poems
“Raining”
If the sun exorcises the tree by
casting out its shadows, then
the rain’s way is to torch it in
a cold misty blaze.
The rain adds a certain dreaminess, a certain sadness. A wistfulness. When you wish upon a star
I screamed at the sky in pain and
guilt and poverty of spirit and
it threw down a star for me.
It was so nice of a loyal friend.
I stabbed it into me and everywhere
that the skin broke, shone. And
I wanted to shine so badly,
I stabbed it into my heart.It’s been a year since I felt the slow
burn in the coals of my heart. I’ll
never shine like the star, I know now.
My lot is to smoulder enough that I
may smear you with blackness, that
you may realise brightness in the
diminishing of it. That embedded
shard is my kindling and when I turn
to ash one day, be happy, be happy for
me – that once, I glowed.cremation
boxed in my room,
feeling my way out of the gloom
i stumble to the door, i push and
fall onto a floor
of stars
like a galaxy of broken glass.red and gold,
my blood and galactic debris
mix under my sole.i feel no pain as
my skin like night rain,
fine rain, almost dust,
falls down around
you sobbing
into your mother’s bust.i lurch to my knees
near bone-dry, dragging
myself across the sky, over
a million splinters till i smoulder,
ignite,
and feel this swelling
unbearable heat
inside.my eyes, like windows shattering,
first come alight
then blow out; crackling, caving
into a burning ball of light.
i’m still here, only
i belong to the night.a casket’s just a carriage,
a sort of space freightage
pushing off for the constellations
with a blast, where
the load would combust
amid cosmic matter
both grit and sandpaper
to scour, abrade
my body in the celestial mill till
I scintillate.——–
In the interstellar vastness
I’ll always exist.
I am above you, girl,
I never ceased.love letter girl
the girl paced a carpet of eggs till it got threadbare,
then she braided the silken yolk into her hair.
she soon realised she was rolled up in a tricky affair, for
she’d walked herself right off the carpet and onto her hair.————
the tragedy of how Miss Dough became a golden egg roll.
a mum’s vow
ink on paper, hand on heart
we all must die – so give me a head start.
i’ll skip along ahead and ready your room
six feet under, i’ll prettify your tomb.
when it’s your turn, i’ll unlock the soil –
the quicksand will churn, your bell will toll.
you’ll find u have perfect eyesight, and no need for food
but if your worries haven’t ceased, u have died a fool.ephemeral
salve for my soul, ’tis I found
through a wanderer’s solitude, an instance profound.for all that is gentle, boundless and true
only borrowed never owned, made briefly anew.aunt aggie’s poem
wound up tighter than a ball of yarn;
at the end of the day i unravel
and come completely undone.wound up tighter than a ball of yarn;
at the end of the day you unravel
but you will not come undone.all that i am, homeless without spool
i’ll take and wind round and round you
i’ll be the comfort i never got
i’ll give you what i’d always soughtall that loose thread, just waiting there;
so if you’re falling apart at the seams
i’ll hold you together, I will care.along the way
Wide open spaces, join me there.
Lie beside me a while, breathe in the air.
I’ll breathe with you, I’ll do my best,
As I remember sobs and whimpering gasps.i can’t touch you, i never will
you don’t know me, stranger in the field
but had you come by, two hours before
things would have been so different, so purei wouldn’t have screamed those sounds of despair
wouldn’t have known i would beg for air
wouldn’t have shared the intimacy of red
as i gurgled in terror, and my gashed chest bledi would have met you, become your friend
you’d have given me a ride, you’d be my godsend
and i would have been your bride someday
our future, unlocked, by my going astraybut his car came first, in the decided universe
apart, yet together, our paths have diverged
i linger just to meet you, because i had seen
post-life – our love, all that we could have beenDo you see the ladybug, perched on that leaf?
Do you wonder at its fresh redness, do you smell the sin?
Perhaps you’re growing uneasy, you stand to go
I don’t blame you, my would-have-been lover, not I, no.I hear your breath grow ragged, I hear your keys turn
At the spatter of ladybugs, my raw inelegance.
I hear your strangled cry, I hear the tires screech,
I look at you, as my body hardens in a ditch.Goodbye stranger, reclaim your sunshine
I’ll always be your dead girl, your gruesome find.
stuck
I met a gummy bird, a small sticky thing
in the wasteland of my bigger, stickier dream.Something licked my toes; I looked only to see
a furry prawn ingratiating itself with me.I crouched to pet it, the gentle, whiskered shrimp
with its length unfurled; crustless, body uncrimped.Next I looked, instead of one bird, there were two
and when I felt the dribble harden, I knewto be alone was anathema to them
and glue-licked me was the prawn’s wish for a friend.I guess I didn’t mind. I’ve been stuck for years
this collage is home, this painting my curse.In time eternal, the beginning became
through countless dreams, a dream itself, a refrain:I met a gummy bird, a small sticky thing
in the wasteland of my bigger, stickier dream.
sparkling confidence
i head for work, rich with jewels
but heading home, i’m bare
for i tend to eat up my accoutrements
with a starving man’s flair.so i crush cherries on my cheeks
spray nectar in the air
then run under the hanging droplets, so that
they’d fall into my hair.next i fasten sugar loops to both ears
and slip a mini-donut over my finger
i quickly put on an icing necklace,
then shut the refrigerator.i head for work, now rich with candy
though, heading home, i’ll be just as bare
because what i do to earn my keep
has me starving, needing repair.but at least my jewellery’s safe now
and when i see them sparkle at night
i have time to shine a little
and feel everything’s quite all right.
wear them, eat them
