The one climbs rain swept
Battlements in dead of night,
Grapples with swords,
Dodges spears
Kills the old enemy,
After a terrible fight
Rescues the beautiful
Princess, with hardly time
To kiss her cheek
Before they ride off
On a white horse
Chased only by
The orchestra and moonlight
She believes to start
A new life.

The other is never
Upset by little things
Milk out of date
Or dinner late,
His every one day
At a time is a victory
In itself, managing to
Keep working through
Praying that faith
Is a match for any pain
Knowing his life
Can never be the same,
He too conceals
The stain on his tunic,
His deathly secret.

It was a day made for drying
And for sailing away.
A balmy intoxicating breeze
Swept in off the sea
Turning the heads of old sailors
And taking the sails of towels
Which billowed, swayed and pulsed
And mesmerized by the tribal rhythm
Danced themselves into a frenzy
Of desire and passion.
So I hung out the rest of the washing
You left draped about
In your hurry to leave
And sailed after you.

Reaching the island I lay low until nightfall
Then climbed to the cliff top
Where I found you unguarded
But still bound by the ropes
That must have stopped you embracing me.
So I cut them and led you down
Through the moonlight and stars and spray
A silent getaway, I had hoped for
But you called out for help
To the pirate who had captured your heart -
Just as he did on the last wash day.

On a summer evening such as this
It matters not if we win,
If our best shot misses,
For there is still life in old strings
And hope in grain so true,
Before the light has gone
Let us play on
And forget all we knew.

Forget those two sharing solitude,
Those who dreamt it all
Who know now less
Expect no more,
Remember instead brave shots
Conjured from nothing
Snatched from thin air
Leaps and bounds
And outstretched hands
To save us from despair.

So now I play on bended knee
Sending one last ball back to you,
In earnest hope, beyond desire
You send it back to me.

Of course it all makes sense now
I knew I had seen you somewhere before.
At Little Round Top
Your blue tidal wave swept us off our feet
Came crashing down from a sea of pine trees
And we drowned in that ****** surf.

I managed only one round before I was hit
A wild shot and so unlucky, I see that now.
As we lay soaking up the last of the sun
I remember how you cursed me
For taking your life
And little did I think then
You would find me
One hundred and fifty years later
And steal my wife.

The day used to be too loud for me
I'd search out my own company
Just up and leave them to it
Take myself off to the sanctuary
Of a closed door, a familiar wall
But thanks to you I've rejoined
The human race
Now I'm better off with the lonely
Crowd's searching pace,
No I don't seek out silence any more
Not since I haven't heard from you
Has left me shaken to the core.

A flurry of birds
Greets the eerie silence;
****** canvas and a stiller you.
The heralding snow
Changes all my plans
For the road is lost
And we must make our way, gingerly
Down the old footpath.

So bring in the lambs
And shut up the shop
But not before we have bought the last loaf;
Wrestling with oversize coats
And from beneath floppy hats
We stumble on with sheepish grins,
And look, there's our neighbour.

Always too late for Christmas
But never for the children
This is the day they have waited for,
So just for once
The tax man can wait
For his ill gotten gains;
Let the snowball fight commence!

Remember our last ever pillow fight
On the bed
When yours burst
And we were left standing naked
In falling feathers.

Our two suitcases
Together again
Under the bed,
Mine, looking brand new
In its original cellophane
With a 'Pasures New' label
Was still a good buy.
Yours is pretty battered now,
It has seen better days
And will again.

My battery is low
I'm a flickering light
A faint glow
Staying on for you.

Nature does it better
Tides ebb, effortless rhythm
Frothing on pebbles ****** clean.
And then there's the muddled heap of us,
Arms, legs strewn, disfigured,
And kisses to stop the questions,
We dare to call it love.
Leaves quiver, untouched,
Yet hidden by a single silent breath,
While we lie pinned underneath
Roughly reaching under clothes
For feelings, something outside me,
Inside you,
Trying to capture the other
Or help them escape,
And we dare to call it love.
Moonlight and stars flickering,
Teasing, half way to heaven,
Still I marvel that you came,
Wanted to be with me,
We dare to call it love,
And it is.

Now I have stopped walking
All movement is carried on the wind.
Was I so consumed?
Could I not see my tattered clothes
Have felt my blistered feet?
Why did it take so long to find this place
To reclaim my space?
Where I stand is all I know
I am here
I have arrived.

In an age of twilight
You lie outstretched before me
The line of your shore,
Your naked beauty
Clothed at last
In my reverence.

For I am powerless to move
Away from the rapids
On to the quiet platform
Where my soul
Longs to rest,
Until your tears
Too long bitter
And salty
Become a stream,
A river
An ocean of love.

I usually spend my time
At the table close to the drink,
With most of the night
To sit and think
Of it all working like a charm,
When we throw the great doors open
And you arrive on my arm
Then the music starts up
I have the first dance
You so close to me
Your hand in mine
Sends shivers down my spine,
Then the firelight in your eyes
Leads me further into a trance.

One raindrop for every broken heart he thought.
He waited for two hours
Half in the shop, getting wetter by the minute.
He meant to go several times
Set off down the street purposively
As if he had just finished a book
But forgetting how it ended
Had to go back to the light of the doorway.
He looked at his watch again
A raindrop blurred the figures
And wiped away time.
The street darkened, emptied and quietened.
The shopkeeper turned everything off, locked up
And said goodnight.
A moth that had been trying to get in
Lost his reason for living.
It wandered off and was splashed by the first car
That came along and drowned.
He watched it float down a drain.

'You look like a drowned moth yourself' she said
'Come on before you catch your death.'
He followed her through the city
To a small flat above a shop.
'Get those clothes off, I'll put the kettle on,
You'll find some more in the bedroom', she said.
He was half dressed when she appeared,
'I'll put these on the radiators, come by the fire
And have some tea. Do you take sugar?'
They stared into the gas fire and he thought
He saw a flame.
'Don't misunderstand me', he said
'You really are very kind, I am grateful
But I don't know why you are going to all
This trouble, you see I was waiting for my wife.'
'Thats all right,' she said, 'Don't worry, I was looking
For my husband, drink your tea before it goes cold.'

A shooting star is better,
Love is like that
Or a rainbow,
Love could become like that.
Instead what passes for love
Makes us take cover,
A meteorite
Hurtling through time zones
Entering restricted air space
Crossing boundaries unrecognised
Crashing into lives, interrupting nights,
And by the time we have picked it up
On the radar
It is too late to mobilize defences
Too late to recover.
No wonder we can't trust each other.