Dawn

A crimson rose weeps
Dew lapsing between petals
Waiting to be kissed.

For Kester

Seed

To a dear friend:

As seeds go
Surely you are the
brightest one.

We were planted
in the same soil;
and budding, grew
Nourished by hallowed
halls of laughter,
Escapades, and
Shining days of our youth.

Leaves, white and waxy
worn our pride as skins
Let each raindrop
carve its way down
each vein and groove
Always lingering at the tip,
but ultimately
letting go.

Our lives turned green;
different shades
Nevertheless,
still moulded from the
same stem.

Now, ripe
and bursting with
experience
You feel ready
to be scattered
wherever the wind may
take you.

It is my only wish
that it will be in the right
direction;
and in all things, to be
fruitful.

One day might chance
upon a certain petal
that keeps you captive,
sweet
in a world where roses bloom
and turns life's vision
into rosy hues.

Through seasons and
stormy weather
I'll be there for you
whenever

So when you go looking
for
a whisper in the trees
may memories pick you up and
carry you like a
breeze
lighter, and more free
than you ever imagined.

And finally, when a fork
in the road we meet
and due to part

keep that bright seed
sown in your heart.

Men. who love,
men who love violence
men who live wild
men who live for football

Men who cry
men who embrace newborn babies
men who flee fatherhood
men who drink

Men who rear canaries
men who rear cages
men who pride courage
men who fear truth

Men who hurt other men
men who marry other men
men, who curse
men who pray

Men, who blame others. shameless,
men, who laugh when the chips are down
men, who hold a family together
men, who break hearts whenever. they don't realise

and Men, who complete women.

for the lovers, the dreamers, and me

somewhere across
the world

someone sneezes,
and this puff
ignites
trickling teasing,
never easing
that someone is
thinking of you.

the hem of a new skirt
nervousness sewed
her lips together
nails clutching self-
consciousness,
til she saw him,
and fear unravelled
like a thread
purposely
hung loosely, with
hope.

the dreamer
dithering on the
sidewalk
pacing,
heartbeat racing,
gravitating towards
the doorbell
to deliver mail not
returned,
because he had
locked it up safe
and now had the
key
but human, resolve
melted
receding from the
shoreline
into the very
comfortable depths
of reason
but he would be
back tomorrow.

for those who spent
evey waking
moment
with roses and
delilahs
who lived for only
one day marked on
the calendar;
when winter was
warm
if spring only but
bloomed in tender
hearts.

i think of
quiet longings

and

secret poems
that the memory of
you provides the ink
for;
or how you turn my
mind,
a blank canvas in
class,
a steal away from
reality,
a nib nudging your
name in whorls.

it seems that you are
somewhere across
the world

but in my world,
you are only but
right beside me.

nautically in love

pauses,
carved
from mid-conversation.

we skirt,
daintily
all poised
til I, you,
slip

tumble

into a moment

lock hearts and minds

you've got the key,
and
gently steer words
toward quiet coves

mist settles slowly
your eyes still fierce
smouldering in the storm
as I find myself

grappling
with a tumult of emotions
you take my hand
and lead me ashore.

there's something
that anchors me to you
a ship sailing back
to the harbour,

she's called home

certainty

i am certain
i saw you.
shadow peeking out from behind
your favourite elm tree
familiar cowlick
that beckons me to the park bench
large footprints in the sand.

i am certain
i heard you.
the very name of this flower,
creaking of joints and old bones
like wooden stairs
who know your step
faint secrets in the wind.

i am certain
i miss you.

(incomplete)

daydreams

unbearable.
today is
every other day in reverse,
endless hours
stretching across a
blank canvas
it is futile.
as the brush has
no ink,
and even so it sublimes;
the mind is much more open
to wander among the clouds.