The teenagers smile through their misery
as they learn to love the taste of beer.
I learned from then on that no actions of ease
are ever sincere; that we all struggle to keep pace
with all that is expected - a grade-mark percentage,
an overtime enthusiast; a steady-state consumer
who is always bright, bright, bright and on time;
who is never bleak and twisted, or overcast and out of mind.

I see the couple's silent feud
as they hold hands across the road;
I see the womanizer pop a zit in a wing mirror
on his way to the latest *******.

The sales assistant yawns through the breathing spaces
of professional enthusiasm, scouring the pages
of the company magazine, whilst the radio sweats
in the corner of the room. Last night's words
are on her mind as she signs the papers
with today's date; today's place in time
amongst all of the others that dominate her life,
whilst leaving scars and no memories,
punching the clock and throwing the fight.

I see the hang-man wince in empathy
after his dog had died last week;
I see the expert in the hotel mirror,
feeling sorry about his ****.

The Beautiful People are walking the ugly track
back home, amongst the rubble of Snapchats
and bad scratch-cards; the cardiac nurse
meditates in the restaurant corridor
before going to meet a woman.
I learned from my lofted position
on top of all the walls I have built,
that no matter how vivid the flower in sunlight,
in the darkness, it will always come to wilt.

I want to see what makes you laugh
I want to see what makes you cry
I want to see deep inside your heart
And know the reason why

I want to see the time it takes
To get close to where you are
I want to see where love comes from
As we're held in each other's arms

I want to see our beginning
But I never want to see our end
I want to see it now
And I want to see it then

I want to see the sunshine
Reflect off your morning smile
I want to see it once
And then again a million times

I want to see all your desires
Mixed in with all your needs
I want to watch you sleep at night
So I can see inside your dreams

I want to see the playback
When all of this comes true
Then I want to see it rewound
And watch it all again with you

They link arms and walk in solidarity
for those that have died for our freedom.
They sell arms to the lunatics,
to the future, blind assassins,
and the terrorists they will come to condemn.

They cross words with each other
in a room of hot air and bucked teeth,
then pull together if they feel
any shift of power
like a rug beneath their feet;

experienced tongues
are well versed in deceit-
call it reptilian,
call it good diction,
call it a swig of fiction
to chase down
the spirit of Fact;
we live in a pack of lives,
ruled by a pack of wolves
in a sheep's disguise;
we herd ourselves
with sensory distraction;
in fear of dissolution,
in want of a real kind of reaction-
But the charity shops are piling off
and we're all too broke to give,
so we live in guilt as the flowers wilt
on the roadside; another number
for the headlines,
another ****** on the land.

How long must we be ruled
by those who cannot understand
what it takes to be a woman,
what it takes to be a man.