I just jumped on my
Bed for the first time
In 25
Years

The shark in dark waters
The cutting of hair
Tell the tale of transformation
And it's you, who guides me there

She says it's typical of you
to tear down and rebuild
And funny that it appeared to be
an accident- not willed

I don't believe that-
Oh no, an accident we're not!
For you are the lid, and
I am the ***

So as we toil and trouble
Bubble and burn
It is simply transparent
For (only) each other we yearn

Mixing and swirling,  feeling the heat
Seeing only our future around each turn we meet.

I'll hold on tight as this brew is fixed
Because no one or nothing is
as sweet on my lips.

A thousand stunning stars twinkle
In the blackness of this our night.
As lovers, we walk hand in hand
Underneath beams of blue moonlight
As the night creatures serenade us with romance.


This seems to be a precious dream.
So perfect for us and so true.
A fairy tale waits to unfold
As my love turns pages of you
like an impatient child who is longing to dance.

Hold me tight - never let me go,
If this is a dream don’t wake me.
Tears well in my eyes, can’t you tell
I need you, as you hold the key
to my heart, loving you with the very first glance?

The Rozzer stopped me
on the bomb site
off Meadow Road
you been smoking?
he asked

I put on my surprised
what me Governor? face
no Officer

he stared at me
his large eyes
searching me
let me see your hands

I showed him
my 9 year old hands
ink stained
and unwashed
since breakfast

do you know
what happens to fingers
of people who smoke?

I shook my head

they go brown
he said
brown as *****

do they?
I said
I knew they did
because my old man's
were slightly
*******
of one hand

he pursed his lips
to say more
but he didn't
he peered at me
looking for clues
of smoking

if I catch you smoking
I’ll take you home
to your parents
and that'll be it
my boy
get it?

I nodded
yes Officer
I stood looking
by him
at the bombed out houses
behind
the pub
on the corner

where do you live?

I tell him the address
of a neighbour's house
the old boy's deaf
as a post
so won't grass

well mind yourself
and the Rozzer went
hands behind his back
walking across
the bomb site

I look behind me
for the self rolled cigarette
I tossed behind me
when I saw him approaching
minutes before

I looked to see
how far the Rozzer
had gone
he went off Meadow Row
and out of sight

I found the cigarette
smouldering weakly
behind a broken brick

I picked it up
and dusted off
grit and dust
and puffed it
back to health

I held the cigarette
between arched fingers
as I’d seen gangsters do
in black and white films
then looked over
the bomb site again
sensing the start of rain.

It only takes 8 minutes for light to travel from sun to moon,
and just a second more to reach your eyes,
but I swear in that moment I  d i e  sl o w  l    y
like a distant star ebbing, I still reflect your light
though we both know that I died years ago

That never once stopped you from trying to mend me whole, but in the end
sometimes the cracks are too big to fill,
and some hearts develop leaks, always taking more
than they're able to give, forming little black holes
that consume your light and
leave you feeling empty inside

So please, cradle me now
in arms that once held me as lover
and etch these words into the stone, that
now plays the part of heart

I loved you then, I love you now, I'll love you forever.