stepping onto the doormat
knuckles rapping on wood
heart pounding mind racing

perhaps its like those
after school tv reruns
or those movie remakes

imagine live streaming
and podcasting in
very slow motion

loosing you and having
to remember back then
are unreachable ghosts*




●○
°

it is needful and kind
● to stay at a distance ○
for just a moment, still
while these words come
○ forward to the front ●
and be duly  recognised*




●○
°

why stay, you say
when it's glaringly obvious
why many have left

come and gone

in the dark of noonday sun
shadows are shortest
our fleet-footed fun

so, stay awhile

in its cooling embers
a promise that no one remembers
lights your path in the night*




●○
•

you, many-tongued mimic
impersonator, ventriloquist
mockingbird of loud repute
whose repertoire amazes
pied-pipering attraction
that hooks even mutants:
mockingjay or jabberjay
fictive or literal pursuit
hospital smock would suit;
in its vile end, we pretend
for one moment, to comprehend
in a twinkling, a final spark
our earthly existence, spend*



●○
°

when the sun plays hide and seek
solar panels are less appealing
when this moonlit night's cloudy
night time jaunts seem less romantic

could they have been sarcastic
when they said all's fair in love
and winning war is fantastic
while keeping peace makes us starve

one day silent pens get justice; though
the voice that's heard is loudest
but each strain of a balladeer's refrain
are the words that make us honest

just because you're a pro and
cope and turn it all around
doesn't make it less difficult, 
definitely not any less lonely*




●○
°

severed horizon,
when will we see you again
there's much in the way*




●○
°

here in this venue, we bury each day,
a time capsule of words and thought
hoping to one day arrive at a Eureka
of sorts; there tying-up neatly, each
unfinished business that tomorrow
bought from yesterday's backroom*




●○
°

internet interests
laundry hanging on the web
lines sweet as honey


ludicrous statements
without hindsight's benefit
fish out of water


selfie-important
others, reflective mirror
monkey copies you


amused by postings;
remind me one boring day
to write on the sand*



●○
°

your tears water another's garden
your eyes shine with longing upon their yard
no wonder your grass has gone paler
by the day your ministrations tend theirs
while all the while your own wilts & withers*



●○
°

you can hear the flipping
of calendar pages, and the
clink of champagne glasses
the roar of flashing fireworks
and rustling of fabric under
randomly launched hugs&kisses;
what old acquaintance is there
where forgotten woes blend
into hopes of a soul resolved



●○
°
btw, welcome 2016* :-))

popcorn is flowing
buttery bright;
write sabres sparking,
left and right. 

Many have fallen,
many have fled.
Some remain faithful

like voices in my head. 
A few now frozen
in Merlin's stead.

Perhaps tomorrow
we'll walk in the light; 
behind us a memory
of a dream of night.*




●○
•

one shall never a proper poet be...
save by those that look upon thee,
however, it is their perception, see;
thought & feelings through words set free.*



●○
°

here witness, arising
among us, divining
with brazen words
dividing

cloven footed
wandering
self-confessed Judas

blood-money filling
vending machines
keep this world
ever spinning*



●○
°

it's hard to hear yourself thinking
when hate on hate is all around

there's a cry for freedom ringing,
its price, to keep another bound

our goals require such liberties
which defy our mental capacities

we hope it's worth all the drama,
our vengeful acts stripped of karma*



_ _ __✒
●○
°

do not dismay
the shadows are many
but the smallest spark
lights up the darkest night*



○●
○

people these days
are our solitary
point of reference

unless we're old enough
to recall 'back in the day'
to compare smoke signals

with cellphone signals; well
most of us can't even
speak or 'read' Morse.*



_ _ __✒
●○
•

when sadness listens
fear and anger dissipate
--joy dances once more*


●○
°

peering out this excuse of a window
a crack, really, into a view less spectacular
barely catching self from tripping over
in this bed-sized atrocity of a room
that costs heaps more than an arm & a leg

oh, and don't venture out that door, today
that job you landed wasn't your first choice
and coffee tastes like something died in it
no, don't step into the street ever again
not for a second rate-life-- scraps for mains

take another look and refocus your lens;
hey, the smoke isn't that big, after all*



_ _ __✒
●○
•

courtliness promenades
intimate exchanges
crystal refractions

burst in a myriad
of coloured light
music to one's toes

jazzy fingers and
ballet chin, poised:
poetical interludes*




●○
°

whatever our persuasion may be
still at Christmas,
thoughts of kindness 
and eyes filled with wonder
seek for a connection
some one, somewhere, some part
fond greetings and warm gestures
from the depths of our hearts*



●○
°

your formula worked
and people turned
their ears and listened

what if eternity valued
more that wasn't worth
much at all, here on earth

what if there in the after
life;  what's uncool rocked
and what's cool is blocked

then maybe we'd drop
the show and striving
just to be real, not conniving

what are the chances, now
what are thr possibilities
of unveiling life's intricacies?*




●○
°

unsleep now; keep still
unwakened dreams

a sun shall set
a moon will rise
a star falls, shooting
kissing dirt, no small
earthbound consolation

even in shadows, evening
dancers pave paths into dark
bear upon themselves, yearnings  

bare feet, tip-toe-ing into
slivers of this moonlit night

angels dare not wander off
deft fingers drift among
slumbering, fragrant blooms

here, where fireflies
have up and flown
please, please, promise
not rouse the dream*




●○
°

let's take a stroll through
flowing sheets, as they waltz
to dappled, sunlit beats

let's reach for crystal door-handles
cool to touch, prismatic to eye;
and floorboards creaking secrets

of seasons lost, to years gone by--
one day they shall rise again
to display their former splendour*




●○
°

it has finally arrived
the belly of night
no longer offers
dark mysteries
or mortal fright

and these million
scurrying thoughts
scour through his mind
with a deafening march
that leaves him blind*




●○
°

rock-people
marking-pen smiles
open stone-faces

rolled down
the escarpment
onto back garden

afternoons;
we are counted,
no longer alone*




●○
°

please be kind and wait
the bus is only slightly late,

catch your self as it timely calls
for thoughts do fly off far and wide;

allow your always drifting soul
to embrace its returning sun

your pen is my oracular divining
rod, for this parched throat

and in your breath an
impassioned plea escapes

in your sighs, release all
of life's dormant pleasantries.*




_ _ __ ✏
●○
°

What if I asked,
for you to remove that mask?
I want to see if you're true,
if underneath, it's really you.

