Beneath the overhang of tension
we hesitate,
wait
for words to settle,
be withdrawn,
or apologies offered.
Curses spoken in haste provoke an impulsive, immediate reaction,
an equal cutting response.
We've lived and suffered the consequences before.
Allowed actions as instinctive as lust to run raw.
And we've been subjected to it's prideful display.
Guilty as a drunk's song waking dogs in the wee hours
and as certain as sure
we were right
all along.

A timble of breath
spills with her "yes"
eyes respond honestly
yet
edged with a trickle of nervousness
as her fingers trace
contours of flesh
along forearm and bicep then leap to cup
nape of neck
and lure tentative steps between distance of our lips. And lids close out the rest
as the kiss inhales a timble of my breath

She gathers up the lost dreams
the old and the broken
the dying and the stolen
neglected and fogotten
then carefully carries them
in a spider spun satchel
takes them to her home in the meadow
where she carefully mends them
till they're strong enough to fly on wings of hope eternal
back to those that most need them.
The ones that have no one
to return to,
return to
live in the wishtree by her garden
and when it's time
they help guide her
to dreams newly lost and broken.

Stars prickle the darkness
counterpoints to measure its vastness
they steal eyes and gift wonderment  
allow birth of dream and scientific torment
they witness and receive wishes,
they exist yet
many are no longer in existence
the closest is only seen in its loneliness
yearning to shed the veil of blue

Was the lover you took
worth the hurt
you inflicted
on the one
you left?
How long did
that part of your heart
set flight before the door last slamed?
Was the goodbye coiled
ready
to strike like a hidden snake
waiting to be poked the wrong way?
Or were the fangs always on display
as honest
and as bitter as the bite

she sits
cigarette lit
drinking down
a bottle or two.
I sit
opposite
sipping upon my view.
Close night
shared eyes
fireside
candle light
bodies abide
what they do.

Stayed on a late one
'till I hit the last stop
weary as a hound dog
in the cut eye of dawn,
watched the gutters overflowing
gunk blocked drains
gurgling watery remains
onto sidewalks
wishing bitter pills of thought
got swallowed by the rain.
Stumbling footfall
steps drip and drop
progress slow as an enfant's crawl
aware of colours straining
to shed night's shroud.
Bed's as far away as yesterday
in some aphotic realm,
waiting to take this return
and bury it in the deep hole of sleep

I'm getting forgetful of late and keep losing things
Just the other day I lost something precious,
if anybody finds it
please you let me know.
I seem to have misplaced my trust.

Neons red in rain drops
bleeding down the window
a prayer for the ones
deserving more than they got.
Knew one,
a little buttercup,
parchment pale skin
and the bluest eyes
never caught a break
like a pigeon
with a low hanging
wing
on the ground it trails
left to peck in the gutters
with all the others
but the others
can always fly away.

Smudge of light
dim on pavement
made damp by drizzle.
Morning haze softening colours,
smoothing harshness
to pastels unobtrusive,
Extending the awakening dawn
void of witness to the rising sun.
Muted chorus of lark and blackbird
sensing the absence,
forlorn.

Walls too high,
too thick
can't dig under it.
doors cemented up,
I can't change that.
Standing outside
barefoot
on cold ground;
gravel's too rugged
to lay down,
shadows cast
a losing lot.
All I got's
a dwindling spark,
yet,
here I am
riveted to the spot.
Stand I or be cripled.
One of us will crumble,
but my will
will not.

When you be busy getting
to where you want to be going
don't be neglecting
the path you're now roaming
or before you know
it your now will be stolen,
other paths will go unknown,
other mysteries will never be shown,
other yous will never be grown.
And when you arrive you could be regretting
what's the good things you have now
when you get to where you be going.

She sleeps
I'm outside under the eaves sheltering little from the rain
smoking late into the a.m. wide awake,
coffee for company and her scent
clinging to my skin.
There's isolated bouts of traffic  
late night revellers
returning
shadows
there to witness between
lamplight neons,
but I'm cocooned away
restless in the washes of rain
thinking of one in slumber within
the walls on which I lean

No one's gonna come

looking for you under a rock

don't have
such luck
                       wishful waiting won't pick
                you up
for someone to love
you give them something to love
        if you always hide away
                     no one will know what you got
Think it's time to shake
                           up
this place


                           paint yourself
fill up the space
might go against
      every ounce
of your self worth
but
                   if what your worth
               is worth it

                                     GIVE IT
a chance.

           Blind them all.

Caught the tailend chimes of their laughter pealing through the corridor.
I stopped to listen at the gaiety
without a thought of its source,
simply enjoying echoes
of merriment.
It's contagiousness brought me a smile
gladdened to go unnoticed as a witness
happy to ignore its origin
sometimes it's enough
to know loved ones are enjoying themselves.

