Dawn

The white birds fall silently

In the morning dark sky

Like milk

Poured in the sweetest tea

Wake up

Wake up 

Are you there

The sheets are a jumble

For one sweet moment 

You are here

If we ever wake

There is

Nothing 

Here

But 

Me 

Same old daydream

Your voice swirling

Beating wings

She sings

Eating glue mixed with jello

At the sink

In the tarnish is

My stone face

My brick wall heart

Empty investments

Time

Money

Death 

Nothing new

She says

Maybe we will never hold each other again

Wake up

Wake up 

Are you there

Shouts Alice

Yes

Always 

My

Love

She combs her hair

Pulls her socks

Her eyes are blue

Like the sea

Like you

I let her play quietly 

In the pages

And the words

Left alone

She is resolute

Free

I do believe we will find an end

She says 

Fresh as a dawn daisy

I smile

I turned you away for a penny 

And a dream

Who would you want to see

You

Friends never made

The person I could not be

Shut your eyes

She says

Pressing a cherry stained hand to my brow 

What do you see

Nothing

Silly

When you shut your eyes

You can see anything

She goes back to her work

And sings

The white birds fall silently

In the morning dark sky

Like milk

Poured in the sweetest tea.

Bough

I wait for the call

The fall

The unbearable loss of being

Hasn’t that happened already

She whispers

Everything is cherry stained

Dirty

Sick and tired

Cherry pies and flies

There you go blooms Alice

She is wearing woodland flowers

Crash

Fall

Stall 

Brick

Wall

We have to begin again

Quick sticks

Spring through 

Thick snow

Slow breaths

Hung low

Deep sleep

Keep safe

The trees bough 

Reach my knees

So very tired

Impossible chill

Sticks like butter

Curled on the floor

In the night

I made the deal 

Years ago

Bullet proof

Skin tight

Complete

No joins

No room 

For what comes next

It connects every inch of me

To this sentence

I will never get out

No matter how hard I try

It comes out loud

She wipes my lips

Not astonished or proud

I guess that is why she is here

There is no one else to tell

Seventy years

I think

I would hope for less

She says

Past a hundred 

There is nothing much left to wander

The cold water 

Takes me to the field

The one with the silver stream

Where chocolate powder hangs from trees

And dreams go on forever

She giggles

She lies on the floor 

Holds my hand

That’s a nice thought

We say together

We wait for the call

The fall

The unbearable loss of being.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apologies if we can't get back to your posts and replies - we are all at sea - says Alice :~ 

Decorate

They clip the rooster's wings 

In the car park

Is that an anachronism or anomaly

Hmm

Both maybe

She swings her legs

Drinks the sweet sweet 

Her socks have changed

From white to brown

Too many years on the shelf

We think together

Sins burnt

Like bad paint 

Into the creases of our skin

I think we should go down 

Collect his feathers

Keep them safe

Perhaps one day he will need them

To spread his wings and fly away

She is a kind girl

Underneath 

My little unmarked friend

My chest bursts

Lungs rattle 

Like fists pounding 

On the cage door of my ribs

I don't trouble her

I don’t trouble anyone

Wrapped up viciously in the afternoon sun

Catching consonants through the window

As if words can help me 

Out

Out

I find it hard now

Down 

Stream 

Line

Born

Die

Raid the pantry 

Scheme 

For sugar and pies

Fear lures me 

In

Inn

Sing

You liked the donkey and the palm fronds

She is busy 

I can tell 

But she smiles

Her bestest smile from the top shelf 

I wonder why she sits up there

Because I am your rooster she giggles

Although you never clipped my wings

Thank you 

She says

Jumping down

Besides you put me there

Remember

I touch my face

Trying to

If one fact creeps in

My head will flood

What you do is really quite mad

Madder than hatter

She squeals

A wonderland past extreme

The trees live in the windows

Your failing smile

Dropping like leaves

The light bulb swings

There is peace in the ticking

I let her out to play

She wraps tinsel in the alley

It won't take the smell of piss away

I know

But a girl must always try to make pretty

Didn’t your mummy teach you that

My mummy taught me

Run

Hide 

Warn

Then we will be here forever

The cock crows half past crazy

We look at each other and laugh.

Out

We write help in invisible stars

No one will see

Until the lights go out

You are quite the little apocalypse today aren’t you

Be prepared

I learnt that

Pin and paper

In my pocket

A shiny penny

Just in case

The world can be vengeful you know

We live in a blank garage

With a red dividing line

Boom boom boom

Faster than a rocket

Off we trip to Kansas

That’s funny 

It sounds the same

She giggles 

Do you think I leave anything to chance

Welcome to my savage design

We can huff and puff until we lose our mind

Fuck 

It's lost already

She lights a cigarette

Lies back against the pillows

Arm behind her head

Ten years disappear in one inhalation

All the tension drained

Like blood

From her stomach

You are quite the little immortal today aren’t you

Always

She says

Poking out her tongue

The town dies in black and white

The burning sun left years ago

I don't want to buy a skyscraper

But I wouldn't mind a castle

She mumbles through the cigarette

Hanging off the corner of her lip

It’s all just the shutdown of electrical activity in your brain

I’ve seen it many times before

Time ticks on the fluoxetine clock

I always thought we were troubled in a light and carefree way

Like pixie dust

She laughs

Exactly

Dematerialise

Diminish

Dismantle

Disconnect

Maybe I would like to wear a dress

Star

Syrup 

Sugar

Loss

Just why are we eating an orange

At the kitchen sink

I don't know

I don’t remember anything 

We look at each other and laugh

Fall through the bed

Write love in invisible stars

No one will see

Not until the lights go out.

Sour

I fill the escape bags with dirt

No wonder you can't run 

She admonishes

From the top shelf

You won't be happy 

Until we are all stuck here 

Like little spiders 

Stuck stuck sticky 

In the sugar jar

Shh

I have to stay quiet

So nobody knows

Trust me

Everybody knows

Say cheese

Her finger mimics a

Camera

Click

Trick

Click

Sometimes it feels like my voice is blind

The thread

The web

A noose 

Around my head

Gravel in my throat

Nightmares in my knees 

She hums

Like the sun

An empty drum

Hardly an aubade

But I love you anyway

She blows a sticky kiss

I curl up

Wondering if molestation

Ever leaves

I grant you a pardon

Long may it be a royal one she giggles

I don't like the sword on my neck

I have to get out

Leave the house

She spins and twirls

This is not Alice

It is somebody else

A real person

A person I feel

But don’t remember

They were 

Powerful

Inside

Impotent

Out

Get out 

Get out 

Whoever you are

If you insist she inhales

Maybe our lungs will burst

Like birthday balloons

She claps 

She is back

Last straw

Crawling on the floor

A bedrock of Jurassic limestone

Everything preserved

Like moonlight in amber

Mass grave 

Dog tooth

Only bones left to chew

Look at yourself 

Look at yourself

This is who you are

Do your sorries

Say your good byes 

I am cold

Learn to cry quietly 

You fool

The milk is sour

Past its expiration

It calmly crawls back up

Until everything is empty

Inside

Out

My hand searches 

Rests on the escape bag

Think your way out

She sings

It’s easy as pie

See