I am the cheese
Swiss cheese
Standing alone
Riddled with holes
Riddled in life
In mind
This cheese stands alone
There is a hole
Not diminishing
Not healing
Still ragged and raw
Still bleeding
Your name on it
Label maker
Stick-on
Cut out
Super glued on
Oh Super you
Not healing
The start is in the forgetting?
Or perhaps, different ways of remembering?
Release all pain
This is the trick I fail at
If no gain, then pain
Something I am good at
I pick at the wound and make wider
I peel off scabs again and again
The red bright in my grey grey mind
The red a bright dot tattoo
Memento
These moments though
There is a perfect catch
Perfect chance
Perfect dance
I fail at catching the rhythm
Stumble & fall
Hole soufflé
Cold duvet
A hole by any other name…
I fail to catch the rhythm
(Not complimentary
But clashes of personality)
The dance, the chance
So much is lost on me
But You…
I fall through
The hole wider now than before
Oh Alice, be careful what you wish for
You riddled through
Riddle you
Standing alone
You failed to catch the rhythm
The chance, the dance
So much is lost on you
Riddled with holes
Riddled in life
Standing alone.



.......................................................­..........................................
Acknowledgements:
‘The Farmer in the Dell’ nursery rhyme (1820, GE)
‘I am the Cheese’ YA novel by Robert Cormier (1977)
All rights reserved.

I see angels in the flowers
On long hot walks
Dry summer hours
With each bloom arose
New hope, new growth
Open the wind
Sound of leaves, slapping petals, flapping wings
Flying
In the flowers,
Their wings of light
bright glow of hope, new growth
Opening wide
The biggest hug of life
Wings enfold, petals close
Welcoming in,
Harvesting, joy, love & life
Angels’ eyes
See the truth and love in me
Sweet perfume release bequeath
new joy, new blooms
Serenity
A garden of rooms open wide
All shutters and doors expose
dark crevices and hidden corridors
Bright light in, glow of hope
Flowers bloom
Wind dances through
Sound of leaves, petals slapping,
Flapping wings
Flying
Angels
Bow & rise an eternity of hours
Hot summer sweet & sours,
But my shadowed eyes can still
See the angels in the flowers.

Such dissatisfaction
For so little reason.
Much complaining & whining,
Crying & begging;
Pulling hair, tight fists
And gnashing teeth.
Consumer Zombies stagger
Into the Stop & Shop,
Shop & Go,
Buy More For Less-
Sale, Sale, Sale!
Salivating glands & bug eyes;
Our hands grab more than
Can possibly be seen.
Our skin stretches tight
As white elephants stampede.
Why can’t we all

Just Stop & think?
Take a drink of the cool morning
Air and buy in the sunrise?

*©  Lesley Wood

Dead Wood
Clear out the Dead Wood
Make a clean sweep
Cut to the cwic
Find the life, the green
Bend like the sapling
Sea oats in wind
Blue-grey sky against green
Clear the way for new growth,
new beginnings
Sunshine
Honey bees
The sweetest sting
This emergence of spring
Initiate the clean slate
Tabula Rasa
The clean brain
Empty heart waiting to be filled
Empty body, purified
Porcelain vessel
This lit house, strobe glow
Light departs & returns
Light Hope
The new, crisp, clean chapter
Leaf unfolds
Unload the dead weight
Remove the baggage
Discard despair;
Teary eyes & brooding faces
Heavy hearts & dark places
No more
Fight the pain, & rotten words, rotten jests
Grating on nerves
All darkness depart, darkness spent
Dry the river, pack the nest.
Clear the dead wood, shove aside
Kick of foot, kick up dust.
This is your new fresh breath.
This is your new fresh life.
Drop the rotten & decaying hues
Bruised azul, sick blue
Burn the wood, the rotten words
Let smoke banners furl & uncurl.
Tears wiped clean
Clearing ashen faces
Tears drying out
All sad traces.
Celebrate the gone & the gain
A new dawn day begins
Welcome in
Fresh new love
Sea foam or yellow-green,
The color of trust
The color of love

