A council of wolves
Sits inside my skull
They growl for attention
They demand to be heard

They speak of issues
In ravenous tones
Go round the circle
Until they are solved

But they fight all the time
They can’t get along
That leaves me frustrated
It leaves me alone

With teeth that snap
And claws that scratch
The inside of my head
Is their hunting patch

One in particular
Roars louder than most
His growl drowns out
What others speak of

Their voices get stolen
In his snapping jaws
He makes me act different
His teeth are my words

Sharp daggers that cut
Those who get close
I wish he’d lie still
Just
for
a

moment

He
Was owned
As I
Was
owned
By a sense of piteous righteousness
A charm that reflected
Only it’s own sicophancy

We dealt together
Two heads as one
The cords of our cloaks
Rattling under the sway
Of desire

Moonlight shone on the scene
Bathers by night;
A charming still life
Of expressionistic hedonism

The guttural chorus
Of our cries
Echoed
Rippling the pond
Turning the tide
The city aflame with
Our spent laughter
Joyous cries
Heard only in the deepest pits
Of human despair

My heart is a bird
Caged til you set it free
With three loving words
It perches in your tree

It’s wings stretch out
And it flies; it soares
Free from doubt
That others have caused

It’s wide open beak
Is greedy for you
For the passion you speak
And all we might do

With a musical trill
And a flash of its tail
It flies higher still
On the wind it sets sail

Happily chirping
It comes back to you
The way of love working
And guiding it through

Now softly landing
On shoulders you offer
You hold my heart up
A kiss you do proffer

And weakness it passes
The strength you give, glue
Energy restored
It nuzzles you through

Through rivers of warmth
And lakes build of trust
Thirst now extinguished
The seaside of us

With waves crashing down
On the shoreline we made
We sit safe and warm
The lights never fade

The lights of our love
That shine like a star
That bird on your shoulder
Will never fly far

So keep feeding him slowly
With your nourishing kisses
And stronger he’ll grow
Cupid never misses

As the night grows dark
And I let my mind rest
It always finds you.

There
Amongst the shadows of time
That memory brought on us
The tangential crosshatch
Of our passion
Flames licking at us
From the fire we stoked
Beneath our feet.

Your eyes find me as if
in a dream.
Your voice
The only sound I hear.
Amid the harsh chatter of birds;
Amid the chatter of life.

Your voice floats toward me
An endless song
That I keep for the quiet moments
Reserved for those times when
I recall you in all your essence.
It’s your voice that comes first
Calming my soul
Lifting my spirit
Leading me onwards.

I feel your hands
The ghosts they drew on my skin
I still recall your touch

As if you rested on my skin
But a moment ago.

The rough hewn skin
Of my weary body
Welcomes your touch
Hungrily

Like a fawn
Lost in the woods
Finding water.

It grows in each of us
But rarely finds the light
Most times the delicate shoots
Can’t make their way past
Or break through.
.
It takes a lot to create
Something as strong as that
.
She had it from the start;
Delicate tendrils winding around,
Changing everything they touched.
Sometimes they strangled her,
Dragged her down
It’s hard to fight it some days
.
But she had enough light
To break free
Had the will to push through.
It took a lot from her
Friends, family, love
The strength required to maintain
Was too much at the start
But slowly, she found a way
She reached out her budding leaves
.
To me
Of all people – the fly trap
With broken roots and wilted leaves
Capturing stolen moments
Where I could get them
But still
I guided her into my soil
Planted her there
To care for
.
We grew together
Entwinned with passion
And trust
Learning what we needed
To survive
.
It wasn’t always easy
We fought against it
Tried to take all the light for ourselves
But the more we learned
The more we grew
Absorbing from the soil
Now enriched with our lessons
Our time, our memories
The best kind of fertiliser
.
Warmed by our new found love
We grew and grew
Until a bright canopy
Reached up
Towards the next chapter
Of our story
.
From shaky foundations
Our trunk became strong
Solid; unshakeable
Despite changes in the wind
And harsh seasons
That stripped us
Shook our branches
Until we almost broke.
.
We had to trust nature,
Let it take its course
Regrow what fell
Uproot ourselves when
The land gave way
.
Looking at us now
Gently swaying in the breeze
In calm harmony
You wouldn’t guess
How it started
.
From that small hard shell
To the lush spread of
What we became
.
When you look up
Never forget;
That’s what it’s all about
An unfolding
A softening
An oak tree from an acorn
The most beautiful transformation
.
And when the days get too cold
And the light is too weak
The tendrils of our love
Lift us out of the dark
It’s not always easy
Everything that grows strong
Comes from something small
But at the core of it all
The acorn
Containing all
Past and future

Tangled limbs held together
with fallen breath.
Twisted thighs
Reaching into the night
.
Your head turns away
And I’m left with the scent of your hair
The nape of your neck
Calling to me
.
A jigsaw of hearts that tesselate
Turning as a key in a lock
Comfortable and warm
A lovers embrace is born

I’m grateful
Not sad
For everything we had

We loved
With a fire
That burnt our skin
Passion and tenderness
From the outside in

We lost ourselves
In a sea full of troubles
Cast overboard
Grasping at flotsam
To stay afloat

We drowned each other
Transformed by time
Lost underwater
In a place where love
Can never survive

Two hearts
Trying to move together
But troubles can’t be fixed
With two types of glue
An ocean of sadness
In the deepest blue

Lost and alone again
I pushed too hard
A spiral downwards
That left me scarred

To climb to the top
And out again
Was not as easy
As falling in.

True poems may be written
Without the need for rhyme
Without form or function
For simply passing time

And when the words are placed
Upon the page we read
True poetry gives itself
To things we all might need

Now we have showed the reader
How things can sometimes be
Different than they first appear
Against the poet’s plea

So take arms against the way
In which the word fights back
Prepare yourself for sacrifice
And let the poem take you there

When I hold your body close
And bury my head into your hair
There’s nothing quite as simple as
The coil of us

When I reach out in the night
And listen to your breath
There’s nothing as beautiful as
The coil of us

Waiting to spring into loving passion
Our bodies warm and locked in the curl of love
We slumber with my arm held firm under your cool pillow
My hand finding it’s natural resting place on your body
Sometimes your thigh
Most times your soft curves

The coil of us waits
Ready to spring
Against that
Which would tear us apart

We longed for each other on a level
More than touch

Your sparkling eyes dazzled me
Your gilded soul opened its arms for me
I was yours

Our bodies were more than flesh
They became a crystal cavern
To explore together
Never to find the way out
We never wanted to

I gave you more than my lips could tell
An elevated kiss
Kept us floating
We still haven’t touched the ground

I used to gaze at the soft lines of you
The whirlpool of your canyons
Tender peaks for the explorer

I was man
First man
You
My Eden

A garden of life spread under my willing hands
Naming each part of you with a kiss
I lingered from time to time
Opening each flower in my sighing embrace
Encouraging eternal growth

Abundant desire
Undulating extacy