I can’t force the words: any more than I can the night’s end. I can’t force the words any more than I can my appetite. I can’t force the words any more than I can the wind. I can’t force the words any more.
I carry in me the dark matter, The creeping secret tide; Though I mustn’t publicise the fact, Polite to other demands, I hide And pretend such things must not be talked of, Must be tamped between white thighs. So though I carry the dark matter, I must feign complete surprise. As dim and regular as [...]
The quill flickered and wept its ink Across pages damp from a rainy day. The sturdy protective doors to the sheets Stood robust against the roving gaze. The gatekeeper of the quill, a girl with damp hair, Undone in the rainy day’s tease; Glances around, defensive and defiant, And proceeds with a slight look of [...]
You needn’t take my hand if you don’t want to; I know, though passed, the storm still growls. And despite the smoothed-out sand under our feet, The wind offshore is threatening waves and howls. But if you don’t want to take my hand, at least, Walk closer to me so I can hear you breathe. [...]
On the days that I am brittle, (When I have shed a skin and am newly pink, perhaps), I balm my scrapes and bruises with whatever poison comes to hand. Such an antidote is ill-effective, Does little more than smooth things down Until I am a little more robust and stern. It renders cuts and [...]
Wheeling strokes of beloved quill, Magpie swoops over pre-governed lines; Spiral across and past these attempts at order, Stretching words beyond the stationer’s confines. My ink defies these modest printed proposals, Regarding how the text should roll; Give me room to scrawl and room to swoop, And see what coils of beauty uncurl.
There is a hole in my pocket, And my bus money fell through it; I have not had time to mend it, Because returning home from the side of a hospital bed, diminishes the need of the task. I will never again, never again, savour a slice of carrot cake: having eaten it from a [...]
Where were you when the stormy dawn broke and the rain nearly forced the day away? Where had you gone, my gypsy, my pet, when the weather was so raging and grey? I assumed long white beaches, seashells, palms, I assumed long white legs, breasts, hands, arms, I crumbled under the assumptions I built: They [...]
Trailing silk from the comb, Clover-hinted and richly warm, Trickle thickly, slickly, down, Rustic bread, home-warmed, home-brown. Slow tease and cling, lazy, sweet; And wrap my fingers softly. Liquid late sun, liquid sunset, Soft and glowing, flowing, densely wet, Smooth and sliding, moistly run: Burst honest gold across my tongue.
Solo – The longest night is the one that stretches on across the taut bedsheets, of a shared bed suddenly doubled in size. – Duel – When two cats fight, It’s not life or death, But a true and honest wish to maim. I am not sure, If this is noble, That they seek to [...]
