Poems

Poems

Here you will find a selection of poems from Dave Goulder BEM, musician, writer, and dry stone builder. He is best known for his song "January Man" and for his collections of railway songs which have received acclaim by critics and enthusiasts alike.

At the River

At the River

By Dave Goulder  At the river you can smell this autumn afternoon.  Colours cloak the banks with trees,   grasses, ferns and fading bracken strewn  around a brace of bright blobs–  one red, one yellow and each staring into the sky  at an object moving up, then sideways  dropping down to

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

By Dave Goulder   Ten of them, squat  at the road edge, wide-eyed  to the approaching car,  each behind the other, reflecting  headlights.  Rural cats-eyes marking  the long single track,  Loubcroy to Elphin, carving  high moorland  recently ploughed, planted.  Dwarf pines, inches high,  good hunting for a while,  half

Wind

Wind

By Dave Goulder  Emerging from my cocoon  I try to stand against the blast, and hear  a train roaring through  very close, but there is no line here.  It is trees on the move.  As the gale hurtles through this no-stopping station,  I stare with watereyes  and see waves

Brief Encounter. Old Steading, Altass

Brief Encounter. Old Steading, Altass

By Dave Goulder  Curious, I peered through the non-door  and saw old cow stalls, mangers between  roof supports, timbers for burning.  The new owner’s firewood, split logs,  chopping block, axe, bow saw.  No windows relieved the inside gloom  so I stepped closer, my body shape  framed by the

In Praise of My Beautiful Drains

In Praise of My Beautiful Drains

By Dave Goulder  We should be more appreciative of drains.  This underworld  of ssoft ssslithering sslime  sliding where?  Down   down   down   sslipping sslow ssludge  to septic tanks or sewer pipes or  ssesspits, (the old way)  settling to a smelly slough;   society’s waste slowly transformed  to something valued.  Occupied by