Skin

From rake thin runt
To sumo wrestler
Overnight
Thank you puberty
For the perspective
For the pendulous
Breasts so heavy
And for the big
Beautiful belly
From sickly and skinny
To hefty and healthy
In a few short months
Thank you
Country air
For the strength
For the fearsome
Shoulders so broad
And for the sculpted
Strong legs
That carry me
And my victories
My story is my skin
My skin is my salvation
My salvation is my body
My body is my nirvana

Imaginings

The days feel sharp
But your skin is soft
Under my nails
And your quiet murmured
Pleasure a perfect foil
To pressure so dreadfully
Deafening to my delicate
Ears made centres of
Sweet sensation under
Your caresses
How I yearn for your smile
At week's end
How I long for your eyes
To drown in
How fortunate I am
To find myself enfolded
In your fond imaginings

Footlights

A chorus of marionettes
Conducted by cursed icons
Faces flushed by footlights
Feet numb now the act
Is closing, counting bars
Barely breathing now the
Wings speak to them
Sighing in approval
But the curtain never falls
Enchanted they remain
Upon the ancient rostrum
Repeating recitations
Even as the flesh falls
From their forms
Even as their bones break
Brittle and dusty
Crumbling
The puppets perform
Perpetually
Pitch perfect

Thief

Strange creature
You are set on
Cheapening me
To enrich yourself
Which shows off
Your stinginess
Rather than your worth
Which is dubious
Held together
By the flimsiest
Ideologies
Stolen not earned

August

Springtime teases us
Leaving a trail of clues
A hint of blossom here
A touch of a sunbeam there
But she has yet to show her
Glowing face so radiant
And brimful of hope
We must employ patience
A little longer yet
And we shall be gifted
With a transformation
Remarkable for its fertile blooms
And bowing branches
Blessed with bonbons

Hangnails

I'm all hangnails
And hairy legs
Poor memory
And melancholia
Classed as a clown
Yet I am fierce
Not just funny
I am strong
And sensitive beneath
Observant despite
The awkward obtuseness
Which colours my
Interactions interminably
A rare bird indeed
Cage-less
Clairvoyant and careful
Not to be too clever

Gateway

I'm the gateway girl
A rest stop between
Epiphanies
And preferred poisons
Immovable
Distracted by dreams
Of Basquait
Of Ginsberg
All the time being drawn
Upon to feed fevers
In addicts too blind
To see my beauty
If it exists at all
On this plane
Of this I am uncertain
But I know for sure that
I'm no-one's
Drug of choice
I'm no-one's oasis
I am merely the gateway girl