******'s no doubt have their place in the great scheme of things
but I doubt they will ever be remembered for anything good, useful, or beautiful .

This July, the thought and creativity that I would have given to a Fourth of July poem were reserved to help save a kitty's life. A frequent front-porch visitor, Princess knew nothing of "amber waves of grain," "purple mountain's majesty," and "rocket's red glare." Rockets shot high above her five-word world, that had little to do with patriot's dreams and everything to do with the promise of tomorrow. Right now, I am the only man in the world who cares about this cat's existence. The truth is I am just as stricken, and we lie side by side equally dying.

Cantlin Stone was no mans land
So everyone could camp there
But it was a sorry tale that made it so
In the tangled bilberries a man was found
He had no home no place he just lay down and died
Cantlin Stone had three borders, counties three
But all said it don't belong to me
And none would bury him
So as all counties said the land weren't theirs
It was a resting place for travellers

We were up on Hay Bluff at summer's end
In a battered van with friends
A place where sky is and treetops
Where the Milky Way passes uninterrupted

Some American parents brought up their sons
For a night camping with us wild ones
They put their tents up for them
Fed them, left them in our trust
Like us they were young

In the night the mountain decided
To show us what a mountain is
Wind ripped through
Rain, thunder, lightening crashes
In the clouds there with the lightening
Way beyond terror, abandonment to the elements

They tried to hold onto the tents
As they flew away over the edge
And we took them in with sleeping bags
They slept on our floor
We fed them, gave them a smoke

Next day their parents came early
Took them away
Before they left they all took photographs

Sometimes I think of past lovers
It makes me feel lonely
Then I think of the implications

I wonder what they think
At this exact moment of my thought
Being an optimist
I hope they are all happy
Mostly they were the best, good guys
Fondness in my heart for them all

As for me there's no turning back
Love with it's highs and misery
Love with it's sorrows and guilt

Discarded it long ago
When my lover killed his other lover's lover
I walked away from love

Nameless was my friend from old times
His girlfriend young and lovely
She fell in love with my guy
And my guy killed Nameless

I was lost, realisation, trauma
So bad
My friend of old took me to the coast
It was her birthday and I fell asleep on the train

Half sleeping I, murdered Nameless came
He showed me white stones, big pebbles
Told me to build them by the sea
So that he could be free

We wandered by the sea
I think I spoiled her birthday
I could see no white stones
She went into a shop with the children
I sat on a bench in an old harbour wall

Then, a man with a child came walking by
He pushed the pram, child walked in front
Child was carrying a huge white pebble
Walked to me and threw it on the ground
At my feet

They passed by
I picked up the heavy pebble and looked around
Friend and children said where was it from
I said I don't know they came this way
We backtracked to where the heavy tides wash against the seawall

Carried them in our arms to the point where sea darkens sand
Built a hollow tower
A child wrote goodbye in the sand

Sitting until the sea came and washed it away
No-one touched it
Not even dogs
Not the seagulls who circled it
When it had gone I knew I had freed him

The art of solitude
is measured in eternity
Writing graffiti
and finger painting walls

This grove is my sanctuary

The air is clean

Only the wild things and I

And the fairies who live here

My friend the tree stood here

I wept for it

But I'll tell you about the tree


Once Jan and I came here at dawn

I for the peace him to make love to me

We laid together under this tree

I was looking up into the branches

I knew they were there but he didn't know

It began as a few drops of water on my face

I giggled, he thought to him

Then it was a deluge

Rain almost, much more than dew can do

On naked skin

Jan jumped up dragging on his shirt

Freaking out because

It only rained under the tree

Nowhere else


The tree is where I first met the others

Face to face when they tricked me

Caught me like an animal being tagged

I in fury following because they stole my child

They in joyful testing games of peril

Let us go again

Took us to the rainbow bridge to walk from there to home

Bond of immortal love

Stronger than emotions

Transcending life and death

When my universe expanded

How many have seen the black in black eye
The eye that takes you in
It transports to their place
Stopping time outside hours pass in a moment
Who has been absorbed
By the mind of the other
Where the old young timeless sees your naked soul
Where the test is ultimate
Where fear means nothing
Beyond death in that place of life
Time is truly one moment
Fleeting glimpse of eternity
Then cruelly places you back
Among the blind in Maya
Who destroy you for speaking

A troll is a large creature with smelly feet
That lives in a corner of Middle Earth
On the same plane of Yggdrasil as men
Some turned to stone in the sunlight

A troll is one of the creatures Tolkien wrote of
As being an angry and stupid creature that eats flesh
With the characteristics of the above

A troll is a wind up merchant
Who disturbs the equilibrium of unstable situations
They giggle when someone gets upset
And keep themselves hidden in dark places
Occasionally coming out to play
"Now you see me Now you don't"
They enjoy having others argue while they sit back and watch
With the characteristics of all the above