the fallen

 the fallen

on the smooth surface

of the Icarian Sea

a fisherman hauls in his net

and shudders to find yet again

waxy feathers and fragile bones

swimming with the muscular

flesh of still living fish

writhing and squirming the frantic

mouths the would-be screaming

the water greasy with fear …

 

above, a sky clear and blue

holding a sun the light a whorl

all radiant with innocence

blinding the world askew

and deep down in the turbid depths

of a black sea floor the bottom feeders

are picking clean the gleaming

remains of a fallen star   that at least once flew

that, at least once, flew

Love Story

 

Love story

 

It’s deep in the water,

So I’ll need equipment:

Oxygen tanks, a mask,

A suit to keep out the cold,

A torch to light the way,

A lifeline either way,

A sharp knife, and

An excuse for failing,

For returning to the surface

Breathless and empty-handed,

A reason for standing in the shallows,

Bloodless and still flailing.

the fall

the fall

Nike hesitates to cross the street

her hand held out in mid-air

just above ground zero

as if to stop traffic

tanks rumble past

the ground trembles

her wings coated in ash

she resembles a statue to an old hero

she cannot compare   her ears fill with static

a laurel wreath in tatters at her feet

 

Ares     with no regrets

is smoking a cigarette

and leaning against a lamppost

on the other side of defeat

Bound

Bound

 

As the sun slowly heals the night   burns bright

Prometheus can see far across the valley

can read the smoke drifting dispersing

almost smell the singed fat and bone

watch the figures in the landscape

ploughing building toiling

note the shadows of birds

skimming the fields

a dove an eagle

umbrae of an

approaching

vulture

… 

Click here for Prometheus link

The Bends

 

The bends

 

Love is surely the same for some of us

the seemingly original addiction to touch

and being touched the anticipation

the seemingly endless gratification

how everything is too little and too much

the spiralling descent into paradise

only to find the oxygen thin the lack of sky

So begins the slow tortuous attenuation of desire

then the raging ascent rising for a breath of air

and towards the end surfacing into endless ocean

with nothing or no one to grasp or cling to and

the blood fizzing in the brain and the bends.

Bad Faith

 

Bad Faith

 

The door of his life has been left open,

Just slightly, a leaving ajar to let in

The air, a little - a way in, a way out.

He might step outside, or he may not.

 

He feels the draught upon his neck,

Hopes he is right, for his own sake.

He wonders about absence, about choice;

Thinks about the silence, about the noise.

Trojan Horses

 Trojan Horses

 

He took her for a ride,

a ride across deserts and seas.

 

She took him in,

into her head, into her heart’s disease.