Choose
You have to choose

Of the lack of decision
Is the choice

If you can't choose me
Then I'm not for you

But him
He chose
And walked
To me

I say
Again and
Again and
Again

I choose you

Begin and end
End then begin

Interdependent
Fragments of time

Neither together
Never separate

One starts and
Another ends

Imperfect circles of
Events that carve souls

All will end
All will begin

Re-shaped
Re-energised
Emerge anew

Begin again

Read a book
Feel the words
Write a picture
In your mind

Turn the page
Dive deeper into
The imagination of
It's creator's project

Read a book
Live a story
Get lost and found
Inside the odyssey

Stripped naked
Exposed to winter chill
Patient waiting for
The warmth of spring

Early risk taker
Exposes bloom to frost
Impatient for
The warmth of spring

Puffed chests
Seeking survival
Patient search for
The warmth of spring

Call

I care not the time
If there is a need
And I'm not by your
Side - just call

Call

For in that second
I will listen from
Another room, only
Space in between

Call

New kitchen knives
Are very sharp
They are good at
Cutting vegetables
And equally effective
On fingers
Take heed...

Think about
How you feel
In this present
You've created

There will
Inevitably be
Facets you'd like
To shift into the light
With determined
Focus to enhance

In reality once one
Has shifted another
Emerges so there is
No completion

In fact - that you
Remain incomplete
Is the greatness
For there is always
Potential for growth
And understanding

If your senses
Suggest there is
More that's well
Then life's good

I lost an earring
A favourite for
It's a perfect match
To a mustard top

I searched to
No avail - but now
It's been found
On the doorstep

Sometimes things
That have been
Lost can then
Be found again

I think this
Can be applied
To people and
Souls too

We are in the hinterland
The frontier of change
Making decisions into
The wind and crossing

We are in the borderland
The edge of known ideas
Stepping forward into
The storm and breathing

We are in the wasteland
The place they don't see
Advancing across terrain
The sun and enduring

Come hither and
Envelope your
Arms around

Bend as I
Reach into a
Deepening kiss

I want to leave
You aching for
Naked skin

I want to spend
The day leaning
Over the edge

Stolen glances
Brushed touch
Promise of bedtime

Whilst there is still hope
And the will to survive
Even we can have nine lives

I peek on the little human I made
When she's playing or sleeping
Mostly she doesn't notice
But sometimes she does and
The smile lights up the air around her

She has now taken to peaking on me
Although it takes the form of
Loudly stalking then jumping out -
I pretend to be scared and
Sometimes she catches me unawares

Little things are the big things
In parenthood.

Real girl
Makeup free
Uncaring

Real girl
Naked skin
Dappled

Real girl
Candied fruit
Voluptuous

Real girl
Body choices
Owned

Real girl
Better than
Pretend

Real
Free
Naked
Truth

Every Valentine
I would hope
For mystery
Messages or
Flowers

One year you
Gave me a card
That I would
Look at like
Treasure -
Forbidden

When I finally
Left it was
Castaway with
Sorrow and
Regret of
What might have...
But we had
Moved on

World turned
And no mystery
Admirers, although
I still wanted one
For with him
I was incomplete

Global shift
And lives undone
Finally we are
United and  my
Valentine is here...

And then a box -
Possible mystery
Admirer and
My heart sunk
I hadn't expected
That response

Realisation - you
You are enough
Our love is enough
I need not the
Admiration of others
We are enough
And I am free

The road on the ridge at dusk
Is trailed with the lights of
Travellers towards home

Lights are lives in motion
Desires and commotion
Worries and dreams

Separate beings
All connected by the
Shared road on the ridge

You have been seen
Sitting at the bus stop
Your children occupied;
In her pram the other
Sandwich in hand

I've seen that you have
Given all to them at
Expense of yourself
Thin in tired clothes

I wonder - is that the
Expectation of motherhood
That all must be sacrificed
So none of who was remains

I've seen you - a sister in parenting
My heart aches for I see
Sorrow in your eyes
And hardship in your stare

I wonder again - when I
Am seen what do they think?

Third step up
On the stairs

A favourite
Perch, for phone

Conversations
And cups of tea

I sit there now
As I sat there then

With the women
Of my genealogical line

There is a heritage
In my blood

Of sitting on stairs
Whilst sharing time

Step out of time
Step into moments
Slow down the steps
Be in the now

Step into time
Step out of dreaming
Speed up the steps
Be in the journey

Step beyond time
Step into narrative
Pause in the step
Be in the chronicle

It is the ability
To sustain in spite
Of all the hurdles

The gritted heart
Determined

Desire to quit
When the pain
Sinks in - it's easy

The sharpened mind
Unfaltering

Be open to the edge
Curious to feel
The crossing

The expanded body
Accomplished

Life can be found
At the treeline
The boundary
Between the
Seen and unseen

Senses heightened
Eyes watch
Considering their
Concealment before
Stepping out...

Valentine lover
On the path
To 'Plan A'

Years together
Stretched apart
Distance crossed
Lives entwined
Intent realigned

Life can't be
Lived without
You - and
Now it's not

Valentine lover
Take me to bed

You waved and stood
Watching as we left

I looked back and you
Stood a little longer

In moments like these
I think, maybe, you regret

For you feel the slice
Of the sacrifice you chose