poems

I See Myself (3)

I see myself in every fear

Each private moment of despair

Each suffocating tragedy

Each new hope born of alchemy

I See Myself (2)

I see myself in every park

Each sun-soaked leaf, and strip of bark

Each lover lain beneath a tree

Each sacred simplicity

Q.R.V.

In holding back, he had a knack

And took a tack with me

Oh the allure, of a love saboteur

Sailing straight for Q.R.V.

Layaway

Baby loves the ocean

But he’s afraid to swim

Stands out against the waves

And takes ’em on the chin

Baby loves his music

But he won’t play a note

Leans against the lyrics

Repeats ’em all by rote

Well, what’ll come out if baby plays?

If he lets the tide take him away?

Nobody knows ’cause nobody stays

Baby’s love’s on layaway

And baby loves tomorrow

Always one more than today

Postdating his sorrows

But someone always pays

Well, what’ll come out if baby plays?

Lets the tide wash his fears away?

Nobody knows ’cause nobody stays

Baby’s love’s on layaway

Infinite Divisibility

Well, he takes a step toward me

And then he halves that half

Divisible infinity

He plots me on a graph

But baby never quite arrives

And we never quite meet

Because infinite divides

Are odds I can’t quite beat

And I can’t go halfway no more

I can’t live half-in

I never had the heart for maths

And straight lines make me spin

Baby takes the world in strides

But it reads like a retreat

And his infinite divides

Are odds I can’t quite beat

Covenant

The moon told me I could be kind

To my body, soul and mind

Far worse than breaking guarantees,

Was breaking covenant with me

The East End

I’ll write a song called The East End

For he who was more than a friend

Composed in a phantom key,

A microbarom frequency

And when you cross the overpass,

Won’t you hear it say, “Alas.”

Dance Card

They say the best way out is through

And so I’ll take this dance with you

I’ll follow pace, I’ll move in time

You set rhythm, I’ll match with rhyme

One step forward, one step back

I’ll learn to balance where there’s slack

When you long to dip me low,

I’ll arch my back in even flow

And Life, when we’ve moved through my fears,

My dance card will be free and clear

Stream

Inside of us, there lies a spring

A stream of life neverending

Deep divides and driest days

Cannot stymie the waterway

Dive inside—abandon dock

And, in time, you’ll cut through rock

My Baby

My baby’s got no tricks

But her manner is bewitching

My baby’s just for kicks

But we oughta be hitching…

My baby’s got no style

But she’s got a flair for smiling

My baby’s got no sly

But her candour is beguiling…

Baby crosses her i’s

But she dots her little t’s

She’s got no alibis

Baby’s where she’s meant to be…