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 Dec 2022 Sam Lawrence
MIEKL
en ná die storm se kalm
en ná die wind en reën
is die sagtheid van die aarde oorverdowend

my blinde oë
en krom ou hart
lê soos sade en
vrôt in die land

tot onder sterlig een aand
dié muwwe vlies bars
en 'n fyn wit worteltjie
voel-voel die wêreld in kruip

*

and after the storm's calm
and after the wind and rain
the softness of the earth is
deafening

my blind eyes
and crooked old heart
lay like seeds and
rot in the land

'til under the starlight one night
this mouldy membrane burst
and a fine white root
tentatively creeps into the world
~
"The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness." — Vladimir Nabokov

Clockworks and Ferris wheels
mix time and laughter into their spin
and then comes twilight
and a vacant lot
of endless cycles:
hide and seek in a night-time labyrinth
and then the night walks begin
this fear of emptiness
—time is not a straight line

a warning to the curious:
don't ever trust the stars
to guide you
in the black hit of space
the warmth of our flare's lifespan
is a true testament to the skill and sorcery
found in every limb, larynx
and lovelorn heart
of this dimming voidance
 Dec 2022 Sam Lawrence
Mike Adam
Carboniferous Tree
Heavy with Water
Pregnant with Seed

Diamond holder
Recycler of Dreams
My other Mother

Beneath your Beams
Blows Harmonica
While Dinky the Dog

Does the Howling for me
 Dec 2022 Sam Lawrence
Colm
The trees up here are thin and fair
Beneath thickened wind which howls away
How they bend and sway and cannot bare
To be spoken of as if they will not stay

I can feel the deep gray clay beneath
The water where my father begs it lay
There is not so much as an autumn leaf of scented left
As there is searing cold to be brushed away

The trees up here are thin and fair
Beneath thickened wind which howls away
How they bend and sway and cannot bare
To be spoken of as if they will not stay
It plays out on a stage by the sea.
  Violence, money, *** and drugs
  paint the scene blood red smelling
  of copper and naked angels die again.
  I'm left with your artifacts as proof
  you loved me when I was still pure.
After many near misses
sweet thunderbolt kisses
explode upon my lips
heady molten sips
which burn me
turn me to matchwood
incendiary splinters
ashes of desire
a willing victim of flame and fire
Quite a nocturne of events, dearest

After the zero hour shattered

Our faces split love in half

Here be a thousand pieces

From a marching orders vibration

Don't break the unconventional

Positive tension we kiss with

For every time is the last time, dearest
the roads here are winding, the leaves are changing.

best not to bang the teapot down on serving, best
to tell the truth.
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