their baby
their baby
was taken away
because
it didn’t love them
it didn’t even smile
at them
or cry
for them
with tears
in their eyes
they looked away
-they had to
For they knew
Without them
That the baby would die
And we
Are like the baby
That didn’t love
Its parents
Like a rock
Like a rock
inside a balloon
you can’t be lifted up
without dying first
you say
take this burden off of me
but the burden is inside you
like a rock
inside a balloon
you can’t be lifted up
without dying fist
you cannot
remove the rock
without piercing
the balloon
unless you sleep
We’re friends
We’re friends
Almost
We stick
Together
For a while
Like the whole world
The whole host
We’re friends
Almost
How long
Is friendship
How long
Is a stick
Floating
In a pool
Like the whole world
And it’s broken holy ghost
We’re friends
Almost
Some things
Groups us together
But we break
Easily apart
You cannot
Blame the weather
But the imperfect heart
And the whole world
In its entirety
The whole world
Of humanity
Sticks together
Almost
Friendships
Last forever
Love
Twice as long
Just like
Last year’s song
Even having
Enough to food eat
Houses to live in
Shoes on or feet
Are we grateful?
Or are we working?
Together
Just to stay afloat
The whole
Of our worlds
Is stirred
Like milk into coffee
And we’re friends
Almost
He looked Spanish
He looked Spanish
But he was more Indian
He looked carnival
But he was more gypsy
In a white shirt
And a beautifully
Embroidered shoulder bag
The way he slips by
Un-noticed
A man too exotic
For our eyes
Time stops
Time stops
When you want it to
Like a porcelain bull
Broken into pieces
Time stops
When you want it to stop
Sinking into the lake of bitumen
Like a steam engine
12 o’clock
Is a number
That floats backwards
Into the trees
It is a number
That sits on top
Of a shadow
Time stops
Like it was made to
Nothing ever fits
Into equal arts
Everything
Makes its own time
Like crossbow bolts
Like crossbow bolts
In the hearts
of the dead and dying
That only the power of God
Can save
Small, un-noticed they pierce you
With little squeaky voices
You bleed from their pin-pricks
A million times a day
Then there is the big one
Cast in heavy iron
As big and as heavy as a crucifix
It pieces your heart
And it spits angrily into your blood
A tigers tear
It was a tiger’s tear
Just one drop that dripped
From the eye of its helpless death
In iron cable and claw
Clamped around its paw
That it wrestled with for days
Until it died in pain – alone
I was watching the save the tiger advert, the one where charity workers are trying to save the tiger trapped in a snare.
Some people nurse vultures
Some people nurse vultures
Like children
Dedicated to carrion
To dissolving bones in acid
They pray for hours in the night
Amongst the mountains
They are dedicated to the dead eyes
They swirl about the sky
Some people nurse vultures
And allow them a safe haven
Sitting on the cooking stove in their kitchens
Like wild hungry witch doctors
They keep old daguerreotypes
Of vulture family members
They dream of flying forever
Over the same mountaintops
Love has been an oasis
Love has been an oasis
In the desert of life
A muddy pool in the heat
Of a desert with no features
From childhood to death
I have thirsted for love
I have died in the moonlight
Watching the high clouds drift over
There is no glory
There is no victory
Love was sipped through a straw
From a raindrop on the window
Even if nobody else like this poem I am pleased with it anyway.