"Things are simple."

"Things were simple."

"They are as simple as you want them to be."

"If they're that simple, you're choosing to be blind."

They lay on the grass, side by side, counting stars in opposite directions. They played with each other's hair, traced each other's pulses, and tangled with each other's veins.

"We are vessels of transformation. History will forever bear the scars we leave."

"History is constantly shedding skin. We remain for a while, and then we are lost to casual musings and happenstance. We're all products of happenstance as is. We are in a constant state of flux, but we're spokes in a wheel, spinning around, going nowhere."

"Would you not even try going against its currents?"

"I never learnt how to swim."

"It doesn't matter. We are intertwined. The waters shall not separate us."

-

Years passed, and they crossed paths entirely, as it were, by happenstance. Introduced by a friend of a friend, she smiled into his eyes. "Yes, we've met before.", she said to their bemused acquaintance, and  waited for him to respond.

"This is a pleasant surprise."

"I would've thought you'd consider it fate."

"I thought we were passed that."
"So did I. Care for a swim?"

-

Slip

I know I'm clumsy
and careless with my words
but
watching you
break them
is a much more
acute
kind of pain.

You said something stupid 
About love and loneliness 
But it doesn't matter anymore. 
Happy Birthday. 
May you never have reason 
to ever cry again.

The Right Kind of Words

Someday, when sunrise dares to compare itself to you,
You in all your morning radiance,
You, searing white light in all your awe,
I will toil endlessly
To find just the right kind of words
To tell you, if I get the chance,
Just how much I lost
When I thought I could lose you
And live to tell the tale.

Every time I think of you,
I die a thousand deaths,
My own hands leading me to hell,
Notes scribbled on my palms,
"you reap what you sow".

This harvest has been the death of me,
And I keep on dying still,
But with every ebb of life,
I will still struggle against hope,
To find you just the right kind of words.

Perhaps then,
I'll die one last time,
and never again.

Celebration

"Haha, sorry. I can be really anti-social when I want to."

"And when do you want to?"

"I'm not quite sure."

"How about we figure out when and why - not socially, of course - whenever you have the time?"

"That sounds like something I could do. You pick a time, and I'll pick a spot on the beach."

"I hope we won't be drawing lines in the sand."

-

No, we won't; just lines under questions long overdue for answers.

Chains

I bear true and an existing witness

to this barrel of monkeys.

A self proclaimed immoral success,

perfected by each whereof

individually deadly and equally so

and spread about the surrendered troops,

for even thousands of miles will not

tear apart their communication, or the lack thereof.

Vultures, liars, thieves, each proclaim their innocence

In no suggestion or rhyme, your weapon is contained in

the wrecking of the keeping the desired effect.

The breaking of the spirit thwarts the whole being.

Your weapon is guilt, your weapon is guilt, your weapon is guilt.

-

What Brought You Back To This Place?

That glow in your eyes
and the lilt in your voice.
The current calls me away,
But I stay in my place.
Your pride is the only thing
Keeping me anchored.

Between Ti and Do

Someday, I will sit at the yoke, 

clear the skies of my mind, 

and fly over frozen mountains, 

with music floating all around me, 

and your words 

sitting in my belly, 

your hand 

in mine.

Till that day, 

I'll be 

making movies 

in my head.

Speak

I count the times you said your words.
Once. Twice. Thrice. Again.
Your words, they flowed
Like rivers of milk and wine
When you spoke of them.
I heard every word you said,
Every single breath you tasted
As sounds escaped from your mouth
Through throat, over tongue, past teeth,
You said what I heard, and
I heard what you said.
Every. Single. Word. 
You always kept quiet, 
With so much to say. 
Except when your eyes poured out, 
And your words drifted along. 
I listened, and I hoped, and I wondered; 
When might you finally have 
Some words for me?

Build

Sowing seeds of disdain
I'm turning a lively green
It's a small price to pay
For us to never be seen
Again.

Daytime Television

Such are the days in the sun.
Don't come without sacrifices.

Apples and Oranges

The city flows through my veins. I feel so alive.

Literature

I let you read my pages
But you spoke a different tongue.
That must be why
you never understood me.
I guess I should thank you
For selling your vanity
In exchange for my ego.
Remember, lest you change your mind;
All transactions are final.

Shrink

I will never rid myself
Of the station where I wait
As your sliding eyes smear me
With the warmth of disdain
And your tears curve upwards
Where the corners of your mouth
Refused.

Still, my skin flakes
Tracing the shape
Of your steps
So recklessly delicate
In the Summer Snow.
Winter burned with envy
As I burned my clothes
For warmth.

Ex-Lover

It will be a sad day
When I forget
Your name,
But I hope
The realization
Doesn't hit me
Until long after I do,
And you are gone,
And us too.

(W)hole

I want you
to come back
and give me
what you stole


I want you
to replace
the gaps you left
and make me whole.

DNA

I was told I knew you. That struck me as a surprise; I was normally very good with names, and if I'd known it once, I would've known it again.

But it was true; I knew you. I used to know you. I knew you no longer. I would never know you again.

I walked in silence, under streetlights and through smoke rings. Your footsteps faded with the earliest rays of dawn, and I would have to search again.

Who You Are

I will meet you

at the intersection

 of cynicism,
pragmatism, 

and realism.

Or, at least, 

I will try to, 

if it is practicable, 

if such a place 

even exists 

in the first place.

Inches

Someone needs to climb this spiral
And drag me out of the depths
While I kick and scream and bite
At the hands that fed me all my life.

