Poem Every Day - Volume 2

1

Allow me to be your entertainer
Rest your eyes on me
Place your tools idly by
Just sit and listen
Everything else can wait

I'll tell you a story
I'll paint you a picture
I'll hold your hand and smile
And I'll break your heart beneath my feet

Stay with me
Don't let your mind wander
To the troubles of the day
Laugh at the Jokes
And be moved by the Actions
I'm not really real

Allow me to be your entertainer
Let me take you away
Forget that you exist
Come into my world
It's okay

2

Pluck out my eyes
Burst my ears
Snap my kneecaps
And crush my nose

Sew my mouth
Smash my feet
Crack my ribs
And screw my thumbs

Cut out my tongue
Drown my lungs
Break my jaw
And stop my heart

Do it all - and more
This would I prefer
At least then blissful ignorance
Would wash over me

At least nothing more would
Be in my name

3

As I mellowly cast off my skin
There is something in the wind
Sinking through, intruding, and diving
Sending shards of shivers running up my neck

As I resolutely renew lost hope
There is something brooding inside
Scratching hard, spluttering, and gnashing
Dragging thoughts slowly into sticky mud

As I knowingly open my heart
There is something like magic
Projecting off, splitting, and reverberating
Offering my best humbly to the world

As I gradually stand on my feet
There is something right fluttering
Hard wired, excited, and anxious
Telling me there is still so much left

4

Suffer long goodbyes
Each drawn out silence trying to connect
The space building - as seconds pass by
Words like sparrows flitting. Unbound.
Suffer it

Each welcoming handshake from a stranger
The physical contact between you
As far as distant stars gazing in light years
Suffer it

Each late night (& early morning) drinking with friends
Loose. Comfortable. Warm & Loving
Quips flying rapidly. We're playing darts.
Suffer it

Each early morning fighting to get out the door
Each day spent coughing and sneezing in bed
Each sensation given by a lover
Each newborn held in stable arms
Suffer it

5

Spill forth into the world
Ooze between the cracks
Travel the treadmarks
Be overflow
Excess
Fill the world
Don't stop when it's full
Pass well past the brim
Bubble and burst and boil
Don't let the surface settle

6

You'll take pleasure in
Picking me apart
In disassembling my components
Laying them on the table
Sorting them into logical sequence
By colour, size, weight
Make me ordered
Make me rational
Make sense of me
Under the microscope:
My cells behave like they should
& my atoms are just perfect
My matter matters like all other

Thoughts constructed of neural networks
- a sensible system
So the next time you ask
"What's on your mind?"
You can have the answer you deserve

7

The air is still and warm
Crickets blur the background
Laughs streak through space
You don't know whose
Time patters forward
Not making a fuss
Birds safely nuzzled
Feathers dry: softly cooing
Rest assured morning follows
Starlight drizzled on treetops
Falls into comfort
Drops into rest
Let go
Sleep easy

8

Synapses fire like a gunshot
Thoughts snap to the forefront
Untread paths get bulldosed
Destroying the habitat underneath
Untamed uncertain unconscious
Thrashes and wrecks and claws
For attention. These are the waters
That run deep. Yet running
Ever so fast. Grasp them:
Be consumed by the undercurrent
Drowned thoughts fizzle out
To the greater bulk

9

Looking at you now, in this moment
Is like looking at refracted light
- beautiful, broken, brief

You’re a prism
Delicately cut shard of glass
Taking in so much - converting it
Sending it out again to the world
So I can see the nuances of colour

Let me know that within everything
Lies a multitude of hues
That there is so much
That I do not see: cannot see

That vibrancy lies just below
That nothing is singular
And infinitely complex

10

Hours, Minutes & Seconds
They pass, rather than tick by
Unnoticed as they flit - unmeasured

Lived fully regardless of action
Heart keeps pulsating
The system still remains
Change inescapable. Time ineffable

Sit with me. Hold my hand
Tell me sweet untruths
This all adds up so quickly

11

I don't want to have my ashes scattered
I don't want to be placed in the ground
Accepted by the earth
Have a final embrace
By the world that bore me

None of that is me
Matter & Dust
Don't hold onto it

I am the stories I tell
I am experiences lived
I am the actions of now
I am the people I love

Cast my body away like garbage
Discard of it how you may
It's just image, imitating who I used to be

Memories will persist for a time
And when they don't
I am gone
And that is okay

12

Sighted off in the distance
Lies your sense of caring
Keeping up pace with your thoughts
Until your heel snaps
And you tumble downwards

