My name translates to friend

I see the many ways in which you ridicule me

The ways you shake the walls of my good home

The poison you administer

I see it all

But one thing I have

Is this

I'll come out on top

In a peaceful way

My name translates to friend

You can call me Ray



It's hard to stay away from those thoughts

Of letting lose

Nothing to lose

But I have everything

I took the blame

I walked in shame

I felt the pain


But one thing I have

Is this

I'll come out on top

In a peaceful way

My name translates to friend

You can call me Ray



I may not say it everyday

But that is what I mean

In that way

I am free

Today's magic word was God
As I set off for work at the pool
The moon showing the beginnings of a smile

I looked at all these people
And what was it?
Day in day out?

When we were young,
I saw God in everyone
Then he/she/it, slipped away from me

Today I thought about the workers
The parents
The world and the heartlessness

And I thought that God must be dedicated
God must be dedication
To something
Day in day out

There were goals,
And then there were goals

God must be dedicated
I thought to myself
As I looked and thought about us all
The moon smiling still

God must be dedicated
And so I thought
I dedicate myself
To this
To what I do and how I live

And somewhere in it
God would be visible

My imagination is aging
deteriorating

How I need a mountain view
A sea, salty and blue


I want to be a free spirit


Open the box
See it from the outside

Outer body, outer mind


I want to be a free spirit


I've been here for such a long time
Knowing what's behind

How I need a mountain view
A sea, salty and blue

I want to be a free spirit

I've broken down like a little girl

But there's another girl flying high thru the sky
Wielding her sword of freedom
The one she fought every day for

And another who has set up a house
With two more girls in it
Each of them
With an executive mark

But I've broken down like a little girl
Looking and feeling all sad

And all my sadness is in my feet
and I can't move
In my head and I can't think

But the minute it stops
I'll be a man again

And I'll please that little girl

Her name was Serenity
She's a recurring theme
She drew everyone's attention
Because she walked around completely naked


I saw her first at university
Studying poetry

Then around the people and the music
The warehouses and the art



I saw her in the red light district too
Like me, she must have been two people too

She must have worked her way up, it seemed
And didn't have to take her clothes off
She was all clad in black
We said hello, making eye contact



Her name was Serenity
She's a recurring theme


I saw her at a festival, we kissed and she showed me things for free
It was like a bad dream





Her name was Serenity
She's a recurring theme

And there she is again
Smiling, she's in a good place
And I'm here too
Who was it? Who did that to us?
It was anybody's game

Like all artistic hearts, we felt that responsibility


Her name was Serenity
She's a recurring theme

When I'm stuck in the train door
With my guitar
You're there running to help
Pulling at the doors
I look for you in the crowd
I look for you in a new town
And I know you're there behind me
I can hear your braided hair
Thankyou

She was young wild and free
Dressed bare and pretty

Singing with her ukelele

She said
Did you say, am I free?

Because she didn’t belong to anyone else
She was young wild and free

I was thinking I needed inspiration

She was young wild and free

I shook her hand
grabbed her tight
She pushed and smiled

She was young wild and free

Dark eyes and dark hair
Tomorrow she could be anywhere

In a dress
Singing
without a care
Pretty and bare

She was young wild and free

Is there a song
to right my wrongs
To set todays foot
Strong?

Cos I will be back
Where nothing matters again
I forgot, again
And again

Is there a song
To say that I care?
That I will be there
That I won't disappear
Like the way of things
Like flesh
Holding things too wide and heavy?

Am I wrong to think there is?
What about now?

I give to it the truth of my own freedom
My eternal reach for it

Cos I know I'll be back here
Where we know
Black inside and out
No-one to believe in
Only hard truths
Weak arms
Weak legs

New words

I pray you come
From wherever you come
On music
On waves
Who is to say?

All I can do is prepare and be ready

The cat ate the letter b
On my keyboard
What can I be without the letter b?

We'll see

I had a strange dream the other night
It was about a talking horse
Who was very musical
She was dark, black, and she talked like it was the most normal thing

There was a scene of her clapping to the waves of the ocean while she sat on a cliff
And she spoke of music's connection to God
Just simply and truthfully

She was shot by a group of boys
When she jumped into a swimming pool
16 shots in total

Your name means light
So lead the way with your smile tonight
We'll see what is true
We have to


Fumbling around for the keys
The diamonds in our dreams
The dead end streets



Where are all these people going?
What are they doing with their disappointment?
What am I doing with mine
I've been following the river
She's wrapped around me like a vine




Do some people know when they are to die?
Like the honourable who know it's the end of the night.
But not you and I




Let's do what we came here to do
I want to as much as you
Let's do what we came here to do
Separate the red green and blue

Sit by my lullaby
Before we have to go
Before the lights come on


You're brave and it makes me braver
A saviour
A clash waiting to happen



Saint Francis of Assisi was loved by all creatures
He retired two houses down from me
His Franciscan robe folded in two

Would you sit by my lullaby like you used to?



