I'll make you a corsage
Of chantecaille lace
Comfrey and eyebright
And reeds from the lake
And tie it with cambric
Before you awake
Upon your heart sleeping
This precious keepsake
From here the land's edge
Is a scrawl on the sea
It writes and unwrites itself
Tirelessly
And I, in the eaves
On my eiderdown seat
See riddles and rhymes
Where your words ought to be
And the green-fingered lady
Who longed, longed me to stay
Made all the roses wither away
And smoke, lilac footed
As I climbed, climbed the gate
And reams of clouds hid me
As I made my escape
It was autumn, autumn
How long did I sleep?
The moon-coloured waters
They whispered your name
And said with her carriage
The deep snows came
And she kissed you and bound you
With icicle chains
Made winter your lodge
And gave frost to your veins
From here the land lies
Like a mast on the sea
It rises and banks
And it confuses me
And I, in the eaves
On my eiderdown seat
See riddles and rhymes
Where your words ought to be
The ice-shouldered Queen
Who vowed, vowed you'd remain
Made all the roses
Wither in spring
And from the snow palace
I'll steal you away
And my tears will make
Your poor heart bloom again
Like roses
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Song for Daniel
Sky, heavy as bellrope
Is ringing the changes
August has cried
In her swell-bellied labours
She climbs up the steeple
And waits for the chime
Halos of rain on the conifers shine
Halos of rain on the conifers shine
I'd like the world to stop
Just for one morning
And tell me the hour
Now this kingdom is fallen
The livery's decked
And the courtiers are bloody
And lillies grow now
From his mouth and his body
And I could pound nettles
Till my hands were blistered
But swans crowd the lake and no -
I'm not their sister
In pedallos once we were brave sailor men
One two we fell, and then we stood again...
In pedallos once we were brave sailor men
One two we fell, and then we stood again...
I want to be grand
To mourn as an actor
Playing a bit part
So I don't have to feel this
Extend my arm gracefully
Sipping in silence
Bone china, behind a veil
So not to see this
And I searched without walls
And I searched without finding
I search like a blindman
With fortune to guide me
In pedallos once
We were brave sailormen
One two we fell
And then we stood again...
Roots, pale in September
And tender as memory
They flower in the roofing
And seed in the belfry
Silent in amber
That once winter time
We slept safe as houses
My brother and I
We slept safe as houses
My brother and I
Is ringing the changes
August has cried
In her swell-bellied labours
She climbs up the steeple
And waits for the chime
Halos of rain on the conifers shine
Halos of rain on the conifers shine
I'd like the world to stop
Just for one morning
And tell me the hour
Now this kingdom is fallen
The livery's decked
And the courtiers are bloody
And lillies grow now
From his mouth and his body
And I could pound nettles
Till my hands were blistered
But swans crowd the lake and no -
I'm not their sister
In pedallos once we were brave sailor men
One two we fell, and then we stood again...
In pedallos once we were brave sailor men
One two we fell, and then we stood again...
I want to be grand
To mourn as an actor
Playing a bit part
So I don't have to feel this
Extend my arm gracefully
Sipping in silence
Bone china, behind a veil
So not to see this
And I searched without walls
And I searched without finding
I search like a blindman
With fortune to guide me
In pedallos once
We were brave sailormen
One two we fell
And then we stood again...
Roots, pale in September
And tender as memory
They flower in the roofing
And seed in the belfry
Silent in amber
That once winter time
We slept safe as houses
My brother and I
We slept safe as houses
My brother and I
Manon
You wake to the song of crows
On that rarified street row
Where even the trees stand prouder than the rest
You took your coat and fled
Leaving evenings brocade dress
Hanging like a banshee from the oaken chest
Oh Manon, lay your cool hands down
And gather night up in your daybreak arms
And when the season finally turns
You'll see that everything's unlearned
You're standing naked in the town
Oh Manon, those wet black leaves like pirate flags
They sail their branches on a wild wind fast
They think they're journeying towards the fabled stars
But they forgot that they are bound by roots and trunks and sodden earth...
You left the dim light to contend with early Mars
You left what couldn't be still dreaming in the dark
Oh you and I, Manon, were captives from the start
We are sisters of this longing that's the keeper of our hearts
Pilgrims of this sorrow, with our flags nailed to the past
With your will set
You light a cigarette
And watch the smoke make faces pensive and uncertain
Waiting for the train
In that cathode station cafe
The rain is lowered like a last act curtain
You draw his mouth in coffee
Paper for his hair
And the the chorus line sings:
"He's not here"
But you Manon will fill these broken lungs with air
"Miseria Cantare"
On that rarified street row
Where even the trees stand prouder than the rest
You took your coat and fled
Leaving evenings brocade dress
Hanging like a banshee from the oaken chest
Oh Manon, lay your cool hands down
And gather night up in your daybreak arms
And when the season finally turns
You'll see that everything's unlearned
You're standing naked in the town
Oh Manon, those wet black leaves like pirate flags
They sail their branches on a wild wind fast
They think they're journeying towards the fabled stars
But they forgot that they are bound by roots and trunks and sodden earth...
