Ringside

He crossed out
The very doubt of your forgiveness
He began to shout
All were annoyed at his remissness

You didn’t flout
Yes, maybe a flouncy permissiveness
Though to clout
Showed off his mean dismissiveness

Have no doubt
Assured by your pert prettiness
Life is about
Rising above the strictly stickiness

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Visitation

In the smile that says my mind remembers

Your infinite space of stored fond memories within

Warm sun, stretches into the quiet room

Little or no disturbance to inhibit your arrival

On the outer breeze your gaiety and laughter

Increases my expectation

Only for those few bright moments could you join me

Before the chimes of peace called you to another

From the Collection One Crow to a Tree - Love in Separate Houses available from Lulu

Half Unknown

Some things I am happy to share with you

Indeed I imagine you might take pleasure in the sharing

Other things I desire to keep to myself

Indeed I imagine they might improve my personal enrichment

On the cusp of these two positions 

I find my relationships waver

Just as previous relationships have wavered

Her name was; no I do not wish to give you her name

She was slim, bony & attractive, with wonderfully long hair

Carried through with an innocent sixteen smile

I could say that a mutual friend suggested we got together

That way a little more useless information would be divulged

We danced, we walked, we talked for hours; I often stroked her hair

Yet only once in earnest did I stroke her bare thighs:

There was a party, my parents were away

Perhaps they too were trying for a reconciliation

Her Levi's came undone; five studs pulled down, towards an

Unimaginable future; my wranglers swiftly followed suit

Half leaning against the dining room wall, with only our youthful

Exuberance between us, events destined to evolve in that direction

From the Collection One Crow to a Tree - Love in Separate Houses available from Lulu

Misplaced Sentimentalities

I learnt of the word rill

From a woman poet in Vermont

Was it wrong to build such a slice of water

Into my lovers garden

Not that the construction lasted

The symbolic landscaping vanquished

Shortly after our final inseparable separation

I remember New England in the fall

I brought home a fallen leaf

If I had been stronger

I might have framed the veins for my lover

Not that the token was lambasted

She, I dare to believe, escaped on occasion

Out by the rill, into my search for tranquility

From the Collection One Crow to a Tree - Love in Separate Houses available from Lulu

Driving Seat

I set off for my work

Under a full on, sky blue sky

This after yesterday's onslaught

Of snow and sleet and rain

I think of my two sons

Andrew and the younger Joseph

Each offered here to me, with affection

My daughter Emma, also with the bond of love

Riverside power stations

Play host to a degradation of expulsions

Moist droplets that paint blacks, greys

& faintly transparent mustards

Onto the skies pristine blue canvas

The young woman

A passenger in the car behind me

Becomes far more attractive when she speaks

Her vibrant animation brings a smile

To the days otherwise still sternness

From the Collection One Crow to a Tree - Love in Separate Houses available from Lulu