Category: Twitter Poems

She is here now alongside the waning tide,
the silent sea, the low sky, the quiet day
that guards her; she wonders how she
will keep dancing after the band
has called it a day.

There were no candles
to be found on the cake,
in fact, there was no cake;
cream and pikelets though,
a cup of tea, brothers
and sisters and a long,
distant look in his eyes.

Come run beside the drumming
of my fragile heart,
drink in the moments of grace
midst the sea of sin
and take small rides to little venues
where possibilities begin.

Sometimes I just want to lie
beneath the moon, full and round,
drinking in the solitude,
taking joy in that easy yoke
and lay to rest the breathless stroke
and the constant fear of drowning.

I never was much good at swimming
lungs bursting with each painful stroke,
sometimes I fight to stay afloat
sometimes I slip beneath the surface
and wonder how far down I can go
before I’m lifted by the hand of grace.

The cold wind,
as sharp as a razor,
freezes the tears
in our glass eyes
and cuts a line of red
through our embrace.

Over the road
on that unclaimed piece of land
in Maungaturoto
beside the railway line,
a fire casts dancing shadows
that occupy
the warm spaces.

The harbour lies like silver
in the deepening shadows
of the twilight,
the crescent moon
is narrow, dancing
on the cold waters
while you are a long way
from here, in a warm place
on your birthday;
I sing you a quiet song.

You no longer require my services.
After ten years of working together
you send me an email that erases
any value our relationship had.
We shook hands back then remember?

There is violence
in the fist of anger,
there is a tear
in the eye of the refugee
grief rends the heart
of the powerless;
we are still arriving.