All Things Being Equal

An exhaled breath
can travel the same length and breadth
as the breeze
When asleep, I have as much control
over the rhythmical rise and fall of my chest
as I do over the waves on the seas
For us to set sail
and travel the same length and breadth
as that gentle gust of air
it only needs to fill and billow the sheet
while we pull up the anchor
and hope the tide take us out of there
All things being equal
we should be able to stay afloat
on the strength of a sigh set free
as if being buffeted by gale force winds
or laying my head on your heart
and feeling your expanding lungs slowly empty

Short-term Forecast

We are wasting this weather
being inside these four walls
and it needs to be known
that for one and for all
we are born with a heart
with only so many beats
it’s a finite resource
that we only deplete
why is that window
between you and outside?
let your skin feel the tingle
only sun can provide
please repeat after me
a big fuck you to work
and get out of your school
coz your teacher’s a jerk
let the clouds be your pillow
and the grass be your bed
feel the sky touch your toes
and the zen reach your head
let’s not waste all this weather
rain may wait in the wings
of the birds that fly past
sense the storms that they bring
and when times turn inclement
and we seek shelter and solace
our memories of sunshine
will bring comfort to all us
for we’ll know that we did
all that we humanly could
to get the most from the weather
while the getting was good

Nights At The Round Table

A little mirror image
she drums her fingers
from her thumb to the smallest one
dum dum dum dum dum
she learns by watching him
over and over again
while they are sitting in
the family room
opposite each other
at the round table
but the tables are turned
so she has learned to do it back to front

Jungle Juice

Side by side on the edge of her bed
she hitches up her nightie
as part of the nightly ritual
and then places her hands, one on top of the other
over the top of her bared thigh
so as to imply
“not yet, I’m not ready yet”
and every night the mother waits with patience born of love
and the girl born from her
takes a deep breath and her hands away
and the mother takes the plunge
and feels the pain as if it were her own flesh being pierced
while her flesh and blood gasps and flinches and says
“I’m sorry, that was a bad one"
and the mother says “It’s okay, it’s done”

Store-bought Philosophy

I’ve been out stocking up
and replenishing supplies
I’ve learnt a key lesson
in front of my eyes
My Coke was on sale
but on the top shelf
so I tippied on my toes
and said to myself
“I can get to this elixir
I have reached the top before
I only have to persevere
that’s what tenacity’s for”
So I strained and I stretched
and pulled a muscle or three
but the carton came closer
as I gently tugged it towards me
I am able to get the tips
of my fingers on both sides
and use a little pressure
on the carton 'til it slides
closer to the edge
where I can get a firmer grip
and hold it above my head
while hoping it doesn't slip
I was dizzy but well pleased
when I slowly got it down
with it safely in my arms
I went to turn around
It was then that I realised
I’d had an audience
A man had been watching
in awe-inspired silence
“That really was well done”
the man said to me
“Oh, I’m used to it,” I said
“A life of stretching, you see”
I looked back at the shelves
as I went to walk away
to check just once more
the price I'd have to pay
That’s when I finally noticed
rows of Coke cartons lower down
I need not have struggled!
Man, I felt like such a clown
But then it did occur to me that
I might as well get some more
It was such a good deal they had
and I was already in the store
So I grabbed another three more cartons
and it also then did occur to me
how I had made the task harder for myself
than it had actually ever needed to be
I had expected that it would be a stretch
so I never bothered to look at eye-line
Sometimes life is simple and straightforward
(but this sweet, sweet Coke is mine)

Tracking Time

The hours you’re keeping
to yourself
will do you in
so share them out
It’s been some time
since you’ve had a tan line
of a watch band
on your left hand
You say a clock is just a stopwatch
that counts down our final hours
and who would want to watch what they can’t stop
and who on earth has time for that
So let's get on that road that goes straight ahead
and if this rock is round then it’ll never end
if we can just stay in front
as the sun chases its tail
outrun its daily attempt
to over darkness prevail
then even as we’re sleeping
the hours that you’re keeping
won’t have a chance to catch up with us

Right Angle

When I’m at the right angle
I can see you out of the corner of my eye
Movement catches my attention
If I turn you won’t be there
but I would swear
that the corner of my eye saw you
and if that’s the only part of me that can see you
then that’s better than never seeing you again
and if that’s where you are, in the corner of my eye
then I won’t cry, lest I wash you away
Well, there’s the rub

Get On

I’m gonna get on with my life
yeah, we’re gonna get on real good
We’ll be tight,
me and my life
Move in the same circles
Jump over hurdles
in perfect synchronicity
and mutual agreement and complicity
I’m gonna move on with my life
when we settle on
and select a direction
paying particular attention
to where we want to end up
and what we want to
see
and
do
and
achieve
along the way
we’ll be content and comfortable
in companionable silence
and have a lot in common
I’m gonna get on
with getting on
with my life

High Tension

You’re walking on that tightrope
with your hands over your eyes
but it would be wise
to spread your arms out baby-girl
ready for the world
Take them away from your face
Open them like an embrace
You’ll find your balance
if you just accept you might
lose some height
Look at it this way
Falling is just another kind of flight

Go To Sleep!

If I could remember the way there
I would go to Sleep
right now
leave tonight
rather than lie here lost
directionless
It used to be easy
to go to Sleep
to find my way
by falling…
like
off a log
I slept like one
once upon a time

One Day

The wind one day
collected up all the caution
that had been thrown its way
and wept and wilted
under the burden
of all the expectations and inhibitions
cast aside
like snake skins left behind
after the shimmying and shedding has stopped
The cloud one day
leaked copiously until the lake was bursting its banks
Birds flew past
Dipped their wings in recognition
then dropped like kamikazes
to nestle and settle in for the duration
The tree one day
spread its roots into the land
like toes wiggling in the sand
and made itself comfortable
The mountain one day
gave up trying to pierce the sun with its peak
and was content to savour the view
The valley one day
gave up trying to view the mountain’s peak
and took comfort in providing a course for the river
The river one day
met the sea
They weren’t so different
The ocean one day
moved grain by grain the sand dunes further up the beach
and then
grain by grain
drew then back down again
because
it
could