with special thanks to Judyanne and weirdelf:

daylight swept away
by encroaching night
waning
memory of purest
delight

water lilies
folding
closing
sun-sensitive petals

as birdsong ceases
and I too
fade
from your sight

until all is gone
and I am
naught
in your mind
but
a time aged photograph

Of hearts and unicorns,
and fancy clad ladies.

It's all for a game of "Pick and Play",
Under a canopy of crows and rainbows.

Little bells beat in the storm,
and chime like reversed death-knells

calling you from the grave of living,
to the endless promenade,
hand in hand,
under the scrutiny of friends and family.

Of tear drops and split throats,
or worse, of broken hearts and limbs,

your kisses taste like chloroquine,
they're very hard to swallow.

they say booze is the great antagonist
abstention needs be sought in earnest
of liver, kidney, brain and bladder
intoxication's the great destroyer

the teacher said to love my enemy
if I desire to be someone worthy
so does it not seem order of divine
that I should love my spirits and wine?
.

Is it only me
or do you quetch the same!
On my lips the smiles fade and
I am not sure who's to blame

Once I got my mirror,
alone I practised smiling
again and again
but
she tauntingly
repaid me a shabby smile

Have I turned out insane?

crippled drip
tumbling
its thrust against
its fall

outside the night
fills up with stars

the glitter wall

and a mouth of
hesitation
is dark with teeth
pale headstones
in nocturnes ease

our costume smiles
papery as halloween
flirts

your restless hands
against the bright
automatic pattern
of your shirt

pale fingers thin
the watery dexterity
of the hunt

dirty nails that taste
of smoke

The dead are forgotten
All they held dear to heart
Dusty distant recall
Gone with them far afield
While we sit on an edge
A limbo of some sort
Pondering on our fate
On what lies beyond here

Beyond the final sill
We can only imagine
Glories of paradise
And the torments of hell
While we struggle so hard
With realities today
Draw and erase or write
On the sand of our time

perched upon a pallet
each powerful pull
prompting further
his pickled pitch of pep

all promises
proclamations
played out
and unproductive

Clock strikes ten
It is time for bed
You lay down beside me
On my pillow you rest your head
On your right shoulder
My head, I fondly place
You lower your eyes
And look at my face

Your eyes look amused
Smile dances on the lips
When I touch the curls
On your chest with finger tips
It feels so perfect
Too good to be true
I tremble with joy
My veins, as it runs through

peat fires the spicy burn drifts
the soft smoke
not bitter
not tyres

the quiet in the night

"tiocfaidh ar la"

Nothing to Fear
By R W