War

There is a war 

It waves goodbye

We are lying on the bed

All the world a haphazard sign

We could be up or down

It barely matters any more

We memorize lines

Like bullets

Like his belt

Unspent 

Loaded

Ready to explode

If only we could take a picture 

She giggles

I remember everything

There is a war

It waves goodbye

I wish for morning time

And peace. 

Why

We spin tattered dreams around a single moon

Lost in the middle of the night 

Dust drunk and rooted 

The sheer weight of our being 

Waiting and lost

In the nursery Alice cries a single tear

I mop it up gently 

Snatch a hand

Blink and we are gone again 

Spinning tattered dreams around a single moon 

It hardly seems right to question why when we are so lost

Dust drunk and rooted

Weeks tick by into years

Silent tears on broken lashes 

Curves and bones bent over and crooked

The sheer weight of our being 

Waiting and lost.

Veiled

She spins plates in the golden sea

A veiled threat and unruly promise 

Dipping our toes in day and night

Dodging treatment and cure

Knowing there is no promised land

Far off the petals fall

Ushering in a new dream

Metal bending spirits

Mercury calling and crawling

Words we cannot find

Bending our body on a trail 

Each pore aching for reprise 

A veiled threat and unruly promise 

She spins plates in the golden sea

I dream letters 

Dead ends and dusty corridors

Swimming in the night. 

Circle

We are running around in circles again

Legs smiling in the summer sun

The world gnawing at our finger tips

A falling thread of echoes

Filling up our empty soul

Everything fell apart

Broke in the night

Like a wheel on a bicycle spinning dreams away 

Two little girls

Too old to be young

Bending spoons

Looking for father

Jumbled up words

Finger prints and wedding rings

All too much 

Perhaps it is time to stop

To know when and where the world belongs

She whistles a hymn

I douse water on our temples

Send a thank you to our angel

Fall to our knees

Touch our face

We are hot and frayed

Lost our way

Running around in circles again.

Shelf

The voices ring in my ear

The ordinary madness he wrote

Sits on the shelf

Unread for many years now

I cautiously glance in the mirror 

Face pale and pasty

Limbs obscured by knots and maps

Time gone by

She rolls over

The scent of her hair brushes my face

We are one but separate

Revelling in untold dreams

Casting shadows over sleepless nights

Time tick-tocks on Hatter’s pocket watch

We saw him

Chasing powder

Downing Rabbit

Hunting the comfort of night

His belt a ring of unspent bullets

His hat a little askew

Really quite extraordinary she giggles and burps

I count the losses on my fingertips

The voices ring in my ear

The ordinary madness he wrote

Sits on the shelf

Unread for many years now.

Trance

She whispers rancid shadows in the night

I wait for an end that never comes 

It is hard to think of where we are

Better that dawn spills over in a trance 

We drink the water down

I ache for pins and powder

A leap of faith to touch

Empty ripples within our belly

Walking in circles

Nonchalant

Scintillating
A flagrant misuse of time

Each day carries a hopeless wish

A step

A whisper

A shadow

A small miracle to ignite our way

Better that light spills over in a trance

I wait for an end that never comes 

Better late than never

She whispers rancid shadows in the night. 

Net

Alice rings the bell

We are lost at sea

Casting nets in murky waters

Chasing words and symbols

Blind

Breathing

Aching to be free

Hatter holds his lady’s hand 

Run for your life he mutters

And we do

Navigating feet and chests

All coat tails and swagger

Tattoos and smoke

I hang my head in shame

What have I become

Lying on this ocean floor

Shells and cockles stuck in matted hair

Dreams mixed in powders

Poison and succour 

She rolls the can

Another day done

We cast a little hiccup

An organic wave

Sparks between you and him and me

Alice rings the bell

We are lost at sea

Casting nets in murky waters

Blind

Breathing

Aching to be free

Run for your life he mutters 

And we do.

Flight

The hummingbird taps at the window

Her little breast sailing and soaring

In full flight

We are crammed inside these bare walls

Dipping out fingers in the jar of light

Our friendship rests in the groove of ancient windows

Empty signs

Small steps and tattered feet

What was and what will be

There is no mercy in the question

She rolls onto her side

We are bound together no matter the cost

She is the earth to my electric dreams

My spare rib and freedom flown

All is light and falling 

The jar forever a gift in the night

She licks her fingers 

Feast or famine we rise and fall together 

The hummingbird taps at the window

Her little breast sailing and soaring 

In full flight.