Good Friday

        Out from white bricks

        of the church,

        at the junction of orange clay

        and a neglected

        border garden

        survives - a crown of thorns.*

        Its spines strike

        into the hot blue afternoon

        and where the leaves fall away

        insignificant

        but showy bracts

        of small red flowers

        like an irritation of blood spots

        on an altogether

        almost perfect

                               autumn afternoon.

These poems are from my new collection IN THE APRICOT DARKNESS (view the cover and contents below in my recent posts). They are now being published individually, daily under 'recent posts' on my blog and will be available shortly as an eBook that can be read online or downloaded for free.

*Euphorbia milii