Forget that we have run out of time
I just arrived

Do me while I'm singing to you
Do me while I'm playing my guitar


And let me play you like you want to be played

Sit by my lullaby
Before we have to go
Before the lights come on

We are shallow without her
We are shallow without her secret
That's all I know

We heard what he did to you
How he took you away from us
Your father's words were law at his trial
We pray for you and your family
Our blood is warm on this cold earth for you

I'll never forget those words
"What shoes will I have to wear in case I have to run"

We are shallow without her
We are shallow without her secret
May it forever be safe, and safer still
Our blood is warm on this cold earth for you

Desire went walking down the street
Open sandals around bare feet


The chains and bolts snapped and buckled
Ropes tore exploding tiny explosions
The lawmaker looked on keenly
Invoking words of power that stood fixed into the cold stone


Desire moved with a steady intent
Like the sun rising under the sea


I want to kiss you inside of your mind
On this happening of you and I


We all watched, taking into account the circumstance
Thought of the children of tomorrow
The way we came and what it made


Taboo and touch
Gathered invisible words and sounds
Making themselves heard
Desire would come to stay
The bed was already made


I want to kiss you inside of your mind
On this happening of you and I

How Wild?

Dear Teresa,

With the luscious thighs
Big eyes
And gap toothed Madonna smile

I've started praying again

I'm in a new room
I can't see the walls or ceiling
But it's bigger
I got a new key cut

Like I said I've started praying again
Not like in boys school
Full of cabinets you don't want to open
But something deeper

I pray for less stress
More peace
Happiness

I feel the sides of the ship
Turning
With my hand and elbow


How wild are these hearts?
What science are they made of?
Is this a start to ending the wars on Earth?

I pray for less stress
More peace
Happiness

Maybe I'm naive
Living within the means given me
A boy ******* his mother's ****
But we're all awake aren't we?
And I know I have a strength untapped


I pray for less stress
More peace
Happiness

Teresa came into the coffee shop
With a baby and the same smile
Still wild

It was the mystery of sadness
And the way it had made us
As it played against the day
That made me realise
I had come a long way

And still

I watched without seeing
And kissed without kissing

My sister had made the world over
And they wrote mythologies about my brother
But this wasn't their story

I fell down so easily
Like a wall made of cheap material
That all I could do was give it up
Let go
Surrender
Surrender

Everytime I see her
While I'm working
She makes me angry
She triggers my rage

Her homeless hair
Crackhead eyes and skin
Her cracked teeth
That demand shout and beg

I saw her on a cold night
Walking about
It was something like 2 am
Most women, if not everyone
Wouldn't be out at that hour, alone
She must think she has nothing
Nothing to keep safe
Nothing to take
Nothing
Nothing

I know at some point
We have to stop

Stop in the body
And let our imaginations take flight

Inhabiting eternities
Endlessnesses

But I want to get as close as possible

Today is a write off
There must have been sand in the air
Because I could feel the rusty cogs squeaking stubbornly in my head
I didn't punch anything though
I've improved since childhood

Today is a write off
I raced home on the bike
Had a cold shower
Typed this
Now I'm going to turn off the computer and meditate

I am so confused
What is the point of all this?
Me and you?
I used to know truth.

There is so much horror
And beauty too
Full of people, doing what they have to do
Like me and you

The birds at softest sunset
Sound bittersweet

I'm travelling thru
On a Nightflight blue


Under it
All the mistakes I've made
The suffering
It's there
The truth that keeps the world turning

I don't live in the world of changing absolutes
Of hard lines
Mine is a feeling
A feeling far and wide

In the morning I know you'll come true

I'm travelling thru
On a Nightflight blue

Truth lived there
Making little noise
Speaking to few
“Just pretend I’m not here”

What is it to commit to freedom
To allow it, to be it?
What would happen?
If you'd let it be?

What would you lose?
What would you find?

On the opposite side
Of freedom?

How many times
Have I seen you and fled?


But now
I’m ready and waiting
Like a lion
In the grass

Where are you?

Taking some colour in Spain?

Running a restaurant in France?

Spelling your name with a silent letter?