I see you sinking in the gloom
Water eyes see you fade into deep blue
The gray ocean of my mind
I see you grow smaller & fade
But everytime pull you out again.
I think on your words,
"Whats the point?"
You bob & sway here and fro.
You once told me, In everything, there’s an ebb & flow.
Fade to black. Come back come back
But I think on your words. "Whats the point?"
There can be no touch. Our signals crossed
signals lost
You dip under murky waters.
I hesitate to reach.
The Silence was always loudest with you.
A cutting cold. My shriveled heart.
I believe your words. So whats the point?
We ignore the elephant in the room.
You dip again. Too soon too soon
Im so close to reaching you
Restrain restrain I think on your words again:
"Whats the point?"
Connection. The deep dark hole beginning to fill to feel.
The torn raw rough edges beginning to heal.
But I think on your words-"Whats the point?"
And I have no answer or promises to give.
I can only watch you drown
Why do I keep pulling you out.
I cannot save you. I have so little love to give
Even for me. . You see? You see.
And you sink completely & disappear from view
You sink I swim. Away , but back to & fro
You once told me in everything there is ebb & flow
Its like that special hell of wielding the boulder.
Why couldn't he just let go?
Our elephant ignored, our love left alone
Gathering dust turning to bone.

There is a lot of Darkness
But do try to see the light
There are beasts behind the masks
Evil in their smile
Death in their eye
Shiny fragments glinting cold
a howling rage
Buried deep in  throat

Calculating awareness
wily maneuvers & deception.
Temptations rustle
Shadows dance

Don't stray from the lighted path

The wind beckons
caressing you closer .
Don't give in.
Be strong, steadfast.
A tilt & tumble can be righted.
There is a lot of Darkness but
do try to see the light.

The loveworn careworn way.
The softer narrow
straightened arrow.
No blessed darkness but blessed light.
See the signs
A heart thumping steadily
not galloping in fright
no wide eyes but slow heavy lids

Deep steady breath
No frantic pants
No desperation
No fear
No hurry
Slow & steady

Trust in the way
Feel the warm lit path carry you
Turn away from cold chilled mysteries and shadow fog Illusion dreams
There is a lot of darkness
but do try to see the light.

*© Lesley Wood

Northern roared in today;
Whipping winds whistle & moan.
Clouds tumble and roll
Like waves.
Feathers of Darkness &
Feathers of Light;
How blustery cold.
Winds whip the leaves
To freedom & they dance
And spin & spin & spin
In the air and streets.
Cats smile into the sky.
Old nests like husks
Made of dried leaves
Lay strewn like tiny coffins,
And the air is cold, dry and
Electrifying...
Rushing wind splashes my face,
Northern spray slaps smartly-
Stinging and reddening cheeks & eyes.
Summer heat doesn’t die quietly,
And cats smile into the sky.
Death crunches sweetly
Under rubber tires.

© Lesley Wood

https://soundcloud.com/lesleywood/jets-overhead-vs-lesley-wood-cotxetxe-mashup

Hard Rains

A cold rain falls on an ocean of loneliness
Pain & sadness adds to frustration
Trapped in the mud of kind,
Trapped in my muddled mind
Love in darkness adds to confusion.
Cold tears fall on an ocean of indifference
And I have given up the fight.

Writhing Beneath

Drowning in stygian seas
Black, muddy waves engulf completely.
And cold waters toss me about easily
Like winds toss balloons.
Floating in this gloom, I taste
The salt crystals biting my eyes.
I don’t want to cry.
Drowning is nothing;
Drowning is easy.
I just fall into the wet abyss and give up me.
No light here; no saving shining brilliance.
This is the fee.
And black wet sea and sand is stuffed
Down my parched throat
-choking my exaltations at being released.

Black clouds move swiftly
Swirling chaotic wind
Bright green flashes of light
As the storm comes in

Into my mind he dances
With pale moon face and black vapors
Hiding green flashes of lightning

A dry storm of hidden tears
A biting lip, a hug to self
All rain kept tightly in
This storm that haunts me

I hear his thunder roar
And shield my eyes from his flashing light
And hide my face from his rain; his pain

But black mists graze my cheek
And pushing wind makes me weak
I let his rhythm carry me deep
This storm that haunts me

I fear going blind meeting that green light
I fear falling from that ephemeral grasp
Losing my mind, self and reason
I can never be his, so

It’s a wet booming crash
That doesn’t last
And dry as bone
I hug myself home
Eyes wide open.

