Death came to me at just 15
my brother never made it home
He died as a simple passenger
a car accident victim, not alone
It came to me again at 27
my cousin who became my brother,
lit himself on fire, literally
because he had no other
but he was married, with 2 kids
she had left him earlier
you could still smell the burnt rubber
from her skids...
It came to me 6 years ago
when my Dad succumbed to Cancer
the big C, to see him weakening
was a blow, but he started to know
God at this time.
It made me angry!
First to recognise his Athiesim
Second to see him succumb
Third to finally see him bribe
his way through remaining time
What do you know?
perhaps God recognised his crime...
Death comes to me
every time I read the news
It hits just as hard
as if I knew
each and every soul lost
even though they are just names
written on paper
I think I might know death
just like you do
I mourn, but prefer
It waits for me
*Later

when time is a slowly emptied sigh
and winter grips tight to autumn's last leaf
then I'll hold my breath as I wonder why
the wind shakes the tree when it falls beneath

That was fun!* she cried as she clapped her tiny little hands. Her long red fingernails clicked against each other as she bought her hands together, making a sound like a beetle scuttling across the ***** concrete floor. It echoed in the almost empty space.
Lets do it again! she whispered and the smile on her face eclipsed the gloom in the cavernous waste and the echo of her laugh rose to the high corners vibrating in the long forgotten cobwebs.
He lifted one eyebrow at her delight and the corner of his mouth twitched but he remained silent at her joy.
He turned away and after careful consideration, chose his most favourite piece of apparatus, and came around slowly as a strangled moan caressed his ears and the sight in front of him lit into his pupils, staining them red.
She draped herself over his back, her fingertips lightly caressing his chest, he turned his lips to tickle her earlobe and asked,
*Which finger, or toe, next my love? Or perhaps, I could give you, their heart?

“Except for needs I can pack everything I have 
into my old black sea-bag.”  * *

"I wish I had written that line,
I said loud enough for him to hear."

He shuffled around in his stool
and raised his cup to get  
hit with a refill.

Frustration wiggle I call it,
you know like when your dad
couldn’t let you struggle with a puzzle.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
announced his irritation
"Where have you been,
swimming shallow side?"

"I stated swatting away needs
like mosquitoes on sweat
when I was seven."

He peered past his coffee,
furrowed his brow
and rubbed his tongue
over his lower lip.

"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,
why do you keep saying that, I asked"

"Guess you’ve never been in the military.
College man I reckin,
fancy degrees
and you don't know Alpha Zulu?"

From Alpha Zulu by Gary Lilley

I wrote a poem for you, it cried
I painted a picture but it lied
I made a movie of still images
complete with the music I bled
Still, it left so many things unsaid
It wasn't enough for you
It wasn't enough for me
The path unspoken, forever broken
is so easy, in blindness, to see
Another day, someone's heartbeat
washes up silently upon the shore
beached upon an unforgiving earth
they think of Life no more
Each battle scar carved upon flesh
in a moment of Self Flagellation
is an answer to a deeper question
beyond our own imagination
I see you curled upon the floor
I bleed for you, I've been there before
You feel like its not worth it
This Life you have been given
But before you cut it down
Why don't you try living?

It sat empty for so long
the lines became so faded
Memories drift as half sung songs
and reality became jaded

One stoke, two,
a half formed thought
three words, four words
a sentence fought

a think bubbles appears
behind my eyes
exploding with images
my mind denies

another scratch upon the page
another crumpled piece of heart
start again, all over
but these images never depart

All I'm asking is you spill dark secrets
Upon a crisp sheet of white
and if ever you see Red blended
know I didn't lie that night