the crow emerges
picking at the hollow bones
of my life
the darkness trembles
with fear
the staring abyss
the eyes of the wolf
you liken me
to a frozen rose
i cry the wakefulness
into tears of dreams
this thing that rises
from the ashes
a terrible thing
disturbed in the dark
no longer sleeps

my mind goes
in the forest
i’ve been here before
why not get lost
some more?
leave breadcrumbs
so i can find you
or blood splatters
so i can feel my way
to you
when it’s dark
and i’m on my hands and knees
in the deep forest
it’s dark
the trees congregate
and the branches laugh
i will never get out of here
the dark
forest
has me

dripping nightmares
from my eyelids
burning pleasures
in my eyes
my sinews wrapped
in the vines of my mind
a black tear *****
doom from the beyond
and the brittle
footsteps of boney death
crumble at your doorstep

fate’s whispered needles
time’s silent puddle
life’s fading whispers
in a snow-beam

along the path
of life
though the grey swamp
is uncertain
placing stones
as we move
placing stones
as we speak
each stone plunging
in unknown depths
ahead
only mist
behind
only stepping stones
of regret

skimming across
the surface of life
discard my heart
into deep fogs
like an errant stone

i don’t speak of things
only words
i don’t speak of time
only vapour
i inhale the dawn’s drapes
watching the bleeding sun
i smoke the burnt sunset
in a bent pipe

around the face
full
circle
smiling bones
remain
unseen

i will be
on my knees
crawling back
crawling back to heaven
on the steps
along the steps
silver steps
silver steps to heaven
pull my corpse
up the stairs
drag my limbs up
all the way to heaven
let the blood run
seeking new paths
my blood will lead you
all the way to heaven
stairs of white
glazed in red
let your eyes
lift
all the way to heaven
falling upwards
up to you
my mind
must now have
lost its way to heaven

time pirouettes
in shadows
the tear curtain
folds
fate dangles
the fretful gasps
of life
in the grey

unsung delight
at the bidding
of night
stirs a brief slight
of reverie
traversing the tapering peaks
of forgetful mountains

oh green peas
what pleasantries
my favourite green
as ever
so keen
pray
dance along my tongue
to tickle the buds unsung
in fervent dreams
of gourmet creams
and my mind
shall soar
forevermore
in the green
that i adore

the ******, the strains
the sway and the bob
oh poor saddle
the bouncing, the grinding
the rider's frantic behind!
the thumping gallop
the giddy rhythm
the pull and the jut
the pounding pounding
the rider's menacing ****!
the razor breeze and the mud
the richest green grass
oh God, the rider's boney ***!
no more I beg
please let this pass
oh lord oh god
that boney ***!

ravenous hills
drink pestilence
from the sky
bitter bile
dripping into
enraptured jaws

under pretentious rooftops
feigning emphatically
in rapid bursts
pouring sorrowful flames
in unhurried aghast
putrid ingrates
shouting
hailing
for something
alternative

the art of indulgence
sweeping a tear to one side
a face dramatically glazed
I turned
and turned
one time
one space
spoke of devils and witches
but found nothing
to harbour the truth

I have lost myself
in the crying night
and the bitter pills
that hide my plight

It was falling apart like an old theatre puppet. It's blood-red cover was falling off and its pages were clinging to the spine with their last ounce of strength. I made my way a few hundred paces up the beach to where my house was obediently watching the sea. To me, the world always seemed much more pleasant under the soft veil of rain and cloud.

The echo of Alsatians barking in the dark; the alley resounding their straining. The plume as the guard lights another cigarette and sways slowly in his charge. The blossom of a firework snow-beam overhead shakes a shower of dead fireflies from the blackness.

christmas day will soon be here
unless Santa's been cruising
with ten packs of beer
in which case we'll wait
asleep in our beds
as hundreds of presents
rain down on our heads
children at bedtime
will kneel and surely pray
because reindeer amped on speed
are pulling Santa's sleigh
cavorting through the stratus
unseemly and awry
santa's spacing out again
and can't begin to fly
drunken and half-conscious
he stumbles on your roof
old Santa's on the sauce
and it looks like 90 proof
father Christmas makes a racket
as upon your house he treads
he prances like a madman
as he devours all his meds
after milk and cookies
he raids your fridge for *****:
port, sherry, scotch and wine -
there's nothing left to lose
ambling through your house at night
he returns to his sleigh once more
destroying your chimney as he goes -
it's what Christmas time is for
when all is done, he heads for home
a month or seven late
mrs Claus has left for good -
he'll have to *******

