Tied And Untied

She sits on the bed
both hands on my belt
as I undue buttons,
take off her shirt
and look at her
with open eyes, open mouth,
everything open.
She raises her arms
as I lift curtains,
unlatch latches,
take torturous seconds
to untie knots so that we
may tie our own.

Future Ash

The clouds pass overhead
Much in the same way
The Earth spins round its axis,
Without thought or feeling.
A star is born, burns and dies
And does it all in silence,
All ebb and flow and infinity
Without laughter or tears.
Better to be passed over, I say,
Better to be spun, re-spun then spun again,
To be tied into countless knots upon knots
And spend the little time we have
Madly trying to undue them.
Better to be born, to burn, to die
In utmost confusion,
In beautiful, ear-splitting noise.
Better to laugh and to cry
All beating heart and bated breath,
All future ash,
Reaching for but not quite grasping
Anything and everything
And coming up with nothing
Except for what we feel.

Pluto & Co

I like being with my friend and his girlfriend
Because she’s so lovely
And he’s so lovely
And when we’re together we all feel so lovely.
Sometimes I feel like Pluto
In orbit around his own loneliness,
Searching for someone to touch
In the confines of an empty swimming pool.
I look up and I realize
That the clouds above town don’t let up,
They keep on with the rain
And I keep springing leaks.
But they’re always there
To bail my little heart out.

Not For Me

Stick a pin in me and hear a bursting sound,
Listen carefully as I hit the ground,
I tell you friends I’ve a long way to fall.
I’m trying to sift through thoughts, find something close to love,
I feel so near to it but hover just above,
I never thought something so big could feel so small.
There’s a place I’ve seen so oft in my mind
A place I’d love to find,
Somewhere for us not for me.

No Idea

A circle in a club, a dancing powwow,
A group of total strangers madly in love
With their secrets,
Letting music express all the feelings
They’ll never share with each other.
Watch my eyes shoot across the room,
Look inward, look outward,
Look towards the lovely prize
In the people who I’m dancing with.
They have no idea and neither do I.
No idea at all.

My First, My Last

Good and happy
And feeling great
Enjoying the night
As it’s getting late
I look and my life,
My lonely time
And all the feelings
I know are mine
The thoughts that fill
My swelling heart
It’s not the end
It’s just the start
The start of something
I’ll never grasp
From my first breath
Until my last.

Midnight On Cork Street

A drunken “how’s yer night?” from a passing stranger
And I’m elated, all abuzz,
Stammering, “good, and yours?”
And that was it, all the human contact we’ll ever have,
We’ll ever need.

There's Working

Smoke rises from a distant rooftop
And with it goes my thoughts,
Out into the night and into the stars,
Into the great nothingness
I can’t help but spend my waking hours
Growing more and more in love with.
I look through the window
And behind my eyes
There’s working subtle magic,
Leading me to bed and into invisible arms.

Filmmaker

When I filmed her in the park
With her red hair and her glasses
And when she looked at the camera,
All winks and smiles and little laughs
I knew everyone was about to fall in love.
As she sat on a stone bridge
And I positioned myself to capture her
In front of the sky and the clouds
And the setting sun
I stood before her motionless,
Enjoying the cold air,
Wanting to ditch the camera
And selfishly keep the moment
All to myself.

So

So someone beautiful said no
And I’m pretending I don’t care,
I’m pretending my wide smile
Can bridge the gap
Between the way things are
And the way I wish things to be.

A Good Thing

It’s a good thing you don’t know
How much I love this
Because if you did you’d know too much,
You’d know the feeling the buildings
Drenched in streetlight
And full of sleeping people
Draw from out my heart.