I am

unseen finches singing in cool willow branches
a bittersweet taste you hold in your mouth
bubbling laughter impatiently wanting to dance
a shattered looking-glass heart
sunlight winking inbetween raindrops
rage tearing apart blue skies with my voice
warm honey dripping from freshly baked bread
private salt tears
ripples from paddles dipped into still waters
strands of pain stretched beyond bearing
watercolours bled to each other to form dry paper rainbows
terror rocking back and forth in that dark corner just there
the red light on closed eye lids absorbing the sun
the velvet black of a night with no stars
a textured charcoal line on thick coloured paper
crocus bulbs emerging from cold earth in the springtime
the total silence where reflections stop in deep water
the breeze that will lightly brush along side of your face
exquisite pain floating just under skin
cool tides pulled by a distant blue moon
dead, now forgotten, once pretty flowers
black rich mother earth crumbling now in my hands
wondrous child’s eyes
a roaring inferno that can burn from within
a lily overdrenched with rainwater

I am
nothing
I am
everything
I am

a man

He tries
to feel

to feel for
promises
he wants to
but knows he’ll never keep


he walks alone
beside
such clever words
and says
this is enough -
his bitter laughter
barely
just barely
drowning out
the hollow ringings
his own words make


his beating heart
for brilliant wit
long since traded in
and if he’s fast enough
he will not notice
the odd old beat
within
his hidden chest

his mirthful eyes,
intelligent
so sadly beautiful to watch
they see all
who need compassion,
but who in turn
will show him none
and will mock -
those who could show him any.



and sometimes
briefly
very briefly
in those blue eyes
there is the boy
who never did grow up
who, when he looks at you
the bitter mirth is gone
and standing there
just standing
all alone
is the man
flawed
and wonderful.

(for an irishman)

a woman


sometimes -
sometimes, she struggles,
not to desire
so very much;
not to love,
and more elusive still,
she labours not to love so very much
not to inhale too deeply -
so when that first breath does come
her inspiration
will not be
small whisps of clouds,
that danced upon tall summits;
when it comes at all.

to love so much,
she trusts.
Trusts that even with closed eyes
on her darkest nights a radiant
red light will softly

dwell upon her sleeping eyes and enfold

itself around her,
that she may embrace
and abandon herself in the
exquisite pain
of her wide open soul
once
again.

she seeks to shield
herself away
from this love but,
she cannot
remember how and so,
she goes
from day to day -
with heart
exposed, embracing gracious trees,
gazing on her radiant moon,
understanding
passions of the sea,
loving her earth, with a joy
that makes her ache

and Loving a man
for all
that he
is, for all that he
will never be
with all
of herself
and
loving a man...
and somedays,
she wishes -
wishes it all away