~~
Never ignore a woman's gift
For it's the best thing she could give
Do not underestimate her offer
Never take it for granted or leave
~
She could give you a slice of cake
But she will choose to give you a whole
Her gift could be little in your eyes
But it's the total of her heart and soul
~
A woman's gift is not for the eyes
But for the spirit of those who feel
So never ignore a woman's gift
It is for you if you are real
~~

A tic for a tac
And all of that
Once gone, it'll never come back

A penny for your thoughts
Because that's all you got
Even after all you sought

What comes around goes around
By this law we are bound
Even when silence is the only sound

You'll find all that glitters is not gold
You must take solace in what you hold
Before it spoils and turns to mold

Stuck between a rock and a hard place
This seems to be a hard case
Just stay in this space

So bite the bullet, till you bite the dust
See everything through eyes of disgust
For every thing turns to rust

So burn the midnight oil
So time your plans won't foil
Curl in on it's self and recoil

For this world is as cold as ice
Nothing in this place is nice
It will beat you up more than thrice

Brain is fried
Hands are tied
Soul has died

Just pound that last nail in the coffin
Please do not speak of us often
We'll be in the ground just rotten

©Pauline Russell

There was a handmade cake on my table
and a letter with immature hand:

I start with this
but know that
whenever and wherever I bake a cake
you'll be in my mind.

It tasted not that sweet
I remember
and she was never to make another
in my corners of bitter December.

I have no other Christmas memory.

There couldn't be.

Never really mastered the art of intrigue,
I sometimes wish I had that skill,
Of treading light,
Of being the diva
Surrounded by a mist of aura,
Controlled in laughter,
Calculatedly revealing,
Measuredly unraveling
Her inner self.
I stomp in love,
I bare it all in love,
I laugh with abandon,
I shout with animation,
I cry in immoderation,
I never really learnt to leave
Anything for the imagination,
And it's the greatest gamble,
The toughest game,
To tear your heart out and
hold it in your palm,
And show it to them,
Look, this is how I beat,
Not many can deal
with someone this real.

tepid waters do not lie
gale is to cyclone
as rain to thundercloud
no amount of counter-spin
will make them anything other
than atmospheric unrest

El Niño, La Niña
how to read
the unsettled waters
upwelling from the deep
what should feed us
leaves us starving, weak

orcas encircle their kin
emaciated mother, tiny calf
dying from ocean’s lack
while we look on and moan
all the power to change
if we only cared to own it

I don't want to know their name
I don't want to know who they are
I don't care if they make you feel
they aren't me.

Not me,
who's cradling your head in my hands
or wrapped around you thigh deep
or gently coupled by the lips
slung over your bed sheets
resting over your heartbeat
tracing the lines of your love
tipping your chin,
looking deep into your soul
and you meeting me there.

It was too real to ever let go
but you did
please don't explain
I don't want to know