fascinated i draw in my breath,
little murmur of content, i am life
and i am death, what is there
to prepare, what to unravel,
what happenstance to know?
how does the tide, desiring only
to rise and fall, to sweep the shore
and then drawback like a warrior lunging
with a sword, the death-cry obliterating
the sky, then pulling his arm swiftly back
the same fire in her heart, unremorseful,
unrelenting, bring me such rest?
i’ll forget all my loves except
for you, die like a warrior for love
because my heart is a rugged shore and
it carries the crashing waves and the
clamour of gulls because it believes in
freedom, and needs to hear the brashness
of the wind and the far distances of the stars.

we see the gold’s of a shimmering
sun fall on the horizon, the last of
day, leaving trails of hummingbirds.

the sky begins to mourn the last
of light, scattering breeze-like
in a cloud of dark ink.

the moon pours pearls into cloud
widens her eyes; the dark gathers
the pearls, softening like dream.

thick honeysuckle traces the
walls, the immense night
sings of love in a gentle voice

and as the tide sweeps clean the
wandering sands, beautiful and
infinite the last star falls.

closer than this dream
of summer,
closer than your fingers
linking mine,
we melt like
candles,
burn like the night’s
distant stars.

tranquility and stars,
the earth gives way,
the drowning
of the dark,
your love-cries in
your sleep,
tender and then harsh
beneath a blanket
of dream.

red petals of a rose
starting to collapse
under the weight
of light rain,

the perfections of
a summer sky,

leaves brushed
by sunlight
and patchy shadow,

the wind’s ghosts
fading to nothing,

the wind’s ghosts  
the blues of an august
sky.

in a tea house
a jasmine girl
plays a piano
shimmering a
song of soft keys
to a lotus blush
of fine infusing leaves.

morning, the jewels
of dawn’s filigree nets
a summer storm
in a wintry sky
coaxed out of
a melody of
incense, trembling
to the infinite
blossom of
tranquil, arching
skies.

your poetry, the
cadences of the sun
unwrapped,
the light of the
ocean
breathed
in,
beautiful moons
that weep for
life’s joys,
wild summer
in our hearts.

i.

the grass in the meadows
has grown high,
it melts like an emerald
sea under the sun.

ii.

summer stretches
robotic and angular
everything larger than life
sunshine and the childish rains
pouring stormy drops
on the window.

iii.

the sky is perfectly white
the cloud is an unbroken
line, no dots or dashs,
no hyphens or metaphors.

iv.

i dress in the morning and
undress at night let the
pools of the night tether me
to the sky.

in the excitement
of your kiss
flowers and
dreams of
strange seas
lips of steel
dark shadowy
isles.

above the naked sea,
the wind’s blue
castles
raise their
drawbridges
of air.

the etching of
reflection in a china bowl
full of water,
our love
uncovering tiny silver
stars on the horizon.

i.

light in lazy pools
patches of shadow
like closing doors.

ii.

i float
like a ghost
open the sky
like a love letter.

iii.

a bird hovers,
shudders to
a sky that
unwraps its
dreams like
inky pools.

iv.

greyer than ghosts
that kiss for my
lips,
that trembling
of my heart
just for you.

i.

my nettles sting,
my mind dreams
of ghosts,
nothing seems
to settle
under that hovering
sky of wire.

ii.

lost to a broken civilization
in a sky of sighs
caves filled with
ice.

iii.

further than the sky,
further than the sea.

iv.

dreams like drowning
pools

the waving wind
the castles of the mind.


v.

shadows
unwinding
the slow pulse of
the earth,
like the battling
waves,
like the far, far
dream of a star.

