Prism

There was a sunbeam

That carried through

The outer rim of the

Window pane.

The dew on the window

Creating a prism

That broke apart

The white light

Into colours

That sparkled on

The sill of

That very window.

A gathering of reds and blues and yellows

A rainbow gathering momentum

Along the window sill

And then beyond

As the sun drifts

Across the pane of glass

And the dew begins to shrink

Heated by the brightness

Of the sunbeam

And the colours

Disappear

Into nothingness.

The Summer Storm

The storm clouds were brewing
The summer heat built to boiling point
And the hot sticky feeling that is Southern Ontario
Caused nerve endings to spark blue murder
Sweat poured through me like maple syrup
Maybe that is why my clothes
Gripped my skin in a steamy, feverish, inferno.
But the clouds gathered slowly
In their various shapes and shades of grey,
Some even black and threatening
But the only true threat is that the clouds
would only pass right on by
without shedding any relief
Even making the heat grow more intense
More humid, hazy and stifling.
This heat slows your pace
But I stick it out underground
In my basement I stay
But with the first clap of thunder
Echoes through the air
I emerge from my midsummer hibernation
from this torridity I cannot bare
these furnace like conditions that stress me
to my very core and strip me of my humanity
For this I plead to you, oh god of thunder, Thor
Don’t tease me with the roar of static electricity
For my anticipation for this cloudburst
grows ever stronger within me
And then
It happened
A drop of moister hit my cheek 
Quickly followed by many
More in very quick succession
A torrent of dampness pelts me over and over
it dazzled my senses with the
Cool fluid sensation of ecstasy surrounded
And I held my hands up high above my head
And gave thanks for the water that soaked me through
Making the weather, all that more bearable. 

Used Book Shop Coffee

There is this bookshop in Belfast
That I go to sometimes
Especially when I don’t want
To be found
I sit in the back
Where the coffee shop is
Just a few old tables
A few game boards
A few pictures on the wall
Done by local artists that
Probably gave the store the
Picture for a cup of coffee
Be worth a million when they die
Now it’s only worth a cup of coffee
I don’t know about that though
The crazy old woman that runs
This place has no problem
Giving out free refills
Letting you pick the used books
Off the shelves, read them
Put them back and have another coffee.
She smokes thin long cigars
Coughs up a storm with every puff.
There were a couple of artist types
Sitting out in front on the patio
Discussing who was the better artist
They probably had to do a painting
For the old woman
So they could get a cup of coffee
Could even be that they get a few coffees
Every time they come in
But they might some of the soup
That is cooking on a hotplate
By the coffee machine
Great coffee though
I can’t get enough of it
But the soup is good too
I think in was potato and leek today
Could smell it before I even made it into
The store.
I bought a book there the other day
And it smelt like the soup
Some kind of split pea
I think
Couldn’t believe how hungry
It made me
Feel.

Wine

The red splashes forth

Like a tidal wave

As it pounds the

Bottom of the glass

Just off centre

It gathers height

Curling towards sides

Licking the curvature

As it slowly folder

Back to the clam

 Of the pool

As the waterfall

Ceases its deluge

Before the well

Can after flow

The tide is tipped

Slowly sipping

The flavour bursts

Drenching taste buds

Each on firing

With different flavours

From smoky, woodsy danger

To the smooth fruity

Of the purse, fresh grapes

Picked as for the gods

A nectar that releases

The emotions into another dimension

A seam state of escape

Away from the stresses of the day.

The Streetlight

I stand at my window at night
Second floor, facing the street
A streetlight illuminates
The corner across the street
I used to stand on that corner
Watching the world
Pass me by
It’s half three in the morning
And the corner just shines
Like a spotlight on a stage
But the stage was empty now
The actors were the passing crowds
Each with their own story
The light comes in
Through the window.

