On still autumn nights
When only I walk the earth
You remind me of hope

I study your face every chance I get
Count the lines on your forehead
Memorise the curve of your lip

I take mental polaroids
To pin up around my mirror
So I can keep every angle
And every expression
Just in case

Just in case you go
Or somehow I forget you

Just in case I can't remember
How alive you look in this very moment
Or the rich chocolate of your eyes
In case I forget the stubble on your cheek
Or the inhibitions of that wide smile

I could take a thousand pictures
I could write a million poems
But I can never quite capture
The life I see in you

I press my lips to the memory
Of your soft mouth pressed against mine
Your strong arms 'round my waist
Pulling me closer
So I can drown in your heady perfume

Tonight my bed is cold
Tonight you are far away from me
But I can almost feel your smooth skin
Tantalising beneath my fingertips
I remember your rough chin
Grazing against mine

And all those pretty somethings
That you whispered in my ear
Tonight, they appear in pixels
Only tangible in cyberspace

But your ghost is still here, love
It spreads like butterflies through my chest
And though we say goodnight
Without kisses, without my arms 'round your neck
Those brown eyes still stoke the fire
And tomorrow will bring the flames
As my blazing heart welcomes you home again

I can barely stand
The nearness of you.

Your sleeping body shifts
And you capture me with slumbering arms.
The warm breath at the back of my neck
Melts the frozen parts of me,
But there is no use for a lukewarm heart.

Can't you see how your fingertips linger
Or how you scorch me with the warmth of your skin?
This closeness could be the end of me.

You, all of you,
Eyes like chocolate
And lips like strawberries,
I want it all.

And your touch
Is driving me mad.

These feelings for you
Are stronger than my heartbeat.
They bubble up under my ribs
And crush my lungs,
Much like the way you crush
Your lips against mine.

A single glance.
Just one look and I can feel you
Emptying my soiled soul
And filling it with better things.

It's almost like you don't know your power,
You can't understand your hold over me.
I can barely understand it myself.
But at night,
When you lie down beside me,
I can feel your life
And it brings me to my knees.

This is so much bigger than me.
I can't contain this feeling in my body;
I need you to know
That without food, without light,
I would find a way to survive
If only to have one more chance
To crush my lips against yours.

I brush your brown hair
Away from your lightly-closed eyes,
Place a kiss on your tender forehead
And shoulder my bag,
Heavy with responsibility.

How I wish I still lay beside you,
Curled up in your arms
With your prickly chin on my shoulder.
But the sky is bright
And I know
I must leave and 'seize the day'.

The slow rise of your chest haunts me, dear,
While I brace myself for the end of the world.
No rumbling car or ringing phone
Could drown out your sleeping sighs.

I must go -- I must go!
Tear myself away from our cosy nest.
But slumber on, my dearest one,
For when you wake, I will adore you.

Could you tell me, dear,
Where our bones will rest
When the sea swallows the earth
And the sun swallows the sky?

Will we lie atop mountains?
Poised as prayers to the stars,
They could surely keep us
Among their frozen peaks.

Will we lie upon sands?
Warmed by centuries of sunlight,
We could bask in the fires
Before burning alive.

Shall we sleep beneath oceans?
The secret worlds of silence
Could hide us from the end
And carry us with the currents.

So long as I lie with you,
The stars can fall to the pavement
And the cities can collapse.
There is peace to be found in your presence.

It's that tiny kiss
You plant on my shoulder blade
Just as I'm falling asleep

It's the way you nudge me
With your prickly chin
And pull me closer
Holding me to your firm chest

And when you wake me
Those feverish kisses
Hold the dark together
You press against me
And we are the walls

But when morning comes
It's your sleepy embrace
And you are my favourite place in the world

Oh.
Hello there.
I didn't hear you come in.

You snuck up on me
And stole my breath away,
Didn't you?
It's okay, I'm not angry,
Just amazed that I'm still breathing.

What is this?
Your name makes my heart skip a beat
And my breath catch in my throat.
It's the most delightful feeling.

I could just drown in you.

He is cherry trees in the spring evening,
precious to behold as night slowly falls.
He speaks with a softness never-failing
to capture all the weary he enthrals.

With a grace like Heaven, he passes by
and snatches me up from the soiled floor.
He is the daystar in the morning sky,
glowing brightly from behind the closed door.

If only I could catch him when he sings,
place a mirror before his smiling face,
I could show him all of the beautiful things
that he hides in this poor, forgotten place.

We could talk like friends in free, easy speech
but, alas, he is just beyond my reach.

We are the wood
And we stand as one
While outside, the world unfolds

Mother Earth is ever-shifting
Her children have grown feet
And we look on
As they warily step closer

Hush, children
Quiet now
Man treads between our trunks

Wide-eyed, he stares
Up through our branches
Shafts of daylight glow
Through dappled shadows

From the springs
He takes water
In a silver chalice
Of shining light

But he changes
When night falls
And the howling
Chills him to the bone

He has magicks
And strikes the stones together

A quick spark
And a flame

Furious winds beat
At the strange scarlet water
That climbs higher
Charring our skin

We stand helpless
Sweating sap
As the frantic, blistering heat
Bears down upon us
Tearing us away

And when the rains come
The blaze gives in
And dies away
Leaving nothing but ashes

But Man left his magicks

We are the whispering wood
Standing solemn and silent
Watching
As a single sprout
Peeks through the soil

You are the ocean
And I am a tiny boat
Bobbing about on your surface

You are fathomless
The home of shadows and lost worlds
And the keeper of secrets

You are sometimes serene
And your touch is delicate
You lap at the edge of the world

But you are terrible
Your rage builds walls of water
You crush entire fleets with your might

You are eternal
The wonder of all whisperers
Filled with a lifetime of reflected heavens

And I am made of wood
Drifting aimlessly through you
'Til I smash against your rocky teeth

I spend so much time
Pinching the skin
Between my thumb and forefinger
Hoping that the pain will grab the tears
And drag them back into the ducts

I have to shoulder the burden
Though my insides are trembling
And my soul is shaking apart
For these ghosts pale in comparison
The the skeletons in your past

Still, the tears spill
And I need to cling to you
Because you are my shattered rock
And you're steady enough for me
Let me be steady enough for you