Poems that have appeared on my main blog, Shameless Words (link in the sidebar).
it’s not exactly the most fetching plait, one in which an ebony pin would shine, but at least it has some form, a sign that somewhere in the rough morning a hand reached back to say i’m still in this life, not everything is abandoned
her windows are clear with a spirit to connect, her palms move forward with vigour, and behind the dirt one can see grace and gold, the queen of a tiny and manageable kingdom, where there is not one reason to think about leaving
they come in white vans, offering warmth and food, called by citizens who think of their own mothers and grandmothers, but she doesn’t remember the sunday roast or the trips to the seaside or her beautiful daughters’ holy communions
she keeps moving from coffee to coffee, from doorway to doorway, from one donated bun to another, but every now and then she looks at herself in the shine of a metal receptacle, remembering that once she was attractive and so in love
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
beneath branches with wide knuckles, where leaves would normally chatter, a soft breath comes over the green of the lake, calming the pulse of a modern man
a wooden bench to rest on is chosen randomly, to claim a pause from the fury of the world, to watch the stillness that beckons those who just can’t focus
with his own story he stays alone, a dialogue of millennium nonsense, his thoughts skimming across the water, beneath the eyes of a church on the hill
a rumbling from beneath seems to stir the past, inviting old footsteps and shadows to make themselves known, long forgotten moments eager to flicker
room is made for a soldier and his weeping bride, for a mother welcoming home an errant daughter, and for a young lad looking forward to 1900
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
I stared up at that wonderful marble deck
saw myself standing up beside the captain
felt my skin tingle with the salt of adventure
a heavy suitcase but a light and stirred heart
they called out names and cheers went up
the lucky ones slipped on the shiny gangway
then the engines panted, billowing smoke
the brief list was left to ride on the breeze
the magical ship is setting sail without me
the wrong money? few cabins? no skills?
a gentle man turned to offer some comfort
look over there, breaking out of the horizon
it's another big ship, on a different voyage
with just as much space in its golden cabins
and if it's not that one, there will be another
there's no shortage of these magical ships
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
look at this lion of life
in need of constant feeding
her strange desires to roar at the day
forlorn and endearing yet violent and pouncing
an innocent head is beautifully hovered
between her trembling, unstable jaw
drips from savage teeth on the skin
panting breath, burning tongue
her game of irresistible danger
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
a cranky neighbour uncovered it,
one of the queerest cases the crown had ever been involved in – a boy found wrapped in velvet,
grand affairs of murder, fraud and bigamy slipped down seven drawers in the inspector’s mahogany desk.
the mayor said the boy was rescued alive,
reporters struggled to form their questions – no injuries found on boy in velvet,
they wanted to see the room, quiz the witnesses, hold and measure the terrible fabric that bound him.
a quiet woman was cuffed and booked,
a blanket fending off the entertainment channels - velvet boy wrapped up for 40 days,
a prosecutor’s voice deepened, what were you thinking, how was it going to end, where on earth was the father?
the mother talked about custard and donuts,
loving efforts to keep her angel clean and happy – mystery deepens over velvet child,
a report explained how she wanted him safe from violence, bullying, and the unfairness of life.
a judge said he’d never seen such a thing,
30 years on the bench and no one could see the reasons – verdict in velvet boy case,
it’s decided the child will go into care, protected from the extreme behaviour of an overly-anxious mother.
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
the fences are down around the northern state zoo
mud splashes across exotic skin
big-teeth wonders shake in huddles
barbed wire lashes dainty hooves
virgin paws desert their cages
they’d dance and grimace but they only stare
they’d sing and scarper but they only quiver
the moon is sole witness to the improvised drama
weary guards dream of hibernation
faded manuals hold their tongues
flashing lights shine on no one
dogs beside themselves whip up the night
they’d eagerly chase but their throats are tight
they’d savagely bark but the wind is clever
the young liberators escape across a shadowy gorge
pamphlets float with heavy words
lungs burn with raging slogans
digital screens madly flicker
blackened faces reek of victory
they’d stay and debate but are needed elsewhere
they’d offer solutions but are just not sure
the rude morning light works magic on the chaos
larger bolts cover thick new wire
flower pots are freed of broken glass
sloppy food is dished up from buckets
small eyes repossess their glaze
they’d be somewhere else but have no idea where
they’d be keen on freedom but don’t know it’s missing
the old-fashioned turnstile resumes its gleeful spinning
hampers and cameras arrive in buses
boys put on their smiles and hats
children point to quirky features
parents recite from baffling signs
no one asks why the monkey is not in a jungle
no one asks why the polar bear is not on ice.