Stiletto Heels and a Red Dress

The Saxophone blows
A cool, cool breeze.
Throughout the Dizzy,
Wind swept night,
The stars twinkle
A melody,
That hits deep
Inside me.
I wander down
The melting,
Summer streets.
Piano pounding deep,
Within milk pouring sky.
Cloud drenching the glow
Of heartbreak.
I see you,
There alone.
Bathing in the shower
Of lamplight,
Maybe I could build
Up enough courage
To step up to you,
In that red dress
That you wear.
Blazing into
The blackness,
Sculpted legs that
Transcend Reality.
Grip me tightly
Around the waist,
In a shade of
Majestic dream.
Where you know
Me.
But the Saxophone
Keeps going.
It’s message flowing
Along the airways.
The piano still keeping
The tune alive,
There’s a screech that
Glistens
On the water.
As the stars ripple
On the waves,
The red dress
Strolls
In Stiletto
Heels.
That curl
Of your calves,
In a gentle motion.
Holding those curves
In that derrière
Package,
As it enters
The bar on the corner.
As the door opens,
The laughter, songs
And stories
That spill
Into the street
And quickly recede,
Back into
The bar
Again.

Starting something new

I decided this morning

That I would no longer

Write words that express

The futility of life.

It is time that I grasp

At the straws of hope

And express the joys that

I feel.

No longer will I wallow

In that self defeating

Vein of thought.

It is a new year

And I realized that

I

Was doing myself harm

Everytime I wrote at those

Times

Those thoughts that

From inside my

Head.

I’ve come to grips with the

Thoughts

And I feel that they were

Expressed

The best that I could

At the time.

Were they therapeutic?

The poems that I wrote?

I think they had their

Place.

They had their time

In my history.

But now,

I have to move on

I need to write

About what is real.

Not forgetting the past

But living for the

Future.

So many times

I felt that today could be

The last.

Now that I know

That I have a future.

Late Night Motel

Thirty dollars a night
No air conditioning
I lay half naked on the bed
Single bed in the middle under the single hanging light bulb.
Towels underneath me
I don’t dare touch the covers.
I scatter my clothes on the floor,
They’re dirty anyway
I remind myself, shake them free
Of whatever is crawling through them
Turn the light off, so I don’t have to see
Walls painted grey
Paint flaking here, there,
collecting on the bare floorboards
Where my clothes collect dust mites
I can start to feel them crawl
Possibly, underneath my skin.
I scratch and scratch with out relief
What is happening to me? 
My skin, pink and raw
Pain, the only relief from the itching.

I can hear the sounds through the walls
Snoring, coughing, crying.
The low murmurs of people making love,
Or are they just fucking their way into happiness,
With a stranger that they met,
On the street corner,
Across from the Motel.
Road House singing outside,
A fight in the parking lot.
An airplane soaring overhead,
Landing in the nearby airport.
Passengers oblivious of the degenerate nature of this city.
You are sleeping on top of the covers,
But I can't sleep.
The cockroaches are scratching down the walls,
pulling down the remainder of the paint.
It falls to the floor as they scatter.
The sun is finally starting to come up.

Just sitting listening to jazz

I came on to your page,
Found this crazy coffee house
Thought I'd sit, watch the stage
Have a coffee and a smoke
It is only virtual
So it won't make you choke.
Don't want to bring a heap of scorn,
I'm digging the jazz of Dizzy,
Flying on the wave of the horn.
I hip to the twists and twirls of the sounds
Through a haze of euphoric emotion
The howls of of the hounds
I can't resist the chance to wax
Poetic as they say
Charley Parker on his sax
I think I want to stay
Have a drink of wine
and a candid smile
I'm feeling awfully fine
As I chill a little while!

