get back

just up the stairs in some dark dream
she waits for me with peaches & cream

i close my eyes and start to count
and always forget the exact amount

i kiss her lips and then her thighs
we're together again to my surprize

and she's forgiven me for all my sins
her heart is open and welcomes me in

and we fall asleep in each other's arms
then i awaken to the sound of my alarm

sydenham street poems
london, ontario



out to the farm

out to the farm
to the wood burning stove
to the old grey window
that never grows old

out to the trails
all covered in snow
to visit the trees
with their strong roots
below

then on to the pond
all covered in ice and the
tracks of small creatures
in their hurried lives

out to the farm
that's where i will go
to breath the crisp air
to greet the fox and
the doe

sydenham street poems
london, ontario



another ghost

Ted is no longer with us
he slumbers in the deep
his suffering is over
no more promises to keep

i witnessed his undoing
it was not a pretty sight
i thought about my own end
the dying of the light

no man is an island
that's what some poet said
and i am just a lesser one
trying to make my bed

do you understand me
you who are so close
Ted is no longer with us
he's become another ghost

he's out beside the garden
i can see him standing there
smiling at a small boy
who doesn't have a care

sydenham street poems
london, ontario



fallen idol

when i was a boy
i thought i would dine
in the gardens of Troy

i thought i would travel
along the Silk Road
to see all the places
my story books told

but now i'm a ghost
alone in the street
with nowhere to go
and nothing to eat

no childhood fantasy
can comfort me now
for i no longer dream
beneath the bough

so if you should greet me
and i have nothing to say
just leave an offering
and slowly fade away

don't question the future
or go living in the past
just find someone to love
and try to make it last

sydenham street poems
london, ontario



i heard a tree fall in the forest

i heard a tree fall in the forest
as i was clearing an autumn's trail
i quickly turned to catch sight of it
it broke into pieces as it fell

impermanence is inherent in all things
yes, that's what i've come to tell
even when you're making a little Eden
things about you are going to hell

but never ever let that stop you
from celebrating life with all your means
don't allow impermanence to haunt you
go out and plant your deep felt dreams

so that spring shall always find you
amongst the maples and the oaks
along a path you cleared in earnest
when winds howled and branches broke

i heard a tree fall in the forest
as i was clearing an autumn's trail
there were still bulbs to be buried
and i knew i could not fail

sydenham street poems
london, ontario



If only we could make it Christmas every day of the year.

the dream

it's Christmas in the kitchen
the shortbread's on the sill
the smell of sage and celery
is bending my idle will

grandmother's by the oven
her apron a festive scene
we whisper ever so quietly
as if we're in a dream

mom and dad are sleeping
down the old grey hall
last night they were singing
Merry Christmas to us all

it's Christmas in the kitchen
that's how it's always been
the smell of sage and celery
don't wake me while i dream
the dream

sydenham street poems
london, ontario




In memory of Monica Van der Weer, 1965 - 2005

family tree

beside the fire
the dog and the cat
are deep asleep
on the old grey mat

the room is a glaze
of ambient glow
Christmas has come
outside it snows

my love she sleeps
up soft green stairs
with silver sparkles
in her hair

later this morning
the children will come
and all the presents
shall be undone

we'll laugh and cry
and feast and pray
then say goodbye
beside the sleigh

all shall be quiet
and once again
the dog and the cat
won't know their names

i finish up
my blood red glass
then make my way
back into the past

princess poems
london, ontario




sanctified

kwan yin
is that you
standing there
in the chapel
with your baby
blue

standing there
so silently with
a pensive stare

while outside the
magnolia blossoms
in the morning air

kwan yin
is it true
are you the madonna
with her baby blue

sydenham street poems
london, ontario




cathedral

the dead red fox
by the little black pool
has the heart of this old fool

beneath the forest's canopy
he lays there so resplendently
amongst the ferns and the vines
evoking the true poetic line

where did he come from
and do you think he knew
the painted turtles and
how the trilliums grew
beyond the fence all
tumbled down ...

