Graze

She blows gently on my cheek

Wake up 

Wake up

We fall

Wind falls

Raw and quick

Apples graze our knees

It is breakfast

We split crusts 

Like wish bones 

Like atoms

Sip cherry bombs

I know

I know

There are no wishes

And the bombs are bitter 

As glue

Waking up hurts

I think

I poison the milk

We guzzle it down

Desperate

Tired

Lost

From can to can in sixty seconds

We make our reservations clear

I'm loaded 

With quirks

And other things

She skips and dances

My little sweet 

Sugar plum sassy

And I don't like pink

I need to go home 

I think

I wish

I wish

I wish

Waking up hurts

I say

Shh

Library voices

What loud

Yes but only on paper

She turns the pencil in her hand

She is thinking of a party

I can tell

Consonant balloons

A sandwich cake

Stuffed with verbs and nouns

I like that she can play

My legs are hollow

Not as hollow as my head

Hollow can be filled 

Easy as pie filling

See

I don’t think I want it anymore 

The secret is so very heavy

It is not what I am doing

It is what I want to stop

She blows gently on my cheek

Wake up 

Wake up

We fall

Wind falls

Raw and quick

Apples graze our knees.

Churn

I pin myself to the bed

Not with string 

You understand

With dust

And powder 

And glue

Three years came sister still

She stirs the moon

With a splatter and spoon

Like churning butter

Unpicking locks and clues

She chats quietly to herself

Whirring

Turning

Learning

Blast we forgot the twist of lemon

She chews her nails

Thinks out loud

What she needs

Falls into her hand

Easy as pie

See 

The flies crash 

Heavy as planes

My head is uneasy

Altered 

Distorted

As much as I chisel

And dig

There is not much left

To treasure 

Or find

She looks up

Don’t you recall

Everything’s a puzzle

A question in a tin

Waiting to be opened

Big

Bad 

Boom

She puffs her cheeks

Smiles and smirks

I lie on the floor

So we write

For weeks

And the answers come

Not the answers silly

The questions

And the thoughts

Answers don’t just fit in

They have to be trimmed and chewed 

Look at the words

Feel the scars

Join together 

The moments and flashes

Eat the atoms

Can the stars

Find out who you really are

Easy

See

She stirs the moon

With a splatter and spoon

Like churning butter

Unpicking locks and clues

Three years came sister still.

Box

Let’s make a box of hopes and dreams

You be mother

I be queen

My chest rattles 

Perplexed

Like old bones

I'm glad tomorrow is gone 

She says softly 

You were doing weird things

With colour again

I am too old for this

I sigh

Never she squeals

You and me

We're committed

See

The little girl is dancing 

Round and round

She twists and turns

Filling the empty room

She nibbles her nails

Intent

Watching

Learning how

The cow slips down the buttery hill

Don’t you remember 

When all the world was upside down

And dreams made everything right

She’s not a ballerina though

More a fighter

Our shoes are scuffed

My toes burnt bright

I wonder what we can wish or dream

For new shoes and pretty toes

Silly

My eyes go back to the

Screen

Scream

Seen

The walls become clues

Eyes blue

Fingers pink

Muscles flexing

Bones relaxing

Everything in working order

And here we are barely breathing 

She giggles and burps

Really quite outlandish

She drinks

Cold thick milk

In a glass plucked from

Thin thin air

It dribbles down her chin

I will not let her in

She wipes her face 

With the back of her hand

Examines the carton

Look

Here's our missing poster

I am too old for this

I sigh

Never she squeals

You and me

We're committed

See

Time will pass quicker 

If you stop looking out the window

Everything you need

Is here inside

Lucidity is a heavy brick

I must think the rubble away

She eyes me up

Sizes me down

Let’s make a box of hopes and dreams

You be mother

I be queen

She smacks her lips

The glue is a little salty today

Don't you think

As if we are cruising vineyards

Not new lows

I am too old for this

I sigh

Never she squeals

You and me

We're committed

See.

Flutter

The sun kisses the well worn room

As we smell hazelnut 

And glue fumes

She yawns

My stomach does flutter jumps

Aching for food

Where shall we go today

Her body goes limp

Worn out by yesterday

Exhausted by tomorrow

Let’s cover ourselves

In blue and green ink

Draw a map 

Fly away

We’d still get lost 

She pouts

Runs a finger down my cheek

I stay stock still rigid

Scared that I let her

Touch me

She feels the scars

Turns old

Tight 

Soft

Thinking

What happened

Before

Did you break

Split like porcelain 

Become a little less

I never break 

That is why we cannot move

Stuck stuck sticky

Bound in blankets 

Made of glue

She reaches out 

My body goes limp

Under the scent of her tiny hands

These are the sweet moments

When I know she is electric 

A pulse

A spirit 

A paper rose 

She feeds me 

Honey and petals

Blood and vice

You are pretty 

She says

Planting a small kiss on each eye

Pretty as a flower see

I smile

She disappears

Pokes out her tongue

Seven and a few months ago

She skips and plays 

Quick as atoms

Raspberry trifle

Banana sponge

A glance in the mirror 

All fall down

I sink to the rear

Back to the shadows and howls

Inhale so hard

We see stars

My stomach does flutter jumps

Aching for food

The sun kisses the well worn room

As we smell hazelnut 

And glue fumes.

Care

Where would you like to go today

She brushes her hair 

In a kind of sing song

I would like to go to London 

To visit the Queen

I thought you didn’t like the Queen

She crunches her sugar

Taps her feet

Three times

Mechanical

Maniacal

Magic

The moon then

We can go there in our pea green boat

We have honey 

And plenty of money 

She giggles

Holes in socks

Frays in bows

Shoes worn down with trying

I am sorry Alice

That I let you down

My throat is burnt 

Sore and dusty

We haven’t spoken up or out

Too many days in a 

Row row row

I polish the floor

All worn out with trying

She tracks my veins

With her fingernails

Will you look after me

When the sky falls down

Always

Little cricket

Always 

Then you never let me down

We breathe in

And out

Trip

Skip

Fall

High on moonbeams

Low on stars

Overlooking lethal 

She stirs the jam

With our Runcible Spoon

Scoops it to her lips 

And swallows

Her cheeks turn pink 

Her frown falls down 

We look up

Hold hands

A perfect fit

A couple of kooks 

Hung up

Hung out

Romancing

Singing

Dancing

We take care of each other

See

I smile

Inside

Where it matters

Where would you like to go today

She brushes her hair 

In a kind of sing song

Wherever your story 

And pencils take us.