Take with you my spirit.
I brought it with me when I visited;
Tasting of apples, smelling of cheap perfume:
Happy to see you.
With no key, no schedule,
I was the Prince, you were Repunzel:
Smiling at me out your window.
Your arms were my favourite place in the world.
Take with you the picture
Of my sad eyes: heavy and puffed.
Holding my own hand.
Happy that I now could.
I made my choices, lost my way.
You learned more about me then.
Frown lines cracked my porcelain face.
Your presence offered me solace.
Take with you my love;
It stayed around all these years.
Missing your hands, searching for your eyes.
Happy to have met them.
Time took with it the motions.
Though, inside me we both stand still.
I catch glimpses of your arms, and your delight,
But you are no longer in the crowd.
Mar 19, 2024
Mar 19, 2024 at 1:59 PM UTC
A light came into the world,
Wearing a long dress,
The nicest smile,
Carrying the greatest heart of gold.
That light had a son:
Our best friend, father and Grandad,
The most wonderful other half
To an already lovely woman.
Together they had a family,
Joining heritages,
Crossing seas,
Found themselves in Leeds.
But that was only the beginning of the journey:
Between the weekend trips with their good friends,
The cruises where they laughed and danced,
Wearing his best bow tie;
To the sofa days,
Keeping up with the Gaelic.
A man with many loves,
And Ireland remained one.
I remember when Grandad would visit home,
And he would share stories of their travels.
He was so kind-hearted, and so accepting.
His mother's light shone on him.
Years pass us too quickly.
Thank you for being a great father to my father and his siblings, and the wives and husband they love too.
Thank you for giving Granny such a wonderful journey in this life. May her voice still linger in your ears.
And thank you for being our Grandad. Our days with you will never be forgotten.
***
Mar 19, 2024
Mar 19, 2024 at 1:53 PM UTC
Paint me a picture;
Our souls aligned for just a moment.
The midnight sky, heavy with ***** of fire:
Just as your eyes.
We were the grey,
In a world of black and white.
A picturesque sea;
The history beneath.
Tell me a story:
A flame that burned within.
Two people standing,
One foot apart.
Side by side,
In a world of mystery.
Individuals as we’re standing,
But one in ecstasy.
Put them together,
Place your palm in mine.
Stand with me atop the highest heights.
Beam from within.
We are forever,
In consciousness, in unison.
Though we are apart.
We will meet again in Arcadia.
Mar 19, 2024
Mar 19, 2024 at 1:32 PM UTC
Ten, nine-eight, seven,
Six-five, four,
Three-two, one.
Hopscotch.
No one questioned.
No one laughed or pouted.
The rain washed away the colours,
And we started again tomorrow.
Seven thirty,
Seven thirty,
Seven thirty,
Seven thirty,
And so on.
We need answers.
We need reasons.
We are stuck in our tomorrows.
Our present fades out fast.
We are locked up in our timers;
Slaves to our master mints.
Our souls are dying,
With nowhere to hide
And no one to seek them.
Time does not stand still.
The chalk was our past time,
The clock is our taker,
And we play ourselves.
May 3, 2021
May 3, 2021 at 8:52 PM UTC
Is this where it ends?
The pouring of words,
The same as the rain against the window.
Moisture to the grass.
Safely unlatching the gate,
The horses huff in the darkness.
The sky so bare,
But it reminds me of someone else;
Beneath his chin, beneath our dreams.
Is this where we have come?
To my insincerities,
To my lies, disguised as truths.
Half-truths, we will say.
Your arms an honour:
Your doors are opening,
Finally,
But I am locked behind my own.
Is this where the road ends?
Cooped up for too long,
The light has escaped our space;
Casting shade in your eyes
And doubt on me.
With the road that lay ahead, breaking slowly,
Crumbling in slow motion:
So loudly, so harshly.
Is this where we end?
Individual thoughts on the unknown:
Opinions and perspective
The world went upside down when you spoke,
Tossing me off my feet,
The red of my hair the last thing I recall.
An inner voice spoke then:
The clucks and the chatters faded.
Until it all became void.
But this is not the first time,
This will not be the last.
Although, it is the end:
To the vanilla latte air,
To the inconvenience.
The pins on the map are all mine now,
The administration is yours.
I have no more debt,
And the circles never combined anyway.
The sun sets while we look away,
As always,
And then we drift off:
Into the abyss, into our own worlds,
Into individuality.
Until we find our voices,
And start again.
Apr 5, 2021
Apr 5, 2021 at 5:36 PM UTC
It’s not a secret.
It’s not a superpower.
I will be yours forever.
Falling -
Gently, you whisper.
Dust particles surf the light.
The blue of your eyes;
Oceans.
I felt it only once.
Hip to hip,
One seat for us both:
Sharing.
He can make you marvellous.
He can make you real.
I know because I am,
Now.
The day of love;
The tan and the silk.
I believed you then;
Once.
