Memory of Place (Inspired by Memory of Place-art installation at St Mary’s by Keiko Mukaide)

Floating little, lazy lights 
are drawn towards their trickling end.
Burning orange, amber, yellow.
Safe, encased,
in buoyant bowls.

Light through glass, it
flickers, dances,
circles slowly, ripples,
rests.

Moving always, nearer
to the edges,
to the final fall.

Huddled in amongst the rocks,
they wait, protected,
precious things.
Until they are returned again,
to start their dance once more.

Their watery song will keep the rhythm,
guiding them, enticing them.
Their glowing, pulsing love parade,
a pilgrimage, as one,
alone.

Their light will always shimmer,
on the water, on the stones.
Their light will always dance with joy.
A journey to the known.

Glass Tree (Inspired by Memory of Place-art installation at St Mary’s by Keiko Mukaide)

A glass tree hangs above me,
see-through, still and strong.
A hundred perfect, brittle branches,
float,
suspended,
long and lonely,
only inches
from the ground.

They waver slightly, caught
by currents. Cool air through a hula skirt.
Far too clear to ever handle.
Much too clean to touch the dirt.

Frozen, in its rigid beauty.
Wistful, willow, of
crystal tears.
Formed in fire, now
long forgotten.
Left to
reflect
a former light.
An echo, carried
through the years.

Paper Willow - Wishing Tree (Inspired by Memory of Place-art installation at St Mary’s by Keiko Mukaide)

If wishes were willows,
they’d line every street.
They’d rustle and crinkle
their white paper leaves.

They’d hang low and heavy
with the weight of our woes.
They’d lean and embrace us
in long silent rows.
They’d keep our small secrets,
in loosely tied bows.

Almost new...

The poem below (Fall Out Bird) is a bit of a cheat poem, because it isn't really new.  I just found it in an old notebook, where I'd obviously left it until I could come back and tweak it.  So I quickly tweaked it and stuck it on here in the guise of new work.  It could probably do with a bit more tweaking, but for now it's another step towards new stuff, so I'm o.k. with it.  Hope you like it (if anyone is actually reading this-hee).  Oh and it's inspired by the first line of a Fall Out Boy song, hence the title.

Fall Out Bird

You're a canary,

I'm a coalmine.

You rattle your cage,

but there's no escape.

My winding black tunnels

stretch longer,

plunge deeper,

and daylight is so far away.

You chirp on your perch and

you fluff yellow feathers,

but cold, heavy blackness is 

weighing you down.

You gasp and you sway

as your shrill song is

silenced.

This air is too toxic,

it poisons your lungs.