oh look
              how you run
the desert today’s playground
              in your head
oceans
              of possibilities

fawn undulations
              of sand
yawn to the distance
              tracks temporary
telling the story
              of what was
of what
              you won’t forget

the sun
              cupped in your hands
orange disc
              kisses the horizon
and there are miles left
              moments
that will emerge
              as if breathing
through the map
              on your wall

to pulse
              to play to the beat
of your heart
              this is the light of desire
this is the light
              of hope
going
              only to return
again
              like your favourite song

off the plane
and the word marriage
alive on your tongue

another with
another
spilling bits and
again

you take their hand
not the other way
around

both say no
but I know yes

yes
offered silence
black water
in a bucket

drink it like whisky
scorches my

life
segments
through the letterbox

a horrid shriek of sludgy colours
or always cooking
in the oven

friend to stranger
words to page
quiet to quieter

say 'love'
but you both know
it's anything but

let me tell you
about the names
I keep silent

the gap that exists
and never shrinks

could've been that somebody?

now somebody
else

this
is
how
it
happens
then

the
beginning
of
a
trickle

neither
­of
you
know
it

but
this
is
the
meeting

a
word
or
a
sound

you
m­ight
not
remember

in
the
decades
to
come

but
in
this
second
an
­explosion

surprise
jumpstarts
your
heart

siren
of
beauty

oh
my­
goodness
me

the
meant
to
be

for
now
at
least

who's crumbling?

is it me
not me

who's running?

not the man
drenched in the dark
his feet don't move well
don't work

who's moving?

maybe every person
who isn't you
doesn't have chains

who's talking?

unknown voice
they might not
have spoken before

who's answering?

ghosts perhaps

petrichor hour
colour bundles
on the windowsill
amber and blood
blood and amber petals
flecked with blobs
of rain

child chases the dog
by the love-lies-bleeding
amaranth ponytails
a rainbow somewhere
hemispheres of dandelions
breeze-swing
wet dog chases child