Tuesday, April 21, 2009:

 

Treetop canopies
 

Green struggles under

dark glasses sunblocking bare earth,

rain a distant dream.

 

 

Monday, April 20, 2009:

 

Possible futures
 

I dreamed of you: a pea under my pillow,

shoots curling round stubby fingers,

summer lake cottages with star blankets.

 

Breath whispers from bluebell carpets,

moss curls to pigtails, shoelaces hang

on overhead wires like brand new bows.

 

Tiny kicks ripple water, lap at sleep

edges the memory of unsung moments

your face yet unmade.

  

 

Sunday, April 19, 2009

 

Stuffed 



You plug ears with cotton

nod in time to lip movements

and promise moonbeams to the sun.

 

Your kind trade player card lives

with mates in white suits

saying yes over and over

 

when you really mean no.

  

 

Saturday, April 18, 2009



Pilot Season
 

Beside me, you dig your fingers

into the top of my hand

the skin edging white

a spreading pressure stain

 

"What's wrong?" the start of

chained events unsaid

as our eyes stay fixed

on flickering screens

 

overrated BBC programmes

elongating the night.

"Um. Uh. Um." You sputter,

an engine on it's last legs,

 

and I watch as your eyes

swell to tears, another ending

I wanted, the perfect finish

of our year long sitcom.

 

 

Friday, April 17, 2009



All I Want is Elvis Presley's First Recording of "My Happiness/That's When
Your Heartaches Begin" that He Made for his Mom
 

Four dollars found in dug pockets,

the push of brooms, Christmas cards,

crossed the counter a few days after

high school released him from it's grip.

 

He played the songs on repeat,

the ones he knew she loved,

in preparation for this day

and played them again

 

for a slanted mic, under-paid

technician audience. The years 

ahead were barely a glint,

the only fan, his mum

 

and this record, his gift, the only

thing she wanted, the thing

that would drive collectors 

to auctions & garage sales

 

a priceless thing, happiness and

heartache in its grooves,

a love, a dedication, a simple time

before the madness began.

  

 

Thursday, April 16, 2009



Orange
 

Gracing favourite hockey team jerseys, 

Halloween cookies, morning juice drinks,

you're the poster boy of nutrition,

sports sites and spas.

 

We love/ hate you

our joy leaking from pores

as you magic tan your way 

through Essex and back.

 

The out of favour flavour,

you stare blue and green-wards

dreaming of 70s polyesters

and retro wall patterns.