arthur

he glances up
from life stained eyes

as he swallows his pint
and surveys the room

his mortally wounded flesh

which decays as we watch him

will only be mourned

by the dented barrels

in the damp cellars

he always pays with change

careful to discard

the silver fives that

he hates so much

he lays them in beery puddles
to annoy the tepid barman

then shuffles back to his corner seat

unhurried
uncaring

and surrounded by a generation

that will never remember him

he quietly sips to their youth
with frothy bleached lips
and open flies

for he is Old Arthur

a man whose court opens

at midday and shuts at eleven

a king whose Avalon awaits

within a pint a rough cider

(he was an old man who had worked the docks in Bristol.. he sat in the same spot in the pub for over 40 years.. we talked often and played cribbage.. and I was one of four at his funeral)

the little bang theory

"We're in this for infinity and then some." said God to his sub contractors.

"There will be problems." he added
"And my design will continually evolve!"
"So, do you still want the job?" he asked
The contractors nodded and shouted, "Yes!"
But secretly they mulled over his plans and looked at areas where corners could be cut.
"Let's make it round instead of square." said one and when God wasn't looking they all nodded.

what if

exhausted and godless

pulled from my roots

I lay at your side

admiring the gentle curves

that defend your heart

this game

your rules

so relaxed

so bold

so irreverent to love

tears me apart

every time you say

"what if?"

upon reflection

he stands near

the edge of the pool

placing negatives over the winter

it was spring then

she walked towards him

half lost in a morning mist

a man

this man

stands where he stood then

waiting for the years

to recede

to forgive

to heal

and then return him

to that morning

to that love

the days between now and then

have rolled seamlessly into one

it is only the man who changes

he waits for a while

as if he expects her to return

but in the end

he walks away alone

the image stolen

tinted

altered

and put in his pocket

for in his mind

he stands with her still

(I suppose this is love from the perspective of youth. I still savour the moment and the woman but I have to put it into the context of who we were then. Some loves are still timeless but all are worth remembering. For in the end, that we loved and were loved in return, is all that surely matters.)

the problem with porridge

one was too far
one was too married
one was too near
one was too young
one was too afraid
but all were just right
and that's the problem with love
it can be eaten hot or cold

not whole

she tells me about her hair
her legs
and her looks
she tells me that a little affair
would be healthy for me
she tells me that she thinks in pictures
but that she worries
that I will see through her
but I do not tell her of my fear
that my heart would crack
if I sowed myself into her words
and as I walk away
I realise that although not broken
I am still not whole


28th March 2014

love

love I often think
is an acronym for

losers

often

vanish

entirely

I would
because I usually do

enough now

there is a place

that exists

between

our fingertips

where "what ifs" burst
and happy endings burn

my song is ending
for my time was yesterday
and tomorrow is all yours
my days are sepia
and yours are still crisp
and dripping with technicolour

still unwritten
still young
I will not burden you
for I love this love too much

but a part of me
the unbroken part
that resonates in your voice
and dies repeatedly in your eyes
will keep this love
like a secret
like a unspoken wish
until my song is sung

joy in misread adverts

Just misread a dating advert in FaceBook.. thought it said "Find Logical Women"... for a moment I was really interested...

the poet

he will cut open his feelings

and bleed them across

fields of paper

he will drag them
claw at them

erase them

and then bind them

around his empty heart

a heart that waits for a spark

and then the words

will write his love

upon another's heart