Comrades and friends
What seems to be
Is not what really is
When I fall into a hole
You’ve dug for me
You are with me in it
When the swell of the tide
Sweeps me away into oblivion
You dare not rejoice
For the same tide
Will hasten your passage
When it’s your time
Those that harm the body
Only scratch the outer shell
Inside where I reside
I remain beautiful and unscathed
And live to fight another day
Propelled by you *****-nilly
To other realms
In other dimensions
Thus accomplish I
What you fear to contemplate
Mine is a feat for all time
While you wonder and speculate
Endlessly ...

sun sinks beyond the hills
the shadows begin to dance
a thin shapeless eerie dance
and night falls upon us all

big red ball in the early east
and the wily sun also rises
another prickly reminder
that night falls upon us all

now the sounds of fear fill our hearts
we wonder what the new day brings
borne upon a dawn etched by the gods
of timeless mystery and bewilderment

cuddled together in a warm embrace
we drive the frost and the froth of life
from our sore and penitent hearts, and
night falls upon our worst nightmares

Sometimes you stand aside
and weep over things not done
And sometimes you wait and wail in the wings
wondering where the rain beat you

and the moon wraps me in its dust
a cold dust that freezes my sore skin
as the stars twinkle in a warm vigil
over my yearning body ablaze with
the fire of quests still to be satisfied
together the moon and the stars brew
a romance in bloom like wild flowers
starring the open fields with colour
the old moon weeps cheerless songs
    melodies never before heard
by untutored human ears
or played by arthritic fingers
in search of a miraculous cure
as acidic woes from dim pasts and distances **** nascent dreams
stranger than the quirkiest fictional tales
is the story of cold moons in tropical skies
nevertheless i shall lean forever towards that dream
whose promise is a pale shadow of reality

I am thinking with some nostalgia
about the simple but unforgettable things we shared
and how beautiful everything seems now with time gone by

There were four of us clumsy but sturdy Mother's boys
One Sunday best shirt and one Sunday best pair of shoes
We took turns to go to church and proudly wore our shared attire

The other boys on our street - how they envied us our pair of longs!
Gray flannel freshly-laundered with benzine and neatly-ironed
Worn so proudly and revered like a family coat of arms


We shared the near misses and the sore heartbreaks as well
When it wasn't your turn at church she looked around for you
With marble-sized eyes, this girl - the one for whom you fell

I remember the bitter tears I cried when you tore our shirt
And I could not keep my tryst with the one who sent me crazy
The things that we shared - how they broke our hearts sometimes!

But the beauty of it all was there was no malice or avarice
We accepted our fates and guarded the family secret
And none so jealously as I did though I was often in tears

In the first few years
Time ‘s just a word
Thereafter, time’s a hurdle
In the twilight years
Time’s so expendable
Yet so hard to find

this is the last mile of the long way
       i'm homeward bound
my bubbly resolve now holds sway
      i'm on the home stretch
this is where my dream comes true
       i'm firm and positive
this time around i took the right turn
      and i must surely get the prize
this is where we smile and are happy
     i'm one of the chosen few
this time the glow is huge and luminous
and my struggle leads to the next struggle
     this time my reward is certain
she waits for me with a glass of cold water
lodged deep inside the pupils of her eyes
     and i know i dreamed it all up again

tonight
the wailing wind
is my bane
as i look through the pane
of the hard crust of my pain
and wonder how i got to be this way
a homeless drifter on an elite highway
exhaling cigarrette smoke like a chimney
in the numbness of a freezing winter spell
selling a dozen crabby tales for a quarter
to bored yuppies aching for kicks
along the stiff terrain they must negotiate
to reach the peaks i scaled before i fell from grace
the whispering breeze tonight
is my lullaby as i struggle to sleep on my feet
and capture these rare moments of life in heat
on a day when a girl's smile is everything
and a stale slice of bread makes me a gourmet
dining on the rancid cast-aways of a third rate cafe
the twinkling stars tonight
are my peers as we help each other through the night
and a call-of-the wild song keeps playing in my heart;
it says classics are melodies woven in moments of adversity
and that i must continue to hog the fringes of society
and *****-nilly help salve the consciences of those who need someone
to throw the rich crumbs of their excesses at

in my dreams i'm in a car
and i'm driven like a star
the crowds yell their adulation
elated i soak in the adoration

in my dreams nothing is impossible
and everything is just so possible
the hapless ones whine their malice
undeterred i rinse the silver chalice

in my dreams the prize of my longing
is the open door through which i'm going
though my goal is a starry distance away
i trudge on and do not mind the drudgery

in my dreams i cling to the elusive sweetness
of a myriad near-misses and close shaves
and time like a dream keeps on flying,flying
into ethereal worlds unknown in fancy blue

in my dreams  the sun's always shining bright
the clouds are always fleeing life's warm breath
and i'm like the messenger that never arrived
with the good news of life for all who labour

in my dreams the sound track is melancholic
it is played in low dignified notes that mourn
a past that has become the miserable present
and cry about a future that is temperamental

in my dreams everyone has a dream come true
and everyone weeps till they can weep no more
the silence is spiced with occasional sighs
and deep words that never die ride the wind

i hear the sound of a voice
a voice true and enigmatic
and in its magical presence
comes visions of beach and sun
sand, foam and jumping fish
palm trees laden with fruit
and ancient canoes battling
waves all through the night
oftentimes i hear that voice
carrying my name on breezes
and showing me where i go
as the days roll into the future
and i look back and linger
wondering who's to be pitied
and who in the end envied
that voice is like an auditor's
wanting to know why and why
these many columns remain full
and how come my fun account
remains solid and untouched
that voice, life's inner throb
makes me sore unfulfilled

