Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Eventuality


I bumped into the memory man
the other day—
(we’ve been crossing paths often
lately)—
I listened to small things
which gave me small reactions.
But when he arched his eyebrows
as if asking, was I ready?
I left the memory man
where I found him and
conveniently forgot where
that place happened to be.
The only thing is that
he knows how to find me
he finds me every day
and every day he asks the question
and every day I say, “No thanks.”
One of these days, I guess.
It will be one of these days.

Another Place, Another Time

*The original photo is of an FA Cup Final Tie programme from 1947

Sometimes in her dreams she could hear the King talking to her...but, of course, Kitty never saw his face.  Nor could she recall what the apartment looked like that had been her home during her long stay in the Interior.  The much-faded scar where the Minister’s knife had gone into her side failed to jog her memory.  Even when Kitty went to visit the Minister’s grave, she found no marker, presumably because no one had known who he was.  Its absence only heightened her sense of unreality.  Not for the first time did she wish Jack could remember his trip there, if only  to validate her experience.  But she seemed fated to just forget more and more about the Interior until, somehow, it would cease to exist in her memory at all.

Monday, 30 January 2017

Acceptance



This is not how I meant it to be
this is not who I meant to become
these are not the memories I
expected to replay in 
my head 
as I remembered who
I once had 
been


Friday, 27 January 2017

Reckoning


When I opened the cage and released the girl, she howled past me, a cyclone powered by atomic pain.  I crouched against the wall and covered my ears but I could still hear her screams, the terrified shouts of those in the lost restaurant, as she raged deadly witness against them.

Thursday, 26 January 2017

War




Welcome back

I am not back
do not speak to me

Tell me a story

There is no story
only tears that blur
the words

Tell me a story where
no one wins

I lost victory long ago
lost its taste, its smell
I lost the smoke and
the screams and
the burning
I lost the cool taste of
water on a hot day
I lost the quarry and the
lake
I lost what I believed myself
to be
I lost daydreams and goodbyes
and hellos and new chances
I lost imagination

You are not lost

Stop talking to me
I forgot the riddle long ago

You forgot nothing

I will cross out words
I will make believe
I will stop everything
You know me
I was something I liked,
once
I think
I don’t know
I don’t know a damn thing
anymore
the fire has gone out and
I am cold
I am so fucking cold

Lost Girl

Stretch me across your rack, my love
turn tight the wheels
I will not cry
I will not cry 
because this I should have known
that the moment I found the 
heart to bring you here
I would be so much more alone.


Wednesday, 25 January 2017

Gone


You found my horses running bare
shivering in the wind with
frozen hair
it broke to the touch 
as you whispered goodbye goodbye
goodbye...