AGE OF IMAGINATION

"A vivid imagination " said the school reports,
and yet I can't imagine how I got here,
to this place.
I can't imagine my son firing guns from tanks in blazing heat,
or how my mothers' mind in retrograde,no longer knows me.
I can't imagine what it's like to die.
I can't imagine why the mirror laughs.
I can't imagine life without you.
I can't imagine life.
I can't imagine what imagination means.

THE WORDS

I need to shout,and I don't want everyone looking at me.
I need to make it clear that I am a poet.
I need to tell you I'm a tortured soul
who puts down the words you can relate to.
I need to shout that the pen is mightier than the sword,
and speaks its' own subliminal language.
I need to shout that words are feelings you can't express.
But I can tell it how it is and I can tell it for you.
Just say the word.

BLANK

You haven't got a clue have you?
The boredom of it all.
Same jokes, the predictability.
Habituated nonsense, others call solid.
The dreary necessity of everyday,
the times I drown out your voice,
though you've never done me wrong.
So just like Brief Encounters' Fred,
You love me when my heart is dead.

CLOWNS

                         Everybody hates clowns.
                         The painted smile that hides the tears.
                         Tumbling buffoonery diverting pain.
                         The gaudy psychosis of the clothes that don't fit in.
                         Everybody hates mirrors.
          

THE TOURISTS

       Half baked knotted hankies on bodies like greased lobsters,
      wave Kiss-Me -Quick hats at passing pedaloes
      sliding through paella seas.
      Extended and expended families
      sway like corn to "The Birdy Song".
      Natives ,like gaudy toilet roll holders,
      spin faster than a lager louts' wallet.
      Carlos loves Tracey, chips with everything.
      Plastic keyrings and plastic promises.
      The coach arrives,
      returning them to factory lines on distant shore.
     Carlos sips sangria with his wife once more.

WINTER NONSENSE

               If I could lose my senses I would lose my ears,
               so I could not hear your voice,
               the one that told me you would always hold me by your side.
               The neurotic bride
               is waiting still,
               Alone, but for a robin on the sill
               who hops small imprints in the snow
                then up he flies to come and go as he pleases.
                How he teases with his winter wings.
                He seldom sings,
                learning not to give it all away.
                If I could lose my senses I would lose my eyes,
                so I could no longer see the lies
                that line that frozen face of yours.
                And space and time no longer mean a thing,
                when like a jester turning endless cartwheels for his king,
                I lost my senses.
                Heart and head.

  

UNHAPPY MEDIUM

                   There they lay in a room as one in spirit.
                   "No ghosts here", she said
                    as she sniffed the silvery air
                    devoid of common sense and all the books she'd read.
                    But for his silent dream,that sadly faded fast,
                    the air was cold,
                   And she could see the ghost was from his past.

LIFE IN A SEA OF MEN

                   I can't be your lover
                    as I'm just too nice.
                    I can't be your friend,
                    as you want me in bed.
                    I can't see my friends
                    as you want me for you.
                    I can't be your wife
                    as I'm too intelligent.

                    I can't meet your mother
                    as she would not approve
                  (and I might fancy your brother).
                    I can't be your mistress
                    as I don't lie well.
                    So instead of wasting time perhaps 
                     I'll spend my life with rescued cats.