I’ve burnt my tongue
On the ashen words
forgotten past
Forgotten year
the bitter-sweet
Destroying
the dark past
Up in flames
I see the writing in the sky
I see the writing on the wall
Social graces social falls
White noise
Amber hate
Static whispers crawling deep
Keep the dream slow and sweet
Nine fathoms deep
a buzz and rush
I feel the situation hopeless.
You claim ‘Love’ but what is That really?
my fingers are numb
Love is no reason or excuse.
One must feel love to accept love-
and I do not feel or believe in it.
Everything is shutdown. Out of order
Come back tomorrow.
Try again. No pass no admittance.
No crime or punishment.
No smiles or tears with me.
A blank wall. Cold brick.
Cracks shored up again and again.
A full time job shoring up these cracks
Crumbling cave ins
I think of you everyday & often still.
I cry when I see love stories & heartbreak.
I cry when I hear 'there is always hope.'
I had so little faith & was so afraid.
I never wanted to hurt you.
I hope you can forgive me giving up
losing hope.
I am still in love with you.
I pray now those feelings fade.
Love doesnt thrive in the dark
gathering dust
but set free a proclamation a declaration
a truth shone in light
. No shame.
No closet feelings buried ;
No whispered desires and intentions
Faith?
The illusion crumbled in my hands
and faded from my eyes.
I could not SEE
how we were supposed to BE
Too many lies weakened the line.
So weak ripping easily this love line
no longer yours or mine sayonara
love mine
love line
Its all Hay wire
a fine Tangle and bind
Be so kind & hang up
your hang ups clashed with mine
no nurture no teddy bear cuddle
But sharp cuts
a twisting jumble of words lost in the rumble
Lost in rhyme
delete unfollow block mute ban hide
I still know your alive.

© Lesley Wood

https://soundcloud.com/royalejelly/haywire-ft-lescelin

It's Not the End of the World (Believe)

ITS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD
STOP YOUR CRYING
BELIEVE YOU CAN BE BETTER
JUST BELIEVE
JUST BREATHE
BEGIN AT THE MIRROR
LOOK INTO YOUR EYES
DO YOU SEE INSIDE?
LOOK CLOSER
WORK HARDER
TAKE A TINY STEP IN A NEW DIRECTION
DANCE
SING
JUST BELIEVE
YOU CAN BE BETTER
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING

It does help,
To put thoughts to paper;
To lay them out FLAT.
To see the words and meaning,
To feel the rhyme and reason,
To string them out like pearls-
To count the beads,
To put between tooth and nail,
To examine every line and curve.
(These words)
An empty chattering echo in head,
A hollow, indecipherable boom,
A cacophony of giggling and chittering
Whirlwind of birds .
(these words).
Outside the head, these thoughts
And words are tamed in chains,
Captured on these lines-
Taking space on a page.
For who to read?
For You, my sweet-
All these words are for You.

You are the heat between my thighs
You’re the salt thrown in my eyes
I did not realize you’d be the one I miss
I set you aside and turned on my side to:
Drift to shift, to hit or miss, to sleep and dream
And start the rift.
Fluttering of eyelids; Nightwings to Dreams
I did not realize
You’d be the one I miss.
No need for this:
Electric kiss, cyber drip; cyber rain
And digital pain
Shackles galore promises more flesh to rent
A white empty cold plastic comfort
But no flesh will render me asunder
Will we ever go under, you and I?
I wonder
I didn’t realize oh Dear
I did not realize you’d
Be the one I miss or long to kiss
To wish for this:
No more hit or miss
Please
Reach through your cold plastic box
Knock on screen
Knock knock
Let me in

