Sweet 'n' Low

i feel bad for you

i feel smug for me

i feel glad that she

left you all lonely.

i feel guilt

i feel pain

i feel messed up

all over again

i can hear that

dark laugh in my head

we are no more

we are yesterday

i know.

i feel bad

i feel good

i feel much

more than i should

This is why

you and i

may never

have that

elusive

happy ending

and why

i understand

your garbled

language

one fruitcake

to another.

Show me

cry for me once today,
it's the anodyne i need.
copious tears and 
shards of pain,
is what i need to see.
i wonder, i watch,
i hold my breath,
i blink not, 
i stir not,
still and mute i wait.
from afar i look,
mesmerized i gaze.. 
as fear slithers
up your spine,  
into your mind.
your eyes turn to glass, 
your breath is now ice,
your nails tear skin,
but this will not suffice.
crumble to the floor,
gasp. claw. writhe.
cry for me once today,
i need to see how you 
fall apart when i go away.

Yellow

sun
on skin
eyes
aflame
hands
run amok
wind
hop 
skip
fly
chase 
that voice
hide 
behind 
an oak
steal a look
strings strum
voices hum
heads bob
veins throb
skin prickle
spine shiver
amber voice
spun gold
bite lip
nibble ear
reeling
spinning
hush
pause
freeze time
i won't leave yet.

Dance for me

i see you..
hanging around
in that corner 
awkward
shy 
reticent
quiet
waiting for
something,
someone.
could it be me?


i walk towards you
you turn to me
a light breeze 
scampers by
and you come alive
twirling
humming
dancing
singing
at times,
you're earth
you're music 
you're my clay chimes.

Immortal

i stand

on the edge

of a lonely abyss,

the silence

breathes.. 

the darkness

shrouds..
the zephyr 
devours
the void 
with a hiss.

i fall

i fly

i float

i sink

i laugh

i weep

i twirl

i sing

i choke

i gasp

emptiness

i clasp

senses broken

soul frantic

as a bird

in the hand

flutter..wings

beat..heart

glaze over..eyes 

no fight

or flight.

bow down,

embrace

nothingness,

for i
for me

there's only

what was,
what will be..

the black

the silent

the endless night.

Black

sharp

flat

play for me

bow

tails

dress up for me

storm

cup

brew for me

night

stars

dance for me

skin

ink

paint for me

all

black

all for me.

Big Fish

I is happy
like a song
head bobbing
fingers snappy
look through
walls and doors
at yellow fields and
mysterious moors.
walk
through
endless
time,
talk
only
in
rhyme.
a winding road
with a view
serpentine
- la belle rue.

i stroll through
a field of green
then i see you
you see me too
with your lazy
benign eye
you look at me
i look at you.
it seems rude
not to greet
so i mutter softly
to my feet
"how do you do?"
you nod your head
i wave at you
and you say moo.

i saunter past
a babbling brook,
with a crooked sign
and sneak a look
big fish i see
squints back at me
i wave at it
enthusiastically
and then as it
turns out
it's no trout
the big ol' fish
is big ol' me.

Big Toe

drown the

soprano voice

chanting

"what if"

in my head.

so i focus on

the neighbours

and the noise

they make

in bed.

break

the silence

into splinters,

ambush ears

with music,

attempt to

mask the

cacophony

of fears.

push you away to

the farthest corner..

to hide you

but nothing can.

you are so

damn

persistent,

insidious,

conspicuous,

you big toe..

tapping on the pane

of my window..

behind my eyes

between my ears

incessant

tapping..

you will never go

away..

i know.

On Solitude

where is it?
frantic
breathless
I search
for refuge
to hide
to think
to listen
to a song.
dream 
elevate
me to

a place
where still
and mute
I celebrate
solitude.

Lady Chatterley

trapped under the words
you speak
again
into that unknown ear.

this time around
you spin a yarn
that's bound
to tangle.

would this excite you
you ask..
voice risen
to a fever pitch .
o recruiter,
you liar.

gesticulating
wildly
at no one
at everyone
at anyone
look at me.

Free Spirit

what i wouldn't give to be you
fluttering in the breeze
dancing in the rain
and when the wind blows
you turn inside out
and fly to the sky
like an excited child
to a spinning roundabout.

you don't belong to me
you don't belong to her
you've always been free
i know that, and i can see..
how silly that woman was
who sold you for a price

she thought you'd stay

if she tied you up real nice.

it looks like it's gonna rain today
you're gonna leave but before you do..

i have something i'd like to say

to her that gave you away..

that it was an act in futility

and much as she did try

she couldn't bind a free spirit

'coz it was your destiny to fly.

and yes i'll be sure to tell her

that you bid her adieu
that you flew into her window
and broke the china too.

On Black

an endless night
a tangerine sky
drops of rain on the floor
shadows flitting by.
a song playing in the dark,
a voice like molasses,
words that breathe,
creep through my veins.
all the colours - you stole,

except the one you left behind
in the darkest corner of my soul,
all you left was black.

Basketcase

Teacher met the boss today

And asked him how things were
He talked of her intelligence
And what he thought of her.
Boss said, “it’s all good, you know,
but it’s just such a pity,
That the mind is sharp and the work is good,
But she needs another personality.

She should change all that she is
And all that she believes in
Smile at the world all day,
And keep the button pressed at “PLAY.”
She should talk more….
And not think before,
Be the sunshine lady,
Be the plastic daisy.
That’s lighter than air,
And smells like Tupperware.

She is fine..she is good
As long as she does what she should.
Maybe she should split down the middle
And become two people in one.
She could be one at work,
And another one when she’s done.
Be perky and chirpy (chirp, chirp, chirp)
In short, be a cute little hummingbird.

All I can say to this advice
Is that I would like to know
Is violence that bad a vice?
Is murder a bad way to go?

Lone Stranger

You sit there on your high horse

Looking down with disdain

At us - mere mortals.

Your brow is arched,

Your mouth curves down

Till it devours the chin.

You talk of brave deeds

That you’ve done.

And count them out

One by one.

In your mind there’s only you

Who knows the right and the wrong.

Your happy place is on the soapbox

That you carry along.

You sneer at the honest

And laugh at the true

You mock the weak

And hate the strong too.

Go ahead…sit on your high horse

And trot along in your smug reverie

But one day you will find,

That everyone you left behind..

Is strolling past you.

With faces turned to the sun

While you are left with just your shadow,

And you know that darkness will follow.

As you ride on into the night,

All you’re left with are the reins..

To an old horse that drags its feet.,

And demons that you cannot beat.

You thought you were an island,

Now you learnt something new.

You’re just a man..

And yes you’re fallible too.

I know you hear the silence,

I know you see the dark,

I know you smother your cries,

And feel the fear in your heart.

So tell me how it feels, boy.

Ennui

What a miserable day.

Paranoia holding sway.

The record's stuck again

on the same damn line..

that begins with a curse

and ends with a sigh.

Chrome and glass,

Greetings en masse,

Coffee flowing,

Restlessness growing..

Staring at the screen,

Thinking of what might've been.

When Rome was a-burning,

Nero the fiddle was a-playing.

And now I've figured it out,

And I know without a doubt..

That it must've been a Monday..

No wonder he zoned it all out.