Respect

There is a quiet harmony in our breathing
A gentle respect for time and space
Alice tidies up the can lids
So many purple ties we can't keep track any more
She laughs
I snuggle under the covers
There is a brilliant shine to the day
A far off wonder
I hope we can dream of moonbeams and liquorice she smiles
I just hope for rest
A small break from light and sound
There is a quiet harmony in our breathing
A gentle respect for time and space.

List

We hammer a list into the wall
All dreams retreating on the road away from here
There is a gust of wind
An epic dump
Thoughts we protect
Keen as cats eyes in the night
Our hair a mess of tangles and dreams
We are waving
And most definitely drowning
Count our pennies one by one
Inner lines stuck to our body like clothes
A one-eyed river frames our room
We drift in and out of consciousness waiting for some relief
A kind hand
A tender touch
All dreams retreating on a road away from here
We hammer a list into the wall
Waiting saber tooth in hand for the mud to dry and fall away
The birch tree sways
Deep breaths and hollow dreams
We are alive
The sound of nails in empty walls echoes all around.

Nature

We eat popcorn under watermelon skies
Running between noon and night we are never quite full
Outside the distant chatter of children keeps us awake
We long for someone to knock on our door
Carry us away
Nature tries
Green trails crawling up our limbs and into our heart
The world is all around us
We feel every second but deaden the pain
The vanilla slithers down our gullet
Melts into a sugar mass we can never digest
We eat popcorn under watermelon skies
Running between noon and night we are never quite full.

Bang

Alice bangs her head

The words simply will not come

We lie still like statues 

A torch the only light 

Wrapped in blankets against the gulping sky

Our afternoons are spent cultivating habits

Habits we should have long since left behind

It’s all so very dull she moans

The march

The melting candy

Sticky on our fingers 

Turning circles across sad orange skies

I pull the hood over my greasy hair

Too tired to wash the knots out

We will wait

Maybe there will be a surprise or two

She chirrups like a little bird on my shoulder

The light melts like a blade through butter

Should we turn left or right or simply lay still

I think we should wait she gurgles

Water dribbles from her lips

It’s an accomplishment just to be

She says this decisively

I bang my head

The words simply will not come.  

Flood

Alice cries in the middle of the night
The salty tears stick to our pillow

The heating clicks on

We are cold even though the summer heat swaddles our limbs
It has been long days since we left the small room
We inhale the powder like magic starts
Nothing can stop us
The rain falls down on the cracked earth
We can taste it on our lips
We ache for relief

Something to stop the pain

It never comes
Perhaps we can sail in our umbrella
Just like we did before
Or take a ship to the moon
I love her fanciful thoughts

They keep me afloat

Like a life raft in the night.

Enough

She pushes her brown hair back
Like a penny dropping
We are enough for ourselves
Time loops back and forth
Between young and old shadows
My teeth are crooked but wise
Hers are milk teeth waiting to play
I smoke stones in the bare light
There is no answer
No agent to call upon
Time is like a band around our waist
Tugging and tight
We try to reach the stars but fail

I keep a few in my bag

Just in case

We reflect in the cool blue light

Laid bare

Empty alone

She pushes her brown hair back

Like a penny dropping
We are enough for ourselves.

Mend

Alice plays with the hem of her skirt
It is far past the need to be mended
We are at home now
Nestled in the red bed
Not sleeping
Creeping to the kettle
Murmuring in the sink
The chains snapped
We almost miss their presence
Like a faithful hound they kept us reined
Now we have freedom and a list of wants and need
All too much when said and done
We woud like to play with moon and sun but are stuck stuck stucky in powder and glue
Alice plays with the hem of her skirt
It is far past the need to be mended.

Rattle

The chains rattle around our throat
We try and punch the labels off
Her voice is on the radio
Do you remember how her eyes rolled as she passed us by
I remember everything little cricket
The water pipe
The padded room
Cold wet hungry
It's as if our head simmered over and burst to the surface
All mixed up like dolly's sweets
Rejection hurts
Belonging is a thought we care not to think of
Blue is my favouirte colour she says

They make you wear red

Like the Queen
More like a clown I chuckle
It doesn't matter any more
Who we are
How we are is tucked in an envelope and waiting
Letters we have owned
Thoughts we would have treasured
Perhaps things will be different this time
You know it won't
In a nutshell we are screwed
She says this with a hint of satisfaction 
Harder to fight our way out
Pointless to even try
Despite our wishes and the desire to win
We are going nowhere soon
The chains rattle around our throat
We try and punch the labels off.

Trafficked

They hustle our body into the bag
It aches in here and our clothes stick to the sweat on our back
It's all so much effort with little reward
No sugar or spice
Still time for powder
We sneak it in
Up and down the hill we travel
Exhausted dirty foul
They may own our body but they cannot dispossess our soul
It waits quietly in the six by six room
We will bide our time with the dignity they removed
Wrap it around our shoulders like a cool blanket on a summers afternoon
Are we still human
Alice croaks
Yes, little cricket
I do believe we are.