We see ghosts in the eyes of all.
Scarred lives bleed onto screens
as spoon fed masses forget to use the word human.

Do they not bleed red?

We see fear fleeing war zones
while we in our comfort zones
mourn not the lives lost but the cost of the living.

We see children torn from wailing mothers.
Crushed and bloated by the weight of water
tiny bodies wash up lonely, suddenly silent
now mascots for a cause they did not choose.

Inaction is the thief of humanity.
Greed, it's protector, smiles down on the dying.
There but for the grace of God...

These scars that bind my heart
still bleed at the mention of your name.
You love that, don't you?

Motionless
I stare at my past
as it enters the present.
A rush of cold blood
dismantles my stance
as I shake within the bellowing air
and mourn as the act unfolds.

A first bloom
gold against green
proud headed and upright
swaying slightly in the March chill.
Oh such cheer in her countenance!
A presence of mind
breaks through frozen earth
leading a crescendo of life.
Abundance abound!
Beautiful as a glimmer in a childs eye
She cheers on the dawn.

Shatter me against your skin
shred my heart and drown my eyes
darkness whispers softly now,
temptation sings it's wicked lies.

Nail me to your whitewashed bones
tie my hands with spit and twine,
Flay my flesh til rawness weeps,
blood drips mark the passing time.

Hoist my heathen body high
my tortured soul the world to see,
that they may learn of what it means
to give a sacred heart to thee.

Love tore my throat in moment fleeting
as crimson heralded the dawn
a pretty penny paid his choosing,
then left my little ones to mourn.

My mind recalls his treasured whispers
while here I lay in sweet decay
cursed by the nature of my Mister,
now hidden from the light of day.

Though worms they feed upon my beauty
and soil has caked my raven hair
my soul remains in chains beside him,
on darkest nights he feels me there.

In terror now he wakes from dreaming
my name a scream that fills the room
his eyes meet mine and sweetly smiling
I pull him down to meet his doom.

As dawn approached I heard the news
they told me you had gone
the sun it shone in bluest sky
the birds chirped out their song
and here I sat with paperback
emblazoned with your name
as sadness visited a while
upon this fateful day.
The gift you gave in sweetest words
entrusted to us all
and now your heart has answered
the final sirens call
with heavy heart I write these words 
for you will write no more
in paper tomes you will live on
In peace forever more.

String my heart with daisy chains
and lower me to peace
to lie in wait for mercy's hand
to bring my souls release.
The nightingale will sing her song
to mourn the passing day
as flowers linger up above,
themselves in sweet decay.

You,
(Like the ink on my skin)
Are indelible.

Would you sell your soul for smiling
count my worth in copper coins
lay in darkness everlasting
trapped within these mortal *****

Push against the pins of daylight
lest their glory guide your eyes
away from me until the twilight
brings the pain of dark desire.

Tear at flesh and mark your longing
there upon my yearning breast
rid my heart of others wanting
until you are all that's left.

Lay with me but love me not
do not risk yourself for me,
words of warning grace my arm
my nature true, 
worn banner proud.
I am too many broken pieces to carry,
torn asunder
at the mercy of a cyclone mind.
My heart's key long banished
by one who walks at night
though never returns.
I will never be anything
but destruction.
Lay with me but love me not
Do not risk yourself for me.

My friend stands still as hours pass
and mocks me through the looking glass
Through whispered words of discontent
she breaks my heart with dark lament
and if I were perchance to die
She would not care and nor would I.

Oh won't you lay me down tonight
While moonlit shadows are at play
Our love will dance among the stars
then in my arms you'll always stay.

Doubt settles.
Internal voices
vicious, vindictive,
confirm contempt.
Laying low,
silently shaking,
catching breaths
beneath the fallout.
Darkness decends,
it's chill envelops
as hope dies eternal
my demise it's final joy.

Alice in Chains**

Bury me softly in this womb
I kept this part of me from you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers
In a tomb... in bloom

Down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved
See my heart I decorate it like a grave
Well you don't understand who they
Thought I was supposed to be
Look at me now I'm a man
Who won't let himself be

Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, losin my soul
I'd like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied

Down in a hole and they've put all
The stones in their place
I've eaten the sun so my tongue
Has been burned of the taste
I have been guilty
Of kicking myself in the teeth
I will speak no more
Of my feelings beneath

Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, losin my soul
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied

Bury me softly in this womb
Oh I want to be inside of you
I give this part of me for you
Oh I want to be inside of you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers (Oh I want to be inside of you)
In a tomb... in bloom
Oh I want to be inside...

Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, losin my soul
Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, outta control
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied

Did you travel here through darkness
Touch my cheek, whisper my name
your eager hand my swift undoing
your kisses bringing skin aflame.
Did you love me oh so deeply
as you entered velvet dark
did you hear my breathless yearning
did you race my bitter heart.
Now I wake in lonely bedroom
hushed and longing in your wake
I **** the earth, her cruel circumference
and beg her now my soul to take.
Tonight I'll sleep the sleep of angels
and dream as only sinners do
of distant shores and carnal pleasure
in hope it brings me back to you.

Play your sad guitar a while
that I may sing for thee
of words that sit within my heart
and technicolour dreams.

Play a tune of broken wings
now healed by tender hands
brought to flight by friendship strong
and moons in distant lands.

Harmonise with me this night
let music be our guide,
you see my soul in different light,
through darkness, where I hide.

Then I'll lift up my song to thee
the sweetest ever heard
and raise my voice in thanks once more
to friendship, love and words.

She sits draped in dreams
her dress made of scars
time drips, molasses slow
her torturous tormentor

She waits 
shackled to the memory of your touch
as she traces the curve of your smile
behind faded eyes.
Dust settles.

Your shadow will never arrive at her door
never again will her lips brush yours
of this she is certain
Yet wait she must....just in case.

Funny Child
sparkling sapphire eyes
full of misadventurous adventure and whirlwind mutiny.
Never be still
For you are the beat of my heart.

Out of the black
into deep blue
my soul swims
an ocean of tears
to a place of calm reflection.
Things I have lost,
places I've roamed
all distant now.

Echoes of a life shared,
the constance of a beating heart
are but strangers
now that fate has dealt her hand.
Stumbling through particles of time
within the overwhelming ache
of empty arms
I search for myself.

A collaboration with Jack**

For within the veil of darkness
where shadows dance in place of light
Searching for answers…lost smiles
along a curved road of desperation…I reach for your hand

You, my anchor, my beacon of light
shine down on me this day
call my name over roars of bitter sorrow
so that I may chase its echo back to you

And of this night I sing your name
melodic whispers upon a moonbeam
slowly peering through a saddened haze…parting
illuminating the silhouette of your beauty

Then we shall dance upon stardust
our arms and hearts entwined
no more by darkness captured,
your loving hand in mine

Now as we touch I find this light is not of me,
not of moon glow shimmering on the mist,
nor stars twinkling on a velvet night, it glows of your smile
which I have so longed to see…once again

You shoot words like bullets
Tearing me down
Every sentence delivers a blow
harder than the last.
You hate these words I write
they sit upon your heart like scar tissue.
"Not good enough,Never were
Never will be"
Your mantra will echo eternally.
You know not the damage you've done.

I sit at my window pen in hand
staring at blank pages, willing them to speak, to whisper something of my frustration and shatter the silence within.
I curse the ink that blackens my fingers as it flows without ebb, skillfully scratching out the mundane, the lists, the cards, the endless to do's, only to  become as mute as my friendless tongue when feelings threaten escape.
I struggle to contain all that I feel, all the loathing of all that I know and all that I am within this small form. The threat of drowning a reality and sometime solace.
Emotion unknown chokes my soul as fear cages my heart within it's cold clenching.
This art was my voice, my passage to sanity. Now ticking clocks and glowing paper mock my troubled mind.

While I wonder at the point of it all.

As she lies in the marble cold arms of her lover
she is still
Because she knows her soul is free
to soar through the darkness
under velvet sky
over blackened water
to where he sleeps
He that loves her darkness
He that lights her way

Free me now and leave me lonely
take your broken heart from mine,  dry your eyes, these tears won't save us
as we tread our final mile.
Scattered dreams and shared belongings
gathered up and set apart,
works of ours, once shared, now reeling,
silent, as we break their hearts

There's a mirror in the bedroom
in it stands a dying girl
fading now, her skin transparent
pale beneath her crimson curls.

Standing there beneath her heartbreak
weighted down by the love of man,
enchanted by her slowing heartbeat,
love lies bleeding in her hand.

Deep inside she holds a secret,
words that form a heavy cross
with brittle spine it's weight she carries
fearing judgement, feeling lost.

There's a mirror in the bedroom
at my broken self I stare
shaking now, I'll start erasing
till I am no longer there.

With a joint in the ashtray
and a pen in my hand
I travel through vapours
to my neverland
awareness fades slowly
to the drum beating time
as I float, now enraptured
slow-captured, sublime.
Where I am an island
no hurt at my shore
here grief doesn't beckon
'cause I love you no more
but deep in minds shadows
l feel you draw near
my bringer of sadness
sweet wringer of tears
I hear your dark whispers
rekindling our ties
I'm fighting, freefalling
through love laden lies.

