WHILST I beheld the neck o’ th’ dove,
I spied and read these words.
‘This pretty dye
Which takes your eye,
Is not at all the bird’s.         5
The dusky raven might
Have with these colours pleased your sight,
Had God but chose so to ordain above;’
This label wore the dove.

Whilst I admired the nightingale,         10
These notes she warbled o’er.
‘No melody
Indeed have I,
Admire me then no more:
God has it in His choice         15
To give the owl, or me, this voice;
’Tis He, ’tis He that makes me tell my tale;’
This sang the nightingale.

I smelt and praised the fragrant rose,
Blushing, thus answer’d she.         20
‘The praise you gave,
The scent I have,
Do not belong to me;
This harmless odour, none
But only God indeed does own;         25
To be His keepers, my poor leaves He chose;’
And thus replied the rose.

I took the honey from the bee,
On th’ bag these words were seen.
‘More sweet than this         30
Perchance nought is,
Yet gall it might have been:
If God it should so please,
He could still make it such with ease;
And as well gall to honey change can He;’         35
This learnt I of the bee.

I touch’d and liked the down o’ th’ swan;
But felt these words there writ.
‘Bristles, thorns, here
I soon should bear,         40
Did God ordain but it;
If my down to thy touch
Seem soft and smooth, God made it such;
Give more, or take all this away, He can;’
This was I taught by th’ swan.         45

All creatures, then, confess to God
That th’ owe Him all, but I.
My senses find
True, that my mind
Would still, oft does, deny.         50
Hence, Pride! out of my soul!
O’er it thou shalt no more control;
I’ll learn this lesson, and escape the rod:
I, too, have all from God.

to think, i thought that i was finally happy; that maybe i was getting better at dealing with the world around me.
turns out, it was all a lie, a façade that instantly fell away the moment you returned.
my life flipped upside down, melted to mush, and faded away as i entered your arms.
the song i was supposed to know, wasn't there.
the halls, the walls, the streets i should have been familiar with, felt like strangers.
the plants and creatures i could have welcomed, seemed to me to be a disguise for the monster inside.
this home never felt like home to me.

I am searching through the ghastly depths below the seas,
Where the sunlight still shines through the waters.
I find an interesting village...A haven for creatures in this
Dead, lifeless ocean floor.
I did not know so much life teemed through this rock.
Intricate sea creatures swim through the teeming corals
like red liquid flows through narrow blood vessels.
Each with a purpose, each with a task.
One species benefits the other, and vice versa.
The sea cannot live without one, and one cannot live without the other.

This makes me question the point of me being the world.
Am I something of importance,
Or a seemingly dangerous virus?
Really, I cannot tell who I shall be,
Until I live out the rest of my life, and find out,
Who I really am, and the person that will grieve for me the most when I'm gone.

i drank the nectar from a wild flower
and sang with the birds as they chirped
i danced with the wind
and ate the flesh of sweet berries
*all while i watched the sun rise

deep we drink while sleeping
slow we slap
long we lap
darling chap
be mine?

please you slow.
now I know
we are so sublime.

long we lie while lying
how we spoke
(I you broke)
in words soak
your heart.

how I cry
how I’ll die?
we have played our parts.

(slow we sleep)
(deep we drink)
we are so sublime

The mightiest among the birds is the eagle.

The mightiest among the domestic animals is the bull.

The mightiest among the wild beasts is the lion.

And the mightiest of all is man.

If I sung you to sleep,
what would you dream?
of mystery and madness?
of love and revenge?
of spiralling staircases, culminating
swiftly in a pool
of swirling fear?

Starfish –
sleep slowly,
sleep soundly.
Stretch bubbly limbs that
are kissed by the shore,
hugged by the sea.

This cove
of creeping creatures,
they slip and slime
like a plastic bag
of goldfish.

What will you dream?
of memories:
when you were swept
away from the sea
to dry on the sand
like a limpet?

Bubbling, giggling,
blobbing starfish:
sleeping, sliding,
slipping out of place,
slipping out
of starfish dreams.