When She Bleeds
You wrote a song
and you called it ‘when she bleeds’
and you used to sing it
just for me
and I would sing
along with it
with you
And now you’re gone
but your words
still carry on
and only now
do I appreciate
each note you wrote
was written with
tears
Although
your song
was beautiful to me
the price you paid
inside was agony
with each note played
You wrote a song
and you called it ‘when she bleeds’
and you used to sing it
just for me
but now
I’m singing it
all by myself
When Spring is in the air
Winter won’t let you forget
he was there
And pours his snow
In one last show
Of whitewash glory,
Freezing the new growth
In the trees,
Bringing the season
To its knees.
I guess I’ll be your April fool
For yet another year
And you can trick the happiness
From my every tear
You know that I will always fall
Into your jester arms
There is no way I can escape
From your crooked charms
Here comes your custard pie
Thrown plum into my pride
I don’t want to be your clown
But I just can’t wipe you from my eyes
I guess I’ll be your April fool
And hang my head in shame
Every time you lift my hopes
Then laugh them down again
I can feel you pick the thread
And tug apart my seams
Then I see you pull the rug
From underneath of my dreams
Here comes your custard pie
Thrown plum into my pride
I don’t want to be your clown
But I just can’t wipe you from my eyes
(Lord only knows how much I’ve tried)
But I could not bare to be without
Your lark inside my heart
So I guess I’ll be your April fool
Like I was from the very start.
Five amigos
stand
in the sand
silent
and still
dressed green
in tall velvet
beneath
the
tumbleweed sun
not a button
out of place
five amigos
proud as cactus
guarding
their desert gold
from rattlesnake bandits
My Grandad built the Chinese Wall,
He did it in a week,
My Grandad built the Chinese Wall,
That’s why it looks so neat,
He built it because he was bored
And to block the Mongol horde,
My Grandad built the Chinese Wall
Using only his bare feet.
My Grandad built the Chinese Wall
They paid him fifteen pounds,
My Grandad built the Chinese Wall
Then landscaped the surrounds,
He built it out of sticks and stones
And a few hippopotamus bones,
My Grandad built the Chinese Wall
And he hardly made a sound.
My Grandad built the Chinese Wall
For his girl called Cath,
My Grandad built the Chinese Wall
And then he had a bath,
It made his muscles big and strong
But his armpits didn’t half pong,
So now I’d like to walk along
My Grandad’s right long path.
Like toys
tumbling
from
a bulging sack,
snowflakes fall
and all
the children
large
and small
slip outside
from under the wall
to call
for more
to come and play
~ not one grown-up
to spoil the day
A slave
to dreams
Is my fate
The swirling worlds
behind my eyes
Take no heed
of my commands
Indeed, they lead me
by the chain
To places I
could never imagine
Or ever choose
In sleep I am
but a toy
Of my hidden self
At the mercy
Of his deeply
embedded
frustrations
Eager
to be remembered