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255 · May 2016
Transliterate
Trying to find some meaning,
In a language I don't know.
Shuffling direct truth to tease out emotion,
From stale words to blood-filled bursts,
Of overflowing hearts,
And tear-soaked dreams,
Of glistening eyes.
255 · Aug 2017
Weird Toad
We were inseparable
Until we were too busy
Or too tired to laugh
And we'd talk nonsense
For hours on end
For some release
From logic and coursework
We'd eat junk
Because why the hell not?
And we were inseparable
Because why wouldn't we be?
When we knew each other so well
Well enough to call each other
Trees and weird toads
And we laughed and laughed
And laughed and never grew up
Because why should we?
So we didn't  and we won't ever
Not really
Not when we're together
We'll always be not-quite-adults
With whims and fantasies
And silliness
That meant so much
For meaning nothing
255 · Feb 2017
Candles Go Out
Curtain call, one last time,
...
Enjoy this,
You
never wasted a second.
254 · Oct 2016
Spotlight
A half-lit room, spotlights on the stage,
Two chairs, plastic looking flowers and some water,
The crowd is gathering, hats and coats come off,
As they all settle down.

Now I am surrounded, I am anonymous,
But for my family and one friend,
And when she opens her mouth,
The lights move at her command,
To focus on me.

And suddenly all things change,
A chance to prove myself to all,
And more importantly to myself,
See a new path, alongside this,
And walk along.

Then lights back on them,
They who've taken chances before,
In some world where change was easy,
And life was simpler, perhaps, than now,
And I ask myself then:
Is this the chance?
254 · Apr 2016
Lump of metal
A silver back, with gold above,
It glints in foreign sun,
Purest but still, blackened outside,
Until scratched away to show the shine,
It smokes from inside and burns at touch,
Until the crackling stops,
And it becomes nothing more than,
A lump of metal.
253 · Mar 2016
Wretched
Head tight, closing in,
And losing focus,
Hearing muffled,
Underwater,
And struggling to breathe,
And sinking in air,
Losing balance,
Red and green flashes,
Cough,
Retch,
Almost gone but,
Not quite.
253 · Aug 2016
Half an eternity
A glistening stream of shining specks scatters down the sky,
A streak of hazy beauty, a backdrop for the stars,
And stars upon stars never seen, revealed in the clarity of distance,
Of isolation, freedom from the burden of structure,
Here, drifting between worlds, the heavens are open,
Their glory sprinkled onto the perfect canvas,
And in the trail of a burning rock falling to Earth,
The pure enormity of reality is revealed,
For behind each star lies another, further from reach,
Further from comprehension,
And behind that, the invisibility of a star so untouchable,
Not even a fragment of its existence has graced this majestic image.
253 · Oct 2014
When I see you
When I see you again,
Let me say to you,
The words you already know.

When I see you again,
Let me play to you,
The song I've never shown.

When I see you again,
Let me smile at you,
And watch your smile grow.

When I see you again,
Let me dance with you,
Until the lights are low.

When I see you again,
Let me laugh with you,
As you take away my woe.

When I see you again,
Let me hold you,
And never let go.
253 · May 2017
For Myself
"Love yourself first"
Where did that get me?
Staring in the mirror
Asking questions
Finding all the problems
To forgive myself for
With no purpose
No passion
No drive

No, my love for myself
Starts with those around me
It starts with kindness
Self-sacrifice
And devotion
To the name of equality
Through which
I can believe
I am worth loving.
252 · Jun 2015
Winner
Last to the blocks,
First across the line.

Slowest start,
Fastest time.

Broken wheel,
Realigned.

Pulled muscle,
Limped win divine.
A chance to spread wings
And leave safe places
For no reason
But random curiosity
And pointless feelings.
251 · Oct 2014
What I really need
I'm afraid of safety, I'm afraid of help.
I'm afraid of telling anyone else.
I don't want sympathy, I don't want you to care.
I just want to be alone and pull out my hair.

But still you seem to try, you keep telling me "No,"
"You must listen, keep your chin up, I'm not going to go."
I'm fine on my own, I don't need you any more.
I tell you, leave me be, stop turning up at my door.

