We hope for fish, Dad and me, we
smell of sunscreen and marine diesel
and the kelp-fishy smell of lake.
We hope for fish, Dad and me, we
smell of sunscreen and marine diesel
and the kelp-fishy smell of lake.
The pain and sorrows are so deep
Leap out of me
See these years,
they have passed,
long and hard,
but
fleeting
still.
I’ve been ill-used, no other word will do;
pristinely packaged, sanitised and new
a month ago I stood upon display
till someone paid to carry me away…
Let’s emulate Liberia
with measurements superior;
once more we’ll weigh our cereal
in ounce and pound imperial…
I don’t want to stay here anymore
A groan of tedium, escapes my core
In the distance, I see the light
But it feels like I’m healing the blight…
From half a world away, across an inky ocean, on this fine evening,
please come flying.
The journey will be long, and the tips of your toes…
I liked the way you’d pull my hand under your skirt under restaurant tables,
The way you smelled when you were turned on.
I liked the cheap hotel rooms…
A world so grey
The word ‘enigmatic’
A powerful ray…
A shade of amethyst
but duller.
It hurts to look
and the hand quivers at the touch…
I heard the thunder,
I saw the lightning,
When my eyes locked with yours
I swear the universe exploded for a second…
Paul’s striking poem needs to be read twice, from top to bottom and then bottom to top.
It was wonderful; it broke me
It was excruciatingly joyful; it built me
Would you remember this when I go?
I huff puffed up the newly treeless hill
Unthinking of the change from verdant lush
To parched hardscrabble. Bailiff ants remove
Last remnants of the old guard’s ferny home.
A faulty pedal clanks at every turn
Reminding me of all that isn’t right.
It’s how I manage on this sort of trip.
By nature sedentary, I have to pound