Friday 24 June 2011

Once Upon

A summer’s day inside a dim nook
Hooks of sun cling to dusty light
A patter of feet, tentative and slight,
Whiskers tweak and ears prick
The smell of sweat and sunshine linger
Softly, upon the skin,
And in she is, this ball of jitters
Twitters pleasantly to the receptionist.
A sassy smile, a knowing nod
Cards and keys, paper and pins,
Exchanged and signed, too refined
Too cocky, this little whatsit
Struts and pouts, giggles with a smile
She bounces from room to room
Idle, but energised. She fumbles
Pushes and shoves, scrapes and knocks,
Opening Aladdin’s cave, glittering, glimmering.
A gem nestled in a stained chain
The nymph flaps and flutters, weaving silk
And spinning the dew drop wet web.
Freeze. It is time. Away, down the same lane
Out into the sun the bud bursts to bloom.
Into cobbled streets, stones laid out side by side
Like little tombs. Towards the smokey choke
Of people scattered like pins. Where is he?
There. Smaller then remembered, and from afar
Perhaps stocky and brutish, with eyes too close
Or a lips too thin. He is here. A cigarette dangling
Dangerously on a sulky mouth, but a flash lights
Those wide, wild eyes. She is here. Like two peas
Where one is slightly rounder, bigger, greener
Yet still two peas sheathed in a suitcase  
Rattling roguishly with too much space.
A smile, a nod, an embrace. Small questions
Drip off wet lips as they stroll with eternity
Between them. Like fruit bats seeking succulent
Sweetness do they return to the cave, hungry
For the flesh of tender peach, plum, grape.
Hairs tingle upon her nape as she senses his eyes, only his
Watching her, judging her, feeling her.
The clinging scent a red rose dies, but tender
Buds of the little forget-me-not struggle up
Not much, no fuss, resolute.
Tension builds a sly glance and quick smile.
Suddenly he’s there, too close, too soon.
His eyes too intense and too remote.
A serpent’s tongue hisses over her lips
Who knew such creatures of fire and hate
Could kiss with Angel’s wings?
Feather light, gentle and soft
A taste of ash and crisp leaves
Cool, cold, lusciously fresh.
They fit gawkily together, pieces of the same puzzle
But different parts of the picture.
They have so little time, and yet tomorrow
Could be as far as infinity, somewhere
Painfully pleasant and burning cold, somewhere
There is no sound and every sound, somewhere
Hills are flat and roots bloom with petals. Somewhere
The body is mankind, and every soul the mind.
A pen is dipped into the ink pot, drawing evening
And the feeling of a letter without words.
There is so much confusion, promises unwritten,
Between them there is nothing, and everything
Imperfections craft these moments of perfection.
Potions of pastel pink and the emerald case
Of bubbling liquid gold taste and intoxicate.
Then, like the lights of heaven
Seeping through pinpricks of a dark duvet
A wall cracks and crumbles, a silver cloud
Melts into a pool of watery fire.
No traces of desire, there is only the pure white
Of something more than before.
Quite the opposite of bad, but not quite good
Fears of what would, should, could commence.
She is blissful, he is bemused.
Unacquainted with an emotional bruise,
Where sentiment seeps under the skin
In puddles of purple and blue, goodbye,
Adieu are now poetry to melt the heart,
And used to make the soul or tear it apart.
Love, another word mispronounced
Is not the volcanic heat that rips your veins,
The mind games, or sweetened names,
The emotional monologues or twenty four
Missed calls. It does not hit you with a hammer
Or choke you with tears, fears and years
Of longing yet not belonging.
It is more the gentle breeze which follows
A hurricane, the aftershock of a rocking world.
The certainty that the sun will rise or that
Waves will never cease to lap your feet.
It is the soft poke towards fire when you freeze
Yet the hand that holds you back from burning.
It is the turning of time in a ticking clock, it goes on
When shattered, cracked and clogged.
It is not consuming but filling, not compulsory yet willing
It is the delicate ash left after a flame
The sap that swells when a bough is maimed
So King of lust, Virgin of love, here is one simple suggestion;
Is love the logical answer to your question?

Scenery

I sit behind a small bureau; the window I undo,
Bashful Brightness tiptoes through
He perches upon my face, warms my blood
And settles upon his place, he stifles a sigh
The bright eyes are questioning why?
I wilt and wither, I shake my head,
With the need to study what it is that is dead.
Yet Wistful Wind will not let it be so,
With Brazen Breeze she rattles my window
To give a tender tug towards the door
And so my studies will commence no more.
Out, out of the coop the little bird swoops
Into the crystal dome that surrounds the sky,
And so no higher can the little bird fly,
But with all that can be seen, what more can you desire?
When you have the beauty of wind, earth, water and fire?
For the sundrenched dew that litters our land
Are the sparkling gems that wet my hand,
The rainbows that prance across pools and lakes
Are routed by Ripple’s giggles as calm water breaks.
Towering nymphs that bathe in streams,
Their curls of emeralds stolen from Queens.
Picasso and Van Gogh, encased from our eyes
Must surely fight to colour our skies,
And after their small scuffle is done,
After a morning’s work has begun,
The ruckus persists, and a tin is tipped,
It falls, blotching our sky with a certain hue
Today they’ve spilled the brilliant blue.
But affluence comes with searching our land
Guzzling the gold of pebbles, seashells and sand.
Sunbeams that salsa between the cracks in leaves
Are all the riches we fools could need,
I feel there is no greater price one can pay
Than to be blind to earth on a sunlit day,
Or to be deaf when birdsong can be heard
Over all that is mechanical, artificial and absurd.
For I’ve never known such happiness in me
To swell so swiftly, when I see what I see,
And to be sourced by such simple scenery
Tells us, deities, that we do not need
To suffer from loathing, lust and greed.
So lift thine eyes from thy cobbled course,
Gawk, gape or gaze, just for a moment or two
See the small world slowly surpassing you,
It could take your breath, maybe pull you apart
Because for a world so beautiful, it breaks my heart.