let's bow our heads
not make a sound

for the dead red fox
for the little black pool
for the poet's art
and how beauty rules

sydenham street poems
london, ontario




blue top motel

why do you call out to me
shining blue lake of my infancy
did i not leave you a long time ago
what is it that you would have me know

my heart breaks upon your bending beach
i thought i was beyond your bright reach
how can i come back there the way i am
how can i surrender unto the older man

some wild face told me that life is cruel
that you only climb mountains to be a fool
why do you call me, i'm all dreamed out
shining blue lake, what was it all about

you know i would be there if i could
i would build you a fire of dry driftwood
sing your praises to the cool night breeze
shining blue lake of my infancy

sydenham street poems
london, ontario




brave hearts

another summer is winding down
late spring's leaves dapple the ground
the garden's ruined and overgrown
yet still there's things to take home

a lean green pumpkin we couldn't sell
some late tomatoes beside the trail
a purple cabbage i used to pass by
some lonely leeks as blue as i

there's still a few beets, carrots too
tiny bell peppers for an autumn stew
and garlic and herbs growing wild
for savory sauces strong and mild

it makes me sad but i will not frown
at another summer winding down
i'll count my blessings and my seeds
and of winter take no heed

sydenham street poems
london, ontario




yellow warblers

towers of light
divide the night
sounds of the river
are not very far

the clocks turn back
and i'm on track
driving in my car

those were the days
that turn of the phrase
ferries us to our graves

when we were young
and it was all to be done
we were nobody's slaves

just up ahead
the sick and the dead
the dreamers on the curb

if i had my youth
because i have the truth
if i only had the nerve

princess poems
london, ontario




tattered

to sleep to sleep
my grandmother calls
to sleep so deep
down the old grey hall

oh, what was it that
she always said
you have your dreams
you make your bed

to sleep to sleep
my grandmother calls
to close your eyes
against it all

to sleep to sleep
perchance to dream
my grandmother laughs
then mends a scene

to sleep to sleep
that's what she said
oh, grandmother dear
are you grateful dead

princess poems
london, ontario




little red barn

little red barn
down the lane
you make me want
to dream again

how green the grass
that rolls thy way
little red barn
you bless my days

how great the bough
that shades thy roof
little red barn
is beauty truth

little red barn
here comes the rain
i'll set thy picture
in a silver frame

princess poems
london, ontario




white dog run

white dog run
beside the stream
beneath the moon
inside my dream

run dog run
chase the beams
that taunt the wood
with ghostly scenes

true is my heart
beating night
run white dog
spread your light

mill street poems
london, ontario




black rivers

the birds know i'm leaving
i can hear it in their songs
they sing of far away places
where life goes on

perhaps love will be waiting
at the end of a green street
i'll have my poetry to guide me
and the friends i shall meet

i'll miss the two old ladies
across the frail red fence
their kind words saved me
yes, made all the difference

and i'll miss this old house
that's seen so many seers
i'll leave behind blue flowers
watered with bright tears

the birds know i'm leaving
i can read it in their flight
i'll sleep beside black rivers
dream away dark nights

flora street poems
london, ontario




prism

may the sun
come out to play

for the ice is on
the leaves and grass
and has turned my
garden into glass

if ever there was
a demon here
he only left
his frozen tears

mill street poems
london, ontario




almost December

the river's lovely
dark and deep
its bank awash
in winter's sleep

i clap my hands
and stamp my feet
the river's lovely
it makes you weep

i exit slowly
across fresh snow
the river's lovely
but i must go

back o'er the bridge
that brought me here
the river's lovely
this time of year

richmond street poems
london, ontario




black box

i walked in the rain
all the way back
to my childhood pain

one day
i would grow up
and not be the same
i would walk in sunshine
and not in the rain

why do we look back
and do we really change
there are so many others
out in the streets again

