Every time I close my eyes
I'm haunted by your face
by memories of you and I
a better time, a better place

And now and then when I forget myself
I'm haunted by your smile
as you creep into my thoughts
and linger for a while

Haunted, taunted every night
by the memory of what I lost
too scared to try again one day
unable to meet the cost

Every time I walked these cobbled streets
its just after the rains
as if God himself is trying to wash
this city down the drains

Narrow streets and terraced houses
back yard postage stamps
overflowing dumpsters
cashless carry for the tramps

No vibrant colours to be found
just different shades of brown
the colour of depression
destined to drag you down

No wonder everybody leaves
can't wait to get away
escape this drab and dying maze
in search of sunny days

The demons mostly come at night
while he's lying in his bed
they feed there in the darkness
planting seeds inside his head

Questioning his every thought
casting doubt on all he does
raising fear and uncertainty
about the ones he loves

But he cannot fight the demons
for they cannot be seen
And never does he wonder
why it is he doesn't dream

Why unlike most when our eyes close
and sleep carries us away
he doesn't relive memories
or dream the perfect day

Instead he gets no rest at all
and wakes exhausted every day
after hanging on til overcome
hoping to keep them all at bay

But in those few dark hours
true havoc it is wrought
as deeper is he punished
by every little thought

He lacks the voice to cry for help
and writes poetry instead
to stay awake just one more hour
and keep the demons from his head

A life of pure simplicity
is all I've ever asked
A simple home, a loving family
but it seems too tall a task

But one and one don't equal two
instead is equals three
so it seems the best solution
is to reduce it down to me

No more simple arithmetic
no anything plus one
just a simple home for me
its over now, I'm done.

If I have no one to think of
and no one to think of me
then at least I'll have a half of it
I'll have simplicity

Caught somewhere in the middle
between the darkness and the light
Her life lived in the shadows
seeking solace in the night

Innocence and tragedy
too often hand in hand
a purity of spirit
too good to grace this land

Escaping from her demons
and echoes of the past
ascending toward heaven
to redemption, peace at last.

My world rained today
both inside and out
as the sky became so black
with it came the doubt

No silver linings anywhere
just darkness all around
I started sinking deeper
with every drop that hit the ground

I look outside its raining still
no blue skies or end in sight
and oil lamps around me burn
casting shadows with their light

and in this murky gloom
i attempt to shed my fears
desperation loneliness
bitterness and tears

as twilight starts to beckon
the sun now out of sight
I close my eyes in search of sleep
seeking solace through the night.

Take me away from this life of mine
even if for just one day
far into the wilderness
so that real life-s far away

Or even better for a weekend
perhaps a long weekend at that
sit with me by the campfire
where we can laugh and sing and chat

Lets forget responsibility
just for the briefest time
tell me about your wildest dreams
and I'll tell you about mine

We'll be nobody's parent
nobody's boss, nobody's child
for once we'll get to be ourselves
something we've not been for a while

Some time without distractions
obligations or demands
just time to be together
watching sunsets hand in hand

From everything to nothing
in the blinking of an eye
sometimes thats how it feels
and its that which makes me cry

From hope to desperate loss
really isn't all that far
you can get there in a single step
from no matter where you are

Our lives change in an instant
sometimes out of our control
which is why when you find happiness
you do your best to just keep hold

But sometimes we forget this
while we're waiting for a sign
and the thing we wanted most of all
ends up getting left behind

And thirty years from now
when we sit there feeling blue
The best that we can manage
is "Whatever happened to..."

Cellphones and swimming pools.
ne'er the twain should meet.
The result can only be bad,
same for lawnmowers and feet.

I hope she never knows
that I thought of her today
that I've done it all the time
since she day she went away

I hope she doesn't know
there's not a tear I haven't shed
that even after all these years
I sleep on "my side" of the bed

I hope she never knows
and not save my foolish pride
but to spare her from confronting
the feelings that she hides

What if there's no God?
What if there's no plan
and everything thats come to pass
is all the fault of man

We act just like a virus
consuming more than most
soiling what we leave behind
no consideration for our host

And what if we're an ant farm
on some super beings desk
an experiment in pestilence
earths limits sent to test

We like to think of higher  powers
it gives us someone else to blame
but if we knew 'twas really down to us
would we do things just the same?