The weight of the last cinderblock
took its toll,
that one final heave,
hoist and offload
handballing the lot
from broken pallets
to flatbed's top
no forklift or barrow in sight
under weather made heavy
by breezeless skies.
Body's done,
hand's numb,
mind's dumb,
arms quiver through,
back aches from over missuse.
Fingers so stiff,
with a pen I cant write.
My thumbs are grumpy
through which I type.
Feeling old hitting my wall
which I have yet to build
gives me something to do tomorrow
if I make it till tonight.

a hook of a moon
hanging low
burying itself into the dark soil of night ploughing methodically
churning the folds of time unsympathetically
despondent
weary
oblivious to the passing seeds
of thought
laboured over.
Should I expect more
from the ruts it rolls,
perhaps growth of understanding
or a crop of acknowledgment
for my wonderment of it?
Or is it simply a tool
to capture imaginations
of a fool who secretly belives
I have an intimate bond
with its silent magnificence,
perhaps wishing it looks at me
like a brother who shares this moment.

tied a baloon
to the tombstone
of her best friend
in the cemetery
A puffy metalic-blue
number two
marking the passing
of her anniversary.

She shuddered then cried
till she spied
her sobbing complexion
in the balloons reflection.

Heard her friend laughing at her
she needed that,
oh how she needed that.

Beyond the passion of colour
the wind is crawling over trees
clawing at loose clothing
and things
not tethered or secure.
Beyond empathic words uttered
it sings hollow
and then a full
roar
settling its breath
to a sigh as it dies
beyond the texture it brings.
With nothing to mark
its existance except thee.

Slips of paper,
lines desperately written
before they are forgotten
the ink silenced;
hidden.
left to breathe,
gathered with others
growth of meaning
the fortunate ones remain,
disassembled,
realigned and set firm.
These words,
the chosen silent ones,
fixed and shared
hold power to be heard
when read
our thought's expression,
our passion.
Do we choose the poems
or do they choose us?

Oh has there ever been a breath such as yours
to tease goosebumps upon my neck as if they were my first?
A breath of passage from deep within lungs that oscillates my blood and heart's pulse?
Oh has there ever been a breath such as yours to carry heavylight words
of love?

Snapdragon prints on a summer cotton dress
Your body gave them vibrance when you danced,
your laughter gave the petals sweet fragrance,
your bouquet
a shroud of decadence.

I put off opening the *****
cos I knew it wouldn't last long
sometimes I prefer to get it wrong,
but sha-la-la a typical song.
You see the beer's all gone
and I don't trust myself
with old sea dog ***,
it stinks like an oil drum
and never knows when to leave me alone.
Some nights are made for drinking
turning  :-(  into a  B-)
but hold on
the ***** is starting to kick in
guess I'm ;-) till I pass out before dawn.
in the mean time tra-la d-dum dum dum

Attractive women still hook my eye
stir a spurt of blood from an instinctive side,
but they lost the power they once had to drive me wild
and vacated the thoughts where they used to reside.
Guess I'm now more drawn to those who have an attractive mind.

In the darker place
where a man can be crushed,
taunts haunt
betrayal of trust
each echoed word steps
a ragged booted stomp,
one per breath of rust,
there  
the shackles that restrain
also hold me up.

Scattered light
mottles through the rank of trees
reigning over the aisle between fields
in royal stainglass arcs of protection.
The wheat is young and green
though stretches tall enough to dance under the influence of wind's song
and conceal
scurrying mouse, hare
and proud breasted pheasant
from hunters gun and farmers dog.
No echoed shots ring out today
only the call of birds
seeking twig and thistledown
to weave chalice cupped homes
high up in the throne of trunk,
out of view
from all but the few
who come to seek solitude.

The cost of a dream
castrates it
uneven
unclean
sharp as a window's peak
or the mock of hindsight
is it because it's a selfish thing
to want what is wanted?
Can we allow ourselves
to be purely happy
without the inevitable afterthought
of why is there always a price,
or anxiously expecting negativity?
Perhaps it's just me...
unless the dream is for another.

Relationships based predominantly on *** are like chewinggum:
Sure it's mouthwatering and juicy at first, but when the flavour goes you're left going through the motions. Sooner or later you're gonna bite your tongue or be spat out on the pavement and trampled upon.

Sponsored by the good people of beefjerky,

Comes a time when you surmise opportunity is ripe to dare a move
to allow fingers to do what they were meant to:
to reach and touch another's.
Or a hunch
those words often held
in check
have reached the point to breach
the dam of uncertainty
cos you can't hold 'em back.
Comes a time when there is certainty
in a feeling that there's
more to this than pleasantries,
and perceived fringes of opportunities.
Comes a time when you commit
those thoughts
and digets
and lips
to the lean
to the kiss
to the pathway
of least
resistance.

