the rifle ...

the rifle ...

for my birthday
you bought me a rifle
its cold steel barrel
locked into a soft wooden stock
overlaid with a slick bolt
where you said
i should arm the mechanism
with bullets you spilled
out across the kitchen table
and when i refused to take
this killing machine
from you
you laughed at my reluctance
and said something
sarcastic
something demeaning
and made cat faces at me
with pop eyes
and curly fried lips
while you yourself
loaded the contraption
and aimed it at my heart
and for a brief moment
i realised
what your intention was
what this gift
meant to you:
the ceremony of murder
filling the room
with smokey wisps and whorls
of incense
spilling from you eyes

Here's what I'm listening to this morning ...

Wet ♫ Don't Wanna Be Your Girl

 

the river ...

the river ...

this is the river
it winds through the ancient poplar trees
splashing over crags of rocks
until it turns into a fury of white foam
and sputters down a fall into
the unknown
and this is the the river
that is also you
that snakes through your body
and sketches the path of your life
and you will say all that
is simply madness
until you wake one morning
and feel its surge of power
deep inside you
pulling you away
from the life you know
and deeper into the forest
and then you will know
how you become
the river
before the river
becomes you

Here's what I'm listening to this morning ...

Bishop Briggs ♫ River

 

end of the affair ...

end of the affair ...

a slip of a hand
a push
a twisting away
and feet that disappear
a sigh
a groan
a harsh rebuke
and then the cold whisper of resignation
i'm watching
your shadow
move move through the
dark room
disturbing the air
and sending electric signals
across my naked body
no longer just naked
but empty now
empty and somehow
out of place
shocked back from nerveana
by the two by two sirens
of emergency vehicles
somewhere outside the window
invisible except for
the reverberation of terror
those wailing banshees of night
screaming as a kind of anthem
to the crumble of silence
dissolving split-seconds of paradise
and i suspect that
this is the punctuated
end of the affair

Here's what I'm listening to this morning ...

Ben Howard ♫ End Of The Affair

 

Wait and see ...

Wait and see ...

when my mother
decided to step out of life
and leave behind the pain
pinned to her heart
you said to me
"Wait and see ..."
and i guess i knew
what you meant
at the time
but now i'm not so sure
because over the years
it seems folks
have been pinning that same pain
to my heart
and to be honest
it weighs heavy
and holds the ship
in the harbour
and maybe
just maybe
you'll come by again
someday soon
and explain to me
what it is
we're waiting for

Here's what I'm listening to this morning ...

The Lumineers ♫ The Ballad Of Cleopatra