Do you yearn for me
the way I yearn for you
do you wish perhaps for something
that both of us could do

Do wish that we could play with time
fast forward to the day
when we are here together
and all doubts were cast away

At least then we would yearn no more
for then we would both know
just what it is thats going one
so we could plan or let things go

In time with thought you'll make your choice
and put an end to how I ache
until then I'll fight this yearning
lest it be more than I can take

Its so hard to get away from life
even if for just a while
to sit back and truly switch it off
to allow yourself to smile

But a smile thats not for anyone
just a smile that spells content
not interpretation necessary
thoughts all gone and spent

To escape a life of clutter
obtain clarity of mind
a life bereft of all demands
seems impossible to find

Perhaps it just takes longer
and patience is the key
to find myself alone in thought
with a mind thats truly free

I wish that you could this
that you were sitting here with me
watching clouds race across the sky
and whitecaps on the sea

That you too could taste the salty air
feel the spray upon your face
turn up your collar against the wind
feel the warmth of my embrace

Watching gulls above the headland
staring down the gales
and way off in the distance
the surfacing of whales

I wish that you could see this
that you were sitting here with me
you and I together
how perfect that would be

This yearning has me at a loss
its a fog thats in the way
Like a bank of cloud has swept on in
and put a haze upon my day

Try as I might to push it aside
it keeps on coming back
To replace the cloud with clarity
may be down to something I lack

Perhaps you could help me out here
tell when the fogs gonna rise
When this yearning will be satisfied
so I can see through clearer skies

I came out here to write
and maybe sit upon the sand
perhaps conjure up a vision
of us together hand in hand

But as I stand upon the rocks
as waves crash upon the beach
perhaps this storm it has a lesson
and I'm the one it needs to teach

See things dont always go as planned
in any of our lives
like the beach we too get shaped
our waves are lovers, friends and wives

The visit for a moment
in the greater scheme of things
leaving our shores weathered
scattered with a million things

some give to us more than they take
others take more than they give
the driftwood that gets left behind
becomes the life we live

So as I stand upon the rocks
and waves crash upon the beach
I take stock of the lessons learned
glad that I'm within their reach

He placed a single rose upon the headstone
and then turned and walked away
his heart as broken and as heavy
as ever twas upon this day

For twenty years he's made this trip
though back then he was sixty five
the forty years they shared he said
were the only years he felt alive

A small town boy and a city girl
he figured her quite the catch
undaunted by her city ways
they made the perfect match

Their love was like a fairytale
without the happy ever after
sure bad times came by now and then
but life was filled with laughter

But even to this day he says
forty years was not enough
his voice strengthens when he speaks of her
sounding not so old and gruff

He thinks about her every day
even after all these years
but each year this the only time
he allows himself some tears

He says he opens up the bottle
lets a few spill off the top
but never sheds so many
lest he find he cannot stop

Before he takes his glasses off
turns off the bedside light
he blows a kiss right to her picture
and bids his love good night

He knows in time he'll see her
and kiss her once again
its what he says has kept him going
kept him strong through all this pain

Although he doesn't know it yet
thats the last rose he will place
in sleep tonight he'll join her
once more he'll see her face

It seems quite fitting don't you think
that they should meet again today
the anniversary of their wedding
and a love that never went away

Like autumn leaves upon the river
and icebergs in the spring
I'm a captive of the current
driven by anothers whim

It seems I am adrift again
once more carried by the wind
with no anchor chains to hold me
nor ropes to bind me in

Will there ever be stability
within this soul of mine
will I ever find the one
that becomes the tie that binds

Love can make you deaf
and love can make you blind
love can make you take your friends
and leave them all behind

Love can lift you up
and love can bring you down
love can make you sink or swim
or wish that you had drowned

Love can make you happy
and love can make you blue
in spite of all these pro's and cons
I still fell in love with you

I see you in the spaces between words
in the things that go unsaid and go unheard
Your presence seeps into the things I cannot say
for to speak of them would give the game away
I work so hard just to keep things to myself
lest my soul become another book upon the shelf
But how can I keep this secret never shared
until I know how much or if you even cared
Do you ever think you see between the lines
the words you long to hear but cannot find.

