Raw,
a grey knuckle-***** day,
when the wind blows through my skin
pulling at the cord
which holds my insides in,
oh infernal internal wall
keeping without without
and within within,
off key Wednesday
crashing chords that I have swallowed
not a passing thought for the blue tunes of tomorrow,
or the music I have made thus far in life
and the ones that I have begged or borrowed
as always I’ll wait for it to pass
fill the gallow glass
to fetch me a drink while I think
but no-one is near
my fault, not because I fear them
I hear them in the hall
scratching
but I don’t let them in
it would give them a chance to win
I need them on my page
to take away the blank
fill it with ink
because being empty stinks
I don’t want the void
empty yarn from a ragged yawning hole
so I’ll sleep,
hope to feel when I wake
no idea how much more time it is going to take
will it break me or make me
perhaps I will try the fake me
the one with the smile
the one I revile
but there it is
sat on my face
smug and satisfied,
all while I’m melting away
a Dali soft watch
on this raw knuckled day

No savage charm
no ancient witches hex,
no juju whispered low,
no knuckle bones to throw
or runic text to read and call you to your fate
poets have no powers,
no dark and evil incantations,
we weave a net of words
and lure you in with our creations

People call me a pixie
they say I'm mischievous,
I'm actually evil
but also quite devious

Tread lightly
as you walk through the summer of my dreams,
do not crush the grass
with the weight and banality of your reality
or bring cold facts which fall as rain
to shatter every fragrant bloom,
let me sit in peace,
safe within my flowered room,
I know beyond the wall
the world is calling harsh,
soon enough the gate will open,
but for now the bolt is holding
do not break it down,
or try to climb the fence
let me have my garden
in this place I am content

I'm just a bit peckish
and ready for a skirmish,
said the early bird
who was feeling wormish!

Wood pigeon, wren and linnet call
chaffinch, greenfinch, welcome all
dine with me, come pull up a seat
sing soft on the fountain, watch me eat
drink from a day that is near to ending
all fierce promise dulled and blending

My hometown coat don’t fit no more,
the pockets stuffed with memories
of who I was before,
I found new clothes of peacock blue
when I was seventeen
but underneath the seams still pinched
although it wasn’t seen,
plastic buttons tarnished
by things that might have been,
I find no need to keep it,
I'll shed my former skin,
and dump it in a bin-bag
so that healing can begin,
I know some threads will linger
no matter how I try
most will go at the traffic lights
when I wave the past goodbye