Time Was

Where did you go?
You where here a minute ago..
A whole 60 seconds
I had you
and then you were gone
Disappeared
Right in front of me
In a snap of my fingers
- Did I blink and miss you?
- Was it something I said?
You are here with me
and have been since before I can remember
- Remember what?
- I'm not sure
but I can remember you
There on the wall
pulling different faces
looking down at me
marking out every turn
without lending me your hands
not judging or holding back
Unlike me
I tried to hold you back
Trimmed the grey bits out of my beard
that you peppered in one night
Shaved my head down to the bone
to match the hair you stole from me
Massaged moisturiser
into the cracks
You'd put around my eyes
Loosened my belt
and adjusted my pace
all to accommodate you
and now you've gone
escaped me
Time was, you were my friend
now that time has come to an end

Sinuous Hips

Your coquettish eyes
haven't felt my breath
as I move in to close them

Your retrousse lips
haven't flinched at my voice
as I moved in to kiss them

Your dexterous fingers
haven't clenched with mine
as I moved in to hold them

Your sinuous hips
haven't given way to mine
as I moved in to join them

Relax your unyielding passion
I'll loosen my jealous longing
and we'll move together

Prime Her

It's insensitive and repetitive
but these questions aren't selective
Will she say what I think she'll say?
Will I think what she'll think I'll say?
maybe I better preface and condition
every sentence with an undercoat and primer
so the finish doesn't show
Has every relationship a dry liner
to gloss over the truth and diminish the glow?

Winter Scarves

We bounce from one place to the next
getting it in the neck
not clearing the cheques
left by loved ones
Chairs and desks stacked up at the dawn
looking lost and forlorn
in the packed fields of corn
where you once sat
and the taste of summer past
that's all gone too fast
Served up in broken cups
and we drink
to the coming winter
which our scarfs wrap around

Foot strain when you break in new heels
to know how it feels
to be aching
for someone you long just to hold
tell to do as your told
when you're forsaking

In Our Love

Two steps behind
one in-front
A cold coffee cup waits patiently
Half-eaten words I leave you as gifts
to be slowly unwrapped unintentionally
The softer my voice
The hard you hear
discrepancies
in our love

I try to dive
but I cannot swim
this lengthy silence
surrounding us
Will you gather me up
your tortured pilgrim
to watch our faces
lift with joy again

Three steps in-front
I'm standing behind
a warm coffee cup waits nervously
Half-eaten words I left you as gifts
wrapped up intentionally
The louder I talk
the further away
you seem to hide
all the discrepancies
in our love

Reduced To Clear

I put on my Sunday best
like all good followers do
step into the crisp new dawn
set off to pray to you
My god of ordered parking
and littered logos lost
may your automatic doors open
in the name of discount costs

For a family on a tight budget
it's a blessing to find the communion bread
marked down on several aisles
near the capitalist soft spread
Some faiths are reduced to clear
best before date reached too soon
Islam and Animism
free to Koreans with an orange balloon

Within ear shot I hear the sermon
preached loudly over church tannoy
by the vicar come store-manager
singing happy birthday to a choir boy
then reminding, we, the consumer
of the bargains to be gained
in accepting materialism over morals
proclaiming this young ordained

I weave past the single mum
loaded down with branded goods
embarrassed by her noisy offspring
wearing branded tops and hoods
kneeling, lips pursed in the foyer
queuing and pewing to pay
donating to the gods of greed
who opened the shops on Sunday