are you fond of ghosts?
because i feel myself dissolving
space is here inside my ribs
want to reach through me?
i'd let you as long
as you speak softly.
if i'm a burden promise
you'll let me know
i want to be a song
a spoon and a pressed flower
in someone's favorite notebook
darling, i'm a wreck
look at me and see what i see
red eyes bleeding thi-
i am the monster in the mirror
and he is me
we dance like lovers
attached to a puppeteer's strings
will you hold these broken hands
and kiss my malignant lips
please you stupid *******
step into me which is the fading abyss
eat me alive make me
something
some kind of shape
rather than just a twisted line
my heart ******* exploded
a hundred times
for you
how do you feel?
because i feel dizzy from all this
oxygen between us
1,300 miles of static ice
i'd do anything to cross it
and get my heart broken
again. for you.
pretend i matter
if only
for a moment

There's a shower of rain
Yet the sun still shines
There must be a rainbow
Somewhere

An old man nods in his chair
He came from nowhere
And went nowhere else
Journeying all the way

Now he journeys through time
Down the aching years
Things that he's seen and done
Some good and wondrous
And some of them terrible

An old man nods in his chair
Travelling
Behind closed eyes
All the things he's seen and done
The people he's known
All the things he's said
Within his nodding head

Tears pour down his face
Down the canyons grooved by time
And yet he smiles
Gently and softly
There must be a rainbow
Somewhere

                       By Phil Roberts

The morning after the after party
The subtle ringing in my ear
Echoes of Drake and Playboi Carti
Empty roads and fresh air
The streets wearing it’s sheen so well
Yet tainted from last nights antics
There is no one to be seen
Just me and my skateboard
The wheels cemented to the concrete
As my mind focuses on the moment

Seconds pass by and I notice
Cotton candy skies
Its around 6am in Dalston
My tired eyes glued to the sunrise
I don’t know where I am going
I don’t know how I will get there
The wind pushing me in one direction
My mind playing devils advocate
Urging me to take another
I shall go where I will end up
I have no doubt I will find myself
When I finally arrive there

Mildy distracted by the same song on repeat
I allow the notes to carry me through the day
Whilst I’m chasing sunsets in my head
My feet are planted firmly in reality
I wonder which side of me will reign supreme today
A tug of war between both
But when I look in the mirror
My adversary is always myself
The choice to compete was mine all along
But the moment they unify
That’s when the magic occurs.

Spontaneous interactions I chase,
My easily distracted mind you somehow manage to engage,
On a physical yet soulful level,
Revelling in those moments I wish were everlasting,
My heart beating to the frequency of your vibration,
Lost in your eyes and lost in translation,
Transcending time I’m patiently waiting,
To find out the history of the mysteries about yourself,
What lies beneath those beautiful curls,
Your fears your dreams and everything in between,
Parce que j’aime ta facon de penser,
Et mon francais est minimal,
But my lips need not move to communicate with you,
I am intrigued although I try being discreet,
If you look close enough,
I let my eyes do the talking.

I love those lines that whisper happiness
That speak of dimpled cheeks
And all the time you've passed
Loving and laughing
With me.