No Right Mind

It’s time
So tell me the truth
Open your mouth so you can say
All those things that ‘changed’ along the way.

No ink and no keys
It should be so natural
Words rolling straight off your tongue
Air, vibrating over vocal chords, from your lung.

I translate the silence from your invisible lines.
No right mind could wrong me this many times.

No, I can’t continue
To allow such things
To eat at my heart and at my brain
A modern day shock treatment causing such pain.

Let’s just pretend
Everything is fine and all ok
Brush it quietly underneath the bulging rug
A way to distract the mind like a good hard drug.

But no amount of escapism nor A-Class blurred lines
Erases that fact you wronged me so many times.

So let’s leave it at this
Go quietly on your way
Let’s save each other the ‘this and that’
Avoid the self-destruction and that good ol’ ‘tit-for-tat’.

I’ll move on silently
I can be a good boy too
But I’ll leave with head held high and love in heart,
Knowing I’ve done right by you since the very start.

You see, this is the last time you’ll be in my line.
Because no right mind will wrong me another time.

Hooks

[Written 23 October 2002]

Inspired by Sylvia Plath (Tulips poem).

The world must seem like a crazy place
With so many different people, so many places, so many personalities
Blurs of grey, blue, red, black, white and green
The hurly-burly of life, with a lack of a regular rhythm.

But there’s consistency in your old world.

Because I think that you should realise
Hold it tightly to your heart
That you brighten every second of the day

Knights in shining armour, always on bended knee
Captivate with lines they will never understand
From books they will never read
So many various distractions and attractions

These words aren’t written on invisible ink.

Because I think you should realise
Hold it up towards the light
That you warm the hidden places in my heart

Ms Plath talks of her blood red tulips
As she rests and reclines in her white hospital bed
And as I fall back and rest my head against the cold
I wonder, am I one of your skin piercing hooks?

It saddens me to think that’s not quite so.

Because I think you already know
Hold it firmly at bay
That you’re the sting that wells the tears up in my eyes.

Everyday Clothing

[Written 16 February 2000]

If I was more daring
If I was more courageous
If I was less reserved
I might feel comfortable in this skin

If I was cared for
If I could reciprocally touch another
If I was admired
I might feel good in this skin

If I was more self-confident
If I felt safe and assured
If I could reach other people
I might feel good in this skin

If I was more liberated
If I was brave enough to speak
If I was left to my own devices
I might feel free in this skin

If I was not shadowed
If I had no high expectations
If I weren’t restricted by inhibitions
I’d feel no longer trapped within this skin.

Your Journey

[Written in 2000]

As you walk slowly thought the corridors of life
You will touch and be touched
You will love and be loved.
And though the journey has only just begun,
Your impact and your effect
Can clearly be seen in the happiness
Of those that love and cherish you.

No artist could paint the value of your friendship.
No scribe could write of your sincerity.
No speaker could articulate your worth.
No creator could replicate your self.

As you continue on in your journey
May the light you shine on others
Be amplified and reflected back on you.
May the shroud of your warmth
Forever cover and protect you…

Invisible

[Written 12 February 2002]

We hold in high regard, all those things we seek out every day.
But it’s the things that are invisible, by our side the whole time, which matter the most.