The Man with a Carpet of Leaves

He coughs up slugs
From a paper bag mouth,

Ruins daylight
With his flat cap,

Scratches obscenities
In the soil with a stick

And groans from his chest
At the dogs as they sniff.

He back-heels snails
Into bleak thorn bushes,

Ruins moonlight
With a smoking pipe,

Fills up benches
With a sprawling laze,

And flicks cigarette butts
At the birds.

By talking to him
And not looking in his eyes
I grew to like him slowly.

Rainfall in the Distance

She’s a breath
That took the breeze and ran,

Swept with formations
And cool see-through skin,

A space in the diary,
A taste in the throat,

Forever away,
A face on a wave.

She’s a breath catching dust,
The seeds on a draught,

A blink between road signs,
A whistle in spring,

Paced by the summer air,
Whisked by a coming storm,

She is rainfall in the distance,
A looming, moving force.

Balloon

There it lay
At 2pm
On a Sunday
Afternoon,
The withering balloon,

Creeping along
At 3pm,
Hissing out
It’s helium soul
Through a fingered hole.

Wheezing still
At 4pm,
It lasted well,
Far too well,
The dead rubber shell.

Wrinkled flat
At 5pm,
Spitting
Pity and pain,
No longer a game.

The balloon,
A picture of childhood innocence,
A picture of simplified love,
Now lies flapping,

But my dreams
Still walk behind you
Silently smelling
Your fresh perfume trail.

Up Here

Overlooking the land
Where neon lights
Crease the river
And the concrete mountains
Rise without apology,

A spot where the past
Now nestles
Underneath metal jaws,
Giants of glass
Staring down at the scenes.

On a soft hillside lying
Against the hustling thrive,
Magpies trotting,
Bagpipes echoing
As the wind strokes the future
And whistles with calm.

Trust

Trust is a glove
Waiting for a hand
To fill it,

Beauty is just
A set of shapes
You somehow
Connect with wonder,

Happiness is a laughter
That stays
Well clear of thought
And holds you
Like a wrestler
Until the madness starts.

Grass Seed

Lying under a
Fallen ceiling,
Destroying ants
With my fingers
And tasting the dirt
On the floor,
My tongue
Is a blanket
On a now
Broken bed.

There were
Songs here once,
Memories that smelt
Like a buffet,
Well-organised food
Strewn beautifully
Across the room,
Alive from the hands
Of a mother’s
Plump ego.

The crimson
Sounds of ringing
Sit oozing
From my ears,
Trickles that tickle
Like scurrying mice
Across the heavenly lap
Of a vicar’s
Virgin daughter,
A numbness pervading,
A lesson in learning.

There is little
Time to waste,
Questions
Are mounting,
Laughter
Lies punctured,
Silence is growing,
It’s a barren situation,
The crack of twenty ribs,
A seed upon the concrete,
A sparrow in the sky.

Invisible Theatres

The city is screaming with wonder,
Every emotion has found itself a light,

Taxi drivers wave at one another,
Invisible theatres move.

There’s a music in the air,
Celebrity look-a-likes relax,

Policemen drink cocktails,
Wandering widows shift their tears,

Beggars dance beneath the glow
Of the largest coke can in the world,

Delusion drifts with the storm clouds,
But hope brings a silver-lining.

We are well within the bubble now,
Our last song is an echo,

We could throw ourselves on moving cars
And still feel born to win,

There’s a moment in the madness,
There’s a moment we locked eyes,

We could talk until the bars burnt down
And the time has now arrived.

Saturday 3am

Electric elastic
Plunking
The neck bone,
Spastic
As skin dust,
Ripe
As a kumquat,
A giddiness
Jazzing.

The kind
Of smile
You only
Really ever see
From a bride
In a furniture shop
By the
Nursery section.

Chattering
Spine jolts
Increasingly
Sweet slapped,
Melting
Like ice caps,
Sprung
Like a mattress,
A miniature
Earthquake,
Blinded
By lights.

Opening Night

It was the greatest whistle
I’d ever achieved,
Stood at the urinal
Like a king holding court
As the piss hit,

Waiting to sing for the crowd,
Washing my hands
Till they sparkled,
Flashbacks of my fingers
Writing words
Across your neck,
My smile inside your eyes,

Alone with my reflection
And a cocky unseen wink,
An hour before the screaming,
An hour before the heartbreak.
Has anyone seen my breath?
I thought,

An hour
Before I found it.

Advice

To the tongue
Lamenting
Hollow words
Before jealousy
Prays for rain,

I say bless her
Like she’s
Dressed to die,
Laugh at the habits
Of angels,
Forget the mess
And seal the time,
Touch her
Like she’s settled.

Keep your skies closed,
Everything looks
Bleaker in winter,
Never wish for a history,
Never dream of a future,
Your destiny is petrified,
Imagine rivers dying young.