Poetry / Fragments / Reflections
Words beside the paintings. A place for poems, fragments, memory, recovery, landscape, and the inner weather of William's work.
Featured poems
A growing collection of William's poems: direct, searching, intimate, and closely connected to the same inner weather that moves through the paintings and book.
Why are you so full of tears but not crying any?
A penny for your thoughts and you say you haven't any.
It's only erosion.
It's only the sea.
It's only a rock.
It's only me.
When I burn to the earth,
I'll still have my worth.
And even rebirth.
Theme: endurance, erosion, worth.
If I count the stars
I taint the morning new
Curtains pulled
Leaning on pad
Pouring into paper
Finger on release
Holding to discover
Listening to music
That might set the tone
Must be searching something definite
Particular
Sparking truly
What's tender within
Measuring the landscape of my mind
The mood is just fine
Summing up the containment of contentment
Sitting with a naturally worked for rest
In anticipation of reclining dreams
Swimming in the subconscious
Drawn
Attracted to ideas and dwellings
Within the core
Centred preventing me from being set adrift
Self contained amongst the universe
I go to think
A space clears
And so I think of nothing
You always see that bus passing
But it's never there when you wait for it
Such and such has to be done
Do it to do it
Not just for it to be done
On counting stars
Plenty is enough
My guess is wonderful
The spray of light I cannot see
Tucking in for the night
Comfort I sing
Theme: rest, thought, inner landscape.
The lighthouse comes round again
Revealing headland and sea
A silhouette against momentarily glimmering water
The light passes
Now I'm with a blanket of stars
I can see Mars
On and off flick the foreground
What moment beckons my mind?
As I wish to stay behind
I turn my scarcely lit body
From the scene I've absorbed
Walking to my bed
Where I switch off the light
Good night
And the lighthouse no longer flashes
Curling under cover
Falling deep into the darkness
Do I see a shooting star?
On which to hang my days wishes
Wishing...
As I fall asleep
Theme: night, longing, sleep.
Clock ticks
I itch
Are we both going the same way?
Everyone sharing one thing
The day
Different maybe
Presence
War and the likes
Peace's chance
The new romance
You are not responsible for it all
Nor are you a separate wheel
Taking on too much
We thieve from each other
Time and love
And scattered others
Want
Chase
Am I really here today?
What can I do to make a change?
Theme: presence, time, responsibility.
Are we all raindrops from the same cloud?
Are we all droplets in the same ocean?
Are we all born into the same family?
Do we all die into the same arms?
Theme: belonging, origin, return.
You slipped through my arms
Like water through my hands
It was a one off romance
A one touch
One glance
Let there be another chance
Theme: romance, loss, chance.
Poetry archive
As William adds poems, this page can grow into a searchable archive or a set of themed collections.
Finished pieces, dated and arranged by theme, collection, or year.
Short lines, notebooks, studies, and moments that may become larger works.
Poems paired with paintings, prints, or chapters from Breaking Back.
Readings / Publishing / Collaboration