Could this be the butterfly
that brings about a change
The birthplace of the hurricane
that cause things to rearrange
Could it sweep across the nation
from the bottom to the top
Could it be the inspiration
that makes us finally say "Stop!
It's time to end this madness
turn off the war machines
We the people, we want peace
do you remember what that means?"

Do you believe in serendipity?
That some things are meant to be?
Like the way our paths meandered
before you bumped into me?

Lower the flags
and turn out the sun
for they wont be home
their battle is done
Turn off the stars
block out the moon
lets share in the darkness
that took them too soon
A moment of silence
or two if you please
please turn off your cars
nothing move but the breeze
Let us all close our eyes
bow our heads for a while
lets remember their faces
remember their smiles
Remember their strength
right up to the last
and pray one day cancers'
a thing of the past

Poems come and steal my soul
and leave me here to bleed
Never wounding fatally
just taking what they need
An ounce or two of passion
a pound or two of pain
leaving me alone to heal
before harvesting again
Sometimes they give more than they take
with rhymes of which I'm proud
Other times my cries are lost
amidst the madding crowd
Yet my tale is not a sad one
for there is pleasure in this pain
why else would I keep writing
inviting them again?

I need a kick in the ***
to get me on my way
I need a kick in the ***
so I don't waste another day
I need a kick in the ***
to make me see the light
I need a kick in the ***
to make sure I get it right
I need a kick in the ***
to be all I can be
So line up ladies and gents
to kick the *** of me

Is there a place that one can go
to truly be alone
to escape the hustle of our lives
and traffics monotone
Is there a place where I can sit
notepad and pen in hand
And capture the true nature
of this majestic land.
My needs are very simple
just somewhere to rest my head
with a simple little woodstove
and a comfortable bed
I have no need of music
for nature plays my song
I will fall asleep to crickets
and awake to sparrows throng
I will read alone by candlelight
the poems of the day
And think of friends I left behind
who would love to live this way
But for now all this is just a dream
that one day may come true
And it seems a little closer
no that its been shared with you

Summers nearly over now
and Fall will soon be here
the days are getting shorter
the skies are not so clear

But as blues and greens retreat
from the palette of our day
replaced by red's and golden yellows
a most magnificent display

And like so many things in life
Fall too will one day end
and into the frigid winter
our lives will soon descend

But for now we have a little time
before summers truly done
so lets lie beneath the blue skies
and bask in summer sun

I still get the looks
as I stroll down the racks
and look through the books
while avoiding the hacks
and I hear what they say
when they think I cant hear
about moving away
and not staying round here
But my skin is quite thick
I'm not easily moved
which you'd think they would know
else I'm just being rude
For daring to stay
in town such as this
where the rumor mill rules
and the truth takes a ****
Just because someone said
no that don't make it right
no matter who's dead
or who died in the night
I know what they think
but quite frankly don't care
cos its always me here
and them over there
I'm an outsider you see
someone from "away"
so the locals are right
no matter what I might say
They don't care about truth
they don't care about right
all they want is some gossip
bout what happened that night
But **** em I say
and I know it sounds blunt
but truth is they're gonna
believe what they want
and as tragic and sad
as the truth just might be
they'd have no one to blame
especially me
So I still get the looks
as I stroll down the rack
while I deal with my loss
and wait for life to come back

Happy feels like Candy Floss
when you're 6 and at the fair
or like a trip go see grandma
but not until you're there
Its like that perfect cup of tea
with a biscuit on the side
Or the big hill in the winter
and that long toboggan ride
Its walking on the beach
with a lover hand in hand
or finding mermaids tears
hidden in the sand
It's finding money in your pocket
that you didn't know you had
Flirting with a stranger
and being told you're "bad"
Happy can be what you think
what you see or say or do
But the bestest kind of happy
is the kind I get from you

Monday morning 2am
and still I cannot sleep
every time I close my eyes
into my thoughts you creep

Where once they would be happy
now loss is all I feel
Its like March was just a fairytale
and none of it was real

Since then I've had my sleepless night
but in the past I watched you dream
Did those six months to you mean nothing
sometimes thats how it seems

I'll close my eyes again now
swallow hard and breath real deep
try and ride the memories
beyond the pain to fitful sleep

If I asked would you meet me
in that old familiar place
once more to hear your voice
once more to see you face

Or would it be too much for you
to see me once again
to hear the difference in my voice
in my eyes to see the pain

I doubt you'd even answer
and perhaps that would be best
If your plan is to forget
and lay the past to rest.

