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

........

And, if not, say my name

I will remain silent
And put the sounds of a rushing
World in a box.
I will hide it deep in a closet.
Tears for key,
Screams for lock.
Let down my hair in front of
A mirror with
Cobwebs of dreams
Spiders of thoughts.
I will brush it while
Flipping through
The pages of a magazine.
Expecting my mind to be
Silent and behave.
I will  hope that
Late hours will have mercy
On secrets, broken dolls
And the book unread.
I will trust your hand
To be soft and warm
While the candle flickers. 

OH
........

Hammershoi & Dreyer

Is this all in
Your blood’s memory.
The solitary candles at night,
Barely shedding light
On defeat creeping
Out of eyes
That look down
Or sideways.

The invisible armour,
Freezing bodies
In a space
Devoid of time,
Where all the passing
Seconds have become
An eternity of screams
Never leaving
Those lips that chose
Death in life,
Not knowing any better.

Shoulders tensed, defending
A bare corner
Already taken
By the ghostly light
From a sunbeam
Escaping the grey heavens.

There are no clocks
In these rooms
To tick-tack
The stitches
Out of fingers
Suffocating passion
Or holding a letter
With no good news.
Just worms of sadness
And rancour
Throughout a day
Contained within the walls
Of a house.

OH
........