And with each turn
of opportunity I have asked
of you to see me and
to quit requiring me to put

my mask back on...
realise, unmasked value:
this is me, and all of who I am;
hopefully, that is enough for you.*




_ _ __ ✏
●○
°

political correction
never rose a moon
never set a sun
nor cure cancer
or ****** enhancer
bottomlines remain

very little to gain, but

a worn-out refrain
may uncover truth
somehow missed
for lack of a chance
to give this once over
a secondary glance*




●○
°

So, I see that I shan't outrun your shadow;
you've made it clear I'm living in mine.

You, on the other hand, can't outfly my arrow,
So stay awhile longer in this moment divine.  

And though my verse will one day lose its rhyme;
we have at least to ourselves, this time.*





●○
°

get in and get out
of bed: morning, night,
in and out --- again
breath in, breath out
all day long --- strong

          until (we remember)

reminders to self; whether
winter must be so much colder
for those with no warm memories,
and how, in our embraces we've
already mimed awaited spring*




_ _ __ ✒
●○
°

each instant you
pull the quill, resting
between your breastbone
and your life's undulations;

treasures once hidden,
pulse and bubble over;
releasing that instance
uncovered then framed*




_ _ __ ✒
○●
°

Unsaddled, a rider gone astray.
Unhitched, thoughts are out today.
Unbridled, elation on hyper drive.
Unpleasant memories, emotions dive.
Undefined hope, embers weakly glow.
Undetermined outcomes ever slow.
Out from under yet not over,
Back on the saddle but not forever.

Shoulders slump as footsteps fade into
the darkened hallway; out of sight.
Then a click-sound of a door, shut;
punctuates a chest-heaving full-stop.

Regret now seeps across the
tidal plain, waiting in vain hope
for a reverse ebb that doesn't arrive.
Regret, only regret remains:

Strain and hear that inaudible sigh
as you lock lips in silhouetted embrace;
It was the kiss of a toxic cocktail--

It's the burnt smell of rubber
that lingers thick in the air after
the smouldered wreck on the road.

It's the ping of a pin dropping
after a grenade had been lobbed
and the afterthought of my diving --

But did I dive to shield you or
was it to duck out of the way?

Regret is the sound of pebbles
tapping off a casket lid as they
bounce from a cascade of apologies.

Still that door clicks shut -- the last time.
Your footfalls fade into the bright,
searing light of pain that is left behind.*




_ _ __ ✏
●○
°

Of late you've taken
to staring past 
fork-strewn dinner plates; 

tines pinging like tuning forks, 
precise and crystalline: 

from scratches on writing pads, 
to clacking on fading keyboard tiles, 
to taps on smudged touch screens -- 

thoughts and feelings exiled, martyred 
for existence beyond skull and ribs. 

Of late your chin
bobs involuntarily
to strains of melodies; 

countering the blare of radio beats, and
no one sees this march to your own drums.

Curiosity killed no cat, but martyrs, by
betrayal, our most private thoughts
and feelings are divulged.*



_ _ _ ✏
●○
°

Time arrives at the station
and hops off that train;
through clearing misty tendrils
one can but notice
its bright travelling cape.
( Who wears these anymore? )

Those caught in Time's gaze
are wrapped in a moment supreme,
where eternal lapses into present,
brilliantly, ever out of sequence; 
whose master conjures curiosities,
making this drudgery worthwhile.*





●○
°

Etched in my heart, patterned chiselling emotion

Under foot the mossy down through forgotten paths

jolted by breath, your air reminds me of that time

now you have gone away into the sun and shade

playing and wandering in another clime and place

among countless souls all tucked neatly away

behind numerous stone markers, row upon row

like counting bits of sand too numerous to hold

whose gravelly grains have scattered in my mind

reflecting serenely what once was yours and mine*




_ _ __ ✏
○●
°

Deep within you
lay a sea-poem 
of long ago; 

where air is fresh 
but blusters wildly 
when southerlies blow, 

slick and slimy silt,
mud between the toes- 
mangrove's brackish home. 

White-caps dance 
in the open channel 
close to where corals grow. 

But further than the distance 
of childhood recollection, 
where starfish-lined parades 
demanded retrospection: 

Gone are those carefree days 
along with sands, white as snow; 
somewhere deep within you 
lay a coastal tale of long ago.*





_ _ __ ✏
●○
°

Daedalean feathers
tutored our wings to fly

while in open fields
or vaulted ceilings

flowing angel tears have
taught our hearts to cry*




●○
°

Minuscule ants make a flightless
beeline along a sandbox perimeter. 
In their wake, a few grains of sand

Fall out of their confining place.  
One day, perhaps, they shall be free,
back to a convivial reunion by the sea.

One could traverse the length and depth and breadth of this and back and still have more to ponder on and discover!

But as the grains within that pit
outnumber the billions alive today;
only stars of night can reflect their gaze.*




●○
°