Wherever the drum is sounded
There will his feet and ego lead him
For there's none so adept as he
At fouling the mood with a few
                home truths
when the village brew is frothy and virile
There too will his keen appetite him drive
For there's none so deferred to as he among
Folk hungry for forgivable misdemeanor
                and some home truths
He's the inimitable village drunk
Endowed with a surfeit of expletives
For there's none so free as he here
To douse all and sundry in invective ubiquitous
               laced with a few home truths
This village drunk is high on the power granted him
By a grateful captive audience that's allowed him
Freedom to free them of secrets and all
When he dons his invisble crown and dispenses
              a few home truths 'bout everyone

change is a constant
motion in life's instant
organic factory of growth
thus the folds at the back of my head
are a recent intrusion against my image
so are the hairs in my ears
and in my now dilated nostrils
you used to have these lovable dimples
and a delectable bounce in your walk
but now all you ever do is talk and talk
about the fictional excellence of your life
and how you're much sought after
even in this, the twilight of your days
            head bald as an egg
            walk a dawdle
           mouth a dark cavern
           physique like a sumo wrestler
           memory like a closed book
          and demise like a meteor
will i know you when i see you again?
my heart has kept you frozen and young

This is the most likely place
to hide a secret and be safe
And Grandpa needed to be safe
Gleefully they hung all rebels
So he vanished into the night
across rivers and mountains
and right here under this tree
he put everything to rest:
what his heart ached for,
friends, family and love
in exchange for freedom
My obsession now is to reconstruct him
So with my heart in my mouth
I dig and scrape 'neath this old tree
But all I see is a gaping hole staring up at me
Grandpa's primitive gun has eluded discovery,once again.

we never really forget the pain
since our hearts carry the stain
etched there by wanton partners
driven by unbridled debauchery
and a wild sense of adventure
so we never really forget the ills
and we never forgive the sins
of our lovers in a thousand years
so let your unseeing eyes weep
and your foolish heart bleed
till the bare truth is wrung out
of the chronicles of your malice
and i have the lovely satisfaction
of seeing you squirm unforgiven
as it dawns on your indolent mind
that you can never make amends

always  always be ready for when trouble
comes knocking on your door with a flayed knuckle
for trouble always has a bare visage to make you buckle
it always has the patience of an hour glass and its sand
thus, you must needs learn how to endure and stand
against troubled winds in a sometimes irksome world

this is where it was always leading
this parting of the ways, this fleeing
from the sore shots of life's arrows
it was always coming, this pulling
asunder in the glow of a last twilight
so fare thee well my friend and foe
you who slew my hopes and dreams
and made sure there were no streams
to cool my burning soul and quench
this horrible thirst that still persists
i hunger for the warmth you exuded
and thirst for that temperate streak in you,
a virtue now so rare and dear in this world
most are well-schooled in shameless artifice
so here now i sit in this elevated oblivion
watching you melt into the unkind distance
fare thee well, my spring and my nemesis
i shall in time learn to want nothing gone

life could be a pure wonder
with lots of real thunder
if we all became babies again
no past,present or future
just a drooling ,dribbling life
where everything is wondrous
and we trust  everyone too; in a
haven of arrested development
then would we spend eternity
trying to decipher baby babble
and the world would be safe

her glossy lips
a poisoned chalice
and her eyes
a flaming brand
to sear the heart
she shot toxin
into his slain ego
and he groaned
a dirge folorn
till its shreds
fled in the wind
and the swirl in her subsided
but she saved the best for last
you don't get it, do you?
in the country of my heart
you're dead and buried
she said
ground to dust under my heel
you don't get it, do you?
he felt a great darkness creeping in
and knew his day was done
as was hers, her ire being spent
with a hypnotic smile
and a darting red tongue
she gave him the kiss of death
and eased him into oblivion
without so much as a qualm

