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

I wonder if I could write
A long poem
That says something
Instead of a short poem
That says nothing
Long poems seem
right
Short poems seem
trite
Rhyming poems seem light
Which poem is right?

we all long to write a poem
full of wisdom and wit
Shakespeare did
full of words
just like this
love and betrayal
men and entrails
lips
ruby red
lust, rarely led
passion
emotion
hurt
rarely fed
by emotions
barely said

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

Do you ever think that
Poems
are just words
random thoughts
rearranged
everyday words
that people say
and think
casually
everyday
then a few of us
desperately
try to make a grab for them
capture them
and make them
more than they were ever meant
to be

Sometimes I do wonder
Who you are
Where
You are
Imagine if we could just
meet
for a beat
I think our flesh
would refresh
Our
minds
And leave our
many doubts
Behind

no no no
I hear you
I am
listening
trust me
I am listening
intensely
but
forgive me for asking
before we both die of boredom
what frigging point
are you trying to make?

I am not sure
what you want
of me
anymore
so
let me leave all
of me
laid out
bare
naked
upon your very
finely tuned
expensive
Manhattan
polished floor

somewhere
along the line
our life got lost
I couldn’t find it anywhere
although I searched
neither could you
God knows, I tried
you didn’t
I gave up
but if perchance
you find it
or even try
post  it to me
you have my address.

Pour me another life
I will drink
to that
all night
and deep into
tomorrow
I suspect
you probably will too
Cheers!

Seriously?
just pour me
a  different
life.

Everything now depends
on your very next answer
may seem like pressure to you
trust me
my insides are on fire

Look up . he said
when I could barely look anywhere
life burdens the innocents
and lays their lair bare

My elation
and pure joy
of giving birth to you
is an exact match
of having a grown up
real time
beautiful
now time
conversation with you

this life is a privilege
but my god,
we pay for it
in tears.

I love you
and I always always
probably will
I need you mostly
against my will
but still
I love you
and I always
always
probably
always
probably
will.

I am more than this
and I think that
probably
You are
Too

has there ever been a better day
than this
has there ever been a better place
than this
has there ever been better people
than this
has there ever been a better feeling
that this
probably , I guess.
I just haven’t been there yet.

you left
and then
I left
there was probably
only
five minutes
anger between
us

What’s your super power Mummy?
said my beautiful blue eyed boy
mine is ‘ I can fly’
I can live without love
promise me
you will never try
to fly that high.

Remember
the remember
and I promise
I will do my best
to remember it too

I see
Two hundred steps before me
And three hundred steps behind me
Question is
Do you?
Do you see
Anything
At all?

When autumn reigned
and blew golden bronze tumble leaves
right to my door
it reminded me
of how you loved
golden bronze tumble leaves
at the door
Do you
still?

Let the first one
amongst us
without sin
Throw the first stone
My god
Look at the queue!

I’m not a saint
not quite good enough
I’m not a sinner
not quite bold enough
yet

Love was never meant
to be easy
I can’t remember who
told me that
and I am not yet sure
they got it quite
right

I am harsh upon you
this much I know
my love rains hard upon you
like a deep December snow

We stood there
in the rain
Neither moving
Neither noticing
Neither caring
All I could think was
Gene Kelly
Danced in the rain
Why can’t we.?

God, it’s raining hard tonight
most of it are pieces of my heart
don’t try to save them
as they splatter across your path
I have enough left inside me
it’s not quite
a bloodbath
yet

Don’t play
with the real people
in your life
they really are
rare

I would rather wait
for you
all night long
than
take the first man home

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

Read it and weep
or don’t read it
and weep
anyway

‘Read this’ I said
it’s so good
I don’t have time for poetry, Mum’
she said
I choose to dance instead.’

If you are not sure where I am
can’t find me anywhere
not sure who I am
anymore
read my words
I’m in there
somewhere
swimming for the surface
Read.

You think I can’t pay the price
You are wrong
I am rich in tears
Rich in years
Call in the tab
I am ready to pay
X

Thank you for
the ‘likes’
the ‘loves’
the ‘reposts’
Would you like to know me
instead
or would that be a little too real
inside your head?

Know this
if you know nothing
I was always
on the right side
of real

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.

Beautiful boy
with tears in his eyes
too salty
to forget
Beautiful boy
with hurt in his soul
too honest
too real.

I think of them fondly now
in truth
I hardly knew my father
but I knew that he loved me
in truth
I was a little afraid of my mother
but I I knew that she loved me
in truth
just three of us left now
maybe we just tolerate each other
in truth
I know that we love each other  
in truth
like my folks always said we would.

She reminds me everyday
of who I used to be
and how much I had
to say
What joy!

Do not fear
do not rise
I will not linger
beyond sunrise
my words are spent
our  life unkempt
my love for you
religious
and
redempt

Two hundred people boarded the boat
set sail for paradise
About one hundred fell to the side
about fifty dried up and cried
twenty five turned away and died
Fifteen never replied
nine ran away to hide
just one of us
disembarked
disillusioned
dishevelled
delirious
downhearted
drowned
but still alive.

I am sailing on
a sea of huge regret
still smiling
but nevertheless
navigating
badly
a sea
of huge regret.

When you reigned
you rained tears upon my cheek
fears I could not speak
my mascara
always streaked

Don’t write the words
just  for the writing
or for yourself
or anyone else
Touch them first
Feel them
hold them
cherish them
for a beat
Caress them
carefully
feel them
own them
love them
a little
then choose
very carefully
very cautiously
which ones
you choose
to release
and write

I don’t love all of you
all of the time
who
in all honesty could
but sometimes
in our worst of times
I remember
and the remember loves
you still

and then
everything stopped
I don’t remember the day
or the hour
or the month
or the year
but I remember
the silence
it was weird
tell me you remember
that too.