Copyright, 2006, Shameless Words.
no wonder Dublin can be all grey and misty-eyed sometimes, one far too many sorry farewells causing her fine crockery face to be moistened, more than she ever deserved, soft tears of forgotten legacies. how many sons and daughters does she mourn for?
on heavily-laden ships they departed, dreaming of more than broken eggs in carts and dark-eyed girls selling cockles by the Royal Canal. some famous ones have celebrated her in their musings, but they never returned, their words unable to soften the siren of absence.
sheets of nostalgia sweep over her, in from the sea and along the thick shoulders of the Liffey, but her faded cotton is being exchanged now for lace and silk. finally, her head can be held high above the new pavements of celtic hope, her auburn hair can be left to fall freely.
she takes in the young and the new, in amongst the folds of her generous skirt, treating her new babies to a famous glow and tireless, rich humour. from a grand height she will also steal time to rejoice, pleased to welcome home some of her frail and wandering flock.
her mistiness will always come and go though, her emerald eyes straining back to many generations, the hunger, all the years of missing places at tables. she weeps for the children of Erin, for whom she’s had to brave a goodbye, for whom the siren continues to wail.
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
his mammy finds the joy to go out now
her peacock feather hat making its debut
bought for a fiver in Belfast Town in ‘79
the year the littlin went to sleep forever
when the troubles came under the door
a devastating thirst for bright crimson
his mammy’s crackly frame is impatient
her eyes on the new waterfront centre
peace and peace reflected in the glass
a Londonderry songbird smiling on a poster
promising time now for small pleasures
longer breaks in the northern showers
his mammy admires sheep on the road
ragged creations made of dark bronze
hurried along a path by a gentle old man
littlin would’ve adored these, she thinks
how lovely to see something so simple
nothing more than sheep on the road
his mammy spots a noisy armoured jeep
over near the high walls with rolling wire
a compound in which she waited for littlin
where no one could stop her shaking
it’s just a passing bread van though
nothing more sinister than sesame and rye
his mammy smells the tickets in her hands
two places right up below the mighty stage
coloured spotlights warming ashen faces
hearty lyrics exercising many a tired smile
she’s clapping and singing on her own
the cheer of a mammy and her littlin
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
he reminded me that I was 90, the bugger, looking at me all funny, as if he understood what that should mean, how a woman of my era and standing should act in public.
I told him, young man, I've kept the lid on for far too long, and no one ever explained to me why; they've all gone now anyway, no one left to care that I was able to manage it.
I told him to laugh, take risks, be who he really wants to be, but he just passed me a basket full of wool and needles, weakly suggesting that I could make him a nice hat.
give me that thing, you poor devil, I hooted, I've got eight decades of acting the goat to catch up on, and with that I pulled the darn thing over my pretty young girl's head!
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
stop, harsh world, don’t even think about taking this one as
your own, leave his hand soft and still, his eyes wide to the
marvels that are opened up with every turning of the wheel
read nothing into those kaleidoscope cheeks, the colours are
not familiar to you, no markings of an ideal recruit, it’s just
the freshness and joy for which even you must now crave
move on from this place, enough black roses have been
planted here, give an aching mother a chance to hear the
music of peace, to sit without a hand on her heart
in this small room, just a tiny corner of your realm, may you
at last understand that the raging fires need to be calmed,
that you’ve been taking far too many and giving nothing back
listen for just a second to that delicious sound of innocence,
untainted hope that even you could bathe in, a newborn
magic that might just wash away your own harshness
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
from Aotearoa's milky tide
comes peculiar iridescent life,
perhaps a testament, an atlas,
or a sparkling purse of time
a rainbow's captured in there,
a sunburnt lad screams out,
thinking of his favourite gran,
unsteady on seaweed paths
they feel warm on his chest
can the colours mark the skin?
paua shell, says a dusty book,
Haliotis Iris, species of abalone
this rainbow, caught off Raglan,
where surfers play with seagulls,
is ready to glow even further,
in a fine anniversary necklace
Copyright, 2006. Shameless Words.
