good night and thank you

good night and thank you
so glad i found you
you don't know who you are
maybe you never will

but you are my muse and my arbiter
my saint my sinner
the measure i look up to

good night and thank you
i'd like to read a little more
but i'm too tired to
your words are like
bread to a hungry
child
and now that i have read them
i cannot do without them

good night and thank you
i will never tire
from giving you your just
reward
the accolade you earned
by working hard
not maybe sweat
but sheer emotion
rage and quiet
hand in hand

good night and thank you
though you may not accept my praise
it comes from somewhere
deep and true
like fresh well water
untapped
untainted
and unashamed

good night
and thank you
all the same

aunty florence writes

aunty florence writes ronald leslie jr's wife
had a little darling girl
and she was born
the day her daddy sailed
to Germany

and six months later her daddy would return
he sent her
a teddy bear
with a music box
mommy took off the teddy's eyes
so little darling girl
would not pull them off
and choke herself

the second grandchild so far
spoiled and coddled
like a new lain egg
with family all around her

this little darling girl
conceived of love
and doted on
reading before she should have done
she entertained
and made them smile
from dusk to dawn

aunty florence writes
we are so proud of our darling
her name is holly ann
the very picture of her dad
she is so cute
she makes great grandpa harry
stick out his chest
not saying anything about myself
ha ha

the love remained
the little girl grew up
the mom and dad are gone

the love that was given
is now being passed on
to all that cross the path
and stay a while
the love is now the gift
at once received
now carried on

tidal

these things are tidal
from the crest
to the concave water roll
the foam and spray
the birds call as they follow
up and down

these things are tidal
the eddys and pools left
behind the moving sea
come in
go out
come in again

these things are tidal
the magic in these pockets
urchins
tiny starfish
hermit crabs
and jelly fish
holed out in their tiny puddle pond
and i bend down
to gaze awhile
and take in what i see

these things are tidal
my heart is pulled
from ribcage to spine
guided by the moon
and the wayward stars
the gravity draws me down
to you
and you come up for air
and nothing is between us
but time
and love

these things are tidal
i wish they would stay
a little longer
how good it would feel
to know where i stood
by more
than the present
astronomy

the shape of the moon
is not enough
to count on
these things are tidal

restless

restless
not sitting still for anything
my mind
is racing
the beat inside me
is driving me
the car is
out of control
i am digging
my own hole

restless
if the weather doesn't turn
i won't know what to wear
a coat
or none
i take it with me
take it off
then put it on
i'll carry it
after all

restless
i read this page
three times over
and still
don't know what it says
maybe put it down
no
i'll pick it up again
the letters jumping off the paper
i can't
make them into words
that matter
i'll get up and make a drink

i used to have a calm side
when you could put your hand on mine
when you knew
i needed you to

but since you don't come round much anymore
i have lost the peace i found
when you were here
the peace i had
when you were near
is something from the past
something so dear
i daren't remember it now

restless
wind stop pushing me
the leaves
are falling off the trees
bearing branches
uncovering the vulnerability
i have to go now
i can't sit still
no hand on my shoulder
to stop the jumping up
and going out

cry

water leak
and spill
take your time
down my cheek
and off my chin

something inside
made you run
made you drip
from my eyes

cry

when it's the only thing
that makes you feel alive
and please don't hide
i've spent years
getting you to come out
i've spent years
getting you to open up

and now the flood
the deluge
and the river
to the sea
where the salt feeds
the hungry waves

cherished water
spring from me
i am so glad that i can
be in the emotion
i am living in
not caring
what others may say
or see

cry
sometimes the only resolution
to an impossible situation
i can see
but

i can't see through these tears
right now
as i
cry

take me by the hand
and comfort me

ash & embers

so easy to catch a thing on fire
the label reads highly flammable
but no one really reads these anymore

and once the golden licks of heat take hold
it's not so easy putting them out
as it was to get them dancing full

but no one really thinks about how the fire burns
eating along the face of what it catches hold
in seconds what was firm and bright
is blackened, melted, shedding, morphed

