the interior     night
he divided a dream into many dreams
worlds opened    diva-ing
and flares   pething out of darkness
seeming obedient  at first
                                 he visited
in truth      they were playful
  but explored his ugly secret details
        and gave no hint of a healing effect

deceived   he was tossed
   exhausted into a new day
                      of occupation and toil

In quiet nights my grandma cries
We talk of death and people’s eyes
We miss our words, she sees a vein
I ask her, but she’s not in pain

Books to the library
photos to family.
Paint cans and lumber
from renovations years ago.
Most of the furniture
including the piano.
Fastest way to do this
is rent a dumpster.

On the internet
nothing’s permanent.
I like that.
Photosynthesis, evaporation
as if your spirit disappears
when the sun appears.
It’s a burden lifted
not to have to persevere.

Edits
for clarity
and brevity.
One owes the reader
a respite from
the tonnage of
fructifying English.
To drown one’s book is devoutly to be wished.

Coupla trumpets,
big comfy couch,
four beds and dressers
and the contents of closets.
Tools we don’t use,
surge protectors and chargers,
lawn and patio accoutrements,
table settings for ten.

Lamplit underground,
the stray branch,
synchronized chaos,
a red fez.
One canary,
map of Antarctica,
three deaf little otoliths,
six or seven sybils.

Extra salt and pepper shakers,
sharpies and crayons,
a printer and a scanner,
the Bible and Koran.
Kaput calculators and computers,
subscriptions and prescriptions,
a host of vitamins
and the ghosts of ancestors.

Time itself
but not nature.
Wealth
and most of culture
but not my health.
That I’ll keep,
and sleep—practice
for perfect rest.

I wake abruptly
In the early hours,
To a lungful of
Icy air,
The curtains flapping idly
In the breeze,

Fear fades as I recognise my
Darkened room,
Well known shapes
Of furniture
And shadows cast by
Newly bulbed street lights

Yet what woke me
Was and indeed remains
A mystery,
But something did,
Something lost or hiding now in
Mists of memory

Through which my minds eye
Cannot pierce,
But vaguely seen are
Edges and corners
Hovering at perceptions edge
As I roll over

And go

Back to sleep

“It’s a dandy of a day”
I heard her say
as I hooked my charm
into her arm
She sighed,
with eyes half closed
a ’Gone With The Wind’ pose
and ‘mmm’ for a hum
we locked our kiss
and kissed like this
till our mouths were blistering numb
we made kissing an art
till ’pop’ went my heart
for the day had only begun
******* on a pillow
and fibres to swallow
when I awoke with the alarm

You cry in your sleep,

that is a side of yourself --


that you don't know yet.

I weave words into woods
and forests of dreams
feeding your fear with stories
of giants and beans
stalks and straws
cracked golden eggs
scrawny fingers
a glass eye and
wood for a leg
to aid your sleep
come werewolves and bears
ghosts and ghouls
for a nicer nightmare
so come now hither
come to the deep
and dream
a dream my dear
if you dare to sleep

One day working Pre-Covid when I had to travel to Dublin everyday to work
I was feeling kinda tired and said to myself
"Yknow I gotta take a day off tomorrow, I'm knackered"
So I tell my Boss and he OK's it, says it's no problem
So next morning I get to lie in, have a really good rest
Eventually I get up, get dressed, go into my kitchen and put the kettle on for a cup of tea
I can see outside it's a lovely morning, the sun is shining and the birds singing
So I decide to go out and get some air
When I open the back door that leads into my garage where my car is
What do I see waiting for me...A feckin' flat tyre, the wheel completely flat
Now my car is relatively new, I've only had it a few months
I never even looked in the boot to see what kind of jack there was
And now when I look I see that it's a different jack to the one I had previously
And also the spare tyre is what they call a 'donut wheel (is only a temporary wheel to be used until the main wheel is mended)
And the distance between the car wheel and the garage wall is just over a foot
You could hardly swing a cat
I think to myself "What am I going to do, this new jack is a bit funny
And I got no space to work with, it's awkward as hell"
Then I remember the car came with a five year membership of the Automobile Association (the AA)
I think to myself I can give them a ring, sure they'd come and fix it
So I go back into the kitchen to get my tea and I'm thinking "what a feckin' nuisance, spoils my day this"
Then suddenly my doorbell rings, now I don't get many callers
And I think "Who the **** is that?"
I go out and it's Jim the handyman, he does odd jobs for me, cuts my hedges, is great at carpentry and DIY
He says to me "I was just passing and wondering could I make a start on cutting that front hedge of yours"
I tell him in reply "Sure! you're very lucky I'm off work today, I took a day off, I'll give you a hand"
So while he goes off to get his tools, I close the door and think
'That's strange him coming today, he would have known I was working (that it was a 'work day for me')
That I wouldn't be at home
There's no way he should have called'
So I go out to the garage to get some implements
I open the garage door and go down to him
Of course I happen to mention I got a flat tyre
He says to me he has an electric car pump in his car and that I can use it
He says it'll pump the wheel temporarily and that I can drive down to a nearby puncture repair shop he knows, he even gives me directions
So we work at the hedge for a few hours, then we go across to the local Diner, I treat him to a breakfast
When we come back he says he has to go off now
He tells me to pump the wheel with the air pump
You start the car and the pump plugs in to the power outlet of the car
You attach it to the valve in the wheel and it pumps the wheel... cool
I give him back his pump and thank him and then he heads off
I then drive quickly to the puncture repair shop before the wheel goes down
There's a small local supermarket beside it
While I'm waiting on them to fix my wheel
I nip over and get a coffee and a chocolate bar and a newspaper
When I come back I sit in the waiting room
"Heh!" I think, 'this has been a strange...funny day, I still can't get over how he called, there's no way he should have called... no way. Funny that...