Autumn approaches
hiding her dance of decay
beneath russet skirts.

Evenings bleed early
through chill days
bringing steel dawns.

All falls silent
as leaves pirouette gaily
to the swansong of summer.

Birdsong threads remain
as harmony takes flight
to sheltered shores.

Autumn approaches,
bitter winter tracing steps
in her glorious wake.

Glen Hansard**

I don't know you, but I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me and always fool me
And I can't react

And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
The moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black

Well, you have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice
You've made it now

Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing it loud

Dear Daddy
The best thing you ever did
Was leave.

I fear that it is my fate
to love deeply
in a world without echo.

There is a quiet whisper
in the corner of my mind
it speaks to me on dark days
when the sunlight I can't find

It speaks of secret hatred
wrapped up in friendship's ruse
and though I try to fight it
my will it soon subdues.

I struggle in my silence
hiding all behind my smile
no emotion breaks the surface
as I tell the world "I'm Fine"

There is a quiet whisper
growing quickly to a scream
as I weave a noose of secrets
bringing end to foolish dreams.

I am broken
I am scars
I am silence
I am darkness
I am trouble.
I am *****
I am damaged
I am faults wrapped in eager flaws.
I am unrepentant
I am shamed
I am shattered
I am irreparable.

I am lost.

I am every child that was ever taken too soon from the breast of its mother.
I am every girl who's innocence was shredded by greedy hands and hungry mouths.
I am every pill I ever lined up and swallowed in the hope of sating the voice that begged for my passing.
I am every whiskey I ever chased into oblivion with another...and another ....and another.

I am all these things

and yet

I am hope
I am beauty
I am laughter
I am free.
I am honesty
I am belief
I am truth.
I am.
I am worthy...
I. am. worthy.
I am healing.
I am loved.
Finally.

The tide charged in deeply, taking all that was never there for the asking.
Desecrated sanctity let flow scarlet rivers while the moon tied her tongue and the sand dried her tears.
A heaven of weeping constellations dimmed as she rose, this shaken child, silent and mourning, her innocence torn and bloodied by this fierce current that knew not her name.
She wept a tear of farewell, her eyes faded in acceptance of a fate once warned. Stumbling, ragged, once hallowed now hollow, she dared not ask why of the moonlit wind as it blew her homeward, to be forever the keeper of secrets.

Fly away little bird
flee from the blackness that swarms ever closer
it's bible-weight threatening the air in your fragile lungs.
Quicker now little bird, I beg you!
Soar above the hurt that dares
capture your soul
it has no comfort to offer
no warmth to grant
it will break your fragile wings
and steal you away to darkness
where your poet heart will sing no more.
Fly little bird. Please won't you fly...

If I could bring myself to you
on broken wings through dusky skies
we'd press our backs to twisted rails 
to sit and shoot the breeze a while

If I could bring you here to me
across the raging moon-bright sea
we'd walk down melancholy streets
and share our lovelorn broken dreams.

We'd sing in star lit shadows
and **** our broken hearts!
our laughter ringing through the night
and rattling the dark

We'd be silent as the sun rose
because this one thing we'd know
we may be broken sometimes
but we are more often whole.

If I could wish anything for you
I'd wish for a world where you are loved always
Your laughter it's most precious sound
Your smile it's most wondrous gift
The quest for your heart
It's most fabulous adventure.

If I die in this moment
back arched and brazen
your cursed name like nightshade
upon my ruby lips
will my sin be forgiven?

If I'm still here tomorrow
alive in loves echo
all things returned to rightful owners
familial harmony restored
will I be forgotten?

The sun mourns your absence,
her faded warmth muffled by wool- damp clouds
her once riotous light now muted
casting melancholy shades
over tear stained streets
as she listens for the echo of your laugh.

There will always be bad days and sad days and blue days
there will always be lonely too little of you days
there will always be dull days with nothing to do
but the best days are always spent dreaming of you.

There will always be love hiding just out of sight
There will always be searching for meaning and light
There will always be moonlight and lone whistle cries
but I'd trade all these wonders for one of your smiles

There will always be longing for far distant lands
There will always be words flowing out through these hands
There will always be friendship both steadfast and true
There will always be me, may there always be you.

Amidst the rich tapestry of our dreams
We walk side by side through the dark
Each longing for echoes of lovers long past
Both blindly in search of a spark.

Through turmoil and riot we stand apart
Our silence a sumptuous repast
To those who would too gladly dance on our bones
and witness each breath as our last.

I will scream into the void with you. Take my hand, let me calm your fears.I will weave my words into a shelter, a place of grace for your troubled heart.

