Snow Queen

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

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

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"

"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