Did I ever tell you that I collect gems
and once with a discerning eye
like a crow diving for gutter foil
it was fake shimmer I couldn’t pass by
I pressed my hopes on a diamond cut
deeming it worthy to treasure in hand
but watched in dismay as it crumbled
into grey lustred grains of sand
Sift carefully the gathered stones
with tarnished imperfections to feel
treasure them as old friends
for they are in truth the most real
Tossed to and fro
a boat on peril fraught sea
I yearn for your attentions
and lose a sense of me
Unmoored
I tread gentle on your barren earth
catch sparks from an ashen hearth
offer hushed words from the shadows as you pass
from the mannequin beyond the window glass
Unseen
This love
is a fledgeling bird
Falling from a high perched nest
immature wings thrash unheard
at destiny’s sudden behest
Vertiginous spin
invokes panic within
and
at the mercy of chance
arrive you
my saving branch
Your ghost has gone
No longer the taste of arsenic-laced lips
with treacle sheen
your searing salivary residue
wiped away
Where pyrotic solvents once burned
an acid hole deep within
calming enteric salve now soothes mucosal chasms
The antacid of time
And what of my life as a tree
Were you there to gather the dried leaves
when they shook free?
Were you there to place soil
when my roots were bare?
Gnarled ghastly by the sting of the frigid night air
Every spring you revelled in my richness of green
remarking such foilage you never had seen
Yet when fierce lightning tore branch from my core
You ran from my shelter
my lover
no more
Unstable, decaying
I began losing helium bullets
the day we met
my atom balance upset
my mind a neutron haze
Created from an exploding star
I wanted my half life to be
a
whole
life
with you
But you listened to the incessant tick tick of your Geiger insecurities
And you barricaded yourself deep
in a radiation proof shelter
for one
Watch the swallows by the window
As they dive dance, spin and sway
Buoyant on warm dawn breezes
heralding the new day
Hear the hum of the city waking
Catch a breath of forest air
Know the chaos that is waiting
Carry stillness with you there