Walk with me until the stars dim forever, until the sun implodes and only dust remains. I am here with you, there with you. Let my tangled thoughts be your remedy, your darkest dreams my salvation. Take my light, for I would rather walk in darkness unending than see the weight of sorrow on your pretty brow.

You are my privilege, my haven, my friend, this will always be, as long as there is breath I will use it to sing of my wonder at your strength and my joy at your existence.

If you believe in nothing else, I beg that you believe in me

I carry you within my heart
on travels far and wide
I feel your love with every step
your heartbeat times my stride

You come to me on birdsong
at the dawning of my day
a whisper on melodic breeze,
from you I'll never stray

You come to me when beauty's seen
in nature's finest things
the glory of a meadow wild,
the monarchs silken wings

You come to me when battles rage,
to softly dry my tears
and hold my heart there next to yours
diminishing my fears.

Then when the sun it sets once more
the time for roaming done
I'll watch the moon in grateful thanks
For you, my sweetest one.

I emerge from the cocoon of your chilled form with music in my knowing smile. My heart blossoms and beats without restraint. There is a sweetness to the air I cannot place, an electricity, tangible on the stirring breeze. My eyes lift to the heavens, grateful for the lack of salt that has marred their vision for so many years. I am all. I am everything caught whirling in this softening glow, this haze of glory mine to keep for all lifetimes that pass in the blink of wondered eyes. I embrace the morning with a love unfettered and know that she is mine. This is freedom.

Heat settles like dew
forming waves
above glistening tar
summer's slow breezes
are but a rumour now.
Birds fly amongst the blue
their song irrepressible,
chimes through the haze
as bees bustle busily
past parched pavements
to gather the nectar they crave.

You might think it silly
you might think it strange
you might think I'm crazy
or even deranged.
You can call me a hippy
a snowflake or worse
for putting my feelings
into rhyming verse.

My poems release me
from a world filled with hate
where everything's wrong
if its not white or "straight".
Where we persecute immigrants,
and  breastfeeding mothers,
the helpless, the homeless
and millions of others.

I yearn for a world
where we all live in peace
arm in arm with our brothers,
would we then find relief?
Or would hatred still flourish
in the smallest of minds,
passed down through generations
'cross the passage of time.

So, call me a Marxist, a snowflake, a hippie
call me a communist, bleeding heart leftie.
While you rail at the world with your ignorant view,
fearing all others who don't look like you.
I'll still be here like a thorn in your side
filled with love for my brother, with arms open wide.
Your hatred will fester, an insidious cancer
as you hoist up your flag and attempt  "Rule Brittania"

I'm all alone, sat here at home
my ***** mind begins to roam
I have an itch, I need to ease
won't you help me baby..please?

I'm sending out this sirens plea
in hope that you will rescue me
come to my aid and quell my plight
it can't be wrong if it feels right.

Lets tear at clothes and make some noise
I'm tired of all my other toys
that hum and rattle through the night
in hope of bringing sweet delight.

I beg you baby, roll the dice
kiss me once, then take me twice,
with you I'll play my favourite game
I promise you'll be glad you came.

The room felt shallow
time expanded and contracted with rapid blinks
shallow breaths became the fuse to my dynamite heart.
Struggling to avoid emotion
I flounder, slow motion roaming
to fast forward endings
pressure builds as fear blooms
it's dark petals clouding my vision
as my lungs beg for light.

I don't want pretty flowers
or jewels from distant lands
nor a glass of sparkling champers
as we eat in restaurants grand.
I have no need for riches
nor to lay on foreign sands,
I just want all my clothes ripped off
by rough and eager hands.

Do not unwrap me gently
like fragile, precious gifts,
please tear and break me open
with your teeth and passions kiss.
Don't take me to the bedroom
to conform in cotton sheets
as beds are made for comfort
and not for what I seek.

These walls are made for leaning,
and the table aims to please,
this carpet made for placing
stinging burns on hands and knees.
Or take me to the garden
make me scream unto the sun
and roll me round in morning dew
until the deed is done.

Take note of these instructions
and my sweet spot you will find
You've followed them a thousand times,
though only in my mind.

I will put my heart
in it's rightful place
locked away, defeated
quietly nestled in cold storage.

I am nobody's gift
Nor anyone's passion
I am not seen with heart shaped eyes
My belonging is futile

I will lay my pen to rest
I will drown in crumpled paper
as my tear stained muse
laments my echo

Love does not live
within the cracked walls 
of silent existence
Love does not sing
within the void I created
Love does not listen
to pleas made in darkness
Love does not love
me.