Loving the Alien
The ghost
The unseen, undream
The fiction & the lie
Tears with why
No understanding
Confusion
Why can’t loved ones
Be in my life?
Is it pride, anger, guilt
Or shame?
There is a white warm glow in my heart
Love doesn’t die
Love remains
Anxious
Lost
Caught in the winds
Between two worlds
There is deep space multiverse
Metaverse
Black holes, whoa
Reverse
There is mind.
There is MIND.
Mine keeping me up late at night.
No sparkle unicorn or singing dolphin
There is static, crackle , chaos & crumble
Machine crunching
Sticky bits in teeth
Overwhelming noise
Whirlwind tornado
No one to hear but me
Crunching teeth
Loving the green glow
Radioactive tunnel
The depth is shocking
The cruelty astounding
But nothing tortures me
Like thoughts of you
Nothing true
Only fiction and lie
Fanciful disguise
You and I
So fake so frightened
So ******* what
Too cool for school
Too cool for each other
Lost in space
Lost to each other
Alien madness
Alien dream
Give up, let go
Come back to me
Drift slowly, languidly
Carefully
There is no pain in my arms
Only peace
There is a white warm glow in my heart
Love doesn’t die
Love remains.
There is no pain

It's always you
My hornèd demon
I hold your hairy head between my legs
My head pounds as yours torments
Your forked tongue finds every opening
You slither hither; hypnotic dance
I forget myself. I forget what else
You love me deeply
Our twin flames flicker wildly &
Burst the sunrise
You wild beast of animal and man.
I will catch you if I can
You were my all, my reason for life
I once dreamed of being your wife
Stars fall like fireworks from the sky
But Night descends quicker than stars
Entranced, trapped, enslaved
Not love but tortured dreams
Your cruelty astounds me
your manipulation and slight of hand
The curve ball, the trick in your eye.

How do you do it?
Smoke & mirrors. All of it.
Here now, now gone.
So long.
Hear the echoes of the crowd.
Memories of your face.; Trickster grin.
And I, the fool born every minute.
And again, The Mask.
The mask we all wear, but tear off.
Your mask, you keep on.
Rip-Off
Under the smiles and grin.
The hornèd demon is reality
I think.
The animal that walks like a man.
A beast walking upright, horns gleaming
in the moonlight.
Pan Satyr, your Dionysian dream.
Your mask so sweet & smiling.
Your funhouse & shattered mirrors .
Your thousand faces laughing.
I’ve left it all-behind me.

©  Lesley Wood

https://soundcloud.com/lescelin/mask-the-9deep-beat-squad

Perhaps you didn’t reject me,
But pushed so far, you
Couldn’t find your way back.
You broke free. I was the cage.
Perhaps, I’m the Monster hiding under your bed.
I left so many words unsaid.
Please know I hope you are happy and free
And your own true self.
Never settle.
By bite and nettle you’ll get by
and Bye.
Perhaps ‘being lost’ is your friend
Perhaps life sans me, the end.
But I still scream like that night so long ago.
I scream & scream
With clawed walls in gray skull
The pain, the loss, all the tears
Your face. Its been so long, but you never fade.
And I scream
Its so hard to fight;
To stay without you by my side
Your thoughts in me replace the screaming.
But the space between our hearts is wide
We drown with no safety net or lifeline
This is it.
The stark unseen undream
What lies between, decays
You broke free.
I am the monster.
I am the cage.

You shouldnt write off just me
but everything-
the scraps of paper in the street
the grit & sand blowing in the wind
the dust cloud smudge on windshield
kitten prints
the dried husk of a squashed frog
the broken necklace on the ground
the toy forgotten until its found.
Nail in the coffin
shut closed buried and forgotten
no crack of light just a shoosh and thump of dirt
hollow booms in heart
burying in settling
deep inside cold descends
silence between the ears
between the years
silence the soft thump of still beating heart on auto thump
thump thump
no thought to live or breathe
no thought to live but there continues life
shut up inside
Write me off dont pull me out
leave me silent as stone freezing my bones
nail in the coffin
to rise or not time will tell to live or…
to be remembered or forgotten.

She sees ravaged faces everyday.
Here a gray, there a gray,
Everywhere a gray, gray.
Even the fleeting beauty of butterflies
Disintegrates into dust.
She forever tries to justify
why she should live and take up space,
why she should look into someone’s eyes
without them looking away.
Dreams and ideas sit cold and hard,
and wither wasted, never being tasted.
Dead dreams like petals falling,
Sounding like her heartbeats pounding-
Measuring the lies of time.

