I've tried making friends with Death
on many a dark and crimson night
I would lay in my folly
and watch as Death made his plight.
Stealing children
and mothers
and the souls of the old
watching their chamber rooms
turn murky, chilly and cold

But alas, Death does not need friends
he has told me many a time
but perhaps if Death had a hand to hold
he would not take the hands of the strong,
maybe, he'd take mine.

Death, why do you leave me here?
Why can I not join you tonight?
When you leave, you give no reason
you brush me off, and disappear
into the silvery concaves of the light.

Death, I have touched your scythe
and I want it to graze my neck
I see no future for myself here
only mist and clouds appear in your oubliette.

Death, you are beautiful
your Alabaster flesh crawls in my mind
why does no one else love you, Death?
you are perfect in my eyes.

When you stop choosing the ones who hate you
and make friends with the ones who love you, Death
then maybe
all the souls here around you
can learn to find peace when you lead them to rest.

Bright Eyes: Lua
Loudon Wainwright: Motel Blues
Radiohead: No Surprises
Keaton Henson: You don't know how luck you are
Tigers Jaw: Never saw it coming
Fleetwood Mac: Songbird
Paolo Nutini: Candy
... and your laugh
the clearing of your throat
your sharp intakes of breath
the chattering of your teeth in the cold
and the movement of cloth against your skin

Whispering night fades to sable dull morning
Verda in black whilst her mother is mourning
cabaret clown-show dances in deep
Verda is down in the valleys of sleep

Verda takes pills in a sinister tomb
smiles wicked smiles and her eyes turn to moons
mummy is rocking away by her side
and pulls out her teeth to a sweet lullaby

Girl-child Verda, who loves cuts and bruises
with a stitched-up mind which she frequently loses
and a mother who stops her from having her play
other children are pink but her Verda is grey

Delicate lace is lined in her coffin
Verda in black whilst her body is rotting
chemical residue flows in her veins
Verda's no child and her mother's insane

What's beneath the cosmos?
Whose heart is within the moon?
And in the intersperse universe
does the sun burn a sky in June?

Is there love on other planets?
Are there creatures with hands to hold?
Do stars glow bright
with love and light
or are their hearts all silver and cold?

You might have never been in this world
if a second had fallen through
and this universe may lay in a cosmic womb
so, I'm glad my own is filled with you

I heard him cry that night
lithe and crystalline petals
they were beautiful
and so was he

But a gun is not beautiful
or a rope
or a glistening knife
(it glistens wild with crimson and ivory)
put it down
step away
catch your breath and seize the day
you are so beautiful
and so is she

Go, look in her eyes
those ghostly blue
those pure ****** pools
taste her smile
touch her hand
you are so beautiful
she knows
so put it down
step away
catch your breath and seize the day

You and her are galaxies, dear
beautiful
you and she
so put it down
step away
catch your breath and seize the-

The door is red
the floor is red
the walls are red
my life is dead
you are dead
and so beautiful
so ******* beautiful.

I'll close the door.

Cathy, don't go in the bedroom.

I love the sound of a storming rain when I think about you
I love your lazy hazel eyes
and your hair, gone un-washed, un-brushed for four days

I love your misaligned teeth
grinding away inside a crooked, abstract mouth
I love your protruding nose
your ***** laugh
and your swollen chin

This is a poem not to romanticize you
you're far from perfect
everybody is