edges of clouds

the crimson edges of clouds
are calling me out
as black dots of birds
are coursing across the sky

my eye
follows them south
the corners of my mouth
are dry
the last leaves are still hanging on
for life
and teetering side to side
in answer to the smallest movement of the air

i have no answers still
but nestled under this blanket
of cluttered sky
i know the sun still reigns above
and though the rose glow now
will not last long
in days to come
the mists will be burnt off

for now vermillion turquoise purple black
will colour everything and all
until the winter has it's fill
and melts in awe

what is carved in this tree

all of these names there are carved in this tree
how many of them are about you
and somebody
does it meant i can't trust your kiss
does it mean a lot more because you know
what you now want to feel
because so many others taught you
that genuine shivers cost a lot more
than what is carved in this tree

and on the golf course
when the sprinklers go on automatically
and you are sat in the buff
on your sleeping bag
waiting for me
and the genuine shivers cost a lot more
than what is carved in this tree

i find myself

i find myself wondering where i have gone
she who could easily move on
could easily find the single strand
in the woven rope
and climb out
freeing herself

she who could fathom the deep
thoughts and feelings
others drowned on

she who could find sun
on the darker side of it all

i find myself wondering where i am now
all the signs i used to redirect me
have been turned around
and facing this new challenge
of which way the road should go
i realise

never before have i faced
such an unknown
i only know
i can't be alone
some one else has tread this path before
but who
i do not know

i arch my neck skyward
looking for the flock
of birds heading south
as instinct
takes them
where they need to go

and wondering if instinct
will carry me along
to where i find myself
at long last
not lost
just reborn

red sky

i will stand
and watch you forever
against the red sky

this moment was meant
forever
against the red sky
the colour clear and bright
my heart is leaving my chest
against the red sky

i never felt the cold
in this field
against the red sky

i never felt old
or has been
under your eyes
against the red sky
the grasses hissing in the wind
my body breathing out
and breathing in
against
the red sky

no rules apply
at this time
against the red ssky

my thankfulness
fills the emptiness
against the red sky
i cannot alter the way i fly
my arms stretching
feathers softly glide
against the red sky
this is forever
against the red sky

coming round

i can't be with you
and you will soon be coming round
in the half dead half alive
the pain will hit you hard
but i can feel it
from here
i can feel it
from here
i can feel it
from here
and i will do anything
to make things easier

we have nursed each other
through the bruises
neighbourhood fights
i am the big sister
getting you home alright

i don't see what some others do
you are so beautiful
what are they looking at
not the face
but their own expectation of it

and you will be coming round soon
in the half dead half alive
the pain will hit you hard
and i can feel it
from here
i can feel it
from here
i can feel it
from here
you have more grace
than any bird
that ever flew
without
wings

comes back to you

i try to grow up and stop being afraid
and make a new me
that won't feel these things
but somehow
no matter what's logical
it always comes back to you

i try to be smart alert and alive
to move from this place to a new
address
and get on with life as i know i can
but it always comes back to you

i never knew you were a cornerstone
for me
i never believed you would sit it out
and still be waiting for me

i try to be sensible
think of the others
this puzzle is difficult
to unravel
i know there are so many facets and sides
but it always
comes back
to you
no matter what i do

my little life

my little life
seems oh so small
some days i don't feel much connection at all
but i go to bed hoping
when the sun returns
that it will be the day
i have been waiting for

and i build and i knit
and i cook and i sew
and i string the beads
on soft silk thread
in my little life
these things take form
and the sun goes down
on the trial and the weary worn
hearts that beat
and deliver blood
to parts that need
to breathe

oh for one short day
on that soft beach shore
my little life
would be taken in hand
and all the things
i had cherished and born
would be yours
and yours alone

the fresh summer sun
in the beating blue sky
would wake us
would shake us
out of our tired time
i've never felt so much like this
and not been able
to get out of it

the buses the trains the cars the planes
what is their purpose
where do they think they are going today
and when they get there
they never stay

my little life is eaten
by the morning
that doesn't get all that it needs to
done
and the constant travelling of the hands round the clock
unless the battery's energy drops
and then
my little life suspended in time
would mean next to nothing
disappear in a void

but i guess
i could say
at least i tried
to keep the passion inside me alive
and one or two others
saw the light

