Wednesday 26 March 2014

LAST SEEN...


Sitting at a crowded bar
Staring into the tumbler
You hold
Like all the secrets
Of the world
Swim in the spirit
Bubbling at the bottom
Your purpose
Was last seen
Struggling, barely alive
After a stampede
On a darkened
Dance floor

Lying on a satin bed
Staring up at her face
Distorted,
Her painted
Lips parted
Letting out
A foreign language –
A string of long vowels
Carried on a single breath
Then she calls your name
While you struggle
To remember hers
Your self-control
Was last seen
Comforting
The last heart
 You broke
Before a purple altar


Standing on the beach at dawn
Contemplating each wave
As if
It might just carry
Away the mismatched
Set of lies you
Stitched together
And hung
Round your frail frame
Like Joseph’s coat
Of many colours
Your honesty
Was last seen
Aboard a ship
Being carried off
Into the horizon
You see now.


Sitting on a low bench
Wondering what it was
That happened
That caused
The hunch
On your back
Forgetting that
Avarice took
Over your surname
The night you vowed
To care less about
The rest of us
Your contentment
Was last seen
Whistling
 In oblivion
Down the slick path
Into the shadows


It is all a wonder
To us who stay on
Watching
Observing
The transformation
That slowly ate
Away at you
And left you
Stuck
In the
Whirl
Of depression
Your eyes are blank
And you no longer feel
You do not wish to know
That
Your very self
Was last seen
Taking itself apart
At the junction
Where child
And adult
met

Monday 24 March 2014

DISSONANT HARMONY


This headache
That runs down
To the back of my neck
Pleasure-pain…
From laughing too hard
These friends I have
Make me lose breath
Doubling over in laughter
Bless us!

It was when I went home
For the weekend
That I took note
Of Mama’s
Illness
Evident on her face
“The pain is just horrible”
She whispered and sneezed.
“Bless you!”

I met him when he first arrived
And loved him till he left
Now he returns
In skirts and heels;
Miss Rose with a snipped tip
I can only mourn a lost member
Bless it.

She’s charming;
My petite chocolate queen
 Feeds me as she dotes
Then prays with me
For me
“Are you ok?”
With both eyebrows raised
This rare show of love
Bless her

An evening’s chance-meet
And the heavens’
Tender glow
“I’m going to come sit with you”
Then things went up and things went down
Rollercoaster with no safety belts
The poet’s vertigo
And mine…
Bless him

Sleep never
Comes this way
My street has no name
The morning sounds
Meet me wide awake
The young mother
Getting a frustrated tod
Ready for school
She sings the alphabet
In discord
And her husband sweeps
The paved compound
Bless them.

Now I sit and wonder
Where this madness
Came from
But I stop trying
To understand
Cos
Lunacy detached
From the lunatic
Leaves nothing -
Madness is me
Just as I am Lord…
Bless me


Friday 14 March 2014

YOU


You
Came in
And set
One
Demon free
Then
Two
You
You
Bloody
Blood
On my hands

I cannot pretend
It’s a safe house
Here where
I hide
But
You
Should have stayed away
From the locks
You
Should not have
You 
You
Played
With that box

I CANnot marry
Your jesting veins
With steel blades
And watch the
Beauty of art
Alive
And warm
Do a familiar
Dance
Down
The sickening canvas
Of
You
You

I CANnot
Visit
You
With
A kiss from the serpent
And watch
You
Shudder 
As
You
Drown
In the congealed
Life in
You
Or move
To the sounds
Of your last words
Stuck in a froth
Gurgling
You
You

I could only
Do
You
This
Holy evil
If
You
Existed
You
Bloody
Blood

On my hands

Monday 10 March 2014

EN ROUTE


Stranded
In the mire
Of my confused
State,
I ran…

My legs caught up
With the wind
And hopped on its
Back
Sailing
To the very top
Breaking through
The conflagration
Of emotions
That rush
Up
To my neck
Burning…
Choking!

I escape the frenzy
Awakened
By my synesthetic
Senses
Telling me
To feel
Your lies
Smell 
Deceit
Touch
The hem
Of lost years
Telling me
To rip off
My skin
And stand
Bleeding
Before the world

I shrink away
From the tomorrows
I dreamt
As
You turned
Your back to me
In fevered pleas
To the gods
That be

A slip of courage
Was what you asked for
A barrel of
Guts
To break
An unsuspecting

Heart

Sunday 2 March 2014

MUSE-ic



The muse of song
Sat looking long
At the scenes
That played
From the 
Record
Of old memories
In my head

"it's about time,"

She whispered.

Saturday 1 March 2014

THREE STRIKES AND...


The boulder 
did whisper 
my name
Laying there
in the middle
Of a line
of footsteps
that lead
to the sun

I was carefully
Re-taking them
When
That stone
called me...
by name

Don't ask
why my knee
bleeds

Or why
i sit here
and weep

The boulder...
it spoke
and had me 
Almost
Floored