Author: John Everex

Regret

a mayfly perches
on the tip of my regrets
swinging the balance

Resist

they resist with smiles
in the street parties below
the cold wind beyond

Promise

a cup of tea steams
in everyday promise
warmth undercover

scraped, brushed and perfumed
buttons on scarcely worn clothes
numb nervous fingers

sharpened air outside
cutting through delicacy
our virtue shivers

leaving it wide open
light spilling on the pavement
running down gutters

eyes darkened enough
liquid light catching the slow
her voice far away

shoelaces untied
draw out her distant vistas
and parting memories

and rebellion
petulant childish fury
she throws me aside

sunshine slat shadows
streak across white-stripped pine boards
a sleeping greyhound

the smell of new paint
sharp crisp lines on cornicing
and taupe-spotted skin

early morning tea
wrapping blankets in the chill
solemn steam rising

Letter

bold, your words emerge
pixelated code for love
unrequited

nuance shifts and stops
deleting a halting phrase
stumbling between words

but we find our niche
our space among the errors
meaning in our faults

wriggle

black shadows wriggle
around the sunlit margins
darker in the depths

huff

she huffs when relaxed
legs twitching in canine dreams
ears still fluttering

flip

as what we know flips
we rediscover terror
in fragility

Meadow

a sun-dried meadow
following the bovine path
hoof prints fired in clay

Grey

dead leviathan
grey bark wrinkled and sloughed
elephant skin-wood

Flint

sleeping beautiful
obscure flint wall enclosing
the riot of thorns