do they feel the raindrops
or only their dark pain
we're all stalking shadows
playing memory games

princess poems
london, ontario




thunder lane

she sits there
with her red guitar
with her dark hair falling
across her pale face
with a few bright tears
shining on the checkered floor
and questions why the world
does not hang upon her words
for did she not hear music
when she could not sleep
music that moved
that ran so deep

i have brought
a little red cake
from the old grey bakery
down the old grey street
and a thermos of strong coffee
from her favorite store
where they brew every blend
and so much more
and place my offerings
beside the pile
of half-smudged lines
and discarded smiles
and wait for her heart
to glow, to mend
when i'll be welcomed back
to her warm eyes again

and she'll whisper
this one's from long ago
though it's only been
a few quiet hours
since she felt it so

princess poems
london, ontario




roadhouse

i buy him another beer
he tells me life is cruel
says he had everything once
that it had all come easy
the women the money the
things money buys

now he sits ragged before me
this doomed prophet in corduroy
dispensing hard-earned knowledge
to anyone who'll pay the price

it's hot outside
the sun is peering in the tiny
window behind his wild head
recharging the pale halo that
accompanies him to these dark places
to testify upon his behalf
to communicate the presence
of a glorious past
of a man who loved or was loved
who betrayed or was betrayed
who somehow survived the temptation
to end the comic quest

my hand shakes as i reach for my wallet
i push some bills across the table
hope he won't waste it all
that he might use some of it
to buy a bus ticket to get the hell
out of this uncompromising town
but he smiles and pushes the money back
rises slowly like a ghost
fades beyond the busy doorway into
another part of the sprawling bar

i wipe away a tear
a few grey hairs from my cashmere coat
nod to the pretty waitress and
raise my half-filled glass
to drink to the brotherhood of men

princess poems
london, ontario




carrie anne

the moon over the barn
the little white mare
the peonies in blossom
are calling me back there

she walks by the water
with the wind in her hair
my heart is a pebble
my soul a prayer

what does it matter
i'm almost dead
the little white house
the big brass bed

she smiles forever
i know this now
we'll feed the chickens
and milk the cows

this sun in the window
these grey city streets
i will leave tomorrow
her little white feet

she knows i'll be coming
there'll be apple pies
and tears in the meadow
and no more goodbye

princess poems
london, ontario




victoria

in the park
a pretty girl
smiles back at
the angry world

full of wonder
full of life
soon to be the
loving wife

i close my eyes
to hide the tears
that come to fight
the angry years

and feel the breeze
of her passing there
like the healing balm
of a favoured prayer

albert street poems
london, ontario




like two spoons

yesterday i tore up the bedsheet
the one with all the flowers
it was all i had left of you
and made it into rags

it had faded in the middle
where we used to press our bodies
i was getting too sentimental
i had to say goodbye

albert street poems
london, ontario




the street below

a lover's quarrel
haunts the night

should i let them know
or guard my light

is she beautiful
is he wrong or right

am i dutiful
is loneliness bright

all is calm
except my thought

they left me
they left me naught

mill street poems
london, ontario




the hero

it's just me
and my shadow
if you have to
know

calling from
dark places
the ancestral
show

this life
my life
has but
one goal

sudden emotion
the overflow

mill street poems
london, ontario




woodstock nation

he wipes his hands
with an oily rag
turns to her and says
the car is dead
that she killed it
in her push to get here

her eyes fill
the dam is bursting
it's more than the car
it's everything else
that has conspired to
drown her

my smile betrays me
i say i'm sorry
but how sorry can i be
it wasn't me out there
on the 401 wondering
if i would be raped or
tortured or murdered
if i dared to stop
to let the engine cool

so i say she did
what she had to do
that i would have done
the same thing
but i don't believe
my own words
because i would have done
what i would have done
when i saw the warning light

it's easier for a man
he can stop in the darkest night
take his chances
smoke another stale cigarette
make a deal with the devil
if he has to
or walk away from it all
counting stars
shooting into the abyss
without having to whisper
a desperate prayer

