Answer

On a clear summer day
it’s a breath taken in
flowing deep down, within
Blue sky, thin clouds
Trees in the breeze,
reflection an idyll
shining bright in her eyes
showing time slowly taken,
her world exhaled.

Touched by the sound
as the world lays down
and bows to her
Beauty
and surrender
awaiting

Silent footprints driven
by eyes that absorb, not observe
Breathing in
Stealing the surrendered
On to the waters edge
to the surface reflection
shining back the vision
without flaws

Pulled by the vision
transformed in the eyes
from the beauty.
Attraction
and darkness
luring.

By the waters edge, fallen
knees on wet sand
embracing, exploring.
Pulling the water
onto
and within.
Reflection disturbed
and beneath surface
clean, pure gives way
to deep, thick blackness
that pulls as she submerges
her skin and her will.

“I came here for this.”
she said, as she poured water across her skin.
I came here for this.
As the water pulled back,
submerging.

But it was the hand that walked with her,
the warmth
and the familiar
that accompanied that walk to submission.
That was the image she thought
as the water pulled her under
and there in the gloom,
beneath the sky, the clouds
and the reflection that shone back,
that was the place she found her answer.

Fragments

If I cleaved it apart
Bound it in colours
Gave them different names
A time
or a place
A different home
another voice
Dressed it up
Took it down
Used paint
Used water
Perfumed, anointed
Blessed,
Baptised
Christened again
Change of heart
Change of name
Could you bear to look
Could you understand
or see only fragments in the path behind

Fire

Nestled by fire
Surrounded by darkness
at the base of the mountains
Hiding from echoes
and voices in the night

Warm and alone
Fighting sleep
Feigning indifference
Leaving a memory behind
under every stone

Fire is dying
Night is closing
Cold touches skin
and takes possession
Strength is bowing

Warmth and light fading
Resignation abounds
Peace takes hold
Until fight, with the sun
arises again.

Breath

It’s the shadow of a breath
taken 20 years ago
I still carry with me today,
that you’d know if you saw once again.
It’s the look in an eye
that we once used to share
and wants to look, just once more.
It’s the echo you left
when we last spoke,
it’s carried on sea,
flown across air
and lands like a ghost at my feet
when darkness falls.
Its who I see and who I knew
before I traded it all
for a legacy of shadows,
a hope on the wave
and a breath I can’t lose
in every sunrise.

Mirror

The mirror in a darkened room
Lay out a reflection
Of the present
And everything past
That could not be seen

The room in silence
Echoed with shadows
Filled with footsteps


With a breath she’s behind me

A brush of skin and a word
beneath it all

With a slip of cloth
She’s behind the glass

And I’m left
Staring at my reflection once more

Doors

The dirt flies
as the footsteps echo
across plain and field.
Heavy breathing,
they watch her walk
on and up
to drawbridge lowered

The heart pounds
and the approach comes
closer looming larger.
Hand is raised.
Fist is clenched.
Door beaten with intent,
the knock still barely echoes

Waiting with baited breath
Nothing moves
inside the walls or out.
Eyes are focused,
Will of steel,
Determination bound,
Arms raised to try again.

In silence,
with no pre-emption
doors creak
to slowly open
Footsteps forward
Into inner sanctuary
Barriers closed behind

Eyes adjust
to change of light
Armies watch her pass
to move onwards
towards the next
barrier of passage
Nothing moves from path

With stares surround
The girl is standing
at another door to come
Nothing waivers
Focused disregard
for soldiers watching
sole entrant is waiting

Knock echoes louder
Door opens quicker
Scene is played again
Quiet treading
No word is spoken
The stranger moves on in
to next block upon the path

Each knock is risen
from breaths of silence
left unanswered on the wind
Each door is opened
without question
or persuasion
The girl she moves on in

Time still passes
without sound
Light changes into dark
and soon she’s passed
through doors unopened
for past enemy or kin
Each closes as she enters

Never looking back
The closing echoes
Across valley and desert
To ears afar
who wait for news
of a girl
who walks alone

Doors opened
Doors closed
No repetition here
For each one passed
brings it closer
Determination carries
and knows why she came

The clock chimes echo
and mark her passage close
but she’ll continue
on paths not trodden,
through doors,
under eyes
until they know her name.

Honey

Who are you
Hidden in corners
Between lines
Under lids
in the middle of the room
in the middle of the bed
Tossing and turning
Dreaming
Thinking
Of the stories that cut me
Of words that soothe me
Warmth and honey
Soft gentle sweetness
That takes everything it needs