"where the sun smoothes the dust-dry earth"  

the summer is not poetic,  
what is there in the gold
of the sun to write about?
just the heat and the stones
washed flat.  
the signs say you can't swim.
everything has stopped.  
there is no music in the air,
the mornings shrill and hum,
the afternoons drowse with beer.
is the ocean going to wake for me?
will it dance like a flower?  
along the dust black roads
the tarmac starts to sweat.  
torn open the thundering roads,
there is no poetry in them either.  
everywhere there are green leaves
and little drops of peace in the shade.

my love for you
is the wildest rivers of my poetry
where the night melts into
oblivion and all i can feel is your
love, devouring me, desiring me,
uncovering me, until
i am but blood and bone,
a bluesy wind instrument
serenading the skies.
in your love everything that
i need, every tender star
a bird gliding in
the night, moon-ful,
soulful, wrapped in silvering
dream. climb, climb to the
running hills where i’ll reach you,
leave me burning feverish
and excited, wrap me in your love.

what is there to seek
in a world where i once sought
you with every chord of my
being
and finding the most precious
stone burnt with love
brighter than a blossoming rose?
i’ll never forget that love
it drowns me in my darkest sorrows
pierces me with darts of happiness
unravels my soul into a thousand
burning flames and yet you
are gone, you are gone,
you are gone….

dipped into water
the night full of swallow-tails
dreams of bright mirrors.

i.

dusk melts into walls
and corners,
the sun begins to dip,
below the earth
little islands of
light and shadow.

ii.

the light softens,
carries us towards
the sentry keeper
of the blue earth
the night’s noble
gaze.

iii.

rose-wood and indigo,
immense cloud
washed-out like
faded denim,
stars in summer’s hollowy skies.

iv.

as dark as a tinted window
the land breaks free
from the sun, dissolves
into shadows bent
into a thousand shapes
and altitudes
like softening rivers
of the mind.

v.

uncovered, the night
forgets it flowers and its
prisms, relents to magical
seas of black ink.

i.

the ocean breathes....
like a tapestry on the
wall you weave silken threads.

ii.

like a moon beam
caught in a silver sky
emotions deepening
the heart like a dome
coleridge in my liquid, ghostly heart.

iii.

imagination ripples,
slumbering dreams
crescendo and then die,
or travel on in their lucid
consciousness, streams of
effortless light taking me
to flower gardens and
moon-ful paths.

iv.

trembling, where the
ghosts lie hidden,
i gasp for breath.

v.

set me free, of these
lonely tides
where the sea beckons
throws its driftwood
at the shore, will eventually
break the land with its swaying
wave-like grasses.

the colour of stars,
blue inks,
strange excitements,
beating wings,
a shadowy sea.

the seas endless crescendo,
summer roses,
shadowy inks of the stars.

gathered up,
spells and sorcery,
budding silver moon,
eyelashes melting,
sweet, sweet kiss.

i.

the night wanders
down a beautiful pathway
where a river sighs and
everything is filled with the quiet light of stars.

ii.

bird, fluid as a dream,
sky, river of air,
stream of colossal cloud.

iii.

ghosts winding through
dream clouds, tall castles,
ivy-covered walls.


iv.

jasmine sea,
torn landscape,
loves battered roses.

v.

still i wait for you
the sky is filled forever
with all my tears.

ocean, song of a dark
night, me so jealous
i weep.

i.

branches of black night
the rain taps on the roof
everything is unguarded
a bird breaking open the sky like
a dark tear.

ii.

our love, rooted to
the earth, scattering
bright oceans
tender as a star.


iii.

dance of love
limbs wild and joyful
lull of a kiss.

iv.

ocean breaking, each wave,
flowing back to its watery song,
flooding and flowing,
flooding and flowing.

i.

shadows of a dark world
the stars are cut out of paper
their blues unwinding the skies.

ii.

night drifts and drifts
its luminous notes
driven against a burning
bridge.

iii.

clouds scurry and break
shiver along like silvery rivers
fold origami corners onto
the breeze.

iv.

tragic stage of a darkening world
i dream of flowers, i dream
of the sea.


v.

your love sings out
and i am happy once more
bathed in dark rapture.

i.

dark curves, branches of
a tree caught in a valley wind
of tangling breath.


ii

everything unwinds
summer pools into corners
weeps for
forgotten love.

iii.

this is a dark valley
no ocean, no sky of song.