Dainty hours
spent with her petal soft smile
lush exchanges
how her mouth makes words warm
delicate  moments
when our eyes held each other
little desolate
when hands separated
and time disconnected us
as it blindly does
without so much as an apology

It's a quarter past Wednesday,
the coffee's late,
my bag-o-bones is dragging slow.
Heard little bo peep sold her sheep for gin
killing off the nursery rhyme.
Can't decide if that's a bad thing.
Feel like a late planted seed
unsure if it's roots can reach
deep enough to sustain strong growth.
Maybe tomorrow I'll have shoots and a little hope,
or leaves to sooth doubt,
or buds of competence
or fruits of confidence
and a coffee when I need it most.

There is a countable
distance between
the silence
where I sit
and the street
where I see
a mobile cacophony
of pedestrians
of various speeds
and multiple gaits.
From singular  
to numerous bodies
together and apart.
A part of me wants
to join them
apart needs
to avoid them.
So I count the distance
between voices
and my thoughts
silently
hush now
urging them all to stop
and embrace the nearest one
and say without words
life can be beautiful
if we allow.

I  relate to you
veterans of love
comrades of heartache.
We are sisters and brothers in arms
soldiers of romance.
We are in the same platoon.
The lines of poetry we cross
are our dogtags of the relationships
the victories,
losses and wounds
from many a battle fought.
We the scarred,
the hardened,
the sacrificed.
Some of us are/were shell shocked,
some too numb or scared to fight again.
We were recruited on an endless tour
and we will march on
to win the war of love

I write, but I am not a poet
I paint, but I'm no artist
I read, but I am no scholar
I have dreams, but I'm not a visionary
I create, but I'm not an inventor
I pray, but I'm far from being holy
I ponder, but I'm not a philosopher
I hate violence, but I'm not a pacifist
I am not unique, but I am uniquely me.
Though there's many things I'd like to change
for now
I just want to be

Our behaviours are reactions to our perceptions of situatuons
There may not always be a best option
but most problems have a solution.
For those that don't
we can make resolutions
when things get out of our control
we can learn to control our reactions,
our behaviour and self-perceptions.

So happy I could run
just to keep up with my dreams,
Teaseing gravity with each foot spring,
knowing I could leap to the clouds
if I wanted to.
But then i'd have to leave the world where you walk and lay down,
So I stay as close to you as distance will allow.
Is each drop of dew
the
residue of the wakeful night missing you
while you sleep,
is the horizon line the eyelid of dawn creeping open just to look at you?
I'm so happy I could run because the touch of earth confims you are real,
like a pinch for confirmation or a kick from a mule.

I love you to bits
but simetimes you're a *****,
and I can be a real ****.
Then we kiss
and get over it.
Love is constant,
but not constantly
filled with moonbeams, candle light and love making most sensually.
Sometimes it is dull,
or falls into routine.
We all **** and snore,
but that don't make nice poetry.

Love rocks

When the snow melted
it took chunks of the road in its thaw.
Potholes sunk
where the water slurpped
away the under-soil.
Silence left with the white
now more venture outside
overstocking supplies
"we'll n'er run out again,"
one swore.
And cats are back spraying,
and dogs barking in confusion.
And the crocus buds to remind me
nothing has really changed
in all this change

The kindle worked
its charm on the coal
tempting its soul
to unite in flame.
Outside shrieked
the wind and rain
calling my name,
but the windows and doors
were closed
and worried eyes counselled me to stay.
Thinking of older, darker days,
"Cast ye back to the depths from whence ye came."
A fist shaking in mocking scorn
at the storm.
The rain continued on
for the rest of the day
as the fire danced
and fell in love
with its flames

Evening light washes pale
traffic scrunches up the motorway
weary bones heading home
minds coiled tense as a spring
ready to offload
wasted hours devoured by work.

An urn
slung on shoulder
braced in place
by smooth cream
slender
arm
and crease of curl covered neck.
Another urn
held on tip of hip
as if a mother yearns a child's weight
Toga frozen in flow,
fanning its tail by ankle
above sandalled foot and petite toe.
smirk outdating mona's,
below cute nose
framed by soft marble cheeks
wishing hints of rose
Grecian girl looks vacantly down
oval eyes void of iris and pupil.
Thoughts unknown.

big words can constrict me
leaving little room to wiggle free,
they constrain
unequivocally,
there for show and tell, no doubt!
What can I do with discombobulate
that I can't do with confuse and frustrate?
Or maybe I can postulated
it's just a suggestion
can you relate?
When I say big words,
I meant to say long
cos little words like hope and love have more worth and meaning than floccinaucinihilipilification
Or maybe l'm dumb and use to procrastination
putting off what can be cleverly done.
But if I find a word that's lenghty
and hits the spot just right
I will use it ostentatiously,
or so I might.