Tag: poetry

pressing my shoulder
her hands cover my eyes
words hushed by my ear

yet this blind embrace
binds me, turning sour and curdles
bile and salt-sweat skin

white flecks of ash catch
the soot from a thousand fires
smoke hiding my tears

a phone is ringing
chirping in the empty rooms
nobody can hear

streetlight slices rust
cutting shadows from the air
picking motes and smoke

until headlights switch
spotlighting the moving shades
and waking the dawn

the words prepare us
a soft-scripted liturgy
to remove our guilt

the whispers linger
echoes scratching the render
scraping the brickwork

but the silence lasts
longer and still reaching out
blind groping fingers

the underpass sign
surface rust scarring intent
decaying welcome

the timing is off
words lost in contradiction
spiral intimate

uncover corners
hiding in open attics
reveal those boxes

lying half asleep
dreams of other dimensions
appear tangible

I examine them
intricacies and facets
slipping elusive

the ancient city
reaches beyond the suburbs
into reverie

The last of the flames
curl and blacken the petals
of charcoal flowers

they spite the arid
sucking moisture from the air
finding hidden joys

in the hush they bloom
alighting colour to glow
against the darkness

we wander in step
testing the brittle edges
of former friendships

and days afterwards
we slip reluctant into
our daytime rhythms

while the embers burn
smoke obscuring the mundane
unsettling boredom

we search for berries
the overgrown garden, vast
staining our lips red

unlike yesterday
her kisses are soft and calm
fingers on my brow

she whispers brittle
withdrawing more than she needs
an evanescence

the ward sleeps in snores
and words spoken when sleeping
to rhythmic machines

dawn’s light turning blue
harsh seagulls welcome the sun
and we count ourselves

and yet on the edge
there’s one who remains silent
who slipped on ahead

arcadian June
middle fingers near touching
our creases unknown

a stolen promise
kisses stir my summer’s balm
abvolating time

still, the aged affair
sweeps our old bones and tendons
with separate fires