It’s not a weight on our shoulders
Or an anchor, heavy on our feet
Not a ****** victory over others
Nor a weakened or beaten defeat

It’s not a maze of constant worries
Or an indecipherable scribble in our minds
Not a rulebook for our partners to follow
Nor a road full of stop signs

It’s not a game of lust and cheats
Or one image meant for all
Not a series of conditions ‘Only if…’
Nor split, withheld, or bought

It’s not sadness, tears or heartbreak
Or using one another for gains
Not ridiculous expectations to be forced on us
Nor emotions to be smothered or chained

It’s as natural as the breath we take
To give it out is simple and plain
It emanates from all our souls within
A light within us always untamed

Take a moment to truly find it now
Be still, be calm, be true
For when you do you’ll realise how easy
Unconditional love is within you

In amongst this bittersweet gathering
You both slice me looks, quickly
As I savour my cake

Under the easy chatter & voices
Comes a growl from behind your teeth
The dog chases the kids, comically

I sip my tea, smiling & laughing
Your jealousy pours as thick as cream & just as sour
White, one sugar please

I get her a drink at the table
Your hatred boils at my proximity
I mix with a steady hand, oblivious

I forget you're both there in this garden
You make your excuse to leave, defeated
My unbreakable peace doesn't falter now
I pick the crumbs from my plate & lick them from my fingers

I thought I knew love
Through and through like a well-thumbed book
My favourite movie on repeat that I know all the words too
In most parts
I play out tragedies
So beautifully painful a feeling cannot describe
The author hanging a fountain pen
Above my head
Ready to strike out any happiness

I thought I knew myself
From the back of my hand to my palm
All intricate lines crossing
Running alongside
Reaching out
So beautifully carved within my skin
The maker unhappy with his work
Frustrated
Ready to squish and start again

I thought I knew life
From its coincidental existence
To its many choices and turns
My empathy harms me here
A big heart
Has no place in a world
So beautifully ugly, with the human race and our endeavours
That there must be something
To hold onto
Something to live for

And I’ve suddenly found it.
Everything.
All.
In a flash of spirit and soul I understand love, myself and above all life.
In my existence there’s only you, and you alone.
That’s all we need.
All I need.
All others need.
Unconditional love

Mirrored in stark, cold symmetry
Branches shake and entwine in a delicate whisper that ruminates from a place unknown
Our names were called to a white path with the fluttering sureness of a snowflake
Closer we cling in deep breath
Feet shaky on firm ground
Cotton clouds shape and form in a ever changing grey sky
Within dreams of elegant falling feathers and wings
We pray for help through this raw Winter
And there, in each other, we see it
Through every bitter sense and every sweet harmony of the Robin's call we find it
There is beauty
Mirrored in stark, cold symmetry

Helplessly Incomplete
Panicked
We search for our twin departed
The other half on this
New Moon; the Heron silently watches
With a knowing eye, old friends
Pulsating sadness; he reads our truth
Drinking its gravity
A pull down his feathers as two fall
Pulled above water
Guided by a shadow of a Hare
Rippling from an egg that has
Split into two

Not whole apart; a part here resides through
Memories of broken shells
Barefoot we run into the Wildwood
We remember the way
Back to a maze instinctively
Through the door in the tree
A face in green leaves whispers to the higher
Sight
Drums dance in my chest
The Shamans chant is my breath
Follow old tracks to make anew
A wheel turned as we
Bow to the bones
In my soul a Heron feather lies
And so in yours
A journey complete

Alone I've always been
Their true souls I've always seen
Casted out for my sight
Unsupported with few rights

I am the moon overhead
Shining on what's left unsaid
For this comes a heavy price
Knowledge of what's wrong and right

I am a song unheard
Always forgotten and never learnt
They do not wish to hear the words
That escape from their caged bird

I am the lone wolf of the tribe
No one's ever at my side
I am them and never me
Yet from my heart they always flee

Alone I always will be
Truth I always will see
Accept my solitude in this role
Expect nothing, embrace all in my soul

Tinkling musical notes pull you closer from across the Fair.
Through mazes of stalls you search The thrilling roller coasters zoom overhead.
Though your eardrums throb with the sound of screams you can still hear the soft tune getting closer.
A beautiful carousel.
Gently bobbing up, down and around in never ending loops.
Ornately painted horses of all hues compete for your choice.
But which one?
The music drops a key, and distorts in the speakers.
Your gut instinctively clenching, as the empty ride spins faster.
The once majestic faces bare grotesque bloodied teeth at you.
Other horses laugh or smile with red eyes that cut to your soul like lasers.
And one horse faces outwards from the rest, staring at you with no face at all.
Your muscles long to move and fists beg to be released.
Your eyes sting, wide open to this horror.
It begins to whir back to it's original speed.
With each turn the horses change back to their positions and resume their delicate poses.
A small man hides in the shadows, operating the ride.
'Which horse do you choose?'
His voice crawls itself under your skin and his sickening laughter spreads it around your body.
Adrenaline hits your veins as you run.
Run from him, the faceless horse.