Strap the wounds
Grit teeth tightly
Force yourself
Find your feet

Continue chasing
Don't lose sight
Don't fall into the depths
And lose humanity

Breathe heavy sighs
Taste iron on tongue
Throat dry & cracked

This is how it should be

13

Bloom like a fractal
Expand like the universe
Glow like explosive starlight
And enchant like the night sky

Shine like a sudden supernova
Create like an imploding sun
Dance like a shooting star
And enchant like the night sky

Signal like an urgent pulsar
Smash like an inbound asteroid
Circle like a lone moon
And enchant like the night sky

14

Every day
The knot in my shoulder
Gets just a little bit tighter

Every day
I drink a stronger coffee
Mustn't fall asleep yet

Every day
I see the news
And am flooded with sadness

Every day
I blot out suffering from my mind
There can be no good in wallowing

Every day
I imagine being over
That Tomorrow is coming

Every day
I hope that what I'm doing is good
That I can help the world

Every day
I'm Exhausted. Strained. Stressed.
Bewildered. Bewitched. And Thankful

Every Damn Day

15

Don't hide your weirdness
Don't hide that you like
Peanut butter & beetroot sandwiches
Feeling sand in your socks
Popping ready pimples
Urinating from high places

Don't hide your weirdness
Don't hide that you always
Sort your food by colour
Drink warm coco cola
Play with your pubes
Paint pictures with your make-up

Don't hide your weirdness
Don't hide that you enjoy
Peeling off sunburnt skin
Talking to yourself in the car
Looking at snot after blowing your nose
Or plucking out hairs, one by one

For God's sake
Don't hide your weirdness
It makes you interesting
It makes you
Enjoy yourself
You won't be anything else

16

I want to drink your words
Like cold water
Each one flooded with intent
Bursting at the seams

Weighted, bloated & fresh
Let your dam walls crack,
Crumble and then spill
So I can sip, lap & gulp

Wetness on my chin
I will drink you in
Quench my thirst
I'll cherish every drop

17

Shying away and smile plastered
Smooth creases on the nape of a neck
Shell shards cutting through fingertips
Signatures accepted in nothing but blood
Exposed nerves receiving everything

Sun-dried skin wrinkled ripe & rich
Soil smudged against fresh sweat
Sweet scents stained in nostrils
Solvent stripping hardened layers
Exposed nerves receiving everything

Sliver of stardust secretly hoarded
Skillful hands to hide the world
Swear a promise quickly broken
Soliloquy screamed & quietly spoken
Exposed nerves receiving everything

18

Ages we wait for
Cracks in the concrete
To expand & swallow
Us all on the street

How long does it take?
Sounds of seeds moaning
As they strain against
Confines of hard shell

The buildings don't shake
As they crumble & fall
Neglect is the only
Cause of decay

Glasses opaque
As we sit in the dark
Making our mark
On the walls growing small

Something to make
To turn seconds to minutes
Minutes to hours
We keep moving forward

19

Like a gemstone
Polished and pristine
There it lies
Sits blissful
Hides and lives
In the recesses
Of my being

Shaken out fervently
Or coyly coaxed forth
Single handkerchief
Or clowns special trick
Remains unknown
Until the moment

Dig like a starved bird
Steady twig in beak
Smash like an otter
Stone ready in fist
Breach the barrier
Rupture the surface
Spoil the silence

20

When I say I love you
I mean:
Please hold me until
This is all over

I mean:
God i hope you
Love me too
I mean:
I'm not mad at
You anymore
I mean:
Set me ablaze
And scatter me over the sheets
I mean:
This is right
And I don't want it to stop
I mean:
Your warm body
Feel right against my skin
I mean:
How could all this
Have happened without my knowing
I mean:
My body feels heavy
Warm, Exposed & Fragile
I mean:
Your eyes kill me
As they drill deep down into me
I mean:
You know me
And you're still here
I mean:
You could rip me
To shreds with a word

21

Earth holding you
Warm, Still, & Heavy
Swaddled tired ached muscles
Well used - well enough
Ground drawing you down
Legs melting like clay
Dripping, slapping, falling off
Comfort calls your name
Sings a sweet melody
That reverberates down
Into your core
And untwists the resistance
Each knot plucking undone
A gentle snap as every one goes
Each worry evaporating
Simmering slowly off slack skin
And you obey
Crash, smash, implode
Deep into bed
Dream of lightness tonight

22

Pity the person whose
Spitting venom & bile
The build up from inside
Overflowing - Bursting out

Pity them. They are not happy
They scratch, thrash, & howl
They cannot be still with themselves.
Constantly struggling to be at ease
And no idea how.

