Dragged into the water
Left to sit, stagnant
Prodded from below
Here you go, baby
Take it back, swallow it whole, a fledgling flickered,
Too small to fly
Caught in wire, it’s legs bound and bleeding
Where was he when you opened your eyes, and became aware of the body next to yours?
Hot and wet from the same things
Do you have a song on your heart?
Scolded by cherries, the woman in the window and the decay
There they will run
Here I will hide

Sugar rushed
From your bedroom to the mountains
Where I was pushed
Left to fall
Cosseted by them all, their encouragements from the top
why was I going down?
Head first, limbs here and there
You were here, then there
Traced back on my back,
Black on black
So dark you could see the dust, and the dog hair
Stars from afar

Awake, just, in the evening
Sleeping in her hair

Eliza in one
holding crayons and drawing

Belle in two,
nodding over coffee
Sincere, bored.

Kate in her daydream,
bare faced and noble, stepping inbetween words
Content with violence, content with worry.

Pillow on my side,
Left in my right,
Lipstick on my mirror

Do not wander.

Chewing her way through:
I do not know
I am not
I am jumbled up and shaken, left here
Mouth full, when will the final point be?
When do the buds bloom?
When do I hear it?
Sword in their hands, redeemed
Fire and ash, cracked earth
Rivers hot and blue
Spilled over and frothed

I made some coffee,
I sat down to my duties
I took a deep breath, ate what was clean
Stretched like the cat,
The fist was mine
Somewhere else,
Coated and closed in
Closed out

Messiah in the gaps
I love you that much, this much
Too much, not enough
Too weak, you're hurting my arm
Colour me out
Leave in the space between
Leave with conviction, cabbage butterflies and coins
Look at it, give it away
Hold us in the silence, make me throw it all up
Lead us to the simplicity you that promised
Armour, a horse, a hill, a call, a new body
The joy of newness
The peace of sleep

The joy of newness
The peace of sleep

The joy of newness
The peace of sleep

Pressed apple child
Disgusted, enchanted
The city clogged us in, gurgled and choked up
in the middle of the room
Infant, in-fact
in the way
Get out of the way
Stuck with your hands
Blue nails, veins, a scar on your thumb

Holding onto the damp earth
Let it be
Kneel for the King and let him weep by you
Sit up, sip, breathe

Channel
A vein from head to feet
Thumped against wafer skin

Awful, wretched creatures
Spilt tea, you're warm, you're cold
Traffic jammed
I wish I'd lived by you less
Loved by you less
by memories that never happened
Hot room, liked by laughs
purple streamers, and 'This is our song!"
Long drives, flushed by newness
streetlights, and 'This is my song!"
Cake, toast
Pressed into the floor; you are here. I promise.
In on the joke,
Let us be unaware
Eden children, the rest is up to you
I can't bear this burden I wasn't given,
A new creation, after all.