Goodbye sweet loathing
Cast off your chains
Throw off this yoke and
Be free of cruel reigns

Come now what may
Fear not what might
All the bright mornings
The darkest of nights

Living and loving
Be one and the same
Not when you carry
This parcel of shame

Deliver yourself now
From anger’s dark door
Guilt will no longer
Chain you to the floor

Dash for the daylight
Spread fiery wings
Fly to the places
That make your heart sing

The rose and the lily, the blue bell and daisy,
on days bathed in sunlight all hallowed and hazy.
I loved them, that summer, when girl she came calling,
laid by me in long grass, in love with me falling.

The damp, diamond dew drops: her tears that I’ll treasure.
Her light-hearted laughter, her smile of pure pleasure.
Those bright balm-filled breezes, the nectar from kisses:
My mouth, on this morning, so madly it misses!

From birth
the aversion to sleep
served a portion,
the first slice
of insanity,
sang-froid contorted
a barrior to sleep,
always present

A trigger pulled
at fifteen years
irrevocably damaged,
I endeavored to find
the earth underfoot,
finding nought but
space without end,
with no foothold
no iota of memory

I drifted away
into nothingness,
alternate realities
brushed my lips,
enticed me to stay
to become one
with penumbra

Oh fuck it all, I’ve had enough
Of all this dreadful, made up stuff
Love me, lust me, look away -
Write the headline of the day-

We all sup at the greedy trough
Where politicians scowl and growl -
Panting with displeasure -

While women dressed in black and grey
Mash their mouths with viscous lips
And snarl once more, into the fray,
High heels clicking with intent -
‘Let’s find the truth and make it bent!’

the durability, longevity, and tenacity of Homo sapiens,
after screaming headlines report one after another atrocity.

How did the human species manage to survive
with many means
of self destruction at their disposal?

Atomic stockpiles nothing
but ticking time bombs,
and prior to advent regarding
weapons of mass destruction,
the histories of civilizations
replete with one after another
ingenious modus operandi
for opposing forces
resorting to horrendous
feats of killing each other.

To make it clear,
I want nothing more
than to be at peace,
to feel a perfumed breeze
off gentle waves
kissing my cheeks,
to run my fingers
through desert sands
so milk white, I'm dazzled

I want to walk over
the hills and valleys
to the plains,
at my destination?
I want to run my hands
over ears of wheat,
swaying in thrall
to moonlight

Locks on bridges
Happiness flows
But how many rust
By next year

God knows

Love locks left
Keys unkeyed
A bridge too far
River dries

But not my love

It takes so long to let her live.
Her death is my hell,
it is all done well.
She's innocent unaware,
pushed with most care.

For weeks I sat and thought of her.
The words I wrote for her do say;
A love through night and work through day.
For me she lives a lonely way.

Each line a part sought,
each word carefully brought.
Worked and re-worked,
she’s about thought and re-thought,
doubt and re-doubt.
When brought to a whole
she’s part of my soul.

Grey beauty,
Smoke gallops over stone,
Over grave.
This body of mine,
Eternally in harm's way.
Iridescent reflection.
Feathers flutter over leaves,
Over sea.
This mind of mine,
Chained down by reality.
Sweet ringing,
Sound penetrates through sleep,
Through silence.
This soul of mine, a husk
Nothing will ever be quiet.

I am a shell.
Stumbling, crawling
In this concrete, convenient hell.
Bury me sweetly with a bell,
I will call for service
To clear my table

If there ever was a time
I needed to find you sitting here beside me
it was when I finally realized
that loving look in your eyes
was startlingly real

If there ever comes a time
when you need to walk with me on the beach at sunrise
just know that I’ll always be there
even if I’ve left the earthly realm
and am just a memory

Something tells me this storyline
may not have what some would call a fairy tale ending
but understand no other love
no treasure trove no dream can touch
what I feel for you