Tag Archives: Amsterdam

Amstelveen

July 2, 2022Amsterdam, Friends, poem, Poetryamstelveen, Amsterdam, Friends, Life, love, Netherlands, poem, poetryThe Cheesesellers Wife

Finally there, filling your sofa
raiding your freezer for ice.
Walking out to the river
its banks a storey higher
than the fields.

Taking the tram to the Dam
to the museum quarter
drifting through the Van Goghs
eating pancakes and poffertjes
in the shadow of windmills.

Finally with you, together at last
after years of hurt.
Finally the large barbeque
your Mums Pork Satay
and so many old friends.

We finally got to visit a dear friend in the Netherlands over the last two weeks. It was bliss……

Poem ‘Ground Glass Opacity’ in the latest issue of Amsterdam Quarterly

March 25, 2021Amsterdam, poemAmsterdam, poem, poetry, published poemThe Cheesesellers Wife

I’m delighted to tell you that my poem ‘Ground Glass Opacity’ in the latest issue of the Amsterdam Quarterly.

https://www.amsterdamquarterly.nl/

https://www.amsterdamquarterly.nl/aq_issues/aq30-pandemic/

Thank you to Bryan Monte for taking this poem!

Cold

December 16, 2020Amsterdam, Friends, poem, Poetryamstelveen, Amsterdam, Cold, Friends, poem, poetryThe Cheesesellers Wife

Foggy days in old Amsterdam
When rooftops hide in the gloom
Hoar frost sparkles tattered bushes
Tram windows mist up

Flying home to unexpected chill
House cold as a tomb
Huddling around an electric heater
Sipping tea, as the gas boiler struggles

Bright morning, glowing sunshine
Garden frosted like a Christmas cake
Hens fluffed up against the chill
We miss the warmth of good friends

Oh, to be with friends in Amsterdam again…..sigh…….

Flying

September 18, 2019Amsterdam, Azores, Life, poem, PoetryAmsterdam, azores, flying, Guy Fawkes, London, poem, poetry, travelThe Cheesesellers Wife

Flying over cities is glorious
London’s furnace reaching for the sky
The nested curving of Amsterdam canals

England on Guy Fawkes Night
Firework chrysanthemums blooming upwards
Colouring the belly of the plane

Shimmering ice dazzling in the cockpit
So many planes alongside
Taking the polar route

Diverting around a war zone
Noting shell bursts far to portside
Glamorously frightening

Heading out across the Atlantic
Passing over container shipping
Waiting for Azorean volcanoes on the horizon

The miracle of heavy flight
Watching Jumbos lumber into the air
Carrying hopes and dreams

Amstelveen morning

November 11, 2017Amsterdam, beauty, Life, nature, poem, Poetryamstelveen, Amsterdam, animals, beauty, sun, vineyardsThe Cheesesellers Wife

Mist wreathes slender canals
chased away by an October sun
which silhouettes a heron
against the now bright water.

Across a concrete slab bridge
russet leaved vines glow.
We walk past white spattered cows
tan sheep
and a mud encrusted tractor.

Dragon in Amsterdam

October 23, 2017Amsterdam, art, beauty, Fantasy, Friends, Life, Painting, watercolourAmsterdam, art, dragon, dragons, Fandom, Fantasy, Painting, roof, watercolourThe Cheesesellers Wife

To celebrate friendship and another visit to Amsterdam, here is a dragon lurking on some Amsterdam rooftops….

It is based on the blue Dragon I shared last week.

The Colour of Dragons

September 21, 2017Amsterdam, poem, Poetry, watercolourAmsterdam, dragon, dragons, poem, poetryThe Cheesesellers Wife

The Cheesesellers Wife

The colour of dragons
Depends

Sweet green for new hatchlings
To hide in high grasses

Black and red for an Emperor
Or a burner of crops
Many turn as gold as their treasure
Perhaps part of ageing

What colour a city dragon
Lurking on rooftops?

In Paris, creamy white as the buildings
In Berlin and London
Perhaps a glassy hue
Criss-crossed

In Amsterdam?
Turquoise and purple
With scarlet undertones………

I’m trying to paint a dragon in Amsterdam……….what colour???

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