Love falls silent
Like an autumn leaf
The two oak trees
Drain the skies
Bruised with light

Purples and ochre’s
Drown the earth
Writhing in agony
The cobwebbed spirit
In the thin broken wine glass
Tasting the autumn wind

Love, inside out
Nothing to say
The dew of the morning
Whitening the grass
The fallen, fading acorns
Form the substance of words

That cries out, that cry out
Against the doors of death
Where autumn leaves sweep through
Dragging the pain in the heart
Into the dark hall of night

A loser’s love vanishes now
An unspoken word perishes
A word fought for endlessly
The glowing embers of winter fires
The ashes of the night
Sleeping by the window
The splatter of rain unheard
The howl of the wind
Cold against the indifferent skin

Wake up, wake up, its morning
Go down into the cold rooms
Draw the curtains
Still, the stars shine out there
Where the old shed decays
Unable to endure any more

A Company of starlings appear
Manoeuvring across the lawn
Pecking at the little things, the worms
Take them – take them all
As a few yolk-yellow flowers
Lie broken on the borders

1999