will be posting a brand new poem shortly call “Lock 45, Rochdale Canal”
It was written based around its accompanying photographs taken by ©Joe Kershaw.
He also happens to be our grandson.
Category: Blog
Blog
Not posted on here for a while, as life takes the opportunity to move your priorities in various backwaters, blind alleys, and side streets, so what I’ll be doing today, is posting a few new poems, and maybe some photos, which I hope you’ll like.
Alan
Ghosts
(End of season)
Shadows of games gone by
Shades of the final “Last over”
Empty wicket
Empty benches
Empty pavilion
Lonely scoreboard
Kit washed (maybe)
Kit bag stored
Seasonal matters
All subject to Winter’s ravages.
Ghosts of the cricket season
Hover
Around the boundaries,
The bar,
And the memories
Of a summer now gone.
©Alan McKean, August 2026
Wonky Houses
A new painting by Simon Footitt
Wonky houses
Held together
With bunting,
Flaky paint,
And tall cranes
Stairs are a nightmare
©Alan McKean
A few more flowers
Still playing with my new camera, so I popped into the garden, and took a few macro shots.
Not AI
My poems
May not scan,
Or rhyme
They may not
Conform to the Purists’ rules
On poetry
They may not
Be as good as
Vogon poems
But they all
Have one thing
In common
I like them,
And
I
Wrote
Every
Single
Word
©Alan McKean
Flowers
We went for a stroll yesterday, to test out our new cameras, and I thought I would try out some close up shots, so I took these in the grounds of St Leonard’s Church in Middleton, much of which was built in 1412.
The first picture is of the church, taken from what is known as “the old graveyard”.
and now, the close ups…..
and now, one taken by my wife
Low Tide, Orford
Here is a series of photographs recently taken at Orford in Suffolk. Orford Quay, on the River Ore, was awash (sorry!) with boats – a mixture of leisure and working boats, but what caught my eye was a small number of dead and abandoned boats on the river bank. These boats gave rise to the poem below the pictures.
Sailed my last tide
Caught my last catch
Ferried my last bird watchers.
The Ore’s ebb and flow
Are no longer mine.
My North Sea adventures
Now go to others.
Other craft
Follow in my footsteps,
But I remain in the banks of The Ore,
A reminder
To my successors
Of their future
©Alan McKean, July 2026
A FEW SUFFOLK CHURCHES
Just a small set of photos of a few of the churches we’ve visited in the area of Coastal Suffolk. Most of the churches are small, very similar in design, and tend to be open during the day, often providing drinks for the occasional tourist, such as us.
St Peter’s Church , Blaxhall
St Peter’s church, Chillesford
a number of my wife’s ancestors are buried here.
St John the Baptist Church, Butley
St Botolph’s Church, Iken, Suffolk
I was really pleased to get this shot. The dead tree framed the church beautifully