Dancing like linen in the sun?

Moving your body with intelligence


Where are your eyes?

Mine are ready this time

To explode

To travel time


Ready and waiting like a lion in the grass

Give me the empty box
Then we can start somewhere

I have to go back home
It's for the best

I couldn't do what I set
And the man who was a mountain, stood in my way and said

It's love your in need of
Nothing else

And I know you tried
But my shell is hard dried

But thankyou

I've grown
I've deepened and learnt

And this isn't the end for me
Or you

For us makers
Of skies blue

It's impossible to be in two places at once
My family is back home
I hardly call
Here the days are solid like brick walls

But I am agile
Creative and smart
So it's ok

But still, time goes on

I have to go back home
It's for the best

I know I'm bringing myself as I am

But I miss the place
The people
The new ones I haven't met
And it won't be there forever

Now that you remind me
I'm looking forward to it
It's been too long

I ran up Friday hill in the early morning
In the faith that it would do me good
Like I'd discovered a lifetime ago

I had a dream
It was of my mother
And I remembered the sadness in my heart
I was running to find it

All us heartbroken people
We kept each other company
For a time
Like a short film
We wrapped over ourselves

But how can I heal the world, if not myself
Make it happy, if I'm not

I was running to find it

How timid and elusive it is in this world
How quiet
Unheard, yet underestimated

My heart

I was running to find it
My sad heart
The happiest too
Running in the morning
Mourning no longer
Smiling like sunrise

Where will we go
On ****** Snow?
Melting
Like a crying child

There are too many holes in the ground
And too many in the air
Where do we go
On ****** Snow?

There are too many things
I don't want to see
It ***** the life out of me

Where do we go
On ****** Snow?

During my salvation's work
I left you alone

If there's a tide in your heart, pull now
There's a love song I want to sing
To say I love you
I always have and always will

I can't hide anything from you
The words I've forgotten, I've found them now
And the air is still crisp, the moon still bright
Shining on the ****** Snow

Leave a space for the unknown

Mark it out
With an X
With an altar
With a prayer
With respect

Leave a space for the unknown

Run to it
Walk with it
Dream about it
Enact and perform it
Be it

Leave a space for the unknown

Let it be
Call it what you like
Believe and re-believe
Learn and re-learn
Here's one for the unknown

Look after the unknown
Take care of it
Be understanding with it
Hold it
Set it free

Leave a space for the unknown

Maybe I'm not as weak as I think I am
A maybe it's not that I can't
But that I can

Somehow I understand
That anger's dagger
Points inwardly in my hand

Even Rumi said
Close those eyes that see only faults

And today I want to say I'm happy
Or more, that that's the road I'm taking

The one on which you'll find me

And so I've set the horizon
Taken away the clouds
Disappearing from view

A flower is bright because it is
The morning sky says good morning in blue and orange because it does
The afternoon light slants thru the window because it does
The half moon rises above the roof because it does
The moonlight stretches across the floor because it does
And music sings because it does

I open my mouth wide
And there are things that are long finished
They are taking up space
They are taking up today

But the flower is still bright
Bright as a sailing flag
And the morning sky says good morning
The afternoon light slants thru the window
The half moon rises above the roof
The moonlight stretches across the floor
And music sings because it does

The water on the river shimmers because it does
The coral in ocean blooms because it does
The bird in the sky turns circles because he does
The trees stand and breath because they do
The rain falls because she does
And music sings because it does

The great wall diminishes
I can walk over it
With my head in the clouds
And the door stays wide open
Because it does

The point of inflection
The knife edge
For or against

The young genius was right
Sort this
And you'll be good

That's where I am

For so long I wanted to be a kind of saviour
But I'm the one who needs saving
And I'm the only one to do it

That monstrous sound outside
I thought it was a psychopath
Imitating a metal crow
But it was a morning handyman

The point of inflection
The knife edge
For or against

The young genius was right
Sort this
And you'll be good

Shipwrecks
And Shipwrecks
Within Shipwrecks

Everything was everywhere
It all passed thru my
Eye
My retina unflinching

But where was the water?
That made each the same
And apart
And put the ship back together again?