The wind is violent,
Knocking, flapping and rustling,
Slapping, tumultuous
Rolling like waves
I am swept
Savoring the mad sea-breeze
Savoring life
Rolling the sweetness on my tongue
Palm fronds slap delicious
A storm is brewing
Ocean spray spits smartly
Birds give way
Mother Nature is respected here
Nothing is contained
To the Queen we all bow and give way
Glance furtively under slit lids
Perhaps her wake, her eye will pass us by
With no more than a slap or tweaked cheek
Her notice, her scornful gaze
Can turn our hearts to waste
Our lives to dust
Our ocean mother laughs at the weak
Barricade of glass
Her tinkling laughter can shatter dreams
But oh, her majesty
What glorious banners she weaves
To trail her horizon is fool’s folly
Her train may wreck,
Her abuses bruise us
But to behold her wake, her glory
Her tresses, her face
Risking defeat and death is
A small price to pay
Surfing the wind, surfing the sun
After all nothing remains the same-
And my life is but a mere passing dust speck
In the mote of her eye
Keep me here fair queen
Bowed by your feet
Please don’t rub me out-just yet
All sadness departs when I hear your music
In the rustling flapping of leaves
The ocean roars and thunder booms
Your symphony oh sweet dear
Your symphony this day
So priceless to pay
Melon rolls sweetly on my tongue
Drops of honey linger-a **** tang
Like a mermaid lying beached upon the sand
Gathering in the ancient hush of the sea
These rumblings of the planet
Sea spray bathing my face
Foam like the spurts of ***
From a loved one
Lovers embrace
The rhyme and song is ancient
I feel a soft hush rumbling lullaby
Sea song siren cry
The rhythm and lull
The beat like ***
An ******* crescendo
Again and again-my heart beats in rhythm to hers
The goddess of the sea
Surfing the sun, surfing the wind
Rays like waves splash my face.

You and I speak only in whispers
No living out loud, no shouts
The softest fragmentary conversation
Static in the wind
Slow starts and stops
Communication lost
Please try again
Whispers
Please try again
No love or living out loud
Hugs and kisses hidden in the dark
Silent screaming
Frustration & agony
In the silent gloom, our loves grows pale like mushrooms

Drops of dampness in the dark
Fizzling out the weakest spark
Only in whispers
careful looks & timid gestures
Silent, hidden prisoners
No love or living out loud
No shouts of happiness or promises
Only silence
Hushed whispers of longing
Silent screaming
Frustration Agony
You and I speak,
But only in whispers.

Oh, fair Prince how your beauty lies
That the mere brush of a butterfly turns your head
The most fleeting of caresses turns your course,
And your constant weakness of will
Remains enforce.

Such thinking, thinking
Behind your fair brow
The flux of desire and illogic;

Setting aside your crown.
What sweet tortures you merit,
And stress upon my being
Misadventure and folly,
Deception unseemly.

But, I am beast in woman form
Not one to bow lightly
For in this tender heart resides a seed pearl
Of the rarest sort.
A gift, a treasure;
My priceless measure.

One can never guard oneself too carefully.
I will cleanse my sins in Diana’s pure water
I will be baptized in the blazing truth of the sun.
My heart and soul to guard,
My virtue to keep.
I dare’nt trust my heart and soul to thee.

© Lesley Wood

https://soundcloud.com/rawkeyartproject/ophelia-dreams-somnambulist-waltz

Our scars show the wars
Past tears & growth
Birth, trauma the healing over
The telltale signs
of living for better or worse
Reminders of pain, loss
Gain
What has been here &
now gone
Choices we made
Toxic spills
cleaning up
The calcification stone rub of our sentence & prison years
, Falling down
Falling up
the ****** **** gauzed over
Second skins

Words harming me and mine

bleeding on the inside

cuts tear scars sear
the burning of rhyme
chaos in mind
Faded welts from forgotten paths
but not forgotten for etched in flesh
Rivlets bumps holes
puckered scars
aberrations in our universe
The pink red welts
The wriggle worms

mind slashes time
our years our fears

Our scars & battles
Survive these days
our ways
past memories
ripping apart the darkness
Letting in the light
Green glow of heart
Glow of hope
The truest carefree smile
Full breath of life
No holding back relax

Our scars only signs
Our miracles of flesh and light
Revenants left behind
Momentos
Memories
Souveniers from the roads we traveled

I wish to store my scars Away in jars
I don’t mind the reminders

but please no remembering today.