Merry Go Round

I rode my bike across the brook,
The innocent crook, the runaway of today.
I saw a man wearing feathers and hooks
And from his lips limped larceny.

Stolen my mind with an illusion
A sea of delusion to play,
Crammed with criminals and castaways,
Yet my Mother wouldn’t let me stay.

The apples were rotten
And the rides were wrecked,
A place best forgetten.
She called come home, my darling

But I sought to see
The fairy lights paint my reverie,
Watercolour creatures
Dancing with distorted features.

I’m stuck on that merry-go-round
Life’s just blur I see nothing but colour
Round and round up and down
My merry-go-round,
Don’t let my feet touch the ground.

Glitter, glass, lollipop sticks
Those ancient magic tricks
Swept away in the breeze
The charms no longer cast
Just mere ghosts, a part of my past.

Now my baby’s off to the fair
White ribbons in her golden hair.
Just a poor petal, dropped from the bloom,
The innocent life time must consume.
The moon’s in her eyes, she waves goodbye
A funny thought; sending my baby to die.

Simple Sweet Simplicity

I would like some quiet peace of mind,
Not startling, nor silent, to pass the time.
Something peaceful and pure; collected and calm,
Nothing hurried or hateful, to cause alarm.

It’s pickled and pricked, twisted in knots
The crypt in which simplicity rots.
The sweet-scented sponge that must be wrung,
To clear the bloody mess it has begun-

I would like some quiet peace of mind,
Something my innermost self must find.
Whilst my outer eyes, ears, battle the noise and hate
My inner self, protected, may at last create.

I would like to peel away the skin
That wraps this meat, reveal within
The tendons and tubes, raw and red,
But mostly to see what’s inside my head.

Did crayons colour, place and pepper the pictures we pass?
Hung for us to see, the ones rendering reality.
I would like to break and be broken, rip and to tear,
One life is still a life, yet no life is fair

I would like some quiet piece of mind
To flee this ferment that I find
Has splattered ink across my page
And sourced these fruitless tears of rage.

So please, never assume what it is you know,
Be simple in talk and simple in show,
For webs are weaved around our youth
To control our soul, to choke our truth-

Would you like some quiet peace of mind?
Tis’ only for the meek, weak and blind.
I, consumed by rage, fire and fear
Have no hope of finding peace in here.

Conflict

I would like some quiet peace of mind,
Not startling, nor silent, to pass the time.
Something peaceful and pure, collected and calm,
Nothing hurried or hateful to cause alarm.

I would like some quiet peace of mind,
Something my innermost self must find.
Whilst my outer eyes, ears battle the noise and hate
My inner self, protected, may at last create.

I would like to peel away the skin
That wraps this meat, reveal within
The tendons and tubes, raw and red,
But mostly to see what’s inside my head.

Did crayons colour, place and pepper the pictures we pass?
Hung for us to see, the ones rendering reality. 
I would like to break and be broken, rip and to tear,
One life is still a life, yet no life is fair.

Would you like some quiet peace of mind?
Tis’ only for the meek, weak and blind.
I, consumed by rage, fire and fear
Have no hope of finding peace in here.

Men

Men, murderous men. I eat them like pies,
Cook them in stews, boil jelly from their eyes.

I stab them slash them tear out their soul,
Using the skin to soak juices from a bowl.

But why use the head? There’s nothing there,
Nothing nothing but cobwebs and filthy air,
                                 
Rather the heart once it is drained,
Rid of all emotion it formerly contained,

Perfect for a soup, or perhaps a lung?
Full of the breath, the life that begun.

Lips, luscious lips, are a delicacy
A lover’s legacy, a fierce kiss that lingers

Goes very well with some fumbling fingers.
But the tongue must torn, see in store for details,

The tongue has always blackened
Clotted and rotted, been tied with lies,

Served to we, women, disguised
In a slimy slobber of gloop and grime.

And me, murderous me. Armed with my knife,
Surrender this hand and I surrender my life.

Fie fi foe fum

I smell the blood of a gentleman
Be he a saint or be he a sinner,

I’ll spit out his heart
And eat him for dinner

The Man with a Wall for a Face

Look to your cheeks, why do they flame
Red as bricks? Sorcerer of pain, am I?
A nature of tricks; pixie with one eye
Which is shut tight, shut tight for my night.
Your lips, my dear, are cemented, locked and bound
Your feet beat bitter, bittersweet ground
When I chatter and natter I hear two; 
The echo bouncing off of you
Straight to my heart; acidic cupid’s dart.
Hear me not, see me not, forget me-
No. The syrupy sewage I spew
Oozing out as gobbledegoo  
Could never corrode a thick brick, like you.
Listen to me! Alas, I forgot
How can one listen with ears so full
Of cement, repent, rubbish and rot.