Planets
Hope strewn in particles of dust
Confetti of DNA
The cold morning light
Slices across hills
And the grass keeps on growing
As we overcomplicate
Living things
Into organisms
Separating organs
Into heart/liver/lung
As if they could survive alone
As if they were planets
In themselves
Blood runs through
Like a gorge
Tissue like moss
Tendons like outstretched branches
Skeleton like a canyon of quartz
Teeth like boundaries of slate
Veins like glacial streams
Skin like leaves
In bud or decay
Depending on the time
And the place
We like edges
Because we like to measure
And it comforts us
To see an end
When in fact
The end
Is farther than star
And closer than breath
The end
Is an end
Unto itself
_____________________________
House-Warming
It smells like pungent blossom
In a wide aired-out room
It smells like coffee and coconut and lemon tea
It smells like a comforting auntie’s face cream
And the aftertaste of an evening cigarette
It smells like industry and contemplation;
Returning tipsy into the night;
Unlocking the door
It smells like secret company
Wrapped up in bed
And the luxury of a late morning
With foliage gleaming
From each window frame
It smells like spices and Radio 4
It smells like warm light and candles
It smells like trinkets and gifts
And original images
It smells like cultivation and growth,
Of silence, space, and unstoppable spreading
Outwards
In golden, intricate circuits
Saturn’s Return
Long ago
I walked the earth
As someone else
She carried a baby
And walked barefoot
On dry shrub
Mosquitoes bit her ankles
And sweat left clear rivers
On the bed
Of her dusty skin
She carried a baby inside her
Not yet seen, but felt
The glimmer of life
Held up her spine
As the vultures
Circled the clouds
She did not wear shoes
There were no paths
There were no trees
Or water
Only baby
Spine
Sweat
Birds of prey
Insects
Sun
And desert
And what would it mean
If she then died
If she were to live on in me
And I too
In some untouchable future
In a body struck also
By Saturn’s Return
Trajectory
With the cosiness of rain outside
My head swims in neuroses
I envision the chaos of packing
Then unpacking
And wish more than anything
That I find contentment
In not having everything
A thousand jobs at all times
I only have to do one at a time
I can see nothing beyond the clouds
I am weary of screens
And being in spaces
That are not mine
Will it be so different?
Yes it will.
I am not worried about money
I feel it showering upon me
I feel opportunity chime
I tread into my future
Walking through an orchard
Always it was unfolding
Out of forest and into garden
That was always my trajectory
_____________________________
The Garden
A pumpkin’s organs are the seeds
And their nest of fleshy string
A nettle can be seen as weed
But still has strength to sting
A blackberry grows plump at last
A turnip sleeps in soil
An apple tree sees summer pass
Then drops its fruits to spoil
The stem gives steady to the rose
Cerise and emerald skin
A dandelion crescendos
Its cells upon the wind
The garden in its outward bliss
Celebrates the seasons
No cycle or change does it miss
Transforming with no need for reason
_____________________________
I found a petal that would be me
I found a petal that would be me
Had I grown from a stem and a centre
It was deep rich pink
It had dusty grey veins
A clouded darkness
That came as it bent
Its edges were frayed
Its base lighter
And white at the root
On its underside lay a sheen of glitter
Spots of gold adorned above
In jewelled sequence
To the touch it was smooth
And taut
Strong
Yet fluid:
Gluttonous,
Like the pouring of cream
_____________________________
Yr Afon, El Río
Por fin! O’r diwedd!
Tengo un montón des canciones
En mi lÍngua
Genai lwyth o ganeuon
Ar fy nhafod
Llwyth -
Es un paraíso!
‘Da ni’n byw yn y nefoedd
Llwyth -
Ysbryd lân
Conquistador
Dewch, achebwch i!
A hora, no en segundos, a hora!
Pam,
Por que,
Llwyth -
Al frente del mar
De las montañas
De mi boca, de mi piel,
Mêl
Llwyth o mêl
Yn nofio
Fel afon
Lawr fy nghroen
Edrycha! Mira!
El espejo se lumina!
Dwi’n gweld fy mywyd
Yn y gwydyr
Y byd, el mundo,
A world joined by time
And by tongue
_____________________________
River/Reka
Rivers run down and through me
Rivers of language and history
A cold river, a hot river,
A red and a blue
One smells smoky, meaty,
Always on the brink
Of hospitality
Or war
The other is borne from spring
Tinkling over pebbles
Meandering politely
Through meadows
In reams
_____________________________
Violence & Fools
In youth comes
The knowledge too heavy
That there are many roads
Leading long outwards
To far corners
But all end up
Down at your feet
If only we could shave off bark
Kill by sliver, not by felling
But our violence knows no bounds
And we devour branch and root alike
We devour them in place of
Our own rootedness
Our own ability to branch out
As if by eating
We assimilate
_____________________________
A Message from My Animus
You are never alone
I am always here
I know your ego wants to flap that away
And call it sad and pathetic and what have you
But it is true and the more you trust
And connect with the intangible
They more you will really feel me here
What I am doing is holding
What I am giving is presence
What I can offer is devotion
And myself, completely,
Because your complete self
Includes me
I bring steadiness and trust
I truly see you
As the most beautiful creation
That exists
I see you and all your so-called faults
(labelled by you, or picked up
through misunderstandings
from your past)
And I celebrate them
They endear you to me
Your honesty and depth and intensity
Inspire me
Your feminine power
Propels me
To be a better man
Your darkness does not frighten me
Your pain does not push me away
Because I am strong and brave
I have lived for aeons inside you
I understand that these aspects
Do not call for protection
They call for acknowledgement
And encouragement
And support
I am not here to cure you
Or make things better
I am your personal King
Serving you as if you were
A Country
A myriad
Of story and bone
And oh how I do love this Country
I will fight for this land
And let no one cross it
Who does not have
Your best interests at heart
_____________________________
Poison, Ink & Berries
Ink runs
In splodges and wells
Overheated afternoon
Post-plummet
The berries glisten
With their poison
Luring, and alluding to
Danger by coaxing
I wrap a spell around my tongue
As deterrent
As garlic
I wait and see
Who backs away
Who does it conquer
Everything is a game
If you play it that way
I am nauseous
With clarity
It comes to me as a sickness
And I imagine oh, a child,
Myself as a baby
Seeking comfort
In my grandmother’s soft shoulder
Beautiful ink
Gliding along its stage
Gliding like a ballerina
A swan
With no sign of flapping
I got sick
I poisoned myself
I chose poison
I ignored the warning
The glisten of the berries
I missed -
Fortuitous,
I remained
Watched over by mysterious
Tall
Celestial
Figures
Robed in purple
And cold
And defiant
And knowing
With third eye searing
And oh that staff it does deter
Any lingering inaction
It shoots me into being
_____________________________
Cloud Before Dawn
There was an ancient scroll
And on the scroll it said
There will be a cloud of suffering
And in that cloud will be a dawn
A new unceasing dawn
That blows into all corners
And unmasks
All faces that are masked
And troubled;
In this cloud there will be
Ferocious joy
Unceasing joy
Elastic in its fine contortions
Unprecedented
In its wakeful seize