Then the darkness returns, and you're nowhere around.
I regret what I said in that stupid little row.
Forget all the moaning, forget my ill-chosen words.
I promise I didn't mean it, all of that was absurd.

Though I hate to admit it, and strange as it sounds,
Things always seem darker when you're not around.
You were right, I was wrong, you win, end of game,
I was foolish, especially knowing you've been through the same.

Though all along I told myself: I prefer to be alone,
I was missing by a mile and you got it in one.
What I really need now, is not solitude or pain,
But just a message asking "Are you alright?" again.

*Thank you and keep trying, ignore my deadly rage,
What I really need I had all along, a friend about my age.
250 · Nov 2016
My Lens
It could have been framed,
But it wasn't right,
The 30 limit's reflecting
Sharp streaks across any lens,
And the calm curve of frosted hill
Is interrupted by the regimented
Steel men stood strong,
Arms wide against the wind,
Wires buzzing faintly from hand to hand,
And the silvered centrepiece
Is a foot too far left,
Drawing the eye from the glorious
Landscape to crumbling walls
Once firm against elements but
Neglected by time.
It could have been framed,
But it would not be beautiful,
So I framed it anyway.
250 · Apr 2016
New world
A new world,
A freer place closer to the Earth,
A place built around nature not on it,
And the ways of life that here have been forgotten.

A world of choice,
Where boundaries are wide and blurred,
Where my decision is mine alone - unquestioned,
And there's enough space to be myself.
250 · Apr 2016
The door-frame of the soul
In silence motionless,
But dancing with his laughs,
Rising with his spirits,
Falling with his heart,
Each wrapped around his soul,
One a hint of his truth,
The perverse meaning behind his words,
The other joining the first as his laughter shakes his smile.
249 · Mar 2016
The real choice
Perhaps once I thought sadness,
Was an option,
No,
The option.
And that smiling was just,
An afterthought,
Or,
Replaceable.
But I know now that the real choice,
Is in my hands,
And,
My heart.

I just have to choose right.
248 · Jun 2015
Behind Closed Eyes
In discovering the subtleties,
Of my collected thoughts,
I have caught,
Hold of myself.
But,
To your shallow understanding,
My choice defied fate,
I resigned to hate.
But,
How can you know the mind,
Which lies behind,
My closed eyes?

In my sleep beneath broken stars,
You examine the body of a boy,
Who fell, no, leaped from joy,
To find himself.
But,
To your shallow understanding,
There's no reason to guide,
My self divide.
But,
How can you know the mind,
Which lies behind,
My closed eyes?

In my distorted escape from normal,
I released my life,
Stung by words' knife,
To be myself.
But,
To your shallow understanding,
There's no more to me,
Than: white, male, fifteen.
But,
How can you know the mind,
Which lies behind,
My closed eyes?
248 · Mar 2017
Admit One
Ok I admit it
I'm hurting
I can't think like I used to
Can't smile without turning on each muscle
In the corners of my lip
I've lost faith in the future
And blamed myself for it
And killed myself over and
Over in my head
Just to pick apart my brain
And find some explanation for why
Every night is so
So
Heavy
248 · Jul 2015
Humanity's compromise
Step back,
Into the shadows,
And hide,
Or pay.

Kneel down,
Under the radar,
And hide,
Or pay.

Mouth shut,
Keep your secrets,
And hide,
Or pay.

Be anything you want,
Just don't be different.
248 · May 2016
Across grass
Walk the line of crazy,
Dip a toe into insane,
Dance when there's no music,
Play out in the rain.

Ignore the normal and find,
A new pattern to become,
Discard the path,
Walk across the grass - Run!