I still lie awake at night
waiting for you to show
hoping that you've changed your mind
and decided not to go

I hide my pain from public view
behind a familiar mask
lest someone spot the real me
and take my soul to task

I know that you are hurting too
as I read the words you write
and I wish that things were different
as I lie awake at night

So for now I'll keep on waiting
and hoping that you'll show
From the moment I first held you
I never wanted to let go

Is it wrong to give up hope
at this stage of my life
that I'll finding enduring happiness
instead of naught but strife

The only things I have to go on
are the moments in my past
that at once were pure heaven
but never seem to last

The aftermath is always greater
than the sum of treasures lost
thats why my books will never balance
and why I'm left to count the cost

So if I accept a future
in which my life I'll never share
The only dream I ever had
will wither without air

But no more will I feel this pain
this agonizing loss
the books will one day balance out
no more credits, no more cost

I sometimes wonder what its like
to have never loved at all
to have missed those dizzy heights
means to miss the crushing fall

its been 4 days since I've showered
5 days since I've shaved
6 days and 7 hours
since you chose to go away
two cartons of cigarettes
a bottle and half of scotch
it like time is stuck in neutral
nothings moving on my watch
I haven't been outside for days
the curtains have stayed drawn
the days rolled into endless grey
no nightfall, dusk or dawn
this won't go on forever
each day a bit more pain has gone
one day I will be numb enough
rumour has it, life goes on

Touch me,
it doesn't matter where
and it doesnt matter how
I need to know I'm still alive
so someone touch me now
Shake my hand and say hello
or pat me on the back
kiss me on the cheek
that I may feel this sense I lack
slap my face and pull my hair
make me bleed I just don't care
dig your nails into my skin
so I can feed this need within
I've been numb for such a time
that even pain would be sublime
so touch me, touch me now
I don't care where, I don't care how

You are the shining armour
that this knight is wrapped within
His shield against the elements
without which he could not win

You are are the strength within his heart
his courage and his pride
Which carry him to battle
like the noble steed he rides

Without you he is just a man
a lowly humble serf
But with your love inside him
this knight can rule the earth

Is it sheer coincidence
that in a moment of despair
I let out a cry for help
and you are standing there

Is it sheer coincidence
is that all that it can be
that fate and other forces
brought you here to me

I dont belieive in lady luck
she left me long ago
and yet from out of nowhere
suddenly you show

Could you be an angel
sent to take my hand
sent to guide me home
that I might understand

There is a road laid out before me
I know not where it goes
for its path is never shown to me
where it ends nobody knows

Each step I take along this path
reveals a little more
another hidden valley
deeper than the one before

Round each and every bend
lies a beauty seldom seen
a growing sense peace
a spirit so serene

I wonder what awaits
to what highs I will ascend
and if anyone will meet me there
at this journeys end

I am but a simple fisherman
just out to catch one fish
Not nets have I when fishing
for just one will fill my dish

I am but a simple hunter
a single arrow's all I need
no quiver do I carry
one **** will my family feed

I am but a simple farmer
ploughing fields still by hand
I have grow enough and never more
lest it rot within the land

These simple ways have all but gone
replaced by corporate greed
where we take like no tomorrow
it doesn't matter what we need

One day the rivers will be empty
and the game will all be gone
and the land will be so tired
how did we let it go so wrong?

I gaze upon your headstone
and think about your life so brief
you left this earth so very young
leaving us awash with grief

What could have been so terrible
that death was your best choice
I guess we'll never know now
as you chose not to raise you voice

If only you had told us,
talked to me, or mum, or dad
Would it still have been so desperate
would it still have been so bad

I fight against the anger
lest its colour make me blind
But what about the rest of us
the ones you left behind

The ones with all the questions
whose answers we'll never know
Why did you choose to leave us
Why did you have to go

I pray one day I'll have a dream
in which you'll come to me
And explain what was so terrible
so of this guilt we will be free

That unexpected surge of passion
who knows from whence it came
But we just had to have each other
over and again