Happiness sunshine dreams

The colours swirl around
Breaking and crashing
as they skip through the air
gracing the molecules
with sunshine
of eternal warmth
and refreshing smiles
along a desert of twilight
and smoky beams
of harmony

Euphoric Pool

Strange though it may be
Within these high and
Snow-capped peaks
Lies an eternal spring
The water true and pure
Bringing upon the bather
A most pleasant feeling
An exquisite and euphoric
Almost psychedelic state
A rearranging of your atoms
Removing all that makes
Us plain and ugly.
Rejuvenated, new and improved
Without imperfections
But here we find the problem
For once we leave
This sacred fountain
Although your looks
Your outside appearance
May appear changed forever
But what makes you, you
Cannot be changed
From the outside, in
So if you have
A whimsy notion
To bathe within this outflow
Remember that you
Must be pure of heart
To convince the world
That your flawlessness
Is not just a
Deception.

Day Dream Afternoon

There are many times throughout

The day, somewhere towards

The late afternoon

A conjuring of daydream

A need for a drink

Perhaps a beer

Or something stronger

Escape from the doldrums

Of monotony that stagnates

That stifles life

Drift into another world

Another dimension

A time that breeds excitement

The wine that flows

Just in my head

Allows the imagination

To pour through my senses

Allowing a quick escape

In the afternoon

Before repetition

Starts again.

Beach Hotel

The shutter was left open so that the cool ocean breeze could still be felt, despite the full moon glaring in and making it virtually impossible to sleep.  The heat was unbearable anyway, so there was really no way that I was going to sleep.  Sweat rolled down my face as I brought the glass to my mouth.  Tequila, orange juice and plenty of ice.  If I couldn’t sleep, at least I’d fix a buzz on.  Beer wasn’t cooling me down at all anyway, so I went the whole hog and figured that there may be a chance that I’d pass out before the sun came up.  Putting the glass back down, I crunched on the ice from the glass and took a cigarette out from the pack on the table.    The heat from the cigarette mixed with the coolness of the ice, allowing me to get the maximum amount of smoke possible into my lungs.  After exhaling, I looked over to the bed where she was lying.  How was she able to sleep in this heat?  She had kicked all the sheets off the bed and her silk nightgown was drenched in sweat, clinging to her body like a second skin.  Her long black hair cascaded over my side of the bed in waves and curls from the humidity in the room.  Her pale skin shown in the moonlight and I watched the outline of her body as I took another drag off my cigarette.  I poured another drink, using up the rest of the orange juice.  I would have to go on to straight tequila for the next drink.  I was still miles away from passing out and the sun was hours away from coming up.  I could hear the crash of the waves as the tide started making its was in.  Why hadn’t I booked a room with a baloney?  I was only a couple of bucks more, but I didn’t think we would need it.  As far as I was concerned, we would only be in the room for sleeping.  Who would have guessed the heat would be so stifling and the air conditioner was broken.  Broken? my ass.  There were no air conditioners in this crappy hotel. 

Picking up my drink, I got up from my seat by the window and slowly made my way to the bed.  That is the problem with drinking when you sitting down, you aren’t even aware of how drunk you are getting until you try to walk. The room began to wobble.  It began to sway to and fro like I was out at sea.  Luckily, the bed was only a few steps away and when I reached it, I put two hands down on the thin mattress to steady myself.  After gaining some balance, I used one hand to hold myself up and the other to move the abundance of curling black hair off my side of the bed.  She stirred slightly and moved a little further to her side of the bed.  As she did this, her nightgown raised slightly over her thigh.  A look was all I was really able to cope with in my present state and I managed to flop onto the bed without causing too much problem.  She turned over onto her back, throwing her hair behind her, with high percentage landing on my face and blocking out the light from the moon.  I didn’t even try to remove it, just drifted off in an inebriated sleep.

A dreamy sunshine that grips me

This dreamy sunshine
comes in all around me
as I sit at the table
on this sidewalk cafe

All the people walking past
is their colourful cloths
radiating and complimenting
the sunshine
as it heats up the atmosphere
that surrounds this little
area on the street.

Coffee on the table
steam flowing through the breeze
ah, that gentle breeze
that picks up the
delicate summer dresses
light and billowy as the breeze
Give but a hint of
perfect summer bodies.

It is within this sunshine
that I dream of you
and the excitement builds
as I know
it won't be long
till you are in
my arms
again.