Saturday, August 17, 2013

John ... Um (daily poem self challenge, day two)


He was a Rainy Sunday Afternoon relationship
the the sort of affair you describe as 'leisurely'
when you mean 'slow and a little dull'.
One of those that seems to lead,
interminably,
inevitably
toward a salmon-sandwich-and-rock-buns
kind of ending:
quiet, polite,
disappointing.

Not, bad, as such;
not a time I  will regret,
how, after all, can one regret
that which one struggles to recall?

And he was necessary, perhaps,
a breath-catching interval
separating
the wild ride of Saturday Night man
in all his stupid intensity:
his Led Zep and tequila slammers
that left me wrecked and rocking
In a corner, drenched in
hungover tears, and
you, my Everyday love.

You, who I have to work at
all week, who demands my
careful attention, who, I know,
might always be a
moment's neglect or a
single mistake away from
loss. You who feeds me,
warms me, gives me
the kick that gets me
out of bed on cold mornings.

You, who I often wish
I didn't need
so much.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Daily poem self challenge, day one


SPECULATION AMONG THE LENTILS

I met this girl
in the health food shop
and she told me -
pinning me like a poster
against the wall
on the point of her
paleblue gaze -
that water remembers
everything.

My mind drifted from
her monotone advocacy
of the homeopathic life, and
I didn't notice her go,
as I found myself wondering
about the Tasman:
specifically, that part of it
that strokes the beach
At Golden Bay.

I wondered if it remembered
us
and that dip
that should have been
moonlit, except
the clouds hid the moon
and gave us, instead,
fat drops, that we
turned our faces up
to and drank,
standing neck deep,
chest to chest,
arms tightly belted
round each other's waists.

I wondered if it remembered
the shallowness of breath
the unfinished ...
... sentences ...
I wondered if
it remembered
how it couldn't chill us
because your kisses were
more fury than tenderness
hot as jalapeƱos
in my mouth.

I wondered if it remembered
our promises
and how much we meant them
then.
I wondered, if its memories
were fresh still,
unspoiled.

I wondered.

If I bathed there,
would it
give them back?

Sunday, August 11, 2013

There is a tide
in the affairs of  -
me -
which seems tricky
to catch at the flood.

All too often I
miss the wave
wave the bus on
by
step back
to stand beached
on the edge of ...
something.

A something
which clutches my ankle
as it washes over my feet
tugging
promising threat,
threatening promise;
whispering "Dive in -
I dare you."

But I dare
not.