Barely time to make it through the door
before clothing it got shed
no time to waste on buttons
things just got ripped off instead

fumbled for a light switch
staggered 'long the hall
moonlight through the windows
as family photo's started to fall

dining table cleared
in a single one armed sweep
who cares about the noise
it's too late to be discrete

skirts lifted to save time
******* just pulled to one side
belts undone, zippers ripped open
so suddenly inside

a display so animal in nature
as your nails dug in my back
groans of passion fill the air
patience was all we lacked

Eventually its over
****** acheived, ****** shared
panting in the moonlight
bodies naked, passions bared

This doesn't happen every day
and maybe never will again
That unexpected surge of passion
who knows from whence it came

Is it wrong
to long
to taste
your tears
to hold
you close
kiss away
your fears
look into
your eyes
so blue
and know
exactly
what to do
to make
your world
a better place
you'd see
the truth
is in
my face

you lit
a fire
inside
my soul
that burns
amidst
the glowing coal
of passion
tenderness
and want
til at night
my every
dream
you haunt

All this you have done and so much more

I close my eyes and picture our first kiss.
Passion, love, serenity and bliss
can all be tasted on your lips
felt corsing through your fingertips
as the world around us ceases to exist

I've been loved
I've been lost
Paid the price
Counted the cost
But every time I came on back for more

I've been up
I've been down
Flown on high
Almost drowned
Found bruised and bloodied, naked on the floor

Some I win
Some I lose
But every time
I get to choose
When to carry on and when I'm fit

For what is life
without a soul
But a game
without a goal
And one in which I'm never gonna quit.

Hello my name is Roffle La Mau, and I live on MSN.
Me and Lol were born with the internet, so we've only been round since then

Lol and I alwsay get looked at, whenever we're out in a crowd,
as I roll on the floor laughing my *** off, and he's busy laughing out loud

Give me a paintbrush and I'm lost

I produce things kindergarten kids would be too embarressed to take home to their parents, lest they stick them to the refrigerator door with little magnets and "other people" saw them.

Give me a pencil and I fare much better.

Things a high school kid would be kinda proud of but not necessarily want his peers to see are what I can produce with a pencil.

But give me words

Oh sweet, succulent words. Words with juice and passion and pain locked inside and I can free it all.

Words are my paint

Typewriter keys are my brushes

And this is my canvas

And on this canvas I can paint so many things.

Tales of love that remind what love used to be like when it was new and fresh and vibrant and all consuming, when love and the person you loved were the very air that you breathed, and when you could be with them you thought you would suffocate.

Tales of not love. Tales of a love that flows like a river in one direction only, always away from you and never towards. Washing away the banks of your soul as it does, eroding hope on its way before emptying into a sea of despair.

Tales of loss so vivid they bring tears to the eyes of some who read them for they truly are tragic tales.

And tales of hope. triumphs of good over evil, love over loss, joy over pain and sunshine over rain.

I paint pictures that make you laugh out loud and then quickly look round to see if anyone noticed.

But I am not naive

Pictures are subjective things, some we like some we don't.

And thats ok.

I'm not a big fan of Picasso, and as sensitive a guy as he was, he probably wouldn't be offended by that either.

Thank you for looking at the pictures I paint and the words I paint them with.

I close my eyes and picture what it would be like to wake up with you, and see the most serene things.

The perfect way to start the day

A thing that starts with stirring as we try and resist the natural action of actually waking up

Taking care to keep eyes closed we stretch

First one, then the other as our movements interfere with the perfect combination of bodies that has been our night

A hand moved

A whispered intention

A smile

Eyes still closed

Everything done by sense of touch

No alarm clocks

No ringing telephones

No sudden starts

Just two people greeting the day and each other in the most perfect way

You share with me your sunrise
and it brightens up my day
You seem now somehow closer
despite being far away

Perhaps maybe this evening
I'll share with you my sunset
One day ours may be the same
how much better does it get.

What happens when an eye for eye
has left the whole world blind
Will that be the time we see
we should've left the past behind

With each liberty they take
with each human right ignored
they build for us a prison
for the safety it affords

Until we are no longer free
and they've stopped us being brave
by promoting threats and fear
to make sure that we behave

Forgiveness is the only way
to get peace back on the shelves
for until we forgive others
we will never free ourselves.