Leaps and Bounds

You've come on leaps and bounds 

They say

Did they not notice we died

She whispers

How could they

They never knew we were alive

She rolls over 

Yawning

Well it’s all pretend anyway

A kind of myth

Ink on paper

Truth on skin

A phrase

A start

A crisp attack

As if we can turn the volume down on silent

It’s perfectly wise to feel anger and rage

Do you feel hungry

Always 

We chase the sun

Yearning a full

Shear 

Break 

Down

Still, we can dream up 

As much pretty as we like

She taps her nose

Crawls under the bed

Finds the basket

In which we keep

The remains of what is missing

It is nice

Swimming over the jagged edges of sorrow

Bliss she smiles

Just the two of us

Wrapped up and free

What I do not say is 

Next time

I will not phone it in

She leans into me

Remember that terror you cannot name

I know what she is called

We curl up on the floor

Sleep under the mirror

All in good time 

She says

Holding my hand

I love her

My little story book pilgrim

My friend.

Wed

We make powder flowers 

On the bathroom floor

She loves me

She loves me not

Blood cells move 

Behind my eyes

The crackle of bandages 

Lighting the night

Bigger than niggles

Less than woes

Like washing up bubbles

Soaked in jelly tots

The sun casts a shadow behind us

We are big and small

Light and dark

All at the same time

She squeals

I grimace

A shadow is proof of being

I do not want one

She chews her fingers

Fearful

If I go

She goes 

Everything is strange

Nothing is right

What is your name she asks

I don’t have one

Everyone has a name silly

A-L-I-C-E

She wipes the letters on her lips

Like the sweetest candy

And the highest fix

A name is something to hang onto

Like the string

On a balloon 

My ballon is red

See it flies above me in the night 

It’s not real 

None of this is real

I rub my skin

Sometimes I do not know the terror that engulfs me

All I know is that it will never leave

What a curious union

She giggles

Pretty when the lights are out

I can't disagree 

She loves me

She loves me not

We make powder flowers

On the bathroom floor.

Valentine

She sits on the top step

Holding the key 

Lighting the match

Quietly singing

I stay silent

In the basement room

Wishing myself pleasant

Buttercup mints

Leaves

Trees

Gone

Think

Thank

Blank

We all go up in a big bad boom

She skips trips

Down the stairs

Who goes there

Friend or foe

Her fingertips smell like petrol

She is my lovely

My threat

My death 

The syllables come out

Quick fire gun range

Desert blank 

Urban cage

Screech

Squeal

Peal

Is any of this real

Close call

Hit fall

Cold hand 

Brick wall

I tally the cost of language lost

The wait 

The flow

Where are you

She asks

On the swing

In summer 

On the wooden porch

The wind blessing us with kisses

Brushing the hair on the apple tree

Sweet and still

Like the finest dream

Pack your case

Let’s go to that magic place

Happiness is an unexpected gift

I think

As we sink

Up from the basement

Down from the stairs

She is my love

My fortune

My breath

My shiny penny of despair.

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I may not be able to reply to your comments and posts this week - as ever always appreciate your visits.. thank you... 

Luck

We are a mixed puzzle

A book

A phone

A long lost hat

The car sleeps under the black stray cat

How do we know 

We are

Because we have a heart beat 

She whispers

Lubdub

Lubdub

Two little girls in a dunking tub

I have to check

Time must not dangle 

So many rules 

She sighs

If I was a gem 

How precious would I be

She asks

Lying on her side

Hair drizzling over baby bird elbows

I don’t have the backbone to answer

You are cobalt blue 

She squeals

My favourite colour

Forever and ever 

I hug the wall

This is me sober

Want to see me fall

No one came Alice

Only the people in grey suits

Who wrote our story 

With a company pen 

They got it all wrong 

Of course

She smooths her hair 

Tried to make us cheap 

And nasty

We are

A picture 

Of a picture

On a wall

On a wall

A distant star

Circling the moon

But still shining

She says

Quietly

Shh

We drop

Like a penny in the night

He used razor wire 

To staunch the flow of blood

How perfectly silly

She says

The silver warms against my skin

See a penny pick up

A shilling is even better luck

Is that the phone or the moon

We are in a state aren’t we

No

We are feeling

We are

We are 

I hug the wall

This is me sober

Want to see me fall.

True

She hikes her skirt up

Strikes a match

If we burn the paper

We no longer exist

See

Easy as pie

She whispers through the black smoke

For a minute I believe

Then remember 

When morning comes

Reality joins her

Sharp as scissors 

Blunt as stone

She doesn't care 

Pack a suitcase

Go away

It means nothing to her

She nestles in 

Chops

Chomps 

The finest piece of cake

A dream can bake

I finger an envelope 

Full of atomic bombs

None of this is real you know

You can’t hide here forever

I feel my skin

The fever on my head

Sticky fingers

Swaying in the dark

She leans across

Licks them

Nothing to be scared of silly

We share the same germs

We are dead and done 

I think

Bandages and chocolate spread

Twirling round my head 

Is that all we are Alice

Words

Well I am

She eyes me up

I’m not sure about you

You are memories 

Rules and regulations

Laws baked tightly in a pie

My chin drops

She stops chewing

Buck the powder

Ramp the dream

I am the constant drone that wears me out

You have to stop carrying them 

If you want to get out

I know

I know

I would like you to be there 

Under the green apple tree

I can’t keep the scared at bay

Not if you're not here

I know 

I know

I will be real

As long as you need me

Right until 

Your very last word.

Abrasion

We live in a house 

Which isn't a home 

Build us up

Knock us down

Define us

I hate every inch of it 

Says Alice

Licking brick dust from her fingers

Throw stones at our window 

Set fire to the door

Knock three times

Are we there

Neat

Tidy

Smiling

Tearful

Dusty

Dying

Look the jelly beans

Are princess pink

I would rather be a queen

She says

Twirling a lock of greasy hair

Off with their heads

She falls from the bed 

My head is unsteady

Wedged on the floor

In the dark place 

The kind lady 

Lifted me up

I wanted to cry

Silent tears hurt 

Scour

Scar

Abrade

Inside

Where are we 

Alice

Where are we 

The windows creak the wind away

The exit rests

In trousers and drawers

Bibles and books

For when we are ready

Of course

I hate spinning says Alice

Let's leave that to Dorothy 

We are butchered like pork chops

She giggles

They unmade us

Destroyed us

Saved us

Where are we Alice 

We are home

We are home.