Installation.

A row of faded pictures, black and white
They line the walls, balefully staring
Fourteen thousand faces
Fourteen thousand lives
Number them, count them
Old men, young men, women, children
A line of images line the walls
Fourteen thousand nameless faces
‘Why am I here?’
‘Who are you?’
‘What have I done?’
‘My children, my children!’
Here the father of five stares blankly ahead
There the child of five summers weeps
Thumbing the plastic tag around his neck
Two thousand and sixty-five
Her youngest daughter clings to her
She knows she will not see her again
Staring into the camera like the condemned
Fourteen thousand pictures taken
Staring blankly, hopefully, despairingly
Knowing that they look into silence
The lens like the muzzle of a gun
Where are they now?
Where have they gone?
What did they do?
An unknown quantity
They lie in the killing fields
In mass graves in the dark forest
Fourteen thousand pictures
Fourteen thousand dead
They stare back at you from their walls
Faded black and white
Yellowed at the ages
Dare you look back?

An Interlude.

A pleasant soreness that quickly fades
The lingering warmth of flesh on flesh
The moist muskiness a thin sheen of sweat
Trail of fingertips down her back
Twirling gentle circles upon naked skin
A soft kiss upon her exposed shoulder
An embrace almost held too long
All that is sacred now flown asunder
Staring into the swirling brown eyes
Drinking in passion’s scent
Hint of rose upon the cool air
Exhalation of the blessedly spent
Her face like porcelain cupped in a hand
The smoothness like a single rosebud
Beauty entwined in deepest soul
Trailing kisses upon her neck
Venus enshrined in finest glory
One stroke to launch a thousand ships
A caressing stroke through matted hair
A whisper thunders in her ear
Playful tugging with gentle teeth
Sets a fire through her centre
A shared warmth leading to anticipation
Symphony of body and soul
The euphoria hovers a sweetest moment
As bodies move to collide again

Corpse dance.

Her footsteps trail tendrils of mist
Ever present in their corrupting grasp
The tomorrows of yesterday fade to dust
Betrayal etched wraith-like across her face
The smoother flesh bears the scar
The dripping malice of circumstance
Moments so near yet seem so far
Caught in the dance of happenstance
He loves me not though he loves me so
Creeping forward the emerald band
Lighter darkness but aught to show
Crimson moonlight on desert sands
Caught in fangs on wintry storm
Princess laid bare before the king
Forgotten child weeping silent forlorn
Tomorrow’s hope she sweetly sings
Dusk to dawn the shade it rises
Damnation cast into the pit of night
The window ledge call entices
Ease the passage of darker flight
Drink the darkness’ bitter pill
Cast the gorgon gaze for a time
In stone heart’s embrace for hemlock’s will
The bloodied goblet of red red wine
Toast to her captive masters deep
Lashed with whip and bound with chain
Iron caudices do float and flounder
Captive audience in black-grey sand

Dad (Paternity).

The words to say aren’t the words I said
The things I do just fade away
From empty moment to the break of dawn
Hard as diamond in my eye
The world I wanted soared out of my sight
A moment lost without you
I swear I’d fight just for another chance
To tell you how I would feel

Here I am standing at your doorway
Here I am crawling at your floor
Don’t look away don’t turn aside
Here I am, I want more

I know the timing is quite absurd
Forgive me now my sweetest child
The chance to cradle now I tossed away
The proudest moment of my life
I know I should be stronger than this
This is not how I used to be
Too many mistakes upon the dusty road
Too many whiskies in the dark

Here I am would you let me in
Here I am please don’t just ignore
Flesh of mine I had forsaken
Here I am still standing at your door

These years I travelled I never knew
The kind of person you’ve become
I have no rights no damn excuse
No way to turn back the time
Tell your mother that I love her still
Though it’s taken so long to find
I’m sorry for all this hurt I do
Would you let me be a father to you?

War.

Songs of grace, songs of hope
Songs of forever and ever and a day gone by
The winds of fate do change their tone
The tones of flame do seem but sure
Moments passing into surer dawn
Some fraught with titan’s changing horn
Set the sail on tempestuous sea
Call the hymn of rhyme to be
Ancient of days ancient still
Solemn combat of farthest chill
Swords and weapons now lain to waste
More singing sigh the angel face
Past into the days of might and tale
Shine the armour break the bell
Tomorrow comes on wings of dove
The singing shade of Durendal

Numb.

I’m so numb I can’t feel the pinprick
So far down I can’t see the sun
Waiting on a god to save me
The way back down is to stop and run

Sold my soul for a moment’s quiet
Traded life for a little peace
Lonely dancer in the moonlight
Waiting for a little release

I’ve tried and tried to find my way
Tried and tried to run
Going nowhere without you babe
Tell me he’s not the one
Where has the story begun?

Fought this war against my conscience
Waged a war against my sin
I’d change the world for one promise
Tell me where can I begin

Glimmerdust.

The hands are clean but the soul sullied
Six months, seven days and fourteen hours since
Musk and rose petals in the sweetest air
The touch and taste of warm flesh
Lingering warmth of the long embrace
Train of fire from those fingertips
Blood red and clasped between softest hands
Hint of spice-wood and cinnamon
The uncut diamond that never sparkles
Illuminates the world from the heart within
The secret chord that no one hears
Caresses like the finest champagne
Golden streamers from amber prison
Fixed eternal for the march of time
Two years, four months and sixteen days
Washed away but still remains
The slightest taste of saffron and thyme
Chocolate silk on the tip of your tongue
Enticing, captivating, the fleeting memory
Days in the summer sunshine
Dragonflies upon the sunflower sea
Tale of love in minor key

The Voyeur.