Be intoxicated by the smell,
Of the air in summer,
Smile at clouds,
Break traditions,
Be free.
248 · Dec 2015
Aimless
Can I find a truth,
Within the walls of the soul?
Or aimless reasons?
247 · Jun 2017
Bee
Bee
Fragile wings
Frantic wings
Beating faster than eyes can
Track across the sky
On summer air
Summer currents a prelude
To summer storms
That batter the flight
And bruise the journey
And fill the sky with darkness
And drive them into hiding
But those wings find a way home
And a way out
To the light
And in the wake
Help flowers grow.
246 · Aug 2017
Archaic Thoughts
I stand here
As if I've been here ten thousand times
As if these trodden pathways were laid on my footsteps
And the lines of trees make an imprint on my retina
As if they fill a gap that was printed in my eyes
When they first formed
And the branches turn the afternoon to dusk
Silently drawing the time from the air
And using it to paint a patchwork
Of deepening green above my head.
246 · Aug 2015
Blade
.


And in the
   simple glint
       of sharpened
           steel designed
                for the simple
                    slicing of those
                        tasteless foods
                             that I can not
                                 consume without
                                    the bitter taste in
                                         my mouth
                                             perhaps I
                                                can find a  
                                                    release at                                        
                                                       last  from
                                                      ­    the   pain
                                                            ­  that   can
                                                             ­    crush  me
                                                       ­             everyday
                                           ­                              with
                                                            ­               not
                                                             ­             even
                                               ­                         a warn-
                                                           ­               -ing
246 · Jun 2016
Warzone Me
Internal conflict, they call it,
I call it a siege,
A staring contest decorated with cannonballs.

Two sides,
Uncompromising,
No negotiation, just fruitless patience.

Both reason and bargain,
But neither side is listening,
And in the end it comes down to the walls.

How well did each side,
Hide itself away?
And what will it take to bring them out?
245 · May 2016
Choked and died
I can feel it still,
Where the blow should have hit,
Where the marks on my wrist from the rope should have been.

I can taste it still,
Where the fire should have been,
Where the blood in my veins should have choked and died.

I can hear it still,
Where the screams should have called,
Where the ring of metal should have ended it all.

But I can breathe it still,
When the air fills my lungs,
And heart can beat and race and fall just as it always did
245 · Feb 2016
Cliff face
The smoothest screams carve faces in these cliffs,
And wrinkles as they age,
Become cracks and gaping holes,
That before long collapse in on themselves,
Until those eyes of rock and dirt,
Cry from hollow shells.
245 · Dec 2015
Don't
Sometimes inaction,
Does more good,
Than rushed,
Illogical decisions,
With no respect,
For truth.
#Don'tBombSyria
244 · May 2015
Lost for words
I've forgotten how to flow.
To seamlessly merge one line with the next,
Was once second-nature to me,
But now I have lost that,
Replaced with disjunction.
Disconnected thoughts that,
Just.
Won't.
Fit together in any kind of,
Harmony or even agreement.
Perhaps what I've said all along,
Has destroyed me too:
Poetry is the bleeding of the soul,
Through the hand,
Onto paper.
But when the soul is confused,
Angry,
Discontent with itself,
It follows that words won't,
Follow on like they used to.
This could be the most honest,
Expression of my mind I've written,
For a long time,
Because I am not thinking,
I am not binding myself to structure,
Or a theme,
Or an image.
I'm just writing,
Hoping that perhaps something,
At least a little meaningful,
Will be portrayed,
Displayed,
Maybe even admired,
If luck smiles on these weary hands.
I have never endeavoured to find myself through words,
I prefer to be lost for words,
For the sake of poetry,
I can stop worrying,
Just.
For.
A minute about who I am,
Lose my inhibitions and scream,
Scream onto the page or screen,
That I am still alive,
And I need not know more than that.
So perhaps worrying about flow is pointless,
Because perhaps that's just where I am at the moment,
Somewhere a little less fluid,
A bit rougher.
And as I've reminded myself in tough times:
Pens write better on a hard surface.
243 · Feb 2016
Find my way
Squinting between the rushing bodies,
for some way to go,
some place I know.
But still I'm alone,
afraid, breathing
too fast, my
heart beating,
too fast, the
crowds moving,
too fast, and
pushing too
hard. I don't -
I don't know where I am. I -
I don't know where I'm going. I just -
I want to go home now but I don't know -
I don't know how to get there. Please won't
someone help me?
Anyone?
Please.
No use.
243 · Sep 2016
Autumn's Prologue
Leaves flicker like static in the gasping summer sun,
The clouds are getting *****,
Bringing with them howls and hail,
But only a warning - for now - of months ahead,
For the leaves are still green,
The warmth just remains,
Clinging onto brighter times, the seasons frozen in place,
And soon out will come coats,
And with them hugs extend,
And hands linger in each other's,
For just a little longer,
These months ahead force us together,
Keep each other from the harsh chill,
As the elements become our elements,
Our fellows become our friends
243 · Mar 2016
Waiting for summer
Dreaming,
In sun-kissed haze
of calmer days,
Back when grey skies meant
no more than a brighter time ahead.

