Afternoon

The cup is full to the brim
and threatens to spill tea
at the slightest movement.
The flowers have began to shed
their petals on the mantelshelf
and an out of season fly,
with its legs up,
lies behind a postcard.
Shall I remove all these
reminders of decay?
Dust away the thin suggestion
of sunny days gone hidden
under the fallen leaves
and put a blanket over you
to keep chilly draughts
from your sleep?

OH

........

Big Bang   

Yes, that’s how it was.
Darkness hatching its eggs,
and then the blast.
Sparkling dust,
flaming tongues
spiralling further.
Carrying the ashes
that would be our eyes.
The hair that falls
gently on the cheek.
There we all were,
before we became colour,
learned to walk,
turned to dust.

OH   2010
........ 

Damaged
She lost her book of prayers
and forgot how to kneel down


She lost her singing voice
and now her words are razors


She lost a passing dream
and missed a train that waited


She knew that if she tried
and shut her eyes tight


she would lose the world.


OH  2010


........

Yellow Stripes

The bee in my
childhood eyes fed
from the flowers,
the bee in my
teenage eyes buzzed
around my head,
the bee I saw
the other day was
trapped behind the
kitchen window
and couldn’t get out.
I opened doors,
let in the air
to guide its way
into the morning
My eyes reflected on
the windowpane.

OH 2010
........

That Morning

You said you liked your women
to be quiet. Keep
themselves to themselves. File
nails, feeding the silence
with dark red.
Knife cutting your words
in slices, leaving them
hanging from a wall, or following
a stranger in the morning grey.
Smell of coffee, and
the eye of chance. Sleepy water
going somewhere.
You spoke of the ugliness
in beauty and the short
life of love. I inhaled
the dampness in the air.
Saw her fingers curling over
your last words.

OH

........