tomorrow we will look
for a rebuilt motor
forgive each other
for our driven lives

albert street poems
london, ontario




exile

we passed in the street
you were talking to your mother
and did not see me
but even if you had seen me
you might not have known me

life is cruel
that's what some old man said
when i was too busy being young
now his ghost taunts me
when i turn my head to watch
how the years have been kind

thank God these tears
did not betray me
thank God you passed me by
i stopped to have a beer
and a piece of humble pie

princess poems
london, ontario




the old homestead

the old homestead waits for me
near the river across the sea
a simple cottage made of stone
long abandoned, bred in the bone

now John and Mary call out to me
saying don't forget the family tree
and i the poet that needs to know
stare at the place where i shall go

i'll plant shamrocks beside the door
and step so softly across the floor
to peer through windows of my soul
upon green fields and sunset glow

yes, near the river across the sea
the old homestead waits for me
all the answers i will have at last
when i go wandering in the past

princess poems
london, ontario




bully's acre

buried there in Longford town
just beneath the unmarked ground
famine victims and stillborn babes
all those who could not be saved

layer upon layer they rest in state
to know a great hunger was their fate
for that was Ireland's saddest hour
they knew no glory in the flower

how can we in the here and now
stand and stare beneath the bough
turn our backs on all that's past
how can we lie upon the grass

oh, should you go to Longford town
please heed the bells when they sound
and bow your head and say a prayer
and be glad you still can breath the air

princess poems
london, ontario




requiem

oh, to be a bard
and live in old Granard
with quill to keep the score
of the turbulence of war

of battles fought and won
beneath an Irish sun
why i hear the fall of feet
upon her ennobled streets

it would not be so hard
to live in old Granard
to paint with measured grace
every gravely haunting face

for out of her dark misery
i'd record a great history
let tear and heavy heart
the pipes of mourning start

oh, to be a bard
and live in old Granard
to sing the songs of men
who'd give their lives again

princess poems
london, ontario




by Abbeylara's ancient walls

by Abbeylara's ancient walls
i sense the time before the fall
when Lords of Annaly ruled supreme
o'er roving field and rushing stream

in seven dark castles of my home
my ancestors spoke in solemn tones
knowing that they would have no say
when there comes the judgement day

and history did deal my lords a blow
so ask the monks to whisper low
beside their beds and down the halls
by Abbeylara's ancient walls

when trembling souls bow their heads
to speak in tongues unto the dead
i sense the time before the fall
by Abbeylara's ancient walls

princess poems
london, ontario




the wind blew cool at Abbeyshrule

the wind blew cool at Abbeyshrule
the water it did seem to glide
i raised my glass to toast the past
my feelings i could not hide

i turned to say the time of day
and heard my ancestors cry
don't be a fool at Abbeyshrule
come learn before you die

come pray with us come stay with us
come sing our praises for a while
we filled this place with loving grace
come walk the ghostly aisles

the wind blew cool at Abbeyshrule
the water it did seem to glide
i was warmed by their Irish charm
and followed them inside

princess poems
london, ontario




Black Bess

for the love of Ireland
he rode to his death
Big Pat Farrell on
the back of Black Bess

he fell at Granard
a bullet found its mark
he died for his country
a true rebel at heart

his loyal mare reared up
and danced in the mud
but he laid there still
in the name of spilt blood

so she turned and fled
back to their humble home
without her loving master
afraid and alone

when the rebellion ended
and they counted the costs
Ireland was still captive
for the rabble had lost

and the story of Black Bess
and the miles that she ran
is a story of great hunger
crossing that great land