O'blessed Darkness cover me
Blanket the rushing words & flashing blurs;
The disjointed fragments of blinking walls,
Lights crashing off and on,
Blue, red, green-the marionettes dancing,
So many together and all alone.
It is all a show.

The hiccup of life, the vomiting dream.
I see my life before me;

A slush of goo,
The stink of this world,
Or is that the scallops & escargot?
What have you done to me?

Everything I do myself-
This dream, this life...
Why do I hurt myself so?

Punching mirrors, ***** on porcelain.
Dark, thick-
My throne for many minutes...

Time ticking, time ticking-
I was unaware.
My wooden box was silent,
My wooden life is tragic.

The voices through the walls,
Through the fog and haze-
You okay? You okay? You okay?

I croak a positive.
I have no steady legs-
When have I ever?
I have no:
stable brain
clear thought
decisive moment
steady action
fruitful journey-
All slipping through my fingers...
Like the vomitous goo of tonight.

Everything we have, we lose.
Owning anything is an illusion.
Holding on is meaningless.

I want to go home.

(Everything is nothing)

I want to go home

(there is no sense in anything)

i want to go home.

Please, hold me now.

*©Lesley Wood

No trees around,
But there are leaves in the gutter
A thousand eyes in every home
& in every eye there is a storm
A Panoptic Design
Prison planet
Web net
Spider eyes glow red
Multi-layered
Multi-players
Virtual seams rip apart every dream
Virtual screams on virtual screens
Blood & circuses
Hive mind & mob body
In every crack there is a hole
& in every hole there is an eye
In every eye there is a storm
Your streets, the sky-not blind
A thousand eyes
A thousand eyes for every home
Digital trap. Don’t fight back
We wake to dream
We fight the sleep
Is there something we are missing?
5- You are alive
4-Go thru the door
3-What is your reality, really?
2-Yes, I’m talking to you!
1- Look up

Don’t look behind.
We are being followed.
Do you follow?
Do you mind?

You must understand my fear
As I grow closer to you dear
No more bite or insurrection
You penetrate the armour
Hard covers but tender underbelly
Be gentle in your stroke
Blisters fester
Red welt of swollen lips
Let the blood fall as it may
Unafraid
You are the light in my everyday
Slither hither
& crawl over blistering heat
You seek, you sting
Sharp penetrating glance
Venom glistens like the dewdrop
Do drop & Let drop the droplets
Wet hard the mind ****
Chittering madness
Stinger in brain
Dark obsidian, your poison sings
Your back
Glistens shiny.
Your armour penetrating dance
Brings me back
Tail quivers
Knees weak
Crawl to me
The strike
The sting
Your poison venom
The venom inside me
No antidote or logic
No rhyme or reason
Your venom sings
sound gone
Mind blown
Eyes blind and heart bleeding
I am your zombie baby
Obey me
Tease me
Play with me
Seize me
Sting me
Again and again.

Static
Listen.
Everything else is secondary
Everything else is static
Pay no attention to the rules and labels.
Reach for the core, pull out the heart
There is green in the wasteland.
Blue beyond gray.
Slough off the mud covered.
There are jewels in the mire.
Ignore the distractions fantasies illusion.
Feel your way thru the fog.
Hear the deep beat. Its in everything.
Listen!
Everything else is secondary.
Everything else is static.
Yes!
White noise brings no joy.
Lost in the dark
All memories erased.
Feel your way thru the fog.
Hear the deep beat
Your heart.
Its in everything.
Resonating.
Listen!
Everything else is secondary.
Everything else is static.

A quiet alcove
Gentle ripples
Glintings of sunlight
The soft hush and whisper of a breeze
Think: ‘Still waters’
Drink it in
Quiet the chaos of your mind
Wash the dust of yesterday
From your hands
Plant the seed of love & trust
Forgive your sins
Gaze in deep deep
Dark tunnels
Wavering hues
Blue deepening
Still waters deep
Quiet the ripple beneath your skin
A cloud passes over the sun
The sky moves the water
The patterns change
The change begins in you, too
Grow your soul & spread your wings
Still Waters Deep

