If I was brave you would love me

This is the latest poem for CreatureMag. To check out the illustrated version click here.
Everybody at one stage or another has wished they had the guts to say something to somebody they care for and this is my experience of that. Sometimes it is easier to imagine grand gestures as opposed to tiny moments when truth is all there is between two people and that is where this poem stems from. I wanted to write something utterly personal that had universal appeal and would perhaps encourage people to step up and be brave.


I consider painting my eyes onto your face
so you could see what I see.
I spend time wishing I could fill your head with my thoughts
hoping you would breathe them into words
and make them into something real.

I walk with you along beaches and
write things I'm too afraid to say into sand
knowing that ocean will erase any proof
before you have the chance to see.
I pick up rocks and collect them in my pockets
because I feel heavy and it's all I know how to do.

Given the chance I would cover your floor with matches,
knowing that even the greatest fires start from tiny sparks,
and hope that even one step
would light even one match
and things between us would be new.

If I was brave you would love me.