There is wonder in the dance And you think about a second chance To do everything over But would you take it if you didn’t know her And had to live the death again The taking away of women and men And I know I may be traumatised By a past life where people died Beyond my control And there is a shake, rattle and roll That soothes my soul Like an old car on the way to the Mega Bowl To celebrate a birthday or two Eleven years old and walking with you Into our teens And all the screams Fall silent sometimes There was horror in this childhood of mine As I lay in my bed and dreamed Then woke up paralysed and screamed And ran out of the doors Into the light and love implores Me to just take it easy But I’ve never been so breeze As I was at twenty two Just after discovering you And the lightness held In the depths that weld Themselves to my heart I know it’s about the taking part But somehow I’ve always wanted to win The prize, the guys, the loyalty of him But it doesn’t work that way And all I can really say Is that the writing has called me since I was yay high And I know the people die In foreign lands At the hands Of those who claim to be just And broken dust Falls like paper burnt to cinders Ashen and my fingers limber Yearn to call them out Like darkness in my own self doubt Is the world on a turning point to see That good can be bad when it isn’t me And I would never do you wrong But when people belong To a tribe and dwell They can inflict all kinds of hell On those who have no way to defend The hearts that break only to mend Themselves in solid steel Can you blame the way they feel When they suffer in the rubble And the ground shakes to signal trouble In the outer sphere If your compassion doesn’t extend to fear Then is it real And can I heal And be the wholeness to embrace The people that the pain deface And I watch his eyes As a child cries Before his lens Is it too late to make amends And ask for a ceasefire to be held I know the North of Ireland well And somehow it has been a fragile peace Not watching another youth decease In the wreckage of flame Everyone has a name That they go by To their loved ones and the lie Is that there is no way to be When you’re running from history
The door slammed shut on another season And there was loss without reason As I pray for foreign press And the wounds that they address With just a camera and a connection They get by with just our rejection As we deny their pain Shower them with acid rain Or get lost in apathy But those things will come back to me If I don’t meet them where they are And every foreign star Was once a child of light Now they’re bathed in the dark of night As though floating in outer space Is this the best the human race Has to offer itself And they say that wealth Can inoculate a person from greed Because they have everything they need But that’s not how it works, is it It’s the ones with the worst to deal with Who seem to have the most to give And the aggressors won’t let anyone live But stand in the shadows and execute The plans they hold to keep silence mute And deaf and dumb to all their crimes We’ve seen it before a thousand times But I watch as they document Someone telling a child where their mother went In the midst of bombs And it only takes so long For a seed to grow But it takes a lifetime to knock it, you know And somehow in the summer sun We will realise that we are all one And what we do to another will reverberate As we keep each other in the state Of destruction and war torn grief When will there be relief?
Does eternity gaze at you When you’re staring at the stars And do you think you could see their lights Through your prison bars Coz we’re all in the gutter But some of us are looking up Is it just a mirage To say that I’m in love Coz the guy don’t even know me Or so it would seem And he’s looking for a girlfriend Not for a sky high queen And I can’t figure out what it may mean My friend says it’s an expression of what I dare to dream And he’s taken by another so I’ve got to let it go I say I’m not cold, though I’m standing in the snow And he was like a stranger that day on the phone I’d never felt so embarrassed or left all alone As I told him that I loved him, that I held him dear And he made the situation all too crystal clear And I’m just clutching at straws Because the ice never thaws I’m just frosting up the glass And he was just lounging on the grass As I waited and I wondered And slightly ran away Out of fear of what I felt And of what I might say Because it’s too good to be true This couldn’t be real That I get all I want And spare cards to deal And it’s so obvious He’s what I’m looking for As I stand outside Just staring at his door And there’s light and there’s warmth But it’s all inside I’m shivering and I’m shaking From the window where I hide Do I finally let this go Or knock and be seen I wouldn’t mind the weather Coz it is just a dream And there are passers by Telling me, go home I didn’t dare to mention That it’s inside an iPhone And I dig my hands down deeper Into the pockets of my coat I’m taking this too far And what is worse I know it So I take one last look As I head for the trees To live a life of freedom Instead of living on my knees But as I go I hear a shout That he can’t do without I turn and I glare And he’s just standing there In a dressing gown and slippers Looking oh so calm But I can’t run back To another false alarm And anyway he’s got company And I won’t lead astray Go back to what you made It’ll be the break of day And we’re miles apart In the feet that we span And I’ll always love you Though I don’t know if you can Love me just to leave me So let me go this time I would if I could, he says But you’d still be mine And I glower and I pout Though it does me no good He frowns in return As I turn back for the wood Because I can’t do this Anymore, my love I don’t have a reason So look to God above And you’ll find your answers It’s everything they say Maybe I am strong To leave this and away But he pulls me with force The mere magnet strength And I look for my courage Coz I don’t know where it went As I’m grappling with stones Trying to get a hold And all of this flipping the switch Is getting old And anyway, who is she And how can I say That I can’t find adequate Means to stay away And she’s silent and staring Just looking at me Trying to fight With his gravity In the den of the house That used to be mine But he threw me out When I took the time To really study And explore The nature of A solid floor So I relent, give in And feel myself swayed It’s not for loneliness That this is okayed And they both turn around Leave the door open A little glance back But I amn’t coping And freezing I rise Up to my