The person I was is not who I know.
You were always a mystery.
There was no room for me:
Ego.
He asked me once
Why I was around:
These years were mine to hold,
Individually.
A silver van for a golden man.
Two years boxed in.
One too many lies:
Excuses.
Temporary and insignificant:
It all came with the package.
All out of view of the shot,
Hidden.
Did you learn what it was to be a man?
It hit me in the moment,
And, again, since.
Twice.
Respect and sincerity,
Trust and commitment.
Appearance in forms:
Clean.
It applies to us both.
Our souls did not dance.
The sun did not shine,
Often.
The smog skewed my view.
I was an imposter.
I said too much at once:
Insecure.
Sitting there, silent,
I soaked it in.
Few words were spoken but I was released:
Free.
Oct 26, 2020
Oct 26, 2020 at 8:14 PM UTC
Once, we thought about meadows;
Brushing hands so gently above the tips of the grass.
One might have been offended by the trespass.
Then again, they did not know.
And once we thought about the future:
The stream of light echoing through the cracks.
We did not think of obstacles,
Or circuits, at all.
Too early the years came.
When that excitement became fright.
Those lights dimmed down, low.
The obstacles became barriers.
And at once it rushed through me.
I have to kneel to see it the same way.
We are unable to stand still.
The cracks were closed in.
Oct 23, 2020
Oct 23, 2020 at 7:34 PM UTC
I stand here today:
The mayor of this broken town;
The president you needed;
The one to lead us home.
Except today, you sit.
You do not feel joyous.
You do not believe.
You have fallen, clutching for dear life.
Tomorrow, I think, will be more.
Lustrous I am, at the thought:
Of my own words;
Of my own promises.
Give to you what I plan for me,
Giving back what I did not take.
Tomorrow, you will have more than today,
You will have more than you could ever dream.
Realism was never my strong point.
I stand here full of dreams.
I stand here with less than you need.
But I stand here.
Because yesterday was the worst of all.
Yesterday broke us.
Yesterday took a piece of us with it,
Took more than we can replace.
You sit quietly, teasing the words from my mouth.
It is you I stand here for.
Your soulless eyes waiting,
For me, for more.
May 28, 2020
May 28, 2020 at 3:22 PM UTC
I'm done, take the bag from my back.
Take the coat from my shoulders and let me fall.
All of my insecurities, all of my dreams,
Have lead me here.
Where are you in my coldest hours?
In the moments I stand still.
Broken by the shards of life that blew up in your face,
Not the ones that fell from mine.
I take each step I can, facing forward;
Etching onward, slowly and oblivious.
But you coax me to you,
You bring me back to you.
Letting go of the belief,
Of the intent I stacked up in your favour.
Letting go of it was the hardest thing,
So I couldn't do it. I never did.
Sitting in that booth, face to face:
Colours flickered, the world glitched.
Those shards of me, the broken pieces,
They trembled softly.
Each one lifted by the desire,
Troubled by the change.
I tried to collect them up,
I wanted to, more than anything.
Instead I left them there,
I did not break them further,
And I pulled myself back to reality.
Out of stillness.
And though the shards remain,
They have been smoothed at the edges.
They are not sharp to touch,
But they will never fit again.
Feb 22, 2020
Feb 22, 2020 at 9:29 AM UTC
Hold on to your dreams, my darling.
I know things have not been as you imagined.
Think of tables overturning,
Steel-topped boots stomping.
Think of feathers flowing in the draught,
The whispers, circulating the halls.
Think of home,
And the answers you found.
Hold on to the joy, my love.
That fell on your shoulders,
Just as your hair, those beautiful curls,
And that red dress,
Flowing to your knees.
Think of that smile and every other that followed.
Hold on to the hope you had, my dear.
You held on for so long already.
Think about the days that are coming,
The sunrises at dawn,
The sunsets at dusk.
Think of the pavements you have yet to set foot upon,
And the eyes you have yet to meet.
Hold on to the person you were, my heart.
The person you now need most.
Think of the fear that shook your breathe,
The frost that froze your toes,
And the tears that fell from those blue, blue eyes.
Think of the promises you swore in secrecy,
Those weighted words,
Those truths.
Hold on to the faith you keep deep down, sweetheart.
It will get you through the darkest hours.
Think of the lights that have been extinguished,
The ashes that have been poured back to the Earth.
Think of the love that you aim up to the sky,
The unrequited warmth you send to the world,
Think about moving forward.
Think about how far you've moved since.
Hold on to the words you heard before,
The ones that still bounce around within.
Think about the essence of their details,
The lips they fell out of,
The way they made you feel.
Think about those words when you're moving,
Build a home for them within,
Visit from time to time.
And hold on to all the reasons why.
Hold on as tight as you can.
Keep them locked up in your fortress,
Away from the world outside.
Jan 22, 2019
Jan 22, 2019 at 2:07 AM UTC