Hold

There's no need to rush.

We're all just waiting.

Another World

The air shook, and

he swayed through

the emptiness he left

where they had once

stood close together.

The air hummed, and

his heart rang out to

the same frequencies

that took their shapes

on wearied stations.

The air howled, and

he stayed at arm's length,

Kissing shadows in

the louder silences

dancing in the dark.

The air wept, and

he turned one last time,

And said "darling,

Don't cry. This isn't

meant to be

our last goodbye."

Aidan Moffat's Car Song

I thought I could forever be your passenger,

as we gently raced beneath

the trees of B roads and C roads,

watching for fauna and singing along

to that Classic Love CD we found in the hired car.

A weekend away from pills

and paranoia was the plan,

so we headed for familiar territory

in the comforts of memory.

I'm happy when we move.

I'm happiest in here,

where nothing's left to prove,

and nothing's left to fear.

i used to swim over there,

but that pub's gone downhill.

I made my very first and very last attempt at smoking

on that swing bridge with Gillian Smith.

We all loved Gillian.

Expelled from school,

we crashed the graduates' ball

in the function room of that hotel,

and I came second-last

in the treasure hunt.

I'm happy when we move.

I'm happiest in here.

where nothing's left to prove,

and nothing's left to fear.

So let's do it.

Let's sell our home and all our things,

and buy a camper van,

and live on service station junk food

and roadside pub lunches.

We can burn our smartphones,

and donate the computer

to the school down the road,

leave binbags full of clothes

we never wear outside the charity shop,

and just go.

We walk to the shore,

and I think I could keep going,

till someone deep inside you quietly screams,

"it's time to stand still",

and he's right. So let's go home.

And while we can't build in bricks,

I can build in my heart.

where we know heretics,

and we know where to start,

if the foundations rot,

should the wrecking ball swing,

if I misplace my plot,

and so lose everything

just remember us here,

hand in hand by the shore

and forget each dried tear,

and the burdens we bore.

Vague

At times, the only urge I feel

is to roll over to face

the other side of the beds we shared

and ask you, "are you okay?"

as I kiss you on the forehead.

Lemons

We give strange names

to the daggers we

drive into our lives

hoping someone else

will come by

and know how

to pull them out.

All we want is to

be grateful. Lost in

the warmth of

another.

To feel as if we

can carry each other

and, in the darker

corners of our

hopes and fears

cling to someone

who will save us.

Walk

The air is razor wire

My skin shreds when

I try to make bridges

out of our forearms

The sun takes a piss

on a cool spring breeze

And the smoke snakes

through our hair as we kiss.

I move to find I am turgid

still a part of the ground

And I let go of loftier ideals

like self-expression and will

The fruit I bear weighs me down

And with mirth, you pick

at the life on my bending boughs

And leave what is left at my feet.

With somber eyes, I think

it's time to admit

what we felt all along.

Tannin

My toe is always drawn to

the most treacherous of waters

Why can we not just sit

on your porch with our wine

and talk of something banal

like petrol prices, or the weather?

Every breath stops me from dying

And there you sit, splendorous

As I wonder what God is

and (whatever it may be)
Why I always find myself

neck-deep in deuterium

when I don't know how to swim.

Don't throw me a rope.

Let me thrash this out.

Let me see if I can

lose you in the waves.

Let me see if the mirrors we carry

can show me what we look like.

Let me see if we were

at all, meant to be.

Nicholas and Plato

You may claim

that we'll just be friends

And that is how

it was meant to be.

Ten years from now,

I will still want

The taste of my tobacco lips

to swill in your whiskey

while your anxious tongue

flicks your Monroe.

I will bend the crease

in the fiercest of your coattails

and stupidly wonder why

I burrow into green waters

at once shimmering and empty

To allow myself to see

my rough hands

grabbing you by the collar

And pulling you closer

To keep you away. Forever.

As It Should Be

It has been lovely knowing you.

How Not To Fall In Love

It was an empty embrace, meant more to comfort than to love. You saw what you wanted, and I saw what I wanted, but we couldn't see what it wasn't or was.

It wasn't lust that held you against me.

It was desire that made you her.

Your kisses froze on my cheek like tears on rough winter mornings. I dared not cry, silently sinking lower into the depths of my shame. I have no place to hide.

Apply Your Heart

You will forego devotion.

All you have to do is

step onto

the path

of love.

Solo

"what do you know of home

when you find yourself

awake

in a new place

every morning?

I shall relinquish

the warmth of

your memories

erased in my mind.

This is what

I've become.

Crying 'help'

in the recesses

of my heart."

In One Night

"Quiet" says the voice

"quiet, and listen.

Hear the beating of his heart.

Can you tell apart the ache from the desire?

Or are you just keeping time

to the rhythm of his pulse?"

Fathers and Widows

Like a father to impress

Like a Mother's mourning dress

If we ever make a mess

I'll do anything for you.

-

I did everything for you. Everything. For You.

Somebody

Your words are

the crunch of

your steps on

the shards that

I once called

my heart.

Reflection

What made it a sad affair

was that I wanted to be there

for the children we thought

would be ours

but we parted ways,

your stripes had changed,

and it was your children

I loved more than us.

Parts

we've thrown away love

for the sake of keeping face,

but the sadness sticks

like a bad taste

in the back of your throat.

I listen with my heart,

and kick angrily

at the currents

dragging me down

into thoughts of you.

Knights

He asked me for his red rose. I did not have it, but he refused to believe me.

I gave him my gloves instead. We considered it a fair trade.