London Calling

princess poems
london, ontario




the latest craze

those acid nights
those idyll days
i know you remember
in your own way

we were friends
sharing the same dream
we thought we could be
almost anything

the one in the all
the all in the one
all men are brothers
under the sun

that's what you said
that time at the lake
when we sat by the fire
eating chocolate cake

where are you now
and do you still care
are you wearing jeans
how long is your hair

did you know she left
me without any strings
our music is over
like so many things

i need you to guide me
back through the dark
so i can put it together
and make a new start

you made us strong
with impassioned words
are you lost in a desert
or reading the birds

those acid nights
those idyll days
when love was
the message
the latest craze

albert street poems
london, ontario




wolf that i am

wolf that i am
follow your red heart
hear the ancient voices
calling from the dark

hear the ancient canines
howling across the plains
the full moon in their eyes
lights the thunder in their
veins

hear their ancient stories
echo from the hills
hear their ancient glories
hear their ancient shrills

wolf that i am
follow your red heart
hear the ancient voices
calling from the dark

mill street poems
london, ontario




dharma bum

i shall sit beneath a tree
to contemplate being me

for i have suffered
or so it seems
it's time to face
the darkest things

i shall stop to look inside
at my anger at my pride
at my hopes at my fears
when did the days
become years

i shall sit beneath a tree
to contemplate being me

i am awake i am alive
though my spirit aches
so deep inside

princess poems
london, ontario




spectre

once upon a time
she kissed my eyes
our world was young
we told no lies

once upon a time
i felt her heart
we moved in rhyme
we lived love's art

once upon a time
i held her close
i forgot to listen
time is a ghost

mill street poems
london, ontario




last call

it's very late
and i'm alone
please call me on
the pay telephone

and tell me that
you're coming home
that you can't make it
on your own

and tell me that
the years between
were nothing but
a terrible dream

it's very late
and you're not here
the streets are cold
just one more beer

mill street poems
london, ontario




union station

love left
on the last train

i waved goodbye
to love again

mill street poems
london, ontario




opus nine

if you whisper
with all your art
you'll hear the music
of your heart

mill street poems
london, ontario




fire starter

i sleep
i dream
i wake
the dragon
at my door

mill street poems
london, ontario




harvest of tears

across the fields of yesterday
i hear my mother call
it's time to come home to stay
to light the candles in the hall

i'm sorry your mother passed away
whispers my wild old friend
why it seems just only yesterday
we played let's pretend

you were going to be a mighty king
with dragons on your throne
and i wore the silver knight's ring
that would turn our enemies into stone

we're not the men we dreamed we would be
there are no dragons on your throne
there's no magic ring to protect you or me
we'll have to keep making it on our own

but your dear mother didn't die in vain
for i hear our bright futures call
let's go out and stand in the pouring rain
and let all those yesterdays fall

across the fields of yesterday
i hear my brother call
it's time to come out to play
to snuff the candles in the hall

albert street poems
london, ontario




faithful always

we stand
holding hands
beside the fence

the sun is
in the river
the cows beneath
the apple trees

she speaks softly
there are tears
in her eyes

we should be
under the covers
with the moon
above the barn

she walks away
to cry on the bed
in the room where
she was a little girl

her father
calls out to me
come have a drink
before you go

we shake hands
beside the road

albert street poems
london, ontario




night watch

perhaps death
will come as a friend

talk me down
from this high life

but i don't know
what death could say
to persuade me so

to make me want to leave
the meadows and the groves

what i do know
is how i came here
full of wonder and desire

and how the years changed me
the heartache the exaltation

yet somewhere
along the way
i chose to stay

how immortal to believe
in the undying light
of a few well chosen words

albert street poems
london, ontario




refugee

too tired to sleep
my heart walks the empty beat
listening to my footsteps fall
against the silence of the night

all the loved are in their beds
lost and safe in each other's arms
behind shiny black panes
that mark my ghostly passing

once there was a radiant vision
of yellow brick and an emeral yard
where all the music played

and i sat beneath a magnolia cloud
was cherished and forever home

too sad to weep
my eyes shake the empty dream
and turn to the leaves
whispering their dark promises

