If Not Used

Tonight, not quite

As darkness falls

The frost not thawed

Or if thawed

The frost re-frosted

The bronze

The marble

The tin and tambourine

Land of winter’s

Silver screen

The thoughts

Not thawed

Or if thawed

Thoughts re-thought

Soldiers, statues, fields

Of fallen clay

Tomorrow

Not quite

More any other day

As darkness falls

Ammunition

Unused

If not used

At least you tried

Or did you lie

The iron

The stone

The crimson

Canteen

Lost land of winter’s

Mist on mean

Chords of electric

Wire, unused

If not used

At least you plied

Or did you try

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Town Folk + Side Stage

The platform straight and true

The locomotive there to take me to

Causeways of red and white and blue

The ticker-tape

The Shangri la

A countryside stream for my weeping jar

Railway porter ought your trade to pass

Not along the lines to slaughter

Away from wind lost lass

The ticker-tape

The home come welcome

I’ve missed you so much Ma

My townfolk

My northern star

You could have been…

The darkness

That lonely room

Useless space, frustration

No more to achieve

No other voices

The musicians

The magicians

The harlequins

Still and noiseless

Covered in dust

Despair enters

From the dark side

The stage lights

Are turned low

The gods also out of sight

As stories stay to remain untold

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Who Goes There Goes There + But

It is not so dark now

Even in the darkest hours

That dark despair of despondency

That death of nights and empty gestures

The sun on my shoulders

The frost on the trees

It is not so dark now

Whosoever goes by

Who goes there goes there

I stand in my own place

The warmth through the blue sky

The peace of patience to share

You could have been…

But what about your brother

Yes, you could have been…

But what about your mother

Oh yes, you could have been…

But what about the others

Such a shame, surely you could have been…

But what about our band of brothers

Well perhaps instead, maybe you could have been…

But what about those fucker mothers

See you’ve seen, what you could have…

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What In Truth You Never Stole

You sing

Another tune to me

Through years of carers work

You’ve built around immunity

I am

Outside the you of me

After years of tyre tread to work

I’ve replaced me in the community

Credit a last line of mine

You have given me my soul

Given me my time

Given, what in truth you never stole

Perhaps money, or favoured possessions

On occasion others of apparent doubt

And distance too, so far from my pension

But with a voice I will work that out

So what is left for you

Where do you seek your surety

Your space so full of reason

Where do you go for your purity

With your cancer cross

With your poverty band

With your counsellor's hat

With your helper’s hand

Now I see it is not me

That’s trapped at all

Despite

My lack of confidence

Compared

To your lost romance

No, it is not mine

That tap on Duchamp’s wall

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You Push Me Further + Vanishing Point

You pushed me out

And now you push me further

Today I thought I’d figured out

But now I wonder

What had I done

To so so securely hurt her

Back in my calmness

I expect it really is of no consequence

Not worthy of much communication

No thought that she might hurt me

And I guess the word would be sorry

If I should care once more to point it out

Her tendency to be tactless

She deals it straight not roundabout

I thought I’d reached equilibrium

A balance

A full stop

Such that I could begin anew

Now I see

It was just a vanishing point

A pale horizon of mid-sight blues

A pit stop

For you to let me know

Just how much it is that I am screwed

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