Winged Fairies of iridescence
Shining brilliance, reflecting rainbows
Upon this Concrete Jungle
How do they heal the tiniest oasis?
How do they find the life in the dust?
Their fluttering & kisses
Are like promises to the heart
A lift then a lurch
To see such fragile beauty
Struggling against the Hot Metal Beasts
Oh, so bent on destruction
These tiny doctors heal the world
And spread such beauty, warmth & cheer
To our cold, sick, broken hearts
A pierce of light in all this darkness
Keepers of the Light
Keepers of the Flame
Kissing health & joy
To that which is ashen and dead
Like magic, blossoms burst
In searing explosions; like fireworks
A silent symphony of color
Oh, sweet treasures from the sky
Riders of the wind
A flap, a beat of tiny wings-
Angels come in all sizes
Messengers, healers of light & love
A true joy to the heart
A flame in the Night.

*©Lesley Wood

A muffled walk, soft foot-falls
Pain like distant rain
Electro tests: Yes/No…
I’m insane.
A---slug---gg-ishh -----temmmm-----po
Or.. hypersonicspeed

How do I define and clear all these weeds?

Focus FOCUS!
A twisted pile of metal, cloth, food and trash
Paper, paper everywhere
And not a spot to think—
What does it mean?

(Tear them down
Tear them down.)

They say: ‘Why can’t you be happy?
Why pick apart everything?’

I want to tredge through these mines
I want to clear the Dead Waste
I want all blocks removed one by one.
I want someone to call me Sane.
I want to feel and love
I want to open my heart to you.
But
How can anyone come through
Unless the boulders are removed?

Tear them down
Tear them down.

You are the bright oasis in a dark lonely desert.
You are the playful butterfly kissing my cheek.
You excel at pulling my heart strings,
But the social butterfly you are-
You forever flutter to flower to flower;
Petals licked and devoured.
Anything serious teeter-totters.
Anything Real topples over.
You ARE a Great Escape.
One to ride and pass over;
A brief flash and thunder.
Oh, what a Scream you are!
I want to scream.

Royal Blue;
A royal blue dream of you
Featuring: The Imperial Dream Machine
Providing more wishes and dreams then you ever did see
White plastic noise, broken toys
The choking sounds of time & rust
The changing tune of disease Mistrust
Imperial Dream Machine
Royal blue, these dreams of you
The space between these empty sheets;
Grey bars & white waste
No Dream Escape
The Imperial Dream Machine
Imperial Chills
The Imperial Chill Inside
Why ask Why?
No dream escape
Royal Pain
A blue, frozen, silent chase
Frozen steps, slow-motion-still
Leaves fall, faces turn
All roads lead to nowhere.
And Faces still.
No Dream Escape
It is an imperial dream quake
Dreams break
Golden seam rips apart
In the space between
A stillness newly awakens
A Forlorn Sorrow Cry
Why ask why?
Torture devices clamp in place
No Dream Escape
The Imperial Dream Machine
Provides more wishes and dreams
Than you ever did see.

No dreams escape.

So,
I can't sleep
I think of the terrors
Mass murders
Suffering & Greed
I don't understand it.
I feel helpless, hopeless
I see no point to it.
I don't understand
So this is depression
Or
Is this the world
The world now
The world a whirl
of Suffering & Greed
I see the fat cats raking it in
&
I see flesh pulled tight over bones
The bears no longer dancing
but standing in locked cages
Begging for food
I have nightmares like this
And I pray
But what does praying do?
I listen.
I hear.
'Focus on the Little Things.'
Hold on. Hold still
Focus on your bed
your body
your immediate surroundings
Take care
make your bed
Rest your head
Wash
Breathe
Eat well
Move
Breathe
Breathe
Focus on the little things
Stay focused
Right here
Right now
Right in front
No past nor future
No countries or cities away
Look
There are things to help
Things to fix
Right in front
Make your bed
Rest your head
Focus on the little things
And don't forget to breathe.

You are only for my fantasies
Just for my dreams

There is no chance for us
in stark reality

Trust is the timid pet staying for breakfast
then running away

Desire, the sad, pale clouds of nostalgia

Love is the ghost moon
disappearing by noon.
No us exists by light of day.

We believe in nothing we say
My heart is heavy but doesn't ache
My heart is lonesome, but okay.

You are sweet in fantasy
By noon, I want you dead.