In their time
In their clime
They did
what they could
And it stood
What do we do
In our time
And in our clime?
Will what we do stand?
O fellow poets, have a heart
Be not like Aeschylus
the poet on Greek shores
so distracted and abstracted
he could not see
the lamagayer's missile
aimed at his shining dome
Your poetic heart should be home
singing sweet phrases to scarred clouds
and healing the wounds
from uncaring man's foolhardy actions
Write poetry to make the ocean's heart
heat up and sweat
Make the clouds ravenous
Till they weep upon the earth
and the world becomes a sea of green

little bird up on high
out of me tease a sigh
and thrill me till i'm prone
flap your graceful wings
and rise into the blue
little bird heaven-bound
sing your catchy song
but dear please I pray
don't make it too sad
lest the sky weeps
in deep melancholy
and my eyes in reverie
sympathetic, soak the world
with a flood of sad tears

i'm on a mad rush
to see each one gush
that lovely smile
not one but many
in each new mile
lest i procrastinate
and find one sad day
that people have forgotten
how to smile and be happy
that they have become too civilized
let me capture the sun in their eyes
and savour the deep spontaneous laughs
by people with authentic feelings
quite unlike the plastic brigade
nurtured on too much television

let me tell you now just how i saw you:
you wooed the world with your sublime figure
accentuated by that supreme  walk of art in life
that became you so well in love without strife
i saw and felt the beauty reposed in you
but how futile and hapless now
this belated lyric to you
you must have come from a constellation of stars
your name should have been stella or estelle
queen of the skies who made earth her chosen abode
and walked upon it like a storybook queen
you spoke like a fabulous heartthrob
and had us transfixed like pilgrims in worship
your enigmatic gaze was magnetic
wafting but unseen incense oozed from your nostrils
as milk and honey danced upon your lips
later to nourish my thoughts and limbs
in the solitude of early evening as venus began to rise
in truth you were a goddess on sabbatical
and your fabled home is in the cosmic mists of time
where i hunger to be a devoted acolyte in your service
forever chanting the treasured words: it is well

when your child starts speaking like a sage
you're no longer in a fast prisoner's cage
your deed's done; you can be frivolous once again
and spend time on the useless things that tickle you

the dud man wanted a saint
but she failed his mean test
even after a faint and a feint
with a huge sigh he let it rest
took up his rucksack and left
she cast him  a long wistful look
her slumped pose the picture
of internal dejection and anguish
sharpened by an endless lament
that she'd not shown him his theft
of the aching heart of a  live woman
of vibrant flesh, blood and dreams
she longed to tell him straight
she was not an idea to be analysed
and later discarded like an abused rag
but the unkind distance engulfed him
even as the rays of the sinking sun
blended their gold with his yellow attire
thus she knew as of that unfeeling day
such mishaps were the very fabric of life

i'm the blue sky
with a swallow careering around it
i'm the void
that has room for you no matter what
i'm the blue sky
dotted with fluffy clouds
on some lazy afternoon
i'm the blue sky
waiting for evening to come
and you're the star
that lights me up on dark nights
see how i blossom
and how you tickle the smiles out of me
we emblazon the universe with soulful bliss
and we're for ever riding the wings of time

When words are used to express uncertainty
As if they are the source of knowledge and wisdom
Know you then: no matter what we might say
All in all it's just another blind walk in the dark

when i found you
i was looking for the sun in a smile
i was waiting to catch a melody from silent lips
and i was hoping for a latterday miracle on demand
when i found you
i was hungry for showers of adulation from your eyes
i wanted you to cry rivers and oceans because you'd found me
i wanted to recline upon a dream dressed in fanciful whims
and i wanted you to be the reason for happiness and wonder
when i found you
i was looking to spice up my life and give it  lots of deep thunder
when i found you
i was searching for sweet temptation in the arms of life's puzzles
i was waiting to hear the whine of the wind and the voice of a breeze
sailing the blue skies on a perfect afternoon for wishing and dreaming
when i found you
i knew you were the enigmatic lover and muse of my yearnings
and i knew i was looking at someone to contemplate in eternity

i'm checkmate the bomb
i always make things a gas girl
i'm ubiquitous and unavoidable
i'm a social engineer,
making things happen for good time girls
i'm the promo man
i advertise curvaceous wares
and multiply the client base
i'm hoping to go exponential soon
I'm a moneyfinder par excellence
i can sniff it from miles away
and i know how to make a fool and his money
go separate ways
as for the miserly ones, we prise it away so adeptly
they can't help applauding us
the rich and affluent ones looking for an experience -
we cater for them as well
they're easy to spot from miles away
that bored vacuous look is hard to miss
i'm a connoisseur of bohemian girls:
the ones who play sweet and innocent to perection
their jumping eyes can send even you into a rhapsodic spin!
the leggy ones with shape and hips
delectable girls with unbelievable curves
the slim portable women that some want to take away
mmmm... and the buxom ones with bountiful chests of sweetness
i can supply extras too! just name it and i'm your man
i'm the paymaster and the insurance man to book
i'm security too, my boys don't brook any nonsense - be warned!
and hey man, do i have style! tailor-made suits, gold-capped teeth,
handmade shoes and handwoven ties to complete the rout
my principles are strict and regular; no sampling of the stock
although...
if it's sylvie i sometimes make an exception
sylvie knows how to rock and how to roll
she's what every man hopes to find during his prime*
now don't you dare go all weepy and disapproving on me mate,
it's not personal - just business!

cry baby, cry, though you are no crybaby
cry, baby cry, they must hear you in the end
those whose privilege it is to dispense favours
hope, baby hope, confetti might drift your way
whispered on by your delayed gratification