Is there a place
Where strangers become friends?
Where eyes look innocent again?
I think we could start from there

It scared me how far it had gone...
How important it is to be brave today
To have a light in the dark

How bright it has become

In amongst the Shipwrecks
And Shipwrecks
Within Shipwrecks

I dream of a bloom
I sit in preparation in the gloom
And when I hear no sound
Or my head aches
I'm filled with doom

I dig and dig
For any precious sign
All I can hear is the clink clink of hard
Unforgiving Earth

But wait
A quiet secret
Tiny molecules in a summer song
I feel like making love
Samba notes
A blues

You let me know you're still there
However quiet

I dream of a bloom
I dream of a bloom
Like a string
Attached to a hot air balloon

If you've come for songs named after you
And serenades in the moon
It aint me aint me babe

Your body is made of impulse
mine has a pulse
We were looking for the diamonds in our dreams
We were fumbling thru the underground, looking for keys, weren't we?


Let's do what we came here to do
In truth
It's something we have to


Sweaty *******
Fitted sheets
Let's get in the taxi
I don't have a clue

Even this frame and it's short exposure
Ends in some kind of disappointment
Does someone have an idea
Where to make an appointment?



Let's do what we came here to do
In truth
It's something we have to



I had her on my mind all the while
Trying to understand the language I speak
Starting deaf and mute
And you're bilingual
But we have little to say to each other


Let's do what we came here to do
In truth
It's something we have to

It's a mystery
Of who painted those elephants
In Technicolour
Young and old

Let the mystery live on
Alive as it is now

Who did it?
Asked the young lady
Whose painting tattoos my skin
Shining a light over my dying mind

Till death do us part
Let the mystery live on

Girl, I've alway had holes in my hands

When you came running
I wasn't there

It's funny how you're all the same
The world over

That same face, when something happens to your children
Just like when we were kids

You stopped waiting for me
Saw thru me

The world has taken my power
A power I know I never had

Girl, I've alway had holes in my hands

And still I want to catch you

I've cordoned off the carpark.
I prowl it like a mad dog.
But when that dog sleeps
You could rub your hand along its teeth.

It's a mad setting.
But it's emotion.

Maybe I should move around a little
Give it a little slack.

But this is my currency.
And I guess I should not be insecure about going broke

Cos no matter where the world goes
It will always be there

Or I'll have to train to fight electronic dogs.

There was a man who played the drums
He played them so loud
That he couldn’t hear anything else

Every time I went to his house
I’d cover my ears
And say I can’t hear

I’d go home at night and complain to my wife
“Love, my ears hurt
I think I’m gonna go blind”

I’d be over at his house
Every other night
And his drums just got louder
It was starting to addle my vision
All I could see was Crack Bang Kang Jingle Jang!

This went on for a while
I lost track of time
Then my wife says to me one night
If those drums are so loud
Why do you keep going?

“Crack Bang Kang Jingle Jang!” I replied

Everybody knows the ship is sinking
It’s just that somewhere it isn’t

I've had many teachers
But one of my favourites
Or most memorable
Was Clive Wansborough

He was my Year 9 English teacher
He said you could call him Clive

We had argumentative debates
About Jimi Hendrix,
Electronic music
The Smiths and vegetarianism

We started each class with a meditation
Closing your eyes
Filling your lungs to 75% capacity
In and out
The sound of his voice
Counting you into relaxation

He said I'd written the best piece of writing
he'd read in 10 years
About my experiences in Little Athletics
Of being afraid of the finishing line
Because coming first would mean getting clotheslined

I think I had a **** in his class once
Pearse and I were mucking around in front
Uncontrollable teenage hormones
Reading ***** literature

But I felt creative in his class
I wrote about a river flowing
from your mind down your arm
And into your pen

And I think he quoted it
When he said something like
If you don't know where to begin
Or don't know what to say
Just write

That was Clive's advice

I can't tell another lie
My teeth will fall out

Apologies to anyone who has waited up

But I have to get myself out of this for me

And to all those dreams
I let go


I can't tell another lie

I'm as low as the road
Listening to approaching cars
That don't come
That don't go

Time moves so fast

I can't tell another lie


I'll collect my thoughts
My sounds and ideas
I'll send them out
So that you can hear

I love the buzz

There are so many pictures
I stick to my screen
They cloud my mind with need

I need to get free
To get off on myself

I can't tell another lie

I'm moving slow
Re-charging
In a world moving so fast
Sirens in the distance
The calm sunset over a busy city

Truth,
I was there
When you were leaving on the air of my breath
Mixing with the vibrations in my throat
With the ideas in my heart
Into speech

I was there in real time
Connecting with surrounding minds
That nodded with recognition
Touching
Watching

Truth,
I’ve been away for some time
I’m putting words together on which to walk
But for them, I’m a drifter

Truth,
I’m onto you, returning to you
Sniffing like a hound

I went talking to people
Talking to people from everywhere

Even if the world was run by muscle and war
Lies and corruption
Even if it was unjust and wrong, founded by animals
Even if the people were separated, afraid and cynical of each other
And even if everything was instant and unnatural
We still went looking for the soul of man
Like looking for angels in your soup

I left home and came back
And I said I couldn't find it
There was disappointment in my sister's eyes
She spoke in many places, races and faces
Was I still looking for the soul of man?