Emptiness corralled the patrons into an oasis amidst the desperate vines. Eyes full of flesh, they clattered with glee to the drumming of the lord of time. The sounds — only the oldest whispers — arrive not calmly nor separately, but all at the once, clashing in the dimming glow.

as conveniently
he gives the lord
the king of losers
his own reward

best apparitions
on silver steps
flittering in time
barley

strange seed
drifts over crooked hill
cold dream

there is no light
like a dying light
a light in the dark
in the dark
at night

all about
shots were fell
lighted splinters beyond
turning nuance
from nuance
into now

is the raging swell upon my ribs?
be it
is the raging swell upon my ribs?
so be it
the dark
navy-blue haze

i am lost in the mirror
in the haze of a stare
her face is fading static
not to last
the mirror
gets the last laugh

heaven's gaping basin
inhales the sullen breath
of nature's flora
as a frivolous breeze
tickles the giddy trees
into dancing off
their leaves

smiles dilute
the air and sun
laughter sparkles
splash rainbows
in your eyes
hazy blankets
blurring lines
pray
take me back
to golden times

dripping paint
from cathedral sky
where swords coax
the dragon's cry
the place
where golden wizards roam
where crimson fairies
have their home
a crystal lake
surrounds a spire
twisted snake
betrothed to fire
creeping vines
caress your tomb
a crumbling rock
‘neath silver moon
forgotten mist
disguised as ghost
leering eternally
toward the coast
wheezing sky
lets pestilence roam
desolate breath
that cuts the bone
crooked gate
of crumbling fort
presiding
over deserted court
where every petal
turns to stone
not even tortured souls
dare moan
darkness stalks
the lantern's keep
down the stairs
shall it creep
seeping fast
to catch your tears
knowing the eyes
of a thousand seers

beneath the surface
the many streams
pouring thoughts
of liquid dreams

picturesque
sitting pretty
the day that drips away
drowns in the wishing well
as silent words
cut the daydreams
from the apricot tree

hanging in the air
like frozen mist
eternal honey-drops
chase the merriment
from the maelstrom

gnawing at the shore
desperate to swallow stick-men
a liquid glass
that rolls the deep
an indecisive foetus
baying at my feet

dark sketch
of dancing whispers
mock the sky
lift your wings
to caress
the screaming shadows

some uncoloured sane
a face in the frame
with a shoe for a home
a wind-swept alone
a light in your face
from an undisclosed place
you can sit and just stare
a no-one and no-where

in succulent folds of solitude
a dark cell mocks the damp
as putrid bricks of emptiness
join the torrid screaming
of rusted bars
and the sinister creep
of mildew
as they waltz together
merrily
in the soggy shadows
of my sighs

in the lilting silence
of the setting sun
in the torrid embrace
of an orange mire
an oasis dying
amidst a hazy desert
of memories

fate once told me
the rats don't care
wistful
awake
no thought to spare
the loss of a voice
still rings the ears
petulant days
and broken years

in full caress
i’m sorry
i don't bleed
any more
in silence
we are lonely
we don't need
anyone

a strange hole
in the sky
a fork
in the road
long lines
in the dark

tired star
in the sky
a final blink
walking ghosts
at dream's edge

solitary flower
paints the sky
the church
bears the canvas

so banal
pointless
empty
endless and mindless toil
for a lord
with no head

a shadow of misfortune
embracing
with the dark
lets fly
a flock of secrets
once entangled
with the night

breezing past
along
alone
butterflies jest
in florescent court
weathered oaks
chiefly gaze
the leafy shadows
remember crowds

to grasp of me
would be no use
my form flows
a river loose
whenever bound
however tight
i am forever
the jewel
of night

empty thunder
billowed rain
eyes in passing
never came

empty
the morning
a glistening breath
a skyward wing
the year-storm