Very short job interview

"So we're looking for
a self-starter-" "I thought
it said 'fire starter'".

Lunacy

The moon, manless, has no thought
For its beauty
It waxes and wanes
As geometry dictates.

Tugging tides, inspiring poems,
Taunting astronauts:
It could be said to do these
If it were not a lump of rock.

On Earth its path is carefully tracked
Noted, calculated, observed
But the Moon needs no map
Only the pulls of gravity.

Afterwards

Tang of salt and sweat;
Glistening and wet
Skin against skin, warm,
Sharing one form;
Sweet somethings whispered
More felt than heard;
Desire's debt is paid;
Our love has been made.


Part of the 5th Poetry Carnival at Poetic Acceptance.

Proverb

All work, no play, makes
Jack dull-must be some other
reason in my case

Ghost hunter

Forget the chilled dusk
Wisps of mists trailing through shattered windows
The fox's bark and the owl's screech
Forget creaking floorboards,
Cobwebs, gnarled trees
Forget half-seen ghosts
Zombies, vampires, skeletons

What makes me shiver
Are regrets, griefs, sorrows,
From which dawn brings no relief.

Say somebody loved you (Song)

You used to be part of a circle of friends
Who flourished in each other's light
Lately you haven't been seeing them much
Instead you've been staying in nights
But now you're going back to them
And if someone asks what's new
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true

I know that I wasn't your ideal man
I know that I wasn't your dream
If you don't keep your mind on the road
You end up just drifting downstream
But I hope you haven't forgotten me
And if someone asks why you're blue
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true

It's so hard to clutch at moments
When you're looking for something more
And it's so hard to keep on giving
When you've nothing left in store
It seems that being happy
Is sometimes hard to do
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true

My face is fading from your mind
You have left me far behind
And although you may not know
I still love you so

Now all that's left between us
Is something in the past
And all that's left within us
Are memories that won't last
One phrase will remain of us
Now that we are through
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true

And so I sit in silence
And what for dawn to come
The nights are long and lonely
I end up waiting for the sun
One phrase is left repeating
Waiting for its cue
Say somebody loved you,
You know it's true

Calling like a stranger (song)

It was a long, long time ago
So many years before
When you first encountered me
Calling like a stranger at your door

You blinked once and you blinked twice
And once more to be sure
That I was the one for you
Came calling like a stranger at your door

I asked for food, I asked for drink
You gave me that and more
You asked me to come in and stay
Not come calling like a stranger at your door

And after I had stayed a while
You left me on the floor
Since then I've been travelling
Calling like a stranger at your door

So if you meet a wandering man
Ask what he's searching for
He'll tell you that he lost someone
Through calling like a stranger at your door


Call it a threat, call it a promise
But I'll see you once more
Someday soon I'll come around
Calling like a stranger at your door

Found poetry- search terms define me

Have to say a few words
jokes about death
Fearne Cotton fashion
illusion of choice
70s hairstyles

Have to remember to forget you (Song)

When I wake up in the morning light
I turn, expect to see the sight
Of you, but you've gone away
And though it's been a long long time
It always seems to slip my mind
Have to remember to forget you every day

When I'm staring at the TV screen
Or flicking through a magazine
There's always something makes me stray
A girl in the story with your name
An actress who almost looks the same
Have to remember to forget you every day

I stand down by the riverside
Watch the water roll on by
Watch the changes as it drifts away
Though I know you won't be coming back
I can't move on or change the track
Have to remember to forget you every day

Sometimes it's the good old days
Mostly it's the crying phase
Memories just seem to want to stay
I still expect to see your face
In every part of every place
Have to rememebr to forget you every day

Praxis- a manifesto for action

The middle way is not the safest course
And inaction is not the wisest scheme
In desperate times, unstoppable force
Must be met by an answering extreme
He who hestitates will often suffer
And hanging around, get blamed for everything-
Others have had time to run for cover
Grasp the nettle tight to avoid the sting

It is the early worm that gets the bird
The wise virgin who will remain unwed
The quiet voice of calm that goes unheard
The thoughtful monarch who loses his head
Too much time spent deciding how to act
Prevents a vision turning into fact

Sunset in Gaza

I sit on my bench as the air turns chill
I grab a handful of the well-tilled soil
I feel its warmth on my open palm
The grains glow red in reflected light
As though still stained with Philistine blood
From Samson's time

I think of fires, remembering ovens, other deaths
This was our refuge, our one safe place
Tomorrow we must leave, the soldiers say,
Another journey with an uncertain end
Carrying what we can, leaving an empty house
For the bulldozers

The wine-dark Mediterranean reflects
The last crimson rays
Stars emerge
Enough of death and retribution
Righteousness and rage
I water the earth with tears of farewell

The seeds I planted, trees I tended,
Will be harvested by other hands
Let them take good care of this land
And live in peace.

Variation on Springsteen

You are lookin' so beautiful
I can hardly keep my eyes on the road
My heart is pumpin' heavy oil
An' I think it's gonna explode

You've got your summer dress on
Flappin' in the slip stream
Your breath smells like perfume-
It's as good as gasoline

The billboards tell us nothin'
That we don't already know
An' even all the roadsigns
Can't tell us where to go

We pull over to the roadside
An' we watch the passin' cars
I swear if you say you'll marry me
I'll pick you a diamond from the stars

Jamais vu

I wake from a confused dream
Panting, trying to remember
Where I am,
Who I am.

Accidents and emergencies

After the dashes
The colons and periods
There come the wild shrieks


Note: newspapers refer to exclamation marks as shrieks.

Nature poem

"Poets walking: some find solace
Others, guts and blood"
Wendy Cope, The squirrel and the crow

Some poets, stuck for the next thing to say,
Will look outside for their inspiration
Cover the page with a note on the day:
Events in the garden's population-
A new bloom here and a fruitfulness there
The violent end of a fledgeling bird
Creeping of beetles and swelling of pear-
The world is observed and sight becomes word

But all this should remain in the background
These things happen, unworthy of remark,
They distract from the place where truth is found
By their acts and cries: cats simper, dogs bark,
Grass grows, the birds sing, and bumble bees buzz
It's just nature doing what nature does