I wish someone had
Told me to pause and look,
And not grow up fast.

Stones skipping on water,
Bed-time stories for dinner,
The smell of home on a Friday,
The passing of a mirage as childhood,
Lego blocks and puzzle pieces,
The undiscovery of love.

Most importantly you know not,
The effect of adolescence
And adulthood,
Chiming and crashing together as one.

Of all the things love extracts,
The structure of routine,
The little bitter secret stack,
Poems from forgotten journeys,
Maple leaf bookmarks and silent learnings,
Random smiles along a busy day,
Stolen words from quiet nights,
Tastes you hate over tastes you like,
Of all the things love extracts,
And all that it gives back so more,
Make that painful exception darling,
And part with my sleep for tonight.

I think of you over a beaten clock,
Time weathers down as it follows my heart,
I still think of stories to tell,
That lonely princess by the temple bell,
Love likes its stone dice slippery smooth,
No edge left for the luck of a rook,
Follow the streams and walk the line,
Throw in a storm and these words resign,
So much for courage, I ask nothing more,
Just my sleep darling, the rest is yours assured.

It's quite intriguing,
How love sounds prettier,
With a background score.

Odd incessancy;
Believing someone else knows,
Where we might end up.

So much ado over a shining star,
The star that looks up at us,
Thinking all it can ever do
Is simply shine.
This thread ball of a world,
With knee deep wet mud
Decomposition between my toes
Skeletons beneath my feet,
Stories and lives between the roots,
Of plants and trees that search for more,
Packed so close to hide the passion
That flows red and yellow within.

Is it just coincidence,
Or a cliche of life,
That everything here is alive from within,
That everything slowly fades towards the outside,
Crust, tissue, magma, bones,
Nerves, blood, dirt and smog,
The heart, the core, buried so deep,
Safe within the confines of skin and life,
Yet hurl a word with a jagged edge,
And the armour falls as strong as it stands.

So much ado over a shining star,
Ask me, I float in endless space,
And if I had anything to share soon
With this threadbare, beaten world,
I would share by the slip of my breath;

You.

Sunday morning walks,
I saw the sea like you told me,
Surging and flowing onto new sands,
I saw that little park like you told me,
Clean and sparkling from an early shower,
I saw those baige and peach walls,
Sheltering you from little storms of the night,
I saw the mosque down the road,
In the middle of the sea,
I passed on a little prayer too,
For you, for me,
I turned around, I stood by what you saw.

This sunday morning walk,
Salty eyes and moist lips,
Frescoes and old buildings by the shore,
You were everywhere, yet never too close.

Strange that you look so lost in your tea,
Wish you were as lost in me?
I see nebulae in your ripples of thought,
Are you settling within the war that is your heart?
Strange that light still bends when you appear
In my lonely dreams.

I read about wormholes today,
Under a dark grey sky,
The old man talked about travel between worlds,
Contraction of space and the speed of light.
Would it be unfair to use science
As a reason for love,
And ask you to escape with me?

Midnight parties with fluttering silk gowns,
And you said we will be sorry along the way,
You kept whispering it as we waltzed,
To the night and faint moons of the day.
Do you miss me like I do, the good old me you knew,
That person who stole herself away,
Along with you?

Space might bend and time might agree,
Light is but slow when compared to how I flee
From the absence of your voice and the pain it brings;
These puppet shows and their weak, nimble strings,
Are just a way of remembering,
Tomorrow is another day.

Jet black nights with a tinge of hope,
My skin has grown to adapt to lovelessness,
This hope is but my bread and water,
Lovelessness is the nature of my nights.
Wimpy men walk through the black of my nights.
Their cigars burning through the black fabric.

The smell of cigars is a comforting midnight snack,
I remember when you had your midnight snack with mine,
We sat in silence with your hands in mine,
The cold of your reality broke through our silence,
And out there, I am again, in the cold of the night,
These jet black nights with a tinge of hope.

Above tree tops, through a wet forest,
Where the wind scrapes your knees,
Above the twigs and branches of promise,
All stacked with rumours and hearsay.

This lateral split between worlds,
Of what you need and what I want,
Black suits of truth and the white of lies,
Did you find yourself between the split?

Here I am, scraping my knees,
The parched earth slipping beneath my feet,
Run the knife through your General of doubt
And pin your needles into the map of uncertainty.

Can't you feel the revolution in the wind?
Bits of your land will stand in unison,
Red flags deep in their soil,
Will you run into the arms of thin air?

This should fade too,
Memories are but mere imprints,
This should fade too with time,
Their red flags deep in their soil.

I found your letters beneath lost ground,
I found your love for me then,
Against warred worlds it still stands,
Its red flag deep in its soil.