Asymptomatic

unfeeling
and unnerved
disturbed
absent
an unveiling pain
complaining
would seem like disdain
or feigning
so I just
remain

Filed under: free verse, health

Physiology

thought ruled empty meat
I rode a shell

no more

the shell rides me
filled to bursting
this cornucopia
triggers receptors
twitching lethargically
collapsing between
unwanted states
don’t laugh
i cry
but still the flesh
throbs with every pulse
squeezing thin blood
laced
with angry fatigue

Filed under: free verse

Monochrome

poems are
monochrome

bereft the allusion
of black
and white
they hide in the shades

hinting difference
between gradations

snipping apart
undistinguished values

subtly dividing the world
with words
we understand
and they don’t

Filed under: free verse, difference, distinction, meaning, poetry

Weather Walk

attuning
silence
twenty minutes to cross a room
still
in the paint
exposed
by the light
unseen
but imagined
hanging dust
harsh against darkness
hot
on the bare boards
on our skin
forgetting
shuffles and coughs
attentive
fidgeting
forgetting
programmes
the adjustment of coats
forgetting
presence
or absence
the one script
a changing climate
crossing the space
eventually one
will take
a step

Filed under: free verse, butoh, dance, performance, poetry, stage

When My Meat Burned

when my meat burned
you sat by the pyre
the heat
of my cooling ashes
warming you
like my embrace

eventually you
gathered and scattered
the remnants

a little in the ocean
grain by grain
from a quiet kayak

some in our garden
to feed the trees
we’d carried between
our early homes
pot by larger pot
until we found a place
to set down roots

some on the beach
where we found
a small pebble
eroded with a perfect hole
for the thread
of your necklace

sometimes you cried
then later honored
our shared wish
and so the moments
of happiness
amid the grief
became moments
of grief
amid the happiness
until your turn

Filed under: free verse, beach, garden, grief, happiness, love, ocean, poetry

Numbers

9
eleven

eleven
eleven

19
eighteen

18
twelve

10
sixty-six

32
AD

for
what

remembrance
is not
an excuse
to hate

Filed under: free verse, history, poetry, politics, religion

On the way to your funeral

on the way to your funeral
i found
in the hearse

a penny
scuffed and scarred
encrusted a little

for a few years
i kept it
safe

until i lost track
though every now and then
it turns up

Filed under: free verse, death, funeral, poetry

i accidentally …

the last of the coffee

your share of the chocolate

my diet

your patience

the lawn

a trip to the gym
(again)

that book you wanted

the gas bill

our local sub-station

the wrong beach

a vegetarian Risotto

my feelings

Filed under: free verse, humour, love, poetry

Gate

this
wood
rough
as the nails
bent
and quivering
tapped
gently through
the same holes
they slip
slowly
loose
with the opening
and closing
creaking
the hinges
and the latch
rusted
to squeak
each time
I open
to welcome
you home

Filed under: free verse, home, love, poetry

Nested

tag
within tag
we twine in layers

i see your declaration
and conform

you leave space
for my words to breathe

i set the attributes
you decorate with style

our few semantic arguments
unseen by the guests
are quickly
and cleanly
resolved

Filed under: free verse, code, love