to the edge of the sea

and some would seek fortunes
others wade in deep mud
or standing like a legion
with a banner under god
chant longing for the master
rave passion for the king
open up for the chalice
to wear the robe and the ring

and we were lit by the stars and the planets
looking for the holy grail
with your pale face staring
at the full moon's train
down on the vazon strand

we were cold on the monday
stony broke in the week
waiting long for the holy days
when we gathered to the street
and we were all fine companions
on the journey to the end
sea salt sailors
friends of friends of our friends

and I knew you when I met you
and I found you in the crowd
like an island in the moonlight
like a star above a crown
and we shared all our fortune
and buried all our tears
in the depths of the dunes
in the shadow of the pier

and we were lit by the stars and the planets
looking for the holy grail
with your pale face staring
at the full moon's train
down on the vazon strand

Steve Rowe

All Summer Long - Steve Rowe

Sky and earth
where I dwell in circles turning
land of birth
air of breath in wind and curl
beneath the clouded heavens
furled
I make for water from the heath
to skim the surface
low beneath
the hills of bracken gorse
and sanded slopes
in coarse and sheltered dips
where we hid on weekends
watching ships
caress the edge of our seen world
while sunlight warmed our skin
and we gamed upon the dunes
our clan in faithful tunes
of common days
when all was well and still
and life was fresh
in youth and thrill
and simple to the core
from the valley to the shore
and when we ran
and chased and tagged and raced
in full energy
and leaped and jumped and twirled
like flags in the breeze
sending signals of our ease
shameless and careless
in earnest release
of joy and guileless peace
a ritual of our earthy song
encased in heaven's bliss
all summer long

Steve Rowe