where is me
upon ash and dust
shall the rain collide
so tell me, who remains

drowning in faint whispering of the syntax?
bracing the brackets of the mind?
buried in dust of bone?
why the frail psyche bound to collapse?
no me is not here

humans are simple
their composition seemingly
far too elegant, a dash of this
pinch of that, presto!
that be a man there, no?

pack me up, carry me in your knapsack
it seems I'm little more than a midday picnic

At our core we may be rotten and unkind.
Unveil ourselves as beggars in the sheets.
Saving our skins and twisting vicious lies.
Greed covered, greased with idle gluttony.
Hearts of marble and minds of back-filled knives.
We ponder the future, and become its prey.
Carve out our skullcaps and set them at ease.
Nevertheless, we hold a miracle.
Despite our brutality, love remains.

some people say that
falling in love is easy
but in fact love is the readiness to allow another human to fill a part of us
just like a puzzle
Does the puzzle piece fit?
there are hundreds of pieces scattered about.
to make it whole,
there are many things that must be passed
lost, difficult to match or swapped

Hey
You
Yeah you
How you doing?
Getting on with stuff
In this rough of roughest times?
Or wobbling a bit?
Sit in your jimjams all day. It’s cool.
Anyone with anything worth saying
Loves you
Be annoyed a lot
And try to smile
But don’t fret if it takes a while
The ups and downs are real. Feel em.
If you have a hug to hand, use it.
If not, accept the alternative
Through screens
We mean it

perhaps
a sudden
flash of movement
as they pace
back and forth
or
a glimpse
of
a head
           a shoulder
                           an arm
as they bend
to their food
it's quite common
to see them
from behind
while their attention
is focused on something
bright
and colourful

it is not always possible
to see the inhabitants
of each enclosure
but
rest assured
they are in there
somewhere

may i suggest returning
at 8 o'clock on Thursday?

I wake up whenever the big bright thing comes back, you call it a sun but I don’t know that fact.  I don’t have a specific schedule, my mud hut is pretty basic but arguably influential.  I don’t start my mornings with green eggs and ham, a freshly caught rabbit shall be breakfast for the fam.  

Most of my day consists of finding food, whatever’s around, no particular mood.  Everything I’ve learned I teach to my child, this uncivilized world can get pretty wild.  After playing with junior I look for more food, I see a fellow ‘magnon “What’s up, my dude?”  We forage for nuts and we forage for berries, leaves will do, but, you know, it varies.  

When the cold goes away we’ll begin to farm, we’ll change the land what’s the harm?  It’s almost dinner what could I make?  There’s a lot of fish down in that lake.  I crouch near the water and aim my harpoon, I sense a tasty supper sometime soon.  Compared to the average human my senses are keen, lucky for you It’s 2016.  

I’m stuck in the food chain, you shouldn’t complain.  I had to outrun a bear today, I ran uphill and shouted, “HOORAY!”  The hill had a spider, it couldn’t be wider.  It bites my ankle, making me rankled.  I’m growing pretty tired, possibly due to the bite I acquired.  

My head gets heavy and my thoughts start to fade, I try to focus on the idea I last made.  I look at the tiny dots in the night, contemplating my place and where I fit right.  My species so young, our world so mysterious, what you have yet to learn should make you delirious.  

I curl up on the floor and close my eyes, the story of my life forever fossilized.  My tribe members bury me but I’m not the first, an underground sea of dead bodies is all that remains in the land we traversed.