A Poem: Petals

We watch them fall. We pick them,knowingin the pickingwe have already seenthe last bloomsfading out,parchment dryin the mind’s eye. But we pick them,all the same. We pick them,knowing thateverything pickedis briefas the day’s light,come and goneto grief, too quick,too soon. So we watch them fall. And the vase becomesa memorial.The petals a stain of red,of … More A Poem: Petals

A Poem: Need

There is no feeling for which Goddoes not give permission.No need that does not have roomfor expression, expansion –to uncoil,lay down,roll itself out as parchment spread,to see what’s written.To decipher in the shape of letters,the curved arc of longing,the long length of loss,the tight rounding turns of disappointment. And there is no feelingfor which God … More A Poem: Need

A Poem: Feathers

Ah, we have whipped our wingsfor long now,fluttered ourselves to stillness,come back down to calm,the heart beating hard in the breast,coming home. And we have brought our wings in.We have after speakingand tearing the airin frantic movement,come to a sudden lack of words,to exhaustion. Everything has knocked us –like a windstorm,that the stuffing is showing … More A Poem: Feathers

A Poem: Presence

Your presence abides.Like the rockoff which the water runs. Your presence sitsas the birds flock near,undisturbed. Your presence lies surrenderedand therein finds its strength,in undoing. We ask questionsflung into the night,dark – asking,which star to draw downhas the answer written? But you sitabiding,a rock in the river running. Your presence beckoning,saying – ‘here, leave your … More A Poem: Presence

A Poem: Naked

What’s it like to walk naked?What is it like to shedall the mechanismsthat hitherto served us,kept us enclosed? What is it like to decidenot to hide,like there is something to fearin being ourselves,something to protect,to shield others from? Yes, what is it like, to live?Carrying a light that illuminatesthe crevices, as though the shadowsharboured something … More A Poem: Naked