London NW2

Multiple cracks
in the suburban pavement
cross my path
with forlorn irregularity.

Hidden behind
bland facades
hunkers the reality
of jumbled lives.

Exotic fish caught
in a common bowl,
living in castles
marked by ruin.

Like The Sun

Words hit my ear
like sunlight
on a forest path -
a smattering
of warmth
that dances
with the wind.

I listen quietly,
still as a
basking snake -
coiled warily
under the heat
of a yellow,
indifferent sun.

I turn toward you
like a sunflower
to the sun -
the movement
thoughtless,
instinctive,
helpless.

You are like
sunlight and
I am the earth -
it takes but
a cloud to
hold off
your warmth.

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Persuasion

Striking camp
I fold myself
into a lump.

Letting you spin
your silver web
I follow numbly
at your heels.

Walking home
I strip away
your tangled
principles.

I stretch a line
and rebuild
myself.

The Town I Love So Well

We walk
underneath
ragged rainshowers,
the sun
gold
in the window panes.

Knitted shamrocks
on rugby scarves
carry
the smell
of the black stuff
and excitement.

A cabbage leaf
tumbles
across the pavement,
and meets
the Irish Times
in the gutter.

Acid

I watch
your lips curl
with bitter commitment
and he makes
my toes curl
with impulsive joy.

Torn with
impractical ties
I twist my heartstrings
with acidic
impossibilities.

Your words
are velvet
in my brittle silences
and his touch
is musical
on my silent skin.