ash & embers
all that is remembered gone

the house that used to live here
now a pile of grey-black sticks
and melted metal bones

even when it looks like it's put out
and wet from water being pumped
in bucket loads
don't touch
where little strands of smoke arise
what's left is still too hot
to move
to hold

ash & embers
all that is remembered gone

so when the match is struck
and you are ready for the burst
of light
remember how what's beautiful
can quickly burn out of control

ash & embers
all that is remembered gone

i wanted to keep warm
but the fire went too far

i don't know what you want

i know you
from the inside out
from the outside in
i have seen you
cry
breathe
brake things
sin
smile and laugh
and sleep

but i still
don't know what you want

i've seen you
from every angle
and in every light
in the noisy bars
and the silent nights

but i still
don't know what you want

when you come to me
with that smile
i know i am in trouble
you want something i'm not sure
of
i feel it
but this is not the way it's supposed to be
it doesn't fit in with the way the world is
it doesn't fit in with the way my world is

and i still
don't know what you want

it should be so straight forward
after all this time
of sharing all these things
tears and happiness
over things we have built
and yet

is still
don't know
what you want

an epiphany

on this bus
i ride everyday
i look out sleepily
at the buildings
cars
and signs
on my way home
start thinking what i'll cook for tea
and how i can distract myself
until it's time for bed

but as i looked out leisurely
i wasn't really seeing
inside my head
a sweet epiphany
of you
walking your dog
and wishing me well
i kept it in my head
until my eyes were closed

after tea with dishes washed
and feet put up
and tv on
and not really watching much
the ritual completed
for another day

and still inside my head
a sweet epiphany
of you walking your dog
and wishing me well
i kept it in myself
until the light was out

water & sky

water and sky are flowing
and i am in between
one is wet
the other dry
i cannot see where one
ends and the other begins
i cannot separate myself
from these

and when i walk this open road
the sky is over me
and when i swim this rocky sea
the water
holds me in it's arms
and cradles me

i cannot see where one ends
and the other begins
i cannot separate myself from these

i am the bird that soars and hovers
covers ground on wing
i am the fish that slips and sways
through tidal pools and water weeds

i cannot see where one ends
and the other begins
i cannot separate myself from these

water and sky are flowing
and i am in between
one is wet
the other dry
i cannot see
where one ends
and the other begins
i cannot separate myself from these

a special place

there is a special place
for you
in this echo that i call myself
the echo that keeps ringing
through these hills

where resonance keeps ringing out
and bouncing off the walls
the town may be asleep
they may not hear or see
but in your gentle nature
you know everything

without using a word
the sound sings out
the tide is coming in
and stroking the shore
in the way only it knows how
with gentle strands of seaweed
fish carcasses and shells

there is a special place
for you
in the echo that i call myself
the echo that keeps ringing
through these hills

you have nature in your hand
you feed it
you know how to make things grow
and keep them happy through
the seasons
from the hopeful spring
to the sleeping winter months
you nurture things

there is a special place
for you in the echo that i call myself
the echo that keeps ringing
through these hills
and always will

clear morning sky

when the day is just waking up
and the light creeps up slow
and generates the colours
as the sun climbs
slowly from it's bed
to peek up over the edge
of the horizon

there is somehow a different feel
to the air
to the ground
to the way the birds f ly
in the clear morning sky

my mind is like a new born child
awaiting what the day will bring
and open to the sights and sounds
the early hours bring
and as the shadows grow longer
the sun has gone higher
and the leaves and blades of grass
are bathing in the light
the gold orb gives

it is somehow a different thing
in the field
the street
the cleft of the hill
in the clear morning sky

and the day travels on
as the sun slides over
from one side of my town
to the other
and homeward and weary i go
as above me the light decreases
the birds have stopped singing
and hopped under cover
and my mind is full of the things
this time has brought me
and the sun drops
completely out of the picture

i close my eyes in the certainty
there will be a new chance of breath
and hope
and answered prayer
in the clear morning sky