iv.

night intercedes
lets its other-worldly nectars
dissolve, unclasps me from these
breaking seas.

inspiration, the dark soul
deranged, an eagle flowing
with the sky, a poem carving
itself out of oak, everything
surging, everything uncovered,
joys, mad, mad joys.

moon-ghosts and iron roads,

the night is full of white bones,
skulls in my jacket,

the horizon scurries to
free itself drawing in
its breath,

there is nothing earthly here
no love, no bird knotting the sky with its wings.

wrapped into you, my love,
i cannot be closer,

the rains flood the rivers
with their green
summery banks,

nettles in the dead land,

a hint of the sun,

kisses, unforgettable,
lips made of falling seas.

roses, wild and overgrown break the sky
with their cloudy blossom,

image of a lily on a smooth pond,

the light flooding through lilacs,
delicate as a breeze.

i.

night pours water
from a jug,

the earth is softened by
the tears of the rain.

ii.

i dream, the dark
unravels its flowers,

ghosts whistle and hum.

iii.

we pocketed stars and honey
moons, unwrapped summer seas
our love more tender than dream,
our love the night’s caverns
of black inks, timeless and
filled with dark golds.  

iv.

you wrap your legs
around mine and we sink forever,
sink like the sway of a tide
emboldened with love.

oracle of sound
emotions deepening
ochre filaments
dark enchantment
summer shore.

the sound of a wave lapping,
summer thickens

and suddenly everything is
vaguely surreal, under the
hidden stomach of the stars

ghosts of silver struggle
in the white light.

when the water splashes
little islands croon.

love, rescues me from
the millions of pieces
where i lie scattered.

clouds unwind
bring winter
in their white breath
dissolve and murmur
to the sea-sombre skies
of the scurry of wind
and wave
of the tumultuous
ache of the night
its oceans
its impenetrable
depths
its shore-slumbering
lights, in the thick
folding of winter
mist
the wonderment
of cloud.

walls of smoke          
ghost girl
floating

the small hours
dance to the song of
the moon

placed on a
wooden coat hanger
the satin clouds of the dark.

the thunder of
a small bird.

a poem grows shadows
and moonscapes,

the moon,
withered sapphires,
undone,
her open windows
a thread of bright
light.

pouring through
the body, heavy as
night’s alabaster walls,
light as a dancer’s arabesque,
temporal,
unearthly,
the flowers of the dark.

carnal scattering of
root and banished leaf,

merely human, the day
spreads maple leaves
like dark gusts of wind.

clouds more
intense in their
deep questionings,

the sky blossoms
like an early rose,  

the earth takes a deep breath
mourns for the brightest stars,

the moon gathers
mirrorings and soft
icicles, dreams of summer’s
thin feathery wings.

i.

november empties
its ghosts and its clouds
unwinds like falling leaves
in the ivories of a bright dawn.

ii.

shadows sing then
die with the rising sun,
fastening her buttons
of smoke and cloud
the sky lies like a leaf yet to fall.

iii.

vowels glide on the wind
like little seas of sober
waves.    

iv.

the soft ambers of the sun
break and spill
remind us that we are
wild oceans of love
that we too can burn.

gold avenues of the sun
the playful wind
throws the leaves into
confusion
whispering like the
seas ebb and flow
carrying the leafy dreams of
the day
into my pockets
i drown, drown like a jealous tide
in the waves of your love.

i.

in the air
the sweet flow
of a bird.

ii.

drawn, perfect blossom,
the wind that refuses to settle.  

iii.

november’s fine golds
melt like clouds.

iv.

i burn for your kiss
like a bird that stays
with a boat
my lips seek your lips
forever.

i.

autumn’s leaves
scattered in pools,
a cloud of fine gold.

ivy scented skies
break free.

ii.

trees conjure dreams,
flow like a night breeze.

iii.

the sun is remote,
the fires of a wild sea,
damask shores
where we sink
to the floor....

iv.

sink further,
where quiet walls and skies
pierce our yearnings,
uncover a naked flame.

