Here! Here!
To me! Me!
Go on, chase it down!
Oh, at least undo your coat, man!
But it’s pouring!
To you! You!
I didn’t see it!
Well, you shouldn’t be smoking….
And the over-50s Sunday kickabout continues as it always does, until – GOOOAAALLL! He aeroplanes away, raincoat over head.
Moments
I dive from the rocks of my now
I dive from the rocks of my now into the sea of my memories. Those I am so desperate to hold twist silver as lightning away from my grasp. Lungs aching, fists empty, I float back to the surface, my tears mixed with the salt. Again from sharp rocks I look down and I see them, peacefully swirling and calm. Again from the rocks I dive into my memories. This time I am so sure.
First published on paragraphplanet.com 22 July 2015
Home from the sea
The flat flagged roof overlooked only by the burnt far hill, no eyes.
The midday sun burning bright at a midsummer angle,
rainbows splitting through the shower spray.
The hissing of salt-smeared skin.
Leaving the bus
The miniature angel climbed up the inside of the bus window. I opened it, careful not to crush her. With a flash of her wand and a buzz of her wings, she spiralled out into the hot damp air.
Coffee
Coffee was never
my cup
Wait for the brown spots
It works out cheaper to wait for the brown spots to appear on bananas by themselves than to paint them on one by one. Same with giraffes.
I wish you had left me in winter
I wish you had left me in winter
The sky could have rained tears of ice
The wind could have howled desperation
But here I am alone
looking up at blue skies
I feel the sun on my skin
and the heat in my bones
I wish you had left me in winter
Almost a smile
It is the almost a smile, the ghost of a smile, the was that a smile, that makes the badness so sweet.
Old dreams
I piled my old, dried-out dreams into the bottom of the bare wooden boat. With the strength in my shoulders I heaved it out towards the horizon and, almost casually, dropped in a match. The flames flickered higher as the boat flared into the night, dreams becoming stars, each for their moment.
Aftertaste
From salty
to soapy
to sweetly, smoothly, dry