She walks a little unsteadily, the girl in the red dress
The footsteps gracefully halting, as if unused to the weight
A swaying pensive gait, counterpoint in a minor key
She slowly approaches, quizzically, as if a vision
Silhouetted by the warm springtime sunshine
Peering into the cooler shadows inviting
Stepping in with a gust of warmer air
The leaves swirl on errant zephyrs as she enters
Circling in their little dance, almost adoration
Her graceful movements almost restrained
Like the tiny diamond in her ear
Like the sun-born highlights in her long dark hair
The heels click on the floor
Making her way almost cautiously drawn
Like a stealthy feline on midnight prowl, unsteady
She tilts her head slightly to the left
An apologetic expression of pleasure
Red lips caught between perfect teeth
For a moment she seems almost unsure
Caught in the moment between seconds
Like the thinker ready to spring into decision
The moment artistry strives so impossibly to capture
For that moment, one fleeting moment, she owns you
As your heart rages against encasing flesh
The sure beauty of the moment chiselled into memory
As she smiles and greets someone two tables over
‘Hello dear, I miss you’

Summerland.

The hours of men are weighed with eld
And born upon wings of consequence
Lasting moments of a sweetest dream
Clasped in still warm bedclothes

Rushing or crawling the river flows
Ever outward until it comes to the green sea
Tossing and tumultuous on the surface
Silent unknown the deepest deep

The great wave savages the greener land
Driven by a baser hunger implicit
Cast down fiery princes from their thrones
A darker time now encroaching

The hour of man is closer at hand
Further away from eternity held
Traded the forest green for a wall of steel
Fields of grain for a plain of dust

The scales of loss have tipped the gain
Writ in the heavens farthest beyond
Ladder ascends to the farthest star
Angels no longer to guard

#2

In a silent moment you found me
In the depths of sorrow your hand reached in
And in pulling, drew me to light
Upon river’s fork I am come
Swimming upstream like many before
And you brought me to shore
A granite battlement I had built
Fortress of many months of ardent toil
Yet I knew not I had made a door
You made me surrender
Your touch like cooling water
Drove apart these failing defences
Not by intent or by princely design
You drew me upward and outward
You are where I have truly begun

The Weather Man.

Welcome again my sweetest friend
Glad to see you’ve made your stance
It’s been a while won’t you come in
The wind and rain begin again
It’s cold outside this winter chill
The sun may shine but it won’t be long until
The silver moon has turned to dust
Ages bent worn smooth with age
So tell me friend how have you been
Who have you met what have you seen
The morning lights of amber grey
Lonely streets where children play
What’s this you say is that the sum
All that you’ve seen or done
All the passages of this world
Writ in tomes mighty to behold
And all the mountains and the vales
Seven years of sunrises met
Come now surely that you jest
There must be greater fruit to your quest
My journey has born no fruition too
But my own path was far from you
What coincidence this thing that we’ve found
That we thumbed at in disdain
The best and hardest things are still the same

Nocturne.

There is a soaring in the cool night air
The kind you wait a lifetime for
The dark silence where dreams are shared
And weary hands clasp for the first time

A warm arm holds closer in the faint evening chill
Presents the sum of hopes and aspirations
Soft conversation thundering down hallways of the heart
Echoing timbre to light up the dark

Tell me that we belong together
In the silence of the darkened sky
Conversation by the softly crashing waters of life
Dreams shared in that first meeting of minds

By the poolside some years ago
In the darkened silence of a December night
Two hands clasped in earnest fervour
Slowly separate in the dawning light

Civil War.

Return to the dust, fortress of hope
Stand upon the granite bastions no longer
Observe the setting sun through the canopy
Seek the moonrise from farthest west
Rend the silken cords binding calloused hands
Chest of silver tarnished with eld
A simpler song of simpler time
Lichen grows in place of aged stone
The pearl sails on the pirate main
Dark water sluicing off her oaken prow
Murmur of groans in her belly
Cast iron defence now weathered
Blackened wood blackened stone
Dark with ages long past
The richer loam now ashen grey
Much like fallen bastions of stone
The hills and knolls lined with fences
The pasturelands long deserted
Pitted thereafter with detritus of war
Gaia rent with new valleys and holes
Stand upon the break of dust
Look backward to the dawning day
The land once held in sacred trust
Like Eden, now washed away

Dirge (Angel of Despair).

The gossamer strands of time
Do dance upon the yonder dreamscape
Captivating maybes with silver wings
Sing softly the dirge of never-was
Winged in six the silver-gold vision
Flaming coal in outstretched hand
Blinded by light beyond the heavens
Ethereal streams pushing past
The dawn of day ignites new fire
Embers cool from igneous dust
Enshrined veils of translucent mystery

Genesis.

I've decided to move all my literary-related posts to this space. Henceforth all poems, prose, and other related material will be posted here, instead of on my other blog.

Please bear in mind that prose often does not equate reality. I'm not as morose or as profoundly deep as I may seem. Often I write for writing's sake. I'll make a note when it's relevant to my current circumstances, otherwise just take it as it is, prose with no meaning beyond that which you give it.

Older poems and prose will be migrated here as time permits.

Also, the fantasy world I'm creating in my head will find some expression here from time to time, as well as related concepts.

I hope the words touch you. Please comment if they do.

If the other blog is a snapshot of my thoughts, this will be a snapshot of my soul.