an eerie song that sings of secret trysts,
of long lost love, of desolate despair
that climbs upon the ghostly midnight air,
where winter seas are bathed in cloudy mists.
and i am captivated by the cries
of melancholy winds and stormy waves
that sing around the lonely ocean caves
and drown the heavens with their lovelorn sighs.
a voice that whispered; "once i loved her so
that the wide sea could not keep us apart,
the sound you heard the beating of my heart,
or murmur of the tide, you'll never know."
as if the sea was haunted by a ghost,
who called my name along the weary coast.

she wanders through the forests and the groves,
her bare feet scarce upon the mossy ground,
as day sinks into night without a sound
and sunset fills the skies with pinks and mauves;
and like a restless breeze she wildly roves,
a love-lost woodland dryad, summer-crowned
and who could ever guess where she was bound,
or why the sea so whispered near the coves.
her eyes as bright as a white-feathered dove,
beyond the river, near a sheltered tree,
she rests awhile finds lilies for her hair,
their flowery mist no prettier than she,
(enchanting in the hearkened, vibrant air,)
her heart soft-brimmed with longing and with love.

the blackbird sings of summer from the oak,
a ladybird cavorts upon the rose
and while the sunlight hours sweetly spoke,
i dreamt of meadows where the poppy grows.
i dreamt of tranquil moons and nightingales,
the sun an amber flame against the sky,
i dreamt of old romance and holy grails,
the evening closing in, the day drifts by.
the petals fall, soft pinks, confetti thin,
cool walls of fragrant blooms that fall too soon,
a gentle breeze that brushes on my skin,
reflections pale, a lazy afternoon.
my soul bathed clean, the sunlight blinds the eye
the wild rose must lament and so do i.

oh, caverns of the moon so cold and dark
beside the trembling waves that drift and spool,
where urchins cling and breezes blow so cool,
such stony blackness vaulting in an arc.
upon the thorny land you make your mark,
beside the sea, that undulating fool
who clowns around and gathers in a pool
upon your doorstep, ocean green and stark.
and something draws me close, a story told,
fantastical, where hidden paths begin,
a dragon's secret hoard or horses white,
who foam like sea-spray in the frail moonlight,
(surrendering night's depths that brood within)
or some lost world bright crowned in ornate gold.

high over clear-washed stone, faint whispering,
the moon-bright tide cascades, the wild sea rose
has blossomed, nodding where the salt wave flows,
the wide unconquered brines great murmuring.
storm rock, night air, the white foam glistening
on wandering sand, the night's rich harvest grows
as passive as a flower, the sea-breeze blows
above the glassy ocean's thundering.
our love as free as this the windswept wave,
its rhythmic sigh, here in your arms i seek
a treasury of love, exotic gems,
before the folding tide, the current's slave.
the stronghold falls, the sleeping waters speak
of soft goodbyes and watery diadems.

enchantment waits above the castle towers,
the midnight gleam unholy, she is lost
to darkling clouds and battlements of frost,
and enigmatic night shows all her powers.
bewitched by ages white as lily flowers,
the ivy creeps upon the broken walls,
a kingdom for the prince, high ceilinged halls,
fall, fall to dust and long the starry hours.
great knights in armour, restless for a fight
on thundering horses storm into the night,
with swords unsheathed towards their deathly foe,
and love is lost with nowhere left to go,
the mighty fall, their army silver bright,
beneath a slumbered moon the south winds blow.

awake my love! oh, don't be weary-eyed
and hearken to my lover's serenade,
i'll take you to the dryad's mossy glade,
leave slumber like a mist upon the tide.
i'll whisper secrets in your moonstruck ear,
declare my passion in the midnight hours,
where fairies hide beside the milky flowers
and i'll be tender for i hold you dear.
we'll sit where moonlight glimmers in the trees,
drink honey mead and toast the balmy night
and you will find enchantment and delight,
oh, how i'll love you, how i'll laugh and tease.
the stars will guide us shining in the deep;
awake my love! awaken from your sleep.