In the boundless skies above, where stars in silence gleam,

We are made of heaven’s breath, in every heart’s true dream.

Born of cosmic stardust, in the tapestry of night,

We carry the celestial spark, within our inner light.

In the laughter of the morning, in the whisper of the breeze,

Heaven’s touch resides within, in moments such as these.

Through the trials and the triumphs, in joy and in despair,

We find the traces of the stars, in all we do and share.

Our spirits are but echoes, of a universe so grand,

We are made of heaven’s grace, by nature’s gentle hand.

In every act of kindness, in every loving glance,

We reveal the threads of heaven, in our human dance.

We are more than flesh and bone, more than earthbound clay,

We are born of endless skies, in the light of a new day.

In our dreams and aspirations, in the love we freely give,

We are made of heaven’s wonder, in each moment that we live.

So let us shine with all our might, let our spirits soar,

For we are made of heaven’s heart, forever and evermore.

In the vast expanse of life, where stars and souls align,

We are made of heaven’s essence, in the depths of the divine.

A mendacious murmuration
  of black pixels dance a fractal fandango
  against the pale pink sky
telling you that all is well with the world.
A susurration of complacency–
  above the exhaust-scented streets
  of Birmingham’s melting asphalt–
whispers, “Don’t worry,
ignore the heatstroke starlings
dropping from the sky
onto viscous pitch dark bitumen”.

I opened my mouth to speak, and a throatful of datura glistened on my lips, lavish and ripe,
Thrashing through me, the silken flowers coiled viciously within my windpipe,

My neck was wrung with nightshade, flesh clawed with rashes,
Swollen blotches left my skin blooming and glassy with supple gashes,

Apologies from a verdant jaw trickled out of me like a botanic river,
Yet belladonna still churned in my gut and shrilled within my liver,

Violent coughs racked my body in waves of efflorescence,
And my capillaries burst with burgeoning buds of opalescence,

Ripping my pores apart, petals tore gaping holes in my teeth,
The oral garden of poison flowered like coral fluttering in a fertile reef,
So I looked at myself in the gilded vanity, bruised and young,
Reaching into the reflection, I plucked out my own tongue.

She said,
"I'm looking for someone,
Looking for something."
I asked,
"What is it?"
She replied,
"I can't exactly remember."
I questioned,
"How will you know you've found it?"
She said,
"It's something one can't forget,
Someone never forgotten."
I asked further,
"Well, who is it?"
She said,
"I don't really know,
But I think I've seen them before.
There's an image in my head
And an idea in my mind,
They feel innate to me."
"Are they, though?"
She didn't answer,
"I think if I just do
As my parents have done
And their parents have done,
I'll be all the closer."
I just shook my head and laughed.
"Sorry, I'm not laughing at you.
I just find it funny.
You say you're searching
For something or someone,
And you only have the slightest idea
Of what that is."
"I know, it's a bit silly."
"Why, they could be
Talking to you right now
And you would never know it then!"
"Maybe, maybe not.
I'd like to think
I would recognize it, recognize them."
"Well, you don't think
You're special do you?"
"No more so than anyone else."
"So, how would you know?"
"I guess I just believe,
I have faith in that
Hope shall deliver me.
I try my hardest
To be the best I can be,
I always try to be honest
And act respectfully.
I love with all my heart
And shelter it from nobody."

"Ah, but do you reach?
Do you search your mind
As much as the tangible world?
Perhaps what you're looking for
Can't be found
Without exploring within first.
Perhaps this is the only place
It exists.
Maybe it is a mystery
Confused with fantasy,
Maybe it is a fantasy
Confused with mystery.
Perhaps it can
Only be discovered
By any one individual.
Maybe by elusion,
Made by illusion.
Perhaps it is,
Perhaps it isn't,
Maybe you're just not worthy.
Perhaps you've already eclipsed it."
I had said.
"I'm looking for someone,
Looking for something."
I said.

"What is it?"
She said.
"It's something one can't forget,
Someone never forgotten."
I said.
"Yes, but who remembers?
And what memories?"
She said.
"It's something that can't be held,
But something one must hold.
It's something that can't be told,
But something one must tell.
It's like the melody of a song,
Like the lyrics sung.
It is only as old
As it is young."
I said.
"What is it?"
She said.

"What is it?"

Support from the soil,
Desire to reach the sun first,
What makes a tree grow?

I was on my usual morning commute, succumbing to the ease of autopilot, when I happened to glance out my window at a magpie. Our eyes met, just for a second, and in that moment, I dissolved from mindlessness into pure joy.

A smile overtook my face as I felt nothing but this beautiful creature’s gaze upon me. I felt his unbotheredness - huddled against the wind, keeping himself warm without complaint. In that micro-second of silent conversation, I sensed his quiet affinity for life—his gratitude for the earth, which, day after day, provided him with food, and for the sky, which so effortlessly offered him passage. He wastes no time lamenting, only enjoying.

It was with that thought that I realised: we are the same—on a parallel commute. Him, guided by his intuition, and me by mine.

A puddle formed,
A deep scarlet red morphed,
Beneath me it lay;
Matched the red of my cheeks,
The red of my shoes,
The red of my nails,
There it lay,
The dark engulfing red of the rose,
Such a gorgeous sight,
Such a strong might,
Covered in the pale white snow,
But what is that?
Dripping from my palm?
Is it the same red?
The colour of wine?
It can’t be
It was so free,
Such beauty cannot be so harmful;
It was the thorn of the rose that cut me so deep.