And the stress grew
The world got harsher
More separate
More afraid
And still the newly conscripted in their already worn gear still bright
With torchlights and walkie talkies
And dreams strapped across their chests
Went looking for the soul of man

Like an eye is meant for seeing, a mouth for speaking
You can't escape it
Everywhere I went
People were looking for the soul of man

Scatter light
Scatter mind

I've been scattered
Just as dust in the light
Unfocused

Refresh me with your magic

I'm done
I know it

I've joined with the dead roads
And dreamless lights
I'm no-where

We've all been stamped
We've all been made the fool
Destroyed
Half-eaten
But we're here
I'm here

Refresh me with your magic

This empty vase
I guard it with my life
And to be honest
It's all I have

Where are the flowers now?

Refresh me with your magic

I'm a black king
And at you
I've got this smoking thing
Dance boy dance
Sing boy sing

On her arm is written
"A longing for home"
In her native tongue
Like an amber coloured sun

She has big soft eyes
And everything else
And big lips I've got to kiss

One night, tonight
In a road of many nights?
We don't know

So let's smile and touch
Warm and close
Hot and moist

She lets it all hang out
Throwing her hair everywhere
There's no time to lose
No time to waste

The amber coloured sun
Is watching us on the run
That longing for home
Is as ready as the air when you wake up
On the minds of everyone

The theorists
The atheists
Salvation, the war
What's going on?
Love and good vibes
**** and plastic gloves
Dream homes
Foxes in the garden

The monarch
Black women crying after bad news
The transvestite who walked you home
Aliens and cleopatra's throne

Sport cars, homelessness
Class wars, north and south of the river
Rhythm and dance
Humanity and kindness

Fine clothes
Darwinism, the big bang
5G, netflix and chill
Well worn doors, heirlooms
Green grass

Kissing
Roadworks
Abandoned buildings
Crane dare devils
Adrenaline

Baby talk
Baby speak
Ice-cream mountains
Rabbit, habbit, I've had it!

Awe of a generation
Death in a family
Ancient texts
Who's next?

Meditation
Looking after yourself
Good health
The uncontrollable
The simultaneous
The earth's population
Providence
Headaches and sore bones
Swollen ankles
White wine and wheelchairs

Cigarettes in the morning
Uselessness
The game
Will it ever be the same?

Mum's cooking
Getting head in the late night bar
Colonisation
Genocide
People and peace
Correcting wrongfulness
The downward falling knife
Good and evil
And the upward turning sword

A black girl
A white girl
Bali passion
2 at a time
And the long rolling oddball

Videos of your nieces and nephews
The grave
The cave
Home
And the change

The profound
The dumb
The round
Nutrition and junk food
Fresh air
Skin cells and hair

I feel like a thick residue
Smoked membranes, gasping slow

I'm leaving standing up like clear glass
To another day

The cold grey sky
Coming in like clouds thru my window
Is leaving my eyes crusty
And overheated with thought

Someone gently crack my skull open like an egg
**** my brain up thru a straw
And mix the skin and muscle of my back with soda water

It's time to take it easy

I’d say I was like a kite
Blowing up and down
Living inside music
Which has no walls to hold
So where am I going?
What will I do?

I miss the sound of magpies
Singing in the morning
It goes right thru to your bones
I want to fly like those guys
All the way home

This isn’t a place for me
To be alone,
It’s a luxury
Not a home

I’ve got to go home
I’ve got to get on the road
Close my eyes
And listen to the wheels
As they turn and go

I know a heaven on Earth
A little island in the sun
You can feel the plants growing
As the coloured birds fly overhead

This heaven is manned by a tiny angel
She walks on it’s wood floors on old t-shirts
Keeping up the shine
There are sets of tiny feet running
Over those floors sometimes

She says it’s so empty without me
This heaven on Earth
This little island in the sun

The night is a fortress
The million lights below
Sprawling in a frightening mystery
No man can divine

I never want it to go
Because it gives me life
How will I survive?

I’m far away now
And at my chest is handful of heaven's sand
I grip it fiercely

Everyday a grain falls
As the island moves
And the flowers hum

I know a heaven on Earth
A little island in the sun
It’s far away from everything
From everyone