You left the dim light to contend with early Mars
You left what couldn't be still dreaming in the dark
Oh you and I, Manon, were captives from the start
We are sisters of this longing that's the keeper of our hearts
Pilgrims of this sorrow, with our flags nailed to the past
With your will set
You light a cigarette
And watch the smoke make faces pensive and uncertain
Waiting for the train
In that cathode station cafe
The rain is lowered like a last act curtain
You draw his mouth in coffee
Paper for his hair
And the the chorus line sings:
"He's not here"
But you Manon will fill these broken lungs with air
"Miseria Cantare"
"Colour Me"/15.12.2009
Damage me sweetly
Make me disappear
Mark me completely
Let me chart this disrepair
Feed me with fire water
Colour me in midnight ink
Pour stars down my back
And turn my eyes just as dark
As his are hollow...
Damage me sweetly
Undress my name and with each layer
Reveal me and delete me
Turn me into blessed air
Outside your door
The rain falls, an absolution -
It's a ghost town for me here - but you don't see them
I want your disguise, I want your freedom
To have never known that mad stone deceive him
Damage me sweetly
Shake my branches bare
Fill me and deplete me
Bring me winter's senselessness
Oh make a benediction
A frenzy till I wake
and then leave me by the pool to
find my rebel, find my monster, find my face
And through the glass, magnolias flame and flicker
I'm a ghost town, you're just another passing through here
But spring makes me think
He will still be there -
Just past the gate
In a house so familiar
Where we shared each hour
They were jewels in our fingers
Make me disappear
Mark me completely
Let me chart this disrepair
Feed me with fire water
Colour me in midnight ink
Pour stars down my back
And turn my eyes just as dark
As his are hollow...
Damage me sweetly
Undress my name and with each layer
Reveal me and delete me
Turn me into blessed air
Outside your door
The rain falls, an absolution -
It's a ghost town for me here - but you don't see them
I want your disguise, I want your freedom
To have never known that mad stone deceive him
Damage me sweetly
Shake my branches bare
Fill me and deplete me
Bring me winter's senselessness
Oh make a benediction
A frenzy till I wake
and then leave me by the pool to
find my rebel, find my monster, find my face
And through the glass, magnolias flame and flicker
I'm a ghost town, you're just another passing through here
But spring makes me think
He will still be there -
Just past the gate
In a house so familiar
Where we shared each hour
They were jewels in our fingers
Friday, 20 July 2007
Nadezhda
Even the winter
Won't turn the wheel now
Great spokes of still hours
Chained to the bare ground
Reverie, bear me
Deep in the hollow
Of wildwood, slumber
Among the arbour's bloom
Requiem, I hid his songs
In porcelain, and dead man's lungs
I even caught a breath of one
In church bells ringing for the fallen sons
Heavy black roses
Hang in the gardens
Whirled into wreaths now
Dark as death's shadow
Only your kisses
Bees from a sweet mouth
Turn the cold air
Searching for home
Where you lie...
Requiem, I hid his songs
In porcelain, and dead man's lungs
I even caught a breath of one
In church bells ringing for the motherland
Won't turn the wheel now
Great spokes of still hours
Chained to the bare ground
Reverie, bear me
Deep in the hollow
Of wildwood, slumber
Among the arbour's bloom
Requiem, I hid his songs
In porcelain, and dead man's lungs
I even caught a breath of one
In church bells ringing for the fallen sons
Heavy black roses
Hang in the gardens
Whirled into wreaths now
Dark as death's shadow
Only your kisses
Bees from a sweet mouth
Turn the cold air
Searching for home
Where you lie...
Requiem, I hid his songs
In porcelain, and dead man's lungs
I even caught a breath of one
In church bells ringing for the motherland
Sunday, 15 July 2007
Gardenias and Cigarettes
Water on shingle and vagrant hours
That stumble round this sunstruck town
And white lantern blossoms
With torn off wings
Break from their branches
With pale yearning
Oh my mind came unmoored in the night
You set it adrift
With a kiss that was sweeter
Than anyone else's
That I've known before then or since
Oh gardenias and cheap cigarettes
On your mouth and your fingers I tasted
In the name, on the hands and the back of love
Ships were raised and lovers fought
And the Gods above watched from a ringside box
As cities were wasted to ashes and dust
I saw you go through a low window
By the idle tide of dusk
And I should have seen through those arrows and bows
That even golden apples rust
Oh my mind came unmoored in the night
You set it adrift
With a kiss that was sweeter
Than anyone else's
That I've known before then or since
Oh gardenias and cheap cigarettes
And the ghost of the touch of your fingers
That stumble round this sunstruck town
And white lantern blossoms
With torn off wings
Break from their branches
With pale yearning
Oh my mind came unmoored in the night
You set it adrift
With a kiss that was sweeter
Than anyone else's
That I've known before then or since
Oh gardenias and cheap cigarettes
On your mouth and your fingers I tasted
In the name, on the hands and the back of love
Ships were raised and lovers fought
And the Gods above watched from a ringside box
As cities were wasted to ashes and dust
I saw you go through a low window
By the idle tide of dusk
And I should have seen through those arrows and bows
That even golden apples rust
Oh my mind came unmoored in the night
You set it adrift
With a kiss that was sweeter
Than anyone else's
That I've known before then or since
Oh gardenias and cheap cigarettes
And the ghost of the touch of your fingers
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