in the rain everything glistens
leaves sparkle in the grey
percussion on the roof
from the radio a piano concerto
a bird twitters in the distance sounding a bell
others hidden amongst branches
awaiting the sun

holy water without gods
the cycle of seasons
easter always wet with renewal
and a cross to bear
books of invented legends
rules to ignore
apart from ten

shining pastels and white
innocence discarded
there's a walker passing the fence
covered for this weather
treading slowly with an end in mind
there's a door in the distance
a key under a stone

big city room, streets quiet with
buzz in the distance. someone
awakens to a bladder, they retired earlier.
a siren wails & wails & is gone

emergency words. i don't know how they arrive
then are gone
like a thief stealing thoughts
transcribing the night.

equinox promises
a dance of planets
& there is no meaning unless
you choose to believe that.

still again
time to retire from the page
file things away
alphabetical order

the softest of smotherings
makes a cat purr
louder

slowly she moves into the ether
eaten away by angry cells
rebelling, a civil war
always that way
wine glass one side, cigarette the other
result of denial, a terrorist
bringing all down around her.

there's a time when the hour arrives
to retreat & leave & spare some troops
a losing front after years of battles
back to camp behind fortified walls
abandoned enemy with a taste for destruction.

she will haul it all down
collapsing walls
burying everything
while some sun remains
a well trodden path
escape must be quick

silent echo roars
a chasm of rock
valley empty of air
smoke from so many campfires
trapped & hanging
invisible nooses
loop & sway & attached to
nothing
trapped in lungs the planes of plumes
settle as velvet
drift around corners
tickling crevices, shrouding paths
trampled by history on horseback
beast seeks escape
from a misty tableau
sun at dawn & light weak from clouds
exit puzzle, guide lost a compass
veil descends to a river
the glass skin embraces

before the day the night retires
black tucked in by dawn's pale fingers
lifting a cover of sun
across damp sands
evaporating patterns withdraw to shore.
needle arms salute the clouds
trails of lycra ants
empty heads
from reds and whites
the week's download & lick of salt
night blanket gone
new slate to paint
scene of beacons & vessels floating
seawall haven
man on a board paddles the current
drifting a distance
in reach of shore

autumn comes with drooping arms
promises of stripped branches
shapes confetti & a quilt
rests on a carpet of dewdrops

bubbles melt with the dawn
drifting on currents
air carries leaves
another renewal

rains decompose browns, yellows, reds
winter greens sprout
soil fed & energised
vegetable flowers form

subtler seasons
easier sleeping, slower awakenings
leaves raked & piled
hot gone days disposed.

frost arrives in certain geographies
red replaces white
the tank is full & burners cleaned
warming gas is very close