Follow me

Follow me across fields
Whistle through flat leaves
While I spread blankets and honey

Follow me into blindness
As we stumble in our search
For **** and *****

Follow the scratch of my pen
As it records stories of battles fought and forgiven

Follow me to the top of the tower
Laugh into the empty air
Of heaven

Follow me in your blue dress and leave it next to mine  
Folded in sin

Follow me into the smoke of cigarettes
And watch as coins bounce and spin

Follow me and dance with one hand on your side
As fingers click.

Follow me and all this you shall see and hear
As the seconds tick

Follow me

I see you in my dreams,
A white body in the water,
Your legs close to mine
Almost (but not quite) touching my knee.

I think back to the day
You came to your door,
Still wearing the warmth and stickiness of sleep
Which almost (but not quite) melts into me.

I wish I did not feel this way
But I do not seem able to stop.
Maybe winter will cool my ardour,
A question of almost (but not quite) wait and see.

I kissed your lips last night,
Almost drowned in cushions of flesh.
Should I avoid these somehow?
I wish almost (but not quite) that I could let it be.

I realise it cannot happen
The way I want it to be.
For all my so called liberation,
I am almost (but not quite) free.

My head and heart are in the ascendancy
But my body is in thrall to the drugs.
My diseased brain is at fault;
I am almost (but not quite) the real me.

When next I see you,
I shall say nothing
Not that I have nothing to say.

When next I see you,
I shall feel nothing
Not that I have nothing to feel.

I shall not let words or feelings
Interrupt our communion

When you were young,
I played with you,
I read to you,
I tucked you in.

When you were older
I spoke words you enjoyed
I expressed feelings you understood

But, no, I shall say nothing,
I shall feel nothing,
It may only last a moment.

It will mean everything

Hi there,
l went swimming today,
ln the sea,
It was a day you would have liked,
A strong current,
A single wave rushing forward, crashing down ,
And the sun, the sun was just saying hello
From behind the high sleepy buildings on the shore,
The sky was the prettiest blue,
Daubed with white cloud edged with grey.
l did not tarry long in the water,
Long enough to taste the salt,
Long enough.
l dried myself with a yellow towel
And climbed up the beach,
As l stepped onto the pavement,
l looked up the street
And there you were,
A small shadowy figure on your bicycle,
Freewheeling down the hill
With a dog at your side.
I laughed out loud,
I blinked as I wiped my eyes,
l looked again
But there was no figure, no bicycle, no dog.
They had gone.
You had gone.
l walked home alone
And pictured you across the sea
Pulling open the curtains
To reveal the same sun,
Hearing young chatter from one bed and older yawns from another,
A wagging tail and stretch from a basket,
The smell of coffee from its bubbling metal jug.
Hi there.

Go to sleep my darling
And let me wander through the night,
Looking for the answers,
Looking for what is right.

Allow me to stumble
Upon your dreams both dark and bright,
Then leave me on my own,
To wander through the night.

I have seen what is wrong,
As it changed me in your eyes,
I have seen all too clearly,
The sweet and bitter prize.

So when you awake
From your travels both far and near,
Call me, my darling,
Overcome your fear.

The fear of failing
To understand the black and the white,
The fear of looking,
And finding what is right.

Go to sleep my darling.
Fear not, I know now what is right.
It is you, my love,
You, you are my light.

"When shall we stop looking at women?"
Asked my friend.
As another came into view,
I hoped
That we had not stared
Too much, too long, too anything.
Educated, sincere, honest,
No-one should vilify his roving eye.
Later, as we sat eating,
The beauty parade continued;
We were polite, gracious, complimentary.
I walked through the tables,
The thin waitress caught my eye - the other one -
I returned her smile.
We left for home, my friend and I
To take to our beds,
Each of us alone,
Without enjoying the touch of another's flesh
Words of innocence,
A song of joy.
We had come into the world with nothing,
Only to lose everything.
"The day we die" I replied.

I see you in my dreams,
A white body in the water,
Your legs close to mine
Almost (but not quite) touching my knee.

I think back to the day
You came to your door,
Still wearing the warmth and stickiness of sleep
Which almost (but not quite) melts into me.

I wish I did not feel this way
But I do not seem able to stop.
Maybe winter will cool my ardour,
A question of almost (but not quite) wait and see.

I kissed your lips last night,
Almost drowned in cushions of flesh.
Should I avoid these somehow?
I wish almost (but not quite) that I could let it be.

I realise it cannot happen
The way I want it to be.
For all my so called liberation,
I am almost (but not quite) free.

My head and heart are in the ascendancy
But my body is in thrall to the drugs.
My diseased brain is at fault;
I am almost (but not quite) the real me.