I remember who I was
When I met you,
That shining marble
Falling and rolling
Down the stairs,
Slithers of sun
From the skylight
Tickling me
In glimpses.
I look at who I am now,
Nothing’s changed,
Just a little less light
From the stairwell,
Slightly dusty,
Still randomly rolling
And looking for exits,
Tickled by the
Sweet drafts of hope.
Displaced by idiots
And torn like a muscle,
I sit in the trees,
The ravens retire to walking,
Aggressively pecking,
Objectives diseased,
Swallows fly low,
Swift gulps of swiped flight
And the foxes whine in unison.
I was never one to pillage,
Never the leader of the pack
Or the donkey carrying fools,
And up here
Crying through my fingernails
And grasping onto the sky,
I rise once more,
Branch by branch,
Snapping bark clearing the squirrels,
A child’s dismissal of horror,
Bright eyed and blushed with hope.
The mirrors to the future,
Electrified turnabouts
And the fall of summer leaves,
The past dreams of a mantlepiece,
Ornaments all cracked
And the gathering of dust,
Here now and smiling,
A reason for clinging on tightly
And the moment it all somehow changed.
From the yew trees to the pews
You were built for gin and sing-song,
A dictionary censored,
A library of morals,
Your thinning hair
Is part of God’s plans,
A head filled with shortbread
And flowery patterns,
Fossils labelled as rocks,
Sandwiches without crusts,
Needlepoint praising the Lord’s work,
Consensual tutting.
This could all be sweet nothings,
But it makes you feel something
Like a hot cup of tea
Or a nice bedtime story,
A nice bedtime story,
A sweet church bell ringing,
A tear in the vicar’s eye,
A reason for being.
The heart in full bloom
A virgin of springtime glee
Juiced like a hope fruit.
Touching hands take their time,
Sparks and distractions
Sit and shepherd the light,
Broken icicles melt,
The countryside thaws
And then a dalliance swims
Like two beautiful streams
As they meet at a river,
Rising hope quells disaster,
A new day has dawned,
As bridges sing breakthroughs
And the water forms dreams.
Slacker Shack