Sleeping,
At the first burning sky
of the third sunset of spring,
Waiting for seasons to change
and making them whisper by more quickly.

Thinking,
On the things that never
Mattered to anyone else,
While all else hurry past
hoping for another normal day,
I stay still,
Waiting for summer.
243 · Oct 2015
In Vain Memorial
Was he afraid to acknowledge end?
Or did he greet Death as a friend?

Did he accept?
Or refuse protest?
Did he step softly in silent submission?
And slip slowly away by own decision?
Or perhaps he struggled and fought his fate?
In disbelief? But all too late.
Did terminal claws ***** his skin?
Hold firm and drag him kicking in?

Was his killer known?
Did he die alone?
Were his last words self-pitiful lies?
Or pleading for mercy in desperate cries?

And was it wrong for him to die?
Then, still with youthful eyes?
Or did his cruel mistress Destiny decide,
That old age would not worry his mind?
That all he'd need were brief, fleeting glances,
To longingly watch Eternity's dances?

Did God decree?
That all he'd see,
Would be untouchable by his hand?
Was every drop of fresh pain planned?

When his body froze with sharpened chill,
Did corrupted shouts of anger still,
Provide his soul with empty reason,
To rebel against is heart with treason?

And was that why?
At his last sigh,
He finally lost his mind?
Or made himself blind,
To his past?
At last.

Yet despite it all,
He still recalls,
Himself in vain memorial.
Written for a competition (that I didn't win)
243 · Feb 2016
Something
There's something at the window,
Something waking in the night,
Something in the kitchen,
Something's turning out the light,
Something's foot on the floorboards,
Something's hand on the door,
Something getting closer,
Something louder, something more
than just something in my eye,
Or something made up in my head,
Not just something I imagined,
I can hear the something's breath,
Now there's something on my shoulder,
Something cold in my side -

And now it doesn't matter,
Something hurt me and I died.
Best read fast and rhythmically (or not, maybe it works better some other way)
243 · Apr 2016
Emotion out
Floating off into summer dreams,
That mean more than just days,
And not just an escape.

Not a moment to smile,
Or bask in the haze,
That I made in my head.

Instead a release, not joy,
But hot salt trickles down my cheek,
And I cry without restraint.

And I allow myself to feel,
To be sad, for once, and weak,
To let emotion out and, in turn,
Allow happiness in.
243 · Apr 2015
The Call
The keys call in grey-scale,
The strings tense to play,
Waiting for my fingers to glide across their scales.

Discordant bass lines and rising melodies,
As hands, heart and voice unite,
To outpour my soul,
As it fills the hall,
Tears fall,
In answer to the call.

To release emotion unrelentingly.

Before I learnt to sing with someone else,
I preferred a duet with myself.

But now my song is joined by dance,
And my nervous glance,
Is entranced,
With romance.

And the smile that eases my stirring heart.
242 · Nov 2015
You are
Will you sing a lullaby,
So I can sleep in peace?

Will you hold my hand,
And smile when we're free?

I will ease your panic,
Keep you calm when you need me.

I will speak infinities,
If you'll listen and believe.

Believe,
You are beauty.
242 · Jul 2016
Safety of disguise
A spider's web:
Invisible when the clouds come,
But when the golden streaks of light make their way,
Through some pathway of nature's design,
A pattern of perfect engineering,
Shows itself for a shy moment,
until it fades back to the safety of disguise.
242 · Jul 2016
Informer
"I have information for you..."

