Saturday 25 January 2014

Self portrait

There once was a 
Boy who moonlighted
As a steam train
Along forgotten borstal
Branch lines -
 - Dreams packed
In a satchel with banana sandwiches
And a smile that
Belonged on a Spanish beach.



Life

The café on lonely street
Sells fresh cups
Of inward despair,
So I drank two of these
Before walking a mile
In someone else’s shoes,
But as they didn’t fit
I just resigned myself
To advising people on life
With my vast inexperience.


Winter rain

The sky is wearing a big
Grey beard today,
The same it wore yesterday
And the day before too.
Furrowing its brow
In a miasma of sadness,
It sheds cold tears
Of discarded dreams.


Sunbathers

The trees on the edge of the field
Watch like an audience,
As the sparrows
Gather and chat incessantly
About the bluebells,
Which have craftily
Picked the best spot
For the lunchtime sun.


Age

The day is so grey
It seems old,
Too old before its time,
For it is only morning;
Or is it only mourning.


Memory

In a dream I remembered her;
Face framed in sunset,
Eyes like shimmering jewels
Swimming up from the depths
Of restless sleep.
Her name was on the tip
Of my tongue until morning;

Remembered: I called her name in earnest,
To an empty room.
Got dressed, went to work,
Her face already fading
Beneath the sheets. 


Bird watching

I sat for hours
At a window mired in January
Rain smudges,
And dreamt silently of you,
Somewhere over a hill
Where you name quietly whispered
Is stolen by angry gales –
- Casual herons peered
Between the rain smudged window,
Laughing at humanities loneliness;
For I had been sad since you left.


Artist

She lay there
Amongst the shades
Of a sunset,
Playing with the knots
In her hair;
In artistic fluency
The shadows
Drew a smile,
So large
That the moon
Was even jealous
About the eclipse she caused
On my swooning heart.