Tea

pour me a cup of magic tea
warm and wet and heavenly
to soothe all worries out of me
as I take a draught of thee.

The Ten Line Dream

in velvet did I dare to dream
of the silken warmth it spelled
and submitted willingly
to the little death it held
for me beyond the passioned kiss
the slumbered reveries promised
my fate was sealed in this embrace
that in waking I did taste
still its perfume in my bed
and fantasy dancing in my head.

The Corinthian Cynic

through Doric streets
his lamp in hand
to cast a light
on the honest man
that e’en Apollo
in his godly state
could not on earth
illuminate.

Distant Skies

the silver moon, she holds no sway
upon the mortals who at night
their pining cravings to her pray
under the glowing of her sight
for she is nought but lifeless dust
whose beauty is vain trickery
that our mortal eyes can’t trust
a mere reflected fallacy,
yet we wish for blessings still
from this soulless goddess high
for earthly hopes be unfulfilled
thus we implore the distant skies.

Ash

tomorrow is ash
scattered from yesterday’s pyres
onto today’s winds

Bathing

I watch her bathing
not in crystal clear waters
but in passing years

Dawn

the new sky opens
its clouds brittle
as martyr’s bones
turning to ash
at the first song
of the penitent blackbird

Hold

hold me inside you
bring comfort to the desires
that spill from my dreams

Not Averse

read me Larkin in the rain
or Auden on an old steam train
sing out Betjeman on the bus
make head nor tails of Jimmy Joyce
Hardy in dark nights peruse
and curse with me about Ted Hughes
put me to bed with Baudelaire
and let me dream of his sins there

Return of the simple poem

I cannot dance, I cannot sing
I cannot do most anything
But should I have a little time
I’ll attempt to prove that I can rhyme
in doing so then I can try
to show there’s more than meets the eye
to these, my metered strings of phrase
which with a measured thought I weighed
and set out thus in couplet style
in hopes to show I have no guile
nor great wisdom to impart
no secrets of the head or heart
just a simple yen to spin
my words into this ode within.