They are grown men now
I watch over  them from afar
they have their wives and rings
and slings
and other things
that bind them
and make them sing
sometimes I want to scoop them up
one in each arm
like long ago
throw them in the back of my car
and sing out loud
ridiculous
melodies
laugh out loud
to
lyrics
born
inside my car.

I’ve made it this far
nothing or no one
not even you
will drag me back
to  what I am running
from.

There’s a voice
deep inside all of us
we can’t name it
although we blame it
for telling us
our everyday
truth

I’ve got a ride to
somewhere
probably end up being
nowhere
still I’ve got a ride to
somewhere
could talk the driver into
one more passenger?

I will trade
all the best of my
tomorrows
for the worst of your
yesterdays
and then some!

They sat and warmed
their hands
on the dying embers
of a marriage
that once burned
out of control
huge orange flames
of laughter
that touched the sky
and touched
their souls.

I don’t need to know
the way home
I might not be heading
that way

You dropped our love today
I think when you left early
for work
I saw it as I left with the kids
tossed to the side
I think the postman caught it
in his heel

We are deep into a
conversation
there is no turning away from
you should have backed out
ten minutes
ago

I heard what you said
about the end of me
and you
I still love you
enough
to never
tell anyone
it
simply
is
not true
but
we both know  
that
you know that
too.

I am searching for
myself
and those I do not know
deep in a world
where truth is not
the enemy

Please forgive my words
if you find them harsh
they are born from
the ashes
of my badly cracked heart.

Nothing
enrages me
or engages me
quite as much as
you two
I suspect
you feel the same way
too

Goodbye
is a hug
I don’t want
to give

There is nothing here
I haven’t seen before
Nothing above me
Beneath me
Nothing that tore
There is nothing here
that could ever
even up the score

Remember
the remember
and I promise
I will do my best
to remember it too

I am
so in love. with myself
that
when you said you loved me
I thought
I was talking to
myself

I am sorry
for the burden
I handed you
at birth
I am sorry
for the complications
and all
the family hurt
I am sorry
you are you
I am sorry
I am me
but dear god
above me
forgive me
I am so grateful
we are we.

I won’t
throw you a
a line
I am
not quite
that brave

Tears
are just water
and we all need
water
to live

I know you want
a conversation
not sure what there is left to say
I left
I walked away
not sure what there is left to say

I just want
the good bits of you
I want to package them up
shape them
into a man I can love
you can take your other bits
the bad bits
and sell them around town
I just want
the good bits
of you
Am I wrong?

I am too many thoughts
for my little
brain.

These words
mean nothing
unless read
by you

You are
the constant
I struggle
to be

I miss
every
little
tiny
annoying
thing
about
seeing
you
every
day

Hello there
Well, hello you too
I’ve never seen anyone with hair like you
it wasn’t good
it wasn’t great
but you know what
it was enough!

I used to be
your favourite drunk
What happened?

Imagine my surprise
after all the glamour
and the flowers

You are the love
I never knew
I had inside my heart
until
I met you

You make
me
laugh
out loud
if thats not love
tell me
what is?

Don’t love me
in disguise
I am honestly
not clever enough
or big enough
for the surprise

Did you ever feel
you ever lost
every real word
you ever wanted.to say
to every unreal person
in your life
and at the end of the day
when their eyes are glazing over
you still
believe
you have so much more left
to say

Sorry to call
I know we said we wouldn’t
it’s just
you left your smile here
and a couple of your laugh
outlouds
tempted to throw them
in the trash
but
you might need them  again
someday
somewhere
soon.

I don’t want to talk about us now
can’t you see the storm clouds
gathering to the west?

I have no strength
to wage war upon you
anymore
white flag
It’s me
I surrender

I can give
a little bit
of me
and I will give it
freely
but please
don’t ask
much more
of me

Ever word
you say
is a word
someone
somewhere
sometime
at the right time
could have
said
and has probably said
before

I think of them fondly now
in truth
I hardly knew my father
but I knew that he loved me
in truth
I was a little afraid of my mother
but I I knew that she loved me
in truth
just three of us left now
maybe we just tolerate each other
in truth
I know that we love each other  
in truth
like my folks always said we would.

If  I could paint your sunrise
in the colours that you choose
trust me , I would
except I know
you haven’t paid quite enough
attention
to blue, yet.

I know how you feel
I feel exactly the
same

I am harsh upon you
this much I know
my love rains hard upon you
like a deep December snow

Blue, green, navy, red
lets find our own colour
instead.

You said your burden was too heavy
as we trudged through the
deep December snow
you had to lay it down now
the winds were too high
too harsh
too cold
I didn’t see you go
I was too busy trudging through
my own deep December snow.

Write me a flower
write me a poem
write me  better
take me half the way
home

I love
that I don’t know
what to do
when you say
that maybe
you are in love
with me 😂

In all honesty
I have nothing important or
relevant left to say
but I am definitely
going to say things
anyway

Permission
granted
To forget all about me
As you were
Soldier
Stand down.

I am not sure
I ever smiled
at you
I think
I just grimaced
and you caught
the pain

There are more than
a thousand ways to
make life good
and all of them
include you