The world they live in is a sad one
A lonely one. A cruel one.
Their wounds are infected.
Their teeth are stained with blood

Don't let the barbs they fling
Stick in your skin
Don't let the words they slaughter
Hold any water

23

Guttural growl in the gutter
For the unyielding night
Smattered stars smashed upwards
Cool brick brittle under foot
Accepting each step begrudgingly
Night's wind cutting frail clothing
Bones whipped by each moment
Marginal divides highlighted
Growing with time rolling by
Sigh away secrets
The empty night will absorb
Resonate the alleyways
With notes of discord

24

Shying softly away
The troubles of the day
Strained shoulders let slack
Now no turning back

Released thoughts fly away
Look at old hands and decay
Slowly melt into endless earth
Between clutching hands lies mirth

Built of fire, rot, and ash
Yet deep within constant clash
Merry war of scrambled voices
Vying over untold choices

Sit still - just choose one
Breathe deep and fill each lung
Have this moment, you have enough time
Strike a note inside yourself, hear how you chime

25

My pet Hate has followed me today
Affectionately looking up at me
Eyes gleaming, as I feed it and scratch
Behind sensitive ears. As I give in
To a companionship old, and unbearably close

My pet Hate has a sleeping corner
It stretches content. Having so much
activity today. It rests serenely and dreams
of all the places it will see tomorrow

My pet Hate has drawn blood
Easily snaps nervous jaws when
approached suddenly - or rubbed
when it is feeling unaccountably thorny

My pet Hate has its head in my lap
Gentle breath against my skin
It paws occasionally to make itself comfortable
I will not upset it. Let it be.
It's not going anywhere

Its hair is soft
Its tense muscles relaxed
Its claws are retracted
Its closeness... Its content
I'll walk it tomorrow

26

Let's talk about the state
Of the world

Let's talk about the plight
Of Syrian refugees
Let's talk about the battle
Against mental health stigma
Let's talk about the fight
Raging inside us all

Let's talk about the feeling
Of stasis & treading water
Let's talk about the ethics
Of eating animal flesh
Let's talk about the troubles
Faced by the Trans community

Let's talk about the future
Of humankind & robots
Let's talk about the benefits
Of green energy & cycling
Let's talk about the fulfillment
You've felt from meditation

Let's talk about the work
That you constantly put in
Every damn day

Let's talk about anything
Except you & me okay?

27

Fear louder than faith
That it will all be okay
That the millions of
Terrible, destructive, horrific
Things knocking on my door
Will not be let in today

Fear screaming in voices
That you know are wrong
That the only thing to do
Is to get time on your side
Wait from them to shush

Fear, worry, angst - An imagination
Well fed and let loose uncontrolled
Latching onto whatever it can
Getting locked on and only
Letting it out of clenched jaws
When the body is slack & exhausted

Fear louder than faith
That dialectic argument continues
The opposing forces fighting
Stabbing, parrying, slashing & dodging
Let them fight it out

They can come along for the ride
That's their business

28

Frantic action and unthought response
Pushed along to this sweet song
Each beat following the last
Choice was never an option in this

We're stuck in this scene
Our minds are fixated on something
How could we experience so much?
I'll just respond to the here & now
And not think too deeply

Keep dancing to the music
Keep singing to the song
Give & Receive - 1, 2, 3, 4
Be present, Active & Open
Don't lead or follow

I'll only ever move:
From this.
From now.
From this framed shot.

I'm stuck in the scene
And I'll keep dancing

29

I am constructed from stories
Read to me tenderly to get me to sleep
Told to me hurriedly to get to the best bits
And read methodically to absorb the entirety

I am constructed by stories
That time a dog bit your leg
When your sister went into shock
You uttered words of heartbreak

I am constructed by stories
That time you crashed your car
When you got lost in Nepal
How you gazed at the stars for hours, awestruck

I am constructed from stories
I am fragments of narrative
I am a melting pot of characters
I am both fact & fiction

These words, like stitches
Are the only things holding me together

30

Sightless seeing
Eyeless wonder
New discovery
Depths to plunder

Selfless feeling
Enchanted thing
Empathy sought
Into my being

Colourless flower
Object in action
Both a whole
And merely a fraction

Formless thought
Silken steam-jet
Arrive, then pass
Try not to fret

Boundless choice
Tethered to now
Be still over all
Furrow your brow

Endless nights
Stretch on and on
Remind yourself
That dawn will come

Thoughtless moment
Brought on by bliss
Close each eye
That sleep will kiss