Month: Oct 2025

Poem 410 – The Thirty Nine (Poetic) Steps

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

There are thirty-nine steps
From four hundred and ten to fifty,
For each and every one,
A poem is currently missing

A momentary loss of focus,
Or limited concentration?
A lack of counting skills
And failed administration?

Perhaps it’s something wilder,
A case of espionage?
A chase across the country
From spies in camouflage?

No, I finally must come clean,
So here is my confession,
I’ve come to the conclusion
That they were never written.

And so I’m stepping backwards
And filling in the gaps,
That I’ve apparently caused
By this annoying lapse!

I’ve just made the annoying discovery that some of my poems are missing… or in truth, I failed in my numbering and can’t be bothered to go back and correct them all!
(21.10.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Nick Nice on Unsplash

Poem 723 – Twilight Driving

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The autumn light’s a nowhere liminal place.
The grisly rain descends in grimy grey,
its slimy fingers obscure my vision’s scope.
Passing figures flicker into view
then fade, phasing both in and out like phantoms
haunting the highway in their hazy dusk.
It’s time to temper haste and take no risks.
I turn my wipers on, weary and worried
that I might slip and strike some passerby
before I see them. I slow my speed and pray.
Fearing my vehicle’s veered into a violent
twilight realm, been trapped or transported
to find itself amongst the fickle fae
(how I fear their wily ways!), I wish that I
could wake at once to morning’s welcoming light,
and fix my thoughts upon finding my way to you.

Evening driving in autumnal drizzle.
(19.10.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Justin Cron on Unsplash

Poem 722 – They Said Yes

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After a morning when I couldn’t settle,
When all I could do was repeatedly check the emails
And then check them again to just make sure,
The email finally dropped. I stopped. My breath,
My heart, ability to think, all paused.
I clicked, the message popped, and for a moment
The letters blurred and swam upon the screen. Until they coalesced, a great big yes.
I screamed.

Following on for yesterday’s poem, the message I was waiting for was wonderfully good news! A grant we had applied to was awarded. So pleased.
(18.10.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Poem 720 – Beware the Mask

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A gothic castle stands alone and distant,
Alluring to friends and strangers seeking fame,
Its silent turrets loom aloof and stark,
Above those players in their chilling game.

Each night the corridors are stalked by death,
Dressed in its cloak and visage drained bone pale,
Inside the traitors mass and roll their dice,
Whilst outside in the woods the banshee wails.

Traitors. Fantastic.
(16.10.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Mike van den Bos on Unsplash

Poem 717 – Brief Encounters

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

Our eyes meet.
Not across a crowded room
or pulsing dance floor
but in the train window,
falling upon each other’s
reflected against the backdrop
of a quickly changing landscape.
This is, of course, exactly
what we were seeking to
avoid. We flinch confused,
not certain what to do,
before shifting our focus
to gaze upon the verge.

Being English on the train means avoiding human interaction. On Saturday evening I failed despite my best efforts.
(13.10.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Kiwihug on Unsplash

Poem 716 – Eternal Horizons

/ BenDQ / Leave a comment

Back to the flat country
The land of black peat soil,
eternal horizons and hanging
mist. The womb that bore me.
Of tumbling buildings and ditches.
Of endless skies that leave us
falling into the view.
A dreamscape that still haunts me.

Returned to the Cambridgeshire fens today.
(12.10.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo public domain by Dr Border at English Wikipedia