The voice is clear,
Yet its meaning is not,
What does it know?
What can it tell me?

"..but I cannot give it to you..."

Of course,
An informer who will not inform,
But this is no war,
No obligation.

"...neither must know..."

Some unspoken law,
Governs its words,
Keeps it silent - or at least,
Silent enough.

"...my words would change things - things that must not.
Find out on your own, it is the only way."
242 · Mar 2017
Stain + Brick
Coloured shards
Now nothing but the ashes
Of the beauty they once held
Burnt in an instant by
Stupidity's servants'
Brutish hands.
242 · Jan 2017
Political Address
Okay
Listen to me now:
This is my political address
But I'm gonna talk to you now
Like you're all my friends
Because if we're gonna make it through this
We're gonna have to look out for each other in the end.

First thing's first,
let's set the record straight
It doesn't make a bit of difference
if you're straight or gay
And it really doesn't matter
from which country you originate.

And whichever god you pray to,
It's not okay
to sexualise a body or normalise ****.

And if your love for your children
depends on who they love,
then you've got your parenting wrong.
242 · Oct 2015
Wood plane or car?
Be safe,
On foreign ground,
Don't venture too far,
Away from home,
And if you hear me calling,
Please reply,
And let me know you're okay,
Then come home safe,
As soon as you can.
242 · Jul 2015
Crash
Hopeful,
Right there,
So close,
Then vibrations,
No control,
Broken,
Helpless,
Dead straight,
Towards the wall,
Screaming engines,
White smoke obscures,
Crunching gravel,
Then impact,
Black.
242 · Nov 2015
At my window
Snapping across,
My window,
Cold bites of clouds,
The teeth of gales,
Strike the glass.

Screaming against,
My window,
Howls of the air,
Frozen by winter,
Rushing inside.

Pounding at,
My window,
The fist of broken limbs,
From war-torn ancient,
Giants of bark.

But the thin pane,
Protects me and,
Keeps
me
sane
241 · Oct 2016
Guilty
I am guilty, I know, of a thousand sins
And many more besides
And I've punished myself every day
In vain hope I'd make it right
But wrongs are not erased by
Self-hatred, tears or tears in skin
But by accepting they were wrong
And letting forgiveness in
In place of bitter resentment of self
A new urge to give love instead
Because while regret makes sense
It doesn't repay the debt
241 · Feb 2016
Needles at night
Through branches of shaking trees
Clinging on to their long-dead leaves
Lights glare in my tear-stained lenses
And flicker between breaths

Those bark-coated fingers
Reach out with shadows
On moss-stained fences
Tired, unable to stand

And in these fading hours
I see only where the dark touches
And smile only at dead and dying
Broken and falling.

Those glinting lights...
Needles in my eyes
241 · May 2017
Eight & Six
Two-and-a-half tiles
Separate their fourteen legs
Eight and Six in stand-off
At each other's mercy.

A few circles make Six flinch
A flutter of wings but not
Surrender, not yet.

Eight gets braver,
Slipping silently down
Closing the gap to remove the half.

Six's spine stiffens,
Scrambling up, playing chicken,
Daring Eight to strike first
But neither do.

Eight hesitates,
Six waits,
And they turn,
And take with them
Their lives.
241 · Jan 2017
Forced Silence
Where have the words gone?
My throat closes up and chokes,
Another chance lost.
240 · Nov 2016
While Others Yearn
The most beautiful season?
I think so,
Though others yearn
For crisp sheets of white
Remembering our footsteps
Or for the relief
Of clear skies and dry heat
Or for a shallow promise
Of new life that never quite
Lived up to its reputation.
Yes, who can fault the brilliance
Of fire-tinted trees?
Or the taste in the air
With that comforting bite?
And the way the sun sets
Taking its time to blaze the clouds
Into mellow haze.
Autumn, with her chill and dying,
Still glistens in my eyes.
239 · Jun 2015
Excuse
Breathing heavily,
Then spluttered screams,
Then broken cries,
And shattered bones,
Spilling blood,
Spears of pain,
Tight throats,
Death.

Don't blame me,
It's always been this way.
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