the phantom land

it will be difficult to arrive
in the phantom land
a vast expanse of ice
that is moving
underneath

and we point our compass north
but the water is moving us the
other direction
it is 45 degrees below
and i cannot feel my fingers anymore

it will be difficult to arrive
in the phantom land
white snow white light
white stars
in the sky
in the phantom land
our failure
may be our success
in the end

the dogs have dense and heavy coats
the skis are sharp and help us
get half way to where we want to go
until we find out that the map is wrong
those islands don't exist
where we thought they were

it will be difficult to survive
until we reach
the phantom land
and i think i dreamed it only in my head
after four months without daylight
you doubt yourself

but to my great imagination
i saw you waving your hat
your hands
and you had a boat to save us
even though your journey had not gone
the way you planned
we climbed aboard
set sail for home

no more searching for
the phantom land

the cycle of things

don't hold on so hard
there are some things
you have to let go

they are made for other
times
other places they must go
in the

cycle of things
the sun the moon sweet spring
will wake me up again

and when you had it in your hand
you held it far too tight
the feathers fell and softly
drifted off

to fly it needs to be set free
right now
in the

cycle of things
the sun the moon sweet spring
will wake me up again

oh herald winter
the frost the sparkling ice
dormant underneath the snow
but feel the warmth
bring it all
to the surface

so now you watch it fly
swift wings up high
against the blue

and see here on the ground
the new little shoot
has broken through
in the

cycle of things
the sun the moon sweet spring
in the
cycle of things
the sun the moon sweet spring
will wake me up again

raging heart

there was a heart made of bone
it was a raging heart
on a chain
not silver not gold
it was a raging heart
and i would sit and dream
with my raging heart
and it would
change my life
my raging heart
take me from all the world i knew
my raging heart
take me from the familiar
my raging heart
make me weak
and leave me strong
my raging heart
still beating through the night
my raging heart
and i would see you in my dreams
and this raging heart
would call out for you
this raging heart
would have no mercy
this raging heart
would move me from here
to where you were
this raging heart
is for you

the leaving

the leaving left me stunned
i could not tell you
how i felt
or what it meant
to see your back
and the door
closed

did not know how it
came to this
yet bit by bit
we lost a little more
each season draining
and each storm
washing away
what kept us
falling overboard

i never learned to swim
i'm taking water in
always had a lifeline
but the timeline
takes it's toll
and everyday
the questions
grow much larger
than the answers
that will ever show

the leaving
left me stunned
with no where sure to go
the loss of what little
love was left
the dark
has swallowed
whole

the dream is realised

Martin Luther had a dream
it did not die with him
it was carried in the hearts
of those who softly marched
with grace and dignity
they saw the longer road was key
and now the dream is realised

a steady beating drum
inside the body of
a country that was hidden
by confused generations
of those without a leader
that they could believe in

this flame burned
still inside
and now with work
and pride
we carry forth
our vision of
America

this is not Black America
this is not White America
this is the United States of
America

this is not Black America
this is not White America
this is the United States
of America

now the purple mountain's majesty
and amber waves of grain
represent the freedom
on which we knew we could depend
the life blood of Obama
inspires from within
the dream is realised

so as the flag unfurls
in the fervent autumn wind
our work is now mapped out
and hard days loom ahead
but i look up to the heavens
and thank the stars again
Martin Luther had a dream
that did not die with him

autumn sky

the autumn sky turns dark
so early
i can pick out
the gold sliver of moon
with it's sister star
they ride the night together

and restless i look forward
and not back
but never losing sight
of it

i hold the season tight
the smell of decayed leaves
and sparklers dying
their trail of light
left purple trails
across my vision

and wakeful i jump up
and look out at the vibrant yellow
of the tree that looked like all the other ones around it
just a week ago

and how the clear cold blue
that arcs above is so intense
and deep just cutting through
the light was never quite as clean as this

the ferns are velvet tightly curled
around themselves
a dusting of frost
like sugar
melts
before the sun goes down

and restless i look forward
and not back
but never losing sight of it

that calls the birds to warmer shores
that heralds winters soft return
that calls to candles fires
burn
and take the edge off unforgiving wind

the autumn sky
will hold the sun in line
and angle it
to leave the shadows long
until the spring
returns

the autumn sky
will reign
and guide my way

and restless i look forward
and not back
but never losing sight of it