The Librium sun slides its hand slowly up my thigh, and beyond
as I pan out to see the day has tipped in our favour

Rosé clinks and frittata stuffed mouths
scrambling to get to the punchline
Everyone I love is here, and you
digging your heels into the Corsica sand

I peer at the pier and consider jumping
into the unknown with another

Laughter jangles, as I open my eyes
and we race barefoot to the end of the line
left-right-left we stumble, almost in time
another vertiginous rise, another sudden decline

I swim around your edges
basking in the partial eclipse
of a past still missed
If only you knew what we did last night
with uncontrolled lips

But this lake is us
hemmed by the shores of the possible
A calm surface, with my needs, settled on the bottom
as you paddle the surface, eyeing continuance

A glass half empty, is empty, if you are already so
And want can't impress a stone heart, via sensibility alone

Just a boy, just a girl, with all the tools to connect
Minus the glowing warmth of empathy, beating in her chest

Blame is fallacious, an indulgent, subjective pursuit
Unless it's real, an ode laden, with nothing but the truth

Because all I really wanted, was to be loved and understood
And you tried each incarnation, but never really felt you could

So thank you for the wasted years
The opportunities choked and gone
The nights I laid awake fretting about
What the hell I'd actually done wrong

Because a day with you is ordinary, always
And vapid prayers sent above
Are just my hopeless echoes pondering
Why there's not enough love

A girl I knew, found a brook, in the garden,
filled with wine. All empties laid due south.
So she followed it through the hollow ends,
to where melodies take their time.
Smiling out loud, she fell in love, a little more
than prudence recommends.
But love (as art) is on patience dime,
so she paddled downstream, to unearth a mighty river.
A righteous swell, full of harmony ebbs and echoes,
forgetting she'd even knelt upon its suburban shores and
swapped 'should haves' with ennui.
Curiosity, unsated, she built a boat
and surfed the fickle, fickle tides;
one day drifting in water so wide
she believed she'd tacked into the sky.

Your electric smile
those sly, ***** lips
your tongues natural flare
for unfathomable tricks
that ethereal pause
as the universe blows
stilted, coarse breaths, then you go

The secret, she whispered, who knows if it’s true
'there’s a ring on my finger, but it’s always been you'

Veronica Harmonica Wipe My *** Clean
Was the prettiest princess, the kingdom had seen

She had wealth and a fortune; glamour and fame
But the one thing she lacked, was a beautiful name

Now, Veronika knew, that she'd gotten off lightly
Compared to her brother, Wet The Bed Nightly

Her sister, ***** Burp, really liked her name
Her cousin, Toilet Thunder, exactly the same

It keeps us all ground, stop being a brat
But Wipe My *** Clean, couldn't leave it at that

So she requested a meeting, with Father, the King
And jotted a poem, to make her claim sing

The trumpets wailed, as her name was announced
I know who she is, from the throne, came a shout
To everyone else, he was King Dinkle ***** (the third)
But to his little girl, he was simply Daddy

I love you Daddy, she said with a twirl
These dresses, this lifestyle, I'm the luckiest girl
You've captured me oceans, chocolates, and pearls
The Sultan with swing, the king of the world!

But I have to confess, that some nights I cry
She's could tell it was working, by the look in his eye
It's my name you see, this title, this moniker
Please daddy let me drop the name Veronika

The King was astounded, sat still for sometime
Before screaming out, But then it won't RHYME!

She hovered the buttercup under my chin / stay still / you wally / can you feel anything? / it was hardly a match / a pin / or a stick /
but I played along / said it tickled a bit

She mumbled something / and crinkled her nose / like a junior doctor / reviewing their notes / she blew her fringe / 'this isn't easy to say' /
for the faint of heart / please now look away

So

Melissa told Karen / and Karen told Kate / you know / the spotty one in Mrs Brains class / well / Kate told Andy / and he told me / that if you hold a buttercup under a boys chin / and he feels nothing / then he'll grow up a farmer / or a lemonade seller

But

If it glows yellow / like a pin-hole sun / and it tickles / a little / then ring the alarm

Because

According to Karen's big sister Sally / the one caught smoking by the Happy Shopper / this is the boy you are going to marry!

She rose to her toes with firework eyes / the kiss was minty / a pleasant surprise / and this led to that / and that to the other / and that my love / is how I met your mother

Goodnight x

It’s so good to see you
wow, your scarf looks great!
I’d like to smear lipstick
all over that face

We share our updates
and quickstep around
the last time we met
like a bag on the ground

How’s your husband?
how’s your wife?
tell me, what you regret
most in this life?

She leans in closer
whispering secrets
of times, of places, of phantoms
she's been with

We reverb, hollow shapes and sounds
remind me, what you like?
as she touches my hand

Your electric smile
those puce, cidery lips
your tongues natural flare
for unfathomable tricks
that ethereal pause
as the universe blows
stilted, coarse breaths, then you go

The secret, she whispered, who knows if it’s true
'there’s a ring on my finger, but it’s always been you'