Apples

I touch her cheeks

Her skin is as soft

As velvet

My fingers melt 

Into her flesh

Like filling my hunger

With the taste

Of sweet apples 

I wonder if I burden her

On her journey

Cause her grief 

My only journey 

Is when I dream

Sweet long dreams 

Which fill my mouth

With sugar

Not pain 

Sorrow is innate

In the human 

But we are looking

For something new 

Her tiny fingers

Wrap around mine

And we giggle together

Two shiny red apples

Good to be plucked

Happy to greet the sun. 

Burning Love

A single tear falls down

The baby dolls face

We can see because

We are carrying 

A flaming torch

Guiding us along the way

A bird in our hair

Another in a cage

A natural woman

Standing in a field of flowers 

We put the flame

In a glass bottle

Set it out to sea

Hope that many eyes 

Will frame it in 

Their gaze

Like the falling sun

Behind the sunflowers 

We would like to fly

Be held up by birds

Or kites

Floating in the sky

Free from gravity

Reality

A man and a woman 

Sitting crossed leg 

On the bench

We ponder their story

Where they are going

If we will follow them

Wear a red dress

And take an umbrella 

Out in a storm

Our hands are tired

Like a potter's hands

Moulding a tiny cup

All in time for tea

She giggles

The very first angel we saw

Was lilac

Not blue like the leopard

We looked at her

On the busy street

And knew we 

Had found

Our burning love. 

A.I

Do you remember 

The boy

Who sank to the 

Bottom of the ocean

So his mother 

Wouldn't miss him

He wasn't real

She skips 

And claps her hands

In glee

Not like me

He was artificial 

A robot boy

Artificially intelligent

My intelligence 

Is real

She says

And you wouldn't 

Leave me

If a real child 

Came along

Absolutely not

Little Cricket

I am yours

And you 

Are mine

Besides which

Another child

Will never come along

It made me cry

I say

Seeing him in the dark

Slowly powering down

But not dead 

He felt 

And that made me feel too

There is a fine line

Between real

And artificial 

I would choose real every day

I look out of the window

Then back into our room

Not sure what to say

Except 

I love you. 

Altar

We stand at the altar

At sunset

This is our school

A place where 

We can be naked

Splash in the cool river

Remember being young 

Make a wish

She says

I pause

Almost all my hope 

Has died

I do not know my wishes

Perhaps a path

Full of lilacs

Strawberries and cream

Tea with Hatter

She claps her hands

In glee

Every day is an adventure

For her

For me 

I am not so sure

More a mystery 

To be solved

Like riddles

Lining my plate

Lined up like worms

Wiggling 

Hard to pin down

Get a handle on

This is my vow

I say

To make my life

Like yours

To finally be free

To run

Skip

And jump

To clap my hands in glee. 

Prairie

On the prairie lies 

A cowboy on his horse

He has his eyes shut 

Under his hat

He cannot see the cherry blossom

Exploding on the tree

Not like us

We are the women 

Behind bars

A wrought iron gate

Between us and the world

Perhaps he is wishing for snow 

A sprinkling 

Of powder to make 

The land magical

The trees glisten

In the falling sun

Sometimes it feels 

As if we are under water

Blowing bubbles

Like fish in a tank

We wish that we 

Could see more

Like the man and his spectacles 

But we are short-sighted

Not able to rest

Like the cowboy

Mind always busy

Playing tricks

How simple it would be

To fall asleep

On the prairie. 

Song

Alice hums a song

As she busies herself

Here and there

I like to hear her

It is soothing

Not like the songs on

The radio

Which jangle my ears

And make my head bleed

Mostly the humming

Is like silence

A companionship 

Friendly and warm

We spend days like this

Together

But in our own worlds

Her shoes

Make a pitter patter

On the. kitchen floor

Such tiny feet

That have walked 

A thousand miles

Then ten thousand more

All part of the adventure

Don't you think

She giggles

It wasn't me that met the Red Queen

I wouldn't have liked 

Her loud voice

Alice doesn't get tired

Not like me

But there comes a moment 

When the humming stops

And we lie down

At the end of each day

Thankful perhaps

For the silence

And the memories of songs

We used to sing.

This Is My Vow

We take sips 

Of wine

From the cup 

It tastes bitter

Like rust

We do not like it

It makes our throat burn

Brings tears to our eyes

No way to live

Whispers Alice

So I lay the cup

Back on the table

Turn my head

To plucking thorns

From the flowers

Everything is a move

Not a whim

We should take 

More chances

These moves are 

Making us jaded 

I wonder where the adventure

Has gone

Perhaps it is good 

That there are no more riddles 

To solve

Apart from the big ones

Life

Death 

Everything in between

She giggles 

I swear I will not pick up

The cup again

She smiles at me 

Warmly 

Like a friend

This is my vow

I say loudly.