Saddening how we read for lunch
and talked for supper.
Boring how we sit and write and crunch
our numbers.

We will stand up for one day soon
to celebrate our meaningful hour
and turn to a meaningless moon,
to hide,
to ask it to devour
the latest pinch of a feeling that almost slipped through
and got inside.

As we stand on edges
as we think about the fall
and the message it alleges
we grow weary of it all.

It's sad, the lives we're living,
how we ruin all we're given.
Sadly we will all be driven
to depriving
insanity.

out of the darkness
emerged a lamplighter
shedding his bright glow

'Twas the night after Christmas and I lay curled up in bed
With my hair wild and frizzy and my face a bright red
I had cleaned and scrubbed floors, I had cooked and I'd baked
I had done what I could; made curries and cakes
I had gifted many presents and received many too
From books and lip colours to green socks and red shoes
I had prayed and thanked God for his love and kind ways
I had prayed for mankind and for happier days
But something was still missing - I felt it in the lull
I felt restless and edgy, a wee lost, a tad dull
I thought and I pondered - then it dawned upon me
I was missing my poet friends, and writing poetry -
So I wrote this little poem to send love across the seas
Prosperous and healthy may you all always be
I wish you much happiness, peace, hope and light -

And now to the West I wish a good day, to the East a good night.

You're late for the party
Late for the ball
Late in your red dress
Late for it all
Late for summer
latest update is your late
but we are still waiting
For you to blow us away
Your high fashion sense
Has left us in suspense
and your beauty is so immense
That I want you as my present in present tense
But you drive us mad
round the bend but the thought of you makes us pretend
that it would be great
but you are always
So...
So...
Late...

I’m impressed you made it this far
See, most people don’t ever leave the beach
Staying where the sun is hot
The water is warm
The breeze is cool
Thinking that’s the main attraction on this island
But you
You
Saw the mountain
Left the shore behind
And started climbing
You found the cave
At the end of a tiny, winding track
Nestled high in the cliff’s face
And headed straight for the heart of the mountain
The tunnel collapse didn’t stop you
But on
On
You came
Until the wall blocked your path
The wall
Meant to protect the island’s heart
A formidable barrier of solid ice
Thick enough to turn the mightiest of weapons
And here you are
Before the wall
Unfazed
You lay your bare hands
(Still scratched and raw from the cave-in)
Against its surface
And under their gentle warmth
It begins
To melt

We wear costumes of self control, with masks made of deception to conceal our intention. As a method of prevention, we slip into our inventions, inverting ourselves to protect the hearts we won't mention. Our sleeves will be washed clean so that no one will see how much we've had to bleed just to believe that we deserve a dream just as much as the soul who doesn't have to hide in a hole covered with dirt. Our only message to the world is written out on wooden boards sticking out of the ground above the patches where our bodies can be found, and they read:

"This is all I can let you see because I don't like what you want me to be, and I'd rather die here alone than tell you to leave, because someone you want is all I ever wanted to be."

advertisement beckoned
free screening
trouser thuds upon hardwood
metal belt buckle clinks
gloved finger
probes to find
a nodular protrusion
resting sac bound
begotten, benign
now watch, wait

shall it birth
some high grade
tumor
with a passionate
desire to consume
the whole of you

vigilant
on guard
living
on edge
for inevitable
struggle
around each
new scrutiny
of numbers
presented in decimals
detectors of death
prowling
seeking to find
an oasis
to plant
to grow

He said I want to make love to you
Appreciate the trees and the ants
But when you're both alone
All you see is his hand in your pants
-S