The last week in September

I woke up before the sky got light
and counted backwards from one hundred.
Trying not to blink
I said each number as crisp
as the air outside
and when I got to one
I started again.
It was seven cycles
before I ventured out of bed. 

Only until I work it out

I walked backwards
until I fell
and saw sky
where shrinking buildings
were before.
Waited as what I edged away from
crept across where I lay,
like a veil,
and settled over my eyes.
I heard leaves scuttle like crabs,
away from me.
Sometimes you have to stay
when grey really is
only grey.

When all seems lost listen for the ocean

He kept in time with the sea
as each grew tired
and slowly withdrew.
As yesterday became today
a song that had been sung for always
was swept up with the tide,
and with each crash
grew louder,
until two worlds
sang in unison.
Below grey skies
he left behind
names carved deep into wood,
truth that he had been here once,
and that all was different
because of it.

World

A need to be something bigger
breathes
and lives
and grows.
Stirs,
like thunder in angry sky
and crashes
between grey and sea
And still I keep walking.

Bound

I thought it'd help if I closed my eyes
when you said my name,
knowing the past cannot colour what you say
behind the dark.
And for a minute it worked
until the weight of once before
came over me like vast stillness
and sat on my chest.
Rain filled buckets in lines by the back door
and I sang to you in an attempt
to cover the sound of lonely drips
making up pools of water.

Me without you

Once when we were one

It hadn't before dawned on me
that our days could run parallel
and that we would walk
side by side,
feeling the cold on our faces
as seasons changed
from green to orange,
without even knowing
that we walked in unison
apart
from one another.

All I can do, I will. A poem in two stages

I walked around in your shoes,
two sizes bigger than mine,
down roads and through grass,
from one town to the next.

Wanted to try and better understand
how you feel the world each day,
because I want to know all of you
starting from the beginning.

By clumsy design

He spent the morning
with his eyes closed
between traffic lights and tide,
his embarrassed face
warmed by early sunlight.
As cars moved beyond him
and the pale moon became paler still
he took a sip of bottled water
and imagined him there,
waiting
in Autumn
and red shoes.

Probably mysterious, probably not

You introduce me to people
as though weights hang from your tongue
and the words trip over one another,
as though your mouth is filled with coins,
and you bumble
your way through my name
and tumble across each letter and sound
and still I cannot tell
if I should be charmed or not.

Over and over until it was through

There had grown a distance
between a person and a person
that was bridged only
by their need to not be alone,
and each travelled
back and forth
across this span that separated them
until eventually the gap
grew too big for walking
and they were stood, like planets,
apart.

I love you because

I had reached out
and rested my head on your head
and pressed down with my weight
until your neck folded in half
and you made a sound
I hadn't heard before,
but was like food that fed me
and made me strong.

Only when I fell outside of time did I reach for you

I sat with my head on your chest
whilst the radio played lonely songs,
and you sang the chorus
each time it played
and laughed a little
when you muddled words
until I fell asleep
in time with your breathing
and woke again when it was dark.

A poem prompted by history

I have woken up only too aware
that I stand on the shoulders
of those who fought before me
and so I must live my life fully,
in memory of theirs
if nothing else.

It was a history that never had been

Luke Perry worked in a clothing store
that sold flannel shirts
and dresses made from lace.
Some friends and I would take ourselves there
when it got time for closing
and sit with him as he swept the floors.
Once he was done
he would turn off the store lights
and we'd all lay by the t-shirts
and laugh about things that weren't funny.
He'd wear a white vest
and look at me sometimes
so I could see that I made him happy.
I would always smile back.

Teen Idol #4

Marty McFly from Back to the Future is a pretty cool guy.

He practically invented Rock n Roll.
That makes him worthy of being Teen idol #4.

Once when I was lonely

I was lying in my bed
as rain fell outside where I was
and played music on the window,
until each drop became an orchestra
and performed a symphony
til morning.

Teen Idol #3

Kelly Taylor

She's practically my hero

Beverly Hills 90210

Class of 93

A night by the seaside

I drove home alone
and listened to a lady sing
music from her past
that made her seem so sad.
The moon shone hazy
and made everything turn yellow.
I felt like an empty balloon.

You were inside my mind though I hadn't given you a passing thought before

Only when I noticed
that my arms wrapped tight around
something that was make believe
did my eyes cry water
and continued to do so
until I was tired enough again
to sleep.