one more time around the block
one more time around the clock

mill street poems
london, ontario




prisoner

the past
seduces me
calls me
to her arms
takes me
in her bed of
nights and days
whispers
forgotten lines
makes me
relive scenes
too beautiful
to endure

i am enslaved
choking on
a crust of dawn

my heart follows
her to the window
where she turns
the cool blue bars

and all about me
the future cries tears
too soft for words

mill street poems
london, ontario




invitation to dance

come waltz beside the water
where the purple violet grows
let the sun upon the flora
play upon your soul

let the cardinal remind you
there's still beauty close at hand
may this brave new spring find you
writing poetry in the sand

we could stop to have a picnic
beneath a tall willow weeping
and tell each other stories of
all the dreams we've been keeping

why stay in this dingy room
when the world is outside waiting
don't give in to self-pity
it only leads to hating

i know you want to believe me
i can see it in your green eyes
come waltz beside the water
in the kingdom of the wise

albert street poems
london, ontario




yin and yang

how like the Mother
this dark world waits
for the fatherly sun
to penetrate

come the morning
we'll celebrate
the golden child
from Heaven's gate

albert street poems
london, ontario




possessed

i'm up and down
up and down

first the angel
then the clown
and the devil
when he's around

good or evil
night or day
who's to question
who's to say

then i see her
when i sigh
if only God
would put me
in her eye

then i paint her
when i bleed
the red red lover
the scarlet breed

i'm up and down
up and down

first the angel
then the clown
and the devil
when he's around

ridout street poems
london, ontario




full moon

there's a ghost
in my mother's house
what does this all mean
i two thousand miles away
seeing only the death
of dreams

oh, don't ask me back
to those old days
i have my own sins to bear
where is my wife
the wondrous life
it's all vanished into
thin air

there's a ghost
in my mother's house
it walks the empty rooms
though small children sleep
beneath silvered sheets
and new lovers sing
their haunting tunes

princess poems
london, ontario




chance

i met her
in a narrow street

our hearts touched
we didn't speak

we may never
meet again

some poems fall
as soft as rain

ridout street poems
london, ontario




the little fox

the little fox
is on the ice
a perfect portrait
of my life

he runs hard
his eyes are wild
for the naked trees
and the darling child

that's become a man
on the waiting shore
the little fox
runs no more

ridout street poems
london, ontario




night and day

last night
i burned with hate
to torch this world
with my outcast fate

today i rise
with the sun
feel its warmth
love everyone

life is a mystery
to be endured
what can i say
right now i'm cured

mill street poems
london, ontario




memory green

Lord, keep my memory green
never let this heart forget
what these eyes have seen

the tiny flowers, the sunsets
oh, the laughing streams
allow them to be remembered
in my waking dreams

the long walks, the embraces
the thousand touching scenes
let them all come dancing
back to me

the tearful disappointments
the partings, their pains
even those dark things
i would have again

when i'm old and tired out
and terribly lean
Lord, please don't forget me
keep my memory green

princess poems
london, ontario




the past

the past the past
the glorious past
i hear its music
dance myself back

make love to its ruins
welcome its reign
unearth buried treasure
into the sunlight again

oh, i fear i have lost
more than my youth
yes, i covet the past
its passions its truths

flora street poems
ottawa, ontario




butterfly blues

the spider in the window
goes about his grim chore
he spins a web of silver thread
to catch his prey and more

a blue butterfly
who flew blue skies
struggles to be free
but his frail blue wings
who knew cool springs
shall never sail the breeze

for the culprit came
with silver pain and
sucked its breath away
and all that's left
is a beautiful blue mess
because nature had to
have her way

ridout street poems
ottawa, ontario




candle

first silence
then a passing car
then church bells ringing
calling from afar

i listen by the window
to hear this heart no more
to see my coffin in the grave
and roses at her door

first silence
then a passing thought
how bright my passion burns
to dream of being not

mill street poems
ottawa, ontario




disposable people

drink the grain
drink the grape
smoke the leaf
while you wait

remember when
things were fine
you spoke in poems
you lived the lines

remember when
things were great
you were young
it wasn't late

remember when
the sun shone high
now it sets in your
troubled eyes

drink the grain
drink the grape
smoke the leaf
while you wait

ridout street poems
london, ontario




across the bridge

love protect me
watch my step
the world out there
isn't Heaven yet

help to protect me
from those who prey
upon the dreamers
who light their way

i am not a coward
afraid to live
i'll carry my sins
across that bridge

that seemed so long
one night of dread
when i met the devil
head to head

love protect me
watch my step

ridout street poems
london, ontario




pulse

through these veins
flows the blood of
my mother and father's
desperate love

always burning
red and hot
i feel their lives
the things i'm not

beating hard
their crimson past
through these veins
their angry blast

through these veins
flows their blood

ridout street poems
london, ontario




i climbed a hill

i climbed a hill
into the night
my thoughts were cold
the stars were bright

a man had died
upon the tracks
that gleamed
and slithered
into the dark

and in a pool
of purple blood
i saw a head
with eyes of mud

i turned and stared
down the hill
death had come
i smelled the kill

i heard the train
i felt the blow
i felt a lose
i will sometime know

i climbed a hill
into the night
my thoughts were cold
the stars were bright

ridout street poems
london, ontario




silent partner

dance all night
my pretty thing
for what is life
if not a dream

perhaps he'll come
through that door
and steer your heart
across the floor

to a world out there
beyond your view
to a world that was
meant for you

but should the hours
waste away
and no one comes
expect the day

don't open your eyes
i know your moves
we haven't met
but i dream too

ridout street poems
london, ontario




in my dreams

in my dreams
she loves me so
she smiles the smile
i used to know
we walk down streets
lost lovers go
two kindred hearts
beneath the glow

she is the night
i am the day
full of splendor
i light the way
but the morning
comes on dragon wings
and she's not there
like many things

and i fight the light
that pulls my eyes
to the window where
her spirit flies
back to a warmth
benath clean sheets
i hold my breath
while her heart beats

because in my dreams
she loves me so

ridout street poems
london, ontario




nocturnus

walk softly
for the town's asleep
the weary don't have
your itchy feet

whisper your revelations
when they come to mind
down winding streets
draw wavy lines

here you played
by cool green tables

there you swayed
beneath blue gables

here you tossed
your rebel hair

there you sighed
on the old grey stair

wander wisely
through this black night
to the magic places
of your charmed life

stilling your passion
guarding your light
guiding your soul
from evil's might

here you wrote
your very first poem
something about morning
about going home

albert street poems
london, ontario




mirror

i see them dancing there still
when the dead red leaves fall on the hill
they worshipped the words each other spoke
and tumbled and rolled in their autumn moat

something always calls me back to that place
and makes me gaze into the young man's face
while she drifts half-naked through the trees
he sighs and smiles at his heart's ease

then reads her poems he wrote himself
while she sings his name upon a shelf
and kisses the tears from his wild blue eyes
that stare up into the wild blue sky

what does he see beyond that fading shroud
if not his lonely future in a passing cloud
and why does he begin to start and shake
and want to walk back down towards the lake

albert street poems
london, ontario




nectar

soft and gentle
my lover's lips
i trace my fingers
across her hips
and down her legs
and up her spine
following some wild
and ancient line
to buried pleasure
dark and deep
full of summer's
hot retreat

our bodies merge
in wanton heat
one final blast
then off to sleep
wrapped
like presents in
each other's arms
a work of sex
and of charm

soft and gentle
my lover's breath
her silken locks
a lovely wreath
upon the altar
of my eyes
i offer tears and
ennobled sighs
knowing that
this can not last
that when we're old
our hearts will fast
but now and then
taste the reign
of every hungry
little pain

albert street poems
london, ontario


Albert Street Poems