my best friend,
plucking grey hairs
from the top of my head
chasing away the cracks
around eyes and mouth
forever eighteen

laughing in the sun
drinking hot chocolate
in the heat of July
painting our lips
practicing kisses in mirrors
over and over again

window shopping for boys
with wild hair
and dangerous smiles
driving nowhere
midnight striking the clocks
all around town

forever eighteen
days stretching before us
an endless buffet
a bursting bouquet
what's a little grey
when my eyes are so full of summer

we need a plan
in case of emergencies
and unexpected nightfalls
when the world turns sharp edged
and strange

we need to prepare
for days of pale faces
wet socks
and cold hands

we need to hold each other
and mend each other’s tears
- sowing the untethered buttons back on

we need to let ourselves breathe
when the air is hard to come by
and we need to let go
of stale dreams
that rot away in attic corners
and dusty chests

we need to walk
into the shiny street
wearing nothing
but our best smiles
reserved for Sundays
and first stork nests

greeting the morning
with spoonfuls of sunshine
in our bitter teas
we smell the earth
beneath the boots
of endless steps
rain filled
feeding the roots
of walnut trees

crushing daisies
between the pages
capturing breaths
in fishing nets
we glint in moonlight
silver and slight

my brittle bones
are cramped now
slinky and snug
like a clinging dress
ill-fitting
but too pretty
not to wear
your footprints
suspended in the empty
echoes of the city on your trail

my hand holding your hand
a perfumed secret
sprouting whispers
which bite
like thorns
and jagged bones

our souls
two hummingbirds
in frightful flight
with wings fast
terrified
ready to ignite

The river sings
The willows wail
Princesses in castle towers
Growing out their hair
Watching the landscape
Wind-wild and bare

No one coming
Over the bridge
No dancing shoes
That pinch and sting -
Only a comfortable
Weaving of tales
An angry pounding
Of summer hails

And fires burning
Burning through the night -
Are we too old to stop now
Too cold to put up a fight?

You are a vertigo
you are untethered
you're free flying
falling like a
blue blue star

Your secret heart
is a Mariana Trench
and your dreams
are Moon-licked tides

Your flicker-eyes
are fiery candles
dangerous and wild

Would you please
grab me by the hand
and take me for a dive?

walking through memories
- a misty park of fallen leaves

hot-fingered hands
in each other's pockets
welcoming and deep
as promises whispered
promises to keep

the air is full
of buzzing thoughts
lit up by cold eyes
eyes the colour
of the coming frost
- we keep close
like little children lost

hiding footprints
in the clouds
raining breaths
on crinkly shrouds