You know what
we could have made it
we only had the last two steps
to climb
you fell back
and we collapsed

I watch my girl
claw herself upward
slowly and painfully
on the greased pole
of her dreams
while others
take the stairs.

Everything faded
info shades of blue and grey
like the song
somehow we went wrong
everything faded
we forgot
the people who had
made us.
us

There is a whole village
waiting for your return
and within that village
a whole family
praying that you burn

Please forgive me if
I know longer  
know
the right thing to say

Winter drips
from your lips
cold words
frozen and bold
ice now owns your eyes
stagnant
staring
uncaring

Can someone  teach me
how to be
the woman
my mother always said
I should be?

Your hand slipped
from mine
when you were fifteen
our grasp was weak
today it is
within
reach

When did those little boy arms
that ran to me
full of joy and laughter
and wild abandon
straight into my arms
unquestionable love
when did those little boy arms become
strong enough to hold me
and save me?

If I had two thousand words
with which to describe you
I would ask for two hundred
to lessen my task
and still flounder
let me use two instead
uniquely beautiful.

the power of us
the joy of us
the precious of us
the pure good of us
the easy of us
the lovely of us
the worth of us
the best of us
has somehow
become lesser
tangled
confused
and lost
somewhere deep in
the complicated and confused effort of
trying to be
just the two of us .


but still
I’m going nowhere
pour me another song
and I’ll sing you another heartache!

No one has lived here
For such a long time now
Sure, we all inhabit this house
But no one has actually lived here
or laughed out loud
for such  a long time
now

Tonight
Right here
Right now
I miss you
Probably more than I will miss you
yesterday
more than I missed you
tomorrow
right here
Right now
I miss you
I miss you
but
I quieten my screams

Heres's life
looking at me sideways
Here’s you
looking at me too

I love
the little bits of life
that present themselves
to me
unexpectedly
in a carpark
on a rainy
Tuesday night

Sometimes
don’t you think
Life shouts
just a bit too loud
makes its entrance
just a little
too bold
Misses the point
just a little
too often
allows us to sink
just a little
too low
Sometimes
don’t you think?

Look at these scars
and still say you don’t care
look at these scars
openly
honestly
No, you won’t find them
there
not on my face
or my arm
or in my embrace
look at these scars
and still say
you don’t care

You talk about love like it’s real
like folk can be happy
together
you talk about love
like it’s okay to feel
happy
you talk about love
like it’s real
like things can work out
okay
like no one hates the day
you talk about love
like it’s real
like it could happen anyway
any day
anytime
anywhere
how bizarre
you talk about love like
it’s real.

we have overstayed
our welcome
in each other’s lives

Down here
in the murky blue
navy blue
grey of life
that us few
allow
ourselves
ever to feel
don’t you feel
just
a little bit more
sanctimonious
just
a little bit more
connected to life
Or is that just
me?

I see you
and every painful step
you take into
your unknown world
I have walked those steps
just a beat before you
just a train ride between us
does the pain ever dim?
Yes
and as a bonus
you’re thin!

I have had a missing person alert
out for you
for most of my life
so don’t show up all shiny
this late
without a decent
excuse

Thanks
lovely but
honestly not  quite
enough

Listen to me now
I may say same words tomorrow
But not in the same way
Listen to them now
The cadence
The flow
Listen to them now
Their rhyming deep and low
Listen to my words
Beating deeper
Deeper
forever slow

the  garnish glittery
golden bits of me
faded effortlessly into
the subtle serious
silver bits of you
smelted for a bit
and became
slowly solid
indestructible undefinably
bronze.

I know I see things
differently
I live in a paler shade
of grey
where it’s not quite so important
what you have to say

There are about three billion words
on the inside of me
on the outside
Man, they are struggling
to be

I know the little bits of you
that you hide
very hidden
and safe
and aside
very deeply inside
your very expensive silk
suit pocket

If you love  me
even once in a while
talk me out of this
I am deep into another
mistake

Has anyone ever written
an unforgettable poem
a truly unforgettable poem
I can’t remember
can you?

I wanted to write
just
one word
for you
I thought
that might
prove
the depth of
my love
but
I can’t .

I am a book
without words
I am a song
without tune
I am a poem
without rhyme
I am a movie
without sound
I am a play
without plot
I am a painting
without colour
I am a sculpture
without stone
I am a woman
without name.

Do you recall when love was lost?
not too sure myself
that country weekend with friends
comes to mind
we left the lovely pub to walk home
everyone was jolly
the route was dark but not for the first time
to the idilic cottage
with the lamps on
just before we went in you said
hang on
have I forgotten something
I’m missing something
for sure
were you missing her
I was.

talk me gently
into tomorrow
make today
a vague memory

Look at me
I am made of
glass
you may see yourself
but it will pass

Ask me
honesty
I will do my best
to answer
But we both know
my best will never
honestly
Be enough
for you
Or me too

I knew you were okay
when you picked up
the worst bits of me
put them in your pocket
and never
gave them back to  me

America is ablaze
With heat
And feet
Running rapidly away
Sinking in deceit
Terrified of  defeat

when there was nothing but money
to make
we made it
when there was no love to lose
we lost it
when there was no game to play
we played it
when there was nothing to say
we talked anyway

Let the best of me
fade into the worst
of you
then I believe
honestly
someday
it may become
True

Life drips pain
until someone says
no more
enough
will that be me
or you

New York  City
flashes
for you tonight
Tomorrow it will
Probably expose
your plight

In all truth
I know my life started with you
no one else
has ever made sense of me
quite the way
I needed them
to

You left last night
in a hurry
but you left tiny bits of yourself
scattered
in a bit of a flurry
not sure what to do with them now
seems wrong to sweep them away
still
you were the one who left last night
in a bit of a hurry

I know what you mean
I know what you are saying
I am not crazy
I am not insane
I just
honestly
don’t think
the same.

I wonder
if anyone
has ever been
as wrong
about someone
as I have been
about you

Honesty
I have never been this close
to this amount of pain
and survived

I miss you
every night
everyday
I have spent all night
last night
and most of today
trying to find the right script to slay
no words present themselves
they know how much is at play
I miss you
every night
everyday