i need to live with a woman
to bring out my
'creative side'
to have an excuse to cook
and to talk to
to drink with
and to fill the room
with laughter
and stories
and passion
and ***
and purest hatred

i need to live with a woman
to get me out of bed in the mornings
and to lean up against in the winter
when it is cold
and there's nothing to get up for
and who will make me long for solitude
and try to remember
what it is like
to be alone
all alone
in a dark room
with the covers pulled up over my face
and not having to share
the sheets

i need to live with a woman
who will inspire me
yet
compromise my work
a woman who i will write poetry
and short stories about
complaining
about how she stops me
from writing poetry
and short stories
by sapping up all my
time
with her love

i need to live with a woman
to walk with
and hold
and experience the things
that are meaningless
experienced alone
to travel with
and journey through life with
until the next one comes along
and who will distract me from
the bleakest nothingness
of in-between

i need a woman to help me
to care for me
and lick my wounds
as i cannot function
as a human being
alone
love may be transient
but it is a welcome
distraction

i miss the sunshine;
the colour of my legs
as i laugh at them
in my shorts too short

the long days that never end
that you wish would
and the heat that keeps us awake at night
forcing us to talk
in bed
and get to know each-other
and fall in love

the all-night drinking
the music
the laughter
the hope and promise
of something magical

i miss the hot stickiness
of the sweltering heat
that i curse from the shade
with a book and a beer,
longing for winter
while admiring the beauty
that comes with the blaze

Hope is not a ***** word;
It is what sees us through
It's not a weakness or delusion
But a place to put our faith and trust
When we've got nowhere else to put it

Hope is not a vulnerability
It is a birdsong
In the midst of the longest night you've ever known
When you can't believe the darkness
And you've convinced yourself that morning might not come this time

Hope is not wishful thinking
It is the seed that sprouts from concrete
Against all the odds
surprising everyone
And blooms a flower so beautiful you forget the worst of it

Hope is the sun behind the clouds
Always there
Waiting to emerge again
As it always will
When the bleakness of it all seems unshakable
Hope is remembering that it's not

Hope is what we owe ourselves
Because life is hard enough
Hope is not a ***** word
It's what we all need right now.