Poetry

Lost & Found

Two Northern harvest-mice
with hawk-lit eyes
we slinked around London
from Kings Cross to Trafalgar
without hedgerow or hay to hide in
only plateaus and towers of grey

we had no map
so followed the route of bus stops
resting only a couple of times
trying not to inhale too much oil-slick air
smouldering under June’s sun

after the fifth wrong turn
tedium began to shriek
like car horns
but you smiled and said
“we’ll try around the next corner, you can’t get lost when you’re in love”

a composure in your voice
that buried the tumult
chaos collapsing
into
calm

we found ourselves on a busy London street.

Exile

I crawled into the carcass
of your scavenged legacy
stitched a cocoon from the carrion
of false epithets bestowed
on your name.

sepia-brittle and crumbling I clung
pupating in a squall of anger
until I sliced my way out
a katana soul-drawn
from the scabbard of my heart
a ronin now
banished for freeing myself
from the collective.

I carry our memories
in the whetstone
that tempers blade
exquisitely fatal.

Ascent

This time
the climb felt easier
the incline didn’t seem to stretch for a year
my legs keeping feeling without force.

This time
my dewy eyes were due to a biting wind
     rather than the noose of grief
that swallowed the air from my body
           and the right words from my lips
like the last time.

And this time our hands held gentler
and it wasn’t to do with the new gloves
we are stronger now.

Advent Calendar Poem #24: A Mild Christmas Eve

The low dawn casts its shadow
gently as pastel persimmon
across the rooftops
as blinds twitch 
in hope of snowfall 

robins like paladins
stand proudly atop fenceposts 
keeping watch over the people they love
singing quiet whispers of strength 

along the emerald and dull silver hedgerow 
the squabbles of nature seem calmer
as if peace has befallen predator and prey
and no man’s land is safe for a while 

believing isn’t seeing
believing is believing

Thanks for joining me for the last day of the advent calendar of poems. I hope you’ve enjoyed my scribbling over the past month and year. All your support is highly appreciated.

Here’s a quote from my favourite Christmas film, Scrooged: “ It’s Christmas Eve! It’s, it’s the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we, we, we smile a little easier, we, w-w-we, we, we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be! It’s a miracle, it’s really, a sort of a miracle because it happens every Christmas Eve.”

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

Paul