I saw a boy today
In hand-me-down clothes
that were 2 sizes too big.
His ear pressed up against
the receiver of a very
much obsolete payphone.
******* his coin and
humming to himself
lost in an alternate universe.
I spy his tattered bag with a
hospital name branded on.
Something strikes my heart
and I stop walking
for all but two seconds.
Then I recover and walk back
into the smooth, blank walls
of an indifferent society.

First petal.
Browning and creased
Flawed, to say the least.
A victim of time.
Plainly visible for all.
To admire.
To abhor.

Second petal.
Smoother, whiter.
With a hint of warmth.
My lingering touch
Soundlessly penetrates
Your faceless mask.
I left my mark.

Third petal.
Perfectly encrypted
From everyone but me.
Every line traceable
Every blemish shown
Every part of you
Known.

Last petal.*
Purest, untainted
You guarded it to your best.
But like the rest,
It withers, and is soon just a fragment
Of what once was
and what will never be.

The mere sight of you
And the bits and pieces of our broken dreams
Are washed ashore. Hollow, empty.
Come in with the waves.

The mere thought of you
And the faded memories that were once lost,
Hatred smeared on the sides, resurface.
Tarnished, incomplete.

The mere mention of you
And my face is irreversibly
Transformed. Unreadable.
Devoid of all emotion                                                                                                                                                                                    

The mere bit of love from you
And every part of me rips,
Disintegrating into unrecognisable
Ghosts of the past

Through your eyes
I see the way you see
The little joys that make you smile
The bits of sadness that get you down

Through your eyes
The world is reinvented
Wonders rediscovered
Love unattempted

Through your eyes
I see her.
A vision of perfection
Far beyond comparison

And if I saw

Through your eyes

I’d see myself-forever
Second best.

Bend and stretch and lift and turn.
Bend and stretch and lift and turn.
Eyes to the front, chin up, don't frown.
Bend and stretch and lift and turn.
Stay in line, that's it. Keep to the beat.
One and two and three and four.
Bend and stretch and lift and turn.

We are not the careful one
With the neat plait down her back.
We are not the pleasant one
With the honeyed words and smile.
We are not the brazen one
With the fearless gaze and spirit.
We are but rebels, the wanderers at heart.
With the lights in our eyes all aflame.

Nobody cares about the leaves
Nobody cares about the falling leaves
The fallen leaves.
Nobody notices their intricate ballet
The way they twirl and float
Pirouetting down in a delicate spiral
Resting momentarily on the earth
Until a higher calling shoots them up again
The stronger the storm the higher they fly

Nobody cares about the leaves
Nobody cares about the browning leaves
The lifeless leaves.
Nobody notices their steady transformation
The way they live and die
Draining themselves of colour and vitality
As they gift us their lives, for ours
Tiny miracles of time encapsulated
Into a carefully crafted masterpiece

That nobody seems to care about.

Nobody cares about the leaves
Nobody cares about their pretty little lives
Nobody cares about their pretty little deaths
Their petty little lives, their petty little deaths.
No. Body. cares.