A Short Prayer

A Short Prayer

I don’t need a church
Or a mosque
To worship God

I can worship you

Anywhere.

A flash of light

A flash of light on the darkest day

When you rang me yesterday
You asked why I was shouting

Well, I don’t always succeed in hiding my feelings
And it was such a delight to hear from the woman
I was weeping waterfalls for

I hadn’t returned to my easygoing mode
When as the rock of common sense
I can advise everybody on how to resolve their problems

You rang as my heart was in meltdown
When my soul had drained into the bowels of the earth
And my body had slumped into the bent shape of an old man

Your call gave me the kiss of life
I could not but shout
On hearing the majesty of your voice

And I got goosebumps on hearing
Your excitement on buying
The new white leather handbag

And I thought of the pink scarf
That you wore so proudly
When you were with me

And I thought of how
I would love to undress you
And then cover you from head to toe

With gifts of every colour
Chosen by me
To pay my tribute to your beauty

But I being poor
Have only my dreams
And I will never have you

But, perhaps
For a moment
I brought a little colour

Into your life
On my darkest day

The day you left me
Until God knows when

Incomparable

Incomparable

I have read the best books.
Shakespeare, Joyce, Neruda, Rumi
Perch proudly on my shelf

I have seen the best films
My own favourite Casablanca
Lies dormant beside the video player

I have visited the greatest cities
I have seen the greatest countries
I have done the greatest pilgrimages

I married the sexiest girl in the world
I fathered the most precious angels in the universe
I built the most comfortable house in my area

I have the finest music on my Ipod
I have been to concerts of the greatest and the latest
I have been seduced by Strauss and Lady Ga Ga

I have written books for the academic elite
I have pandered to the masses
I have been applauded at lectures


But when all is said and done
The magnificent life I have led
Is nothing

Compared
To the life
I didn’t have

With you.

A woman for all seasons

A woman for all seasons

As the spring flowers
Burst from the earth
I too explode with joy
As I remember
The debut of our duet

And as I strip for summer
I remember the inviting warmth
Of your beautiful body
As we caressed and kissed
Beyond the peaks of passion

And as lonely autumn shivers
And watches helplesslly
As its precious leaves fall
Onto an indifferent earth
I remember the leaves of my tears

And as winter smothers
Everything that yearns to blossom
And casts her icy burka
Over the trembling flesh
Of our desires

I think of you

And the sun reminds me
Of the brightness of your smile

And the sky becomes your swirling dress
And the clouds the buttons that tease my eye

And the moon becomes your distant beauty
Always there, always unattainable

But the stars become the glints in your eye
As you prepare for your next earth visit

Cartwheeling in a car

I have just returned from my garage
I have just left the car
I am drunk
On the wine
Of your voice message

After that OR
I think I need ER

I can't wait to return
To that car
To hear your voice
Bowling over
The Never Bowled Over Man

Do it to one more time
And then do it again
One more time
Until it becomes a habit

Hold me in your arms
Caress me with your voice
Dress me with your body

Return to the womb

I am an elk by Elkusmajesticus

A winter’s Day in a deep and dark December
I am alone
Gazing from my window
To the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am an elk;
I am an island.

I built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship,
Friendship causes pain
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain
I am an elk;
I am an island.

Don’t talk of love
I’ve heard the word before
It’s sleeping in my memory
I won’t disturb the slumber
Of feelings that have died
If I never loved, I never would have cried,
I am an elk;
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armour
Hiding in my room
Safe within my womb
I touch no one,
No one touches me.
I am an elk;
I am an island.
And an elk can feel no pain...
And an island never cries...