I hope you don't forget me,
and our late night conversations that lasted till  3 am.

I hope you don't forget the time
when we spent hours
laughing over the dumb jokes
that we cracked.

And I really hoped you haven't forgotten
the time when you came to me
lovelorn and heartbroken
because the girl you liked didn't like you back.
That evening we spent,
in silence on the bench
because I couldn't find the words to comfort you.

But, to love is to let go.

So now that you're happily off with her,
I really hope you don't forget me.

Enid's old man
passes me
in the Square

he gives me
the tough guy stare
trying to scare

I give a smirk
(the ****)
look at his dark eyes
his stubble
then he's gone by
off to work
down the *****
out of sight

I look up
at the flats
a bag of bread rolls
in my hands
(my mother's shopping)

I wonder how
Enid was
whether her old
man had had
a go at her
had left
a fleshy medal
on her skin
blue green
sinking in

I walk up
the concrete stairs
passing by
the landings
until I saw Enid
on the top step
sitting there

what you doing here?
I ask

my dad threw me
out here
said I was not
to go back in
until my mother
called me in

why's that?

he said I'd been naughty
and had to wait
in the cold air
as punishment

I sat beside her
on the cold stair
when will your mother
call you in?

he said not
for twenty minutes
she says shivering

you can't sit
out here that long

I must

no way
come to our flat
and wait
then go out

I can't
what if mother calls
and I'm not there

will she tell him?

yes she's frightened of him
of course she will
Enid says

how long
to wait now?
I saw your old man
just go

twenty minutes
from now I guess

then come to our flat
for fifteen minutes
then we'll wait
on the stairs?

she closes her eyes
hugs herself
I can't
in case he finds out
she says

wait here
I say
and go in my flat
and give my mother
the bread rolls
and tell her

she butters two rolls
and puts in cheese
and I take them
out to Enid
on the stair
and we sit together
eating
as if we
didn't care.

I left a note on your car today,

it sat alone in the parking lot

like an abandoned century,

set in place to guard the lost

and the broken hearted. 


The note wasn’t enough,

scraps of paper and shreds

of words can’t hold fast

to long lost dreams of simplicity

tainted with the purest hope.

I drove away, staring straight

ahead because if I looked back,

I always look back, I knew

I’d watch it’s tattered edges

burn from the fire left behind.

Craving for those
words to be true.
Not sure what
to do without you.

The heavy haze
pours from your mouth,
quickly followed by
the words that you spout.

The words I deem true
at a very quick first glance.
The words I see false
after a short-lived romance.

And now we depart,
to go our separate ways.
As I walk, with my back turned,
I look back and you, and resist
the urge to race back
for your embrace.

In place of memories — embers.
Inextinguishable, yet untrue
to the fidelity of what was.
The smoky curlicues, too,
have been denied. That whiff
of the past. Smouldering,
it warms the prudent hand.
Sears the lingering one.

In place of you — embers.
Charcoal flake anklets at your feet.
Wrinkling, shrivelling.
Your impassive verse-marked
way of staying. But when asked
to disappear, become so
unwilling.

Yes
He said
I miss
Your kiss.
I can't dismiss
Your touch,
I miss so much.
My words dancing
On your tongue
He said.
The kiss I miss,
The thoughts
I can't dismiss.
Fizzes in my brain
Do you feel the same?
He said
Yes
she said,
With bated breath.
I miss the kiss
I can't dismiss
Your touch
I miss so much.
Will you
Take your kiss
Place it on my lips
That miss your touch
So much?