Poem for Dean

like the hydra 

you grow more plentiful 

yet far wittier.

like lantana 

you sprout more vigorously 

yet far prettier.

like comments 

below a Steve Hofmeyr article 

you are endless and yet much more wise.

and more rare

than all the world's gems you are

than you will ever realise.

-o0o-

A silly little poem I wrote for a friend in a comment on their Facebook feed while we were speaking of their persistence and their willpower to succeed in the light of challenges they face. It's a longer story than that, but this will have to do.

-o0o-

Falling in Love

people write songs about love

happy love, sweet love, warm love

distilled love, kosher love, two percent with added calcium love

dove love, above love, I can't believe this isn't butter love

love that comes from Hallmark cards

and saccharine aphorisms of affection

that often miss the point entirely

sweethearts wreathed with roses

holding hands on a bench

where holding hands is just that

a mutual gesture in sticky solemnity

that risks nothing but intimacy

but I've never experienced love like that

my love was harsh and loud, bold and proud

eager to hide, eager to show

here and there, ebb and flow

entirely too quick and entirely too slow

far more stark than the Valentine's pink glow

passionate and deep, creeping at times

and at times vaulting at you head on

to find body and soul bruised and sated

to find yourself beached like a whale

on the shores of your desires

entirely fed, entirely stranded

and still

even years later

wondering

what the fuck happened?

-o0o-

I Worry about my Dogs

I worry about my dogs

as if they would starve

when I was away

so I leave an extra handfull of food

just in case I didn't come back

just in case they needed an extra mouthful

waiting for the kind soul that would fetch them

if I never did

-o0o-

Late Night Gossip

we drank coffee far too late at night

as she came in late after work

we gossiped and giggled to our delight

it was as if all goodness was restored

and the world was set right

just for now

as we contemplated over the nature of silly things

breaking all things down to quarks and strings

boil the kettle

talk more nonsense

shape the world again

shape it aright this time

we hug

she heads off

the night is made

and now I will eat it in bed

-o0o-

Poet

speak poet

your words are the prophesy

selling bad news to bad people

make them think it's honey

you witches and demiurges

who carve creation out of your own blood

rise with the whispers

that no one dares speak before the king

until your chorus shatters their windows

uproots their foundations

shakes the world

I promise you

you have power

sing up at the mighty

and hear them cry for mercy

-o0o-

Me and Your Me

I struggle to split
the convenient me for your easy consumption
from the genuine hard pip
I struggle to divide
find the cruel line that sets me aside
myself as opposed to the me that is yours
we cruel carnivores
that eat at the buffet of souls
that taste of our friends
not they who they are
but they who we'd like them to be
pick and choose
but it's different for me
when all I do is lose
when I'm all stone in the centre
unfit for popular consumption
because I'm not prescribed assumption
coded as affectation and presumption
I became wholly spat out
because I'm not that or this
neither bite nor kiss
blue or pink
swim or sink
pot or pan
wo or man
I guess we all need our provinces
but I don't export from there
I'm not apple or pear
I'm oranges ripe and acidic
pick me up where I lie
burning the little cuts on your lips
difficult to peel for eager finger tips
treat me wrong and I'll spit in your eye

-o0o-

The Space I Occupy

I find myself in that most awkward position

of having to defend myself

having to remind myself

I am not nothing

a space to occupy

with your opinions

and your theories

my tastes are not yours

my feelings not your playground

my words are not your house

for you to scrutinise

as if you own the furniture

as if you can shift it about

to your leasure

I am not a free for all

a dirty candy jar

into which entitled children

get to paw their way through

this is my body

this is my life

these are my experiences

they are not subject to you

or what you think

as if you would hesitate

to kick me in the arse

if I did the same to you

I'm not an opinion

when I'm cut I don't bleed words

when I cry I don't cry theories

I exist as blood and bone

and the space I occupy is me

entirely

you know my boundaries

see to it that you respect them

-o0o-

Sculpt

you, stranger, so keen

to get at my clay

with your little pallet knife

to scrape error away

as if my life exists

as object of your play

for malignant hands

to do as they may

getting rid of my queerness

and how you pray

as if pottery can be undone

by wishful bray

so smash and sweep

my bits away

or else I'm here

and here to stay

-o0o-

Not my fair pasture

in truth I didn't know what I was up to

it was the same job as far as I knew

a single soul to reap, a simple job to do

and to fall so entirely in love

do lions love sheep?

does the butcher love meat?

yes, I suppose so.

I brought fiery hell down on everyone

with my selfishness

to love, to have, to hold

it's not our job to be this bold

we don't live and toil and grow old

this is not my fair pasture

-o0o-