Two Heads

A young girl strolls between two white heads

Her vocabulary white, pure, sensible

Between them, a gap as wide as the two generations they are apart

She walks between two heads, tough and bald

Who silently judge her age and nod her past

Her naivety left outside the door with neon lights

She stands in white and lace, between two beloved men

One of her age; and one who was with her through the ages

Now, she stands beside only one, with hands entwined

The woman strokes two tiny heads of young hair; whispy and fair

Her vocabulary young once more

Shortening the gap of years betwixt them

Again she stands between two white heads

Her words are loud, but they are love

As she nurses now the young and the old

She stands, then, between two granite headstones

Her words are hung with tears as the rain on the trees

As her husband waits, standing, between the two bowed teenage heads

The Willow

The Willow with her garment blown
Her dress unchanged sways in the breeze
The passing of years only she has known

For long she stands and much she sees

She dances on the carpet green

As children gather at her feet

Their laughs and smiles she's heard and seen

Until again gone; and gone is Summer's heat

Autumn visits with early nights

And rain hangs upon her like tears

Then Winter's chill falls from heights

As wool-clad folk dance on icy meres

The Willow with her garmet blown

Long she stands; many she meets

The nearby oaks creak and moan

As lonely years layer at their feet

Unpredictable

Water, how you shy from me
Your gentle waves pull away
The glint which shines in your eye
Tells me there's more you want to say

Water, how your mood can turn
Your angry foaming mouth
Curls and rips, it flees
And leaves a drought

Water, how you return to me
Your waves rush in
Surrounding me with fervency
The warmth perfuses my skin

Of things above

I'm watching you sleep
Curled at the throne below the rainbow 
Where rays of brilliance dance
Around the jasper pillars and sapphire walls

Your skin is clear, I see no tears
No scars, no hunger, no sickness
Your hair still surrounds you
But no longer hides you
I see the same hands which once held, embraced, created
Hands which will touch the Creator

I'm watching you sleep
Awakening with that smile like pearls
Those bright eyes look to the golden gate
And widen as we enter with thanksgiving

Observations of New York

American temperaments
Juxtaposed in society
Like exuberant skyscrapers
Overshadowing sordid subways

Prosaic perpendicular streets
With yellow cabs and school buses
Decorate the sidewalks
Like daffodils.

Never-ending coffee refills
Warm the hearts of cold citizens
And patriotic pretzel carts
Fly by with flags in tow.

Billboards and bright lights,
Buildings which never sleep
Spend nights on stakeout
For suspicious signs and strangers

Whimsical Wander

A whimsical wander to Amsterdam awaits

Bicycles decorated with ivy and old milk crates

Cafe doors leak wafts of the herby plant
And museums merge culture, history and Rembrandt

Burgher barges are caressed by canal currents

While dens of delirious drinkers are dimmed by smokers' scents

We hunt hungrily for Hoegaarden and vegan eats

And discover hallucinatory decor, shisha and trippy beats

Then fall flaccidly into borrowed bunk beds

As memories swirl around our happy heads

Behind the veil

Take off your veil

And behold your bridegroom.

The veil,

Of doubt

Of analysis

Of fear

Of self

Of pride

Of ambivalence

Of shame

Of guilt

Of carnality

Of time.

For the time is near

And He waits at the altar

The Word

The Word of the Lord is a sweet fragrance

An aroma known throughout the earth
The Word of the Lord is like the notes of a composer
Piecing together a beautiful story

The Word of the Lord is a light to my path

Long and winding but leading me home

The Word of the Lord is like rain to earth

It does not return without fulfilling purpose

The Word of the Lord is seed to the farmer

And bread to the hungry

The Word of the Lord is like a mirror
Revealing our imperfections, which stare back at us

The Word of the Lord is armour in the battlefield
Fighting not flesh or blood, but cosmic powers

The Word of the Lord is a double-edged sword

Slicing thoughts and attitudes of the heart

The Word of the Lord is like water to my soul

Like rainfall to thirsty pastures

The Word of the Lord is our spiritual milk

That we may grow up in wisdom and love

Repeat

I play that night on repeat
The script dubbed
With words we didn't say
Our acquaintance shown in a time-lapse

No ending, no sequel
The tape got chewed
And left a bitter taste
Because I keep thinking of you

Like an old VHS
I can't bear to part
Idle and worthless
So I hide you in my heart

Sunday

Sunday is a cup of tea day.

It anchors you in a safe harbour.
The kettle hums its praise,

As milk splashes and mingles,

Finding purpose

The rain outside bounces.

It feeds the earth and greedy reservoirs

Somewhere far from this city bustle.

I run the tap again,
And settle into sweet surrenders

Technology

What did we do before the camera
When photos were filed in our head
Unaffected by storage data
And memories lived in adjectives we said?

How did we communicate before the iphone
Or vent before the advent of facebook
If we needed a gossip or a moan
Or admiring eyes to look?

What did we do before technology
Were we perhaps more content
Before we delved into psychology
And searched for what everything meant?

The Snooker Hunter

Huddled together
They rest on the green
As he creeps, crouches
Looking down the barrel of his gun
Checking all angles
Ready to canon
He fires the white
Then victory awaits
He makes his break
As he tears the reds apart
And devours the game

I am

I am yours
I am your child
I am your daughter

I am broken

I am complete

I am a lost sheep

I am found

I am dead to sin
I am alive in you

I am unique

I am accepted
I am not forgotten
I am engraved on the palms of your hands

I am your apprentice

I am dependent
I am chosen

I am your bride

I am your hands

        your feet
        your voice

I am your messenger

I am your servant

I am your friend
I am a new creation

I am your ore, for purification
Clay in the potter's hands

I am on fire

I am healed

I am imperfect

I am forgiven

I am forgiving

I am scarlet

I am washed white as snow

I am a traveller

I am a home for your spirit

I am a vapour
I am a tiny rain drop
        making giant ripples in the ocean

I am a fading flower

I am in your true vine
I am a follower of the great I AM

I am yours

Haiku - Sacrifice

Sanguine bleeding sky
His true sacrificial love
Perfuses the earth

Helicopters

Belfast you break my heart
Fire and smoke suffocate our hopes
While sirens serenade us as we sleep
And helicopters rumble through
The sobbing skies who watch over
Remembering what they've seen before
And watching it happen again

Haiku - Rebirth

A new day is born

Yellow yoke cracking the skies

Feeding life to earth

Skin-deep

Uncomfortable skin

Clinging
Wet with tears
Clambering
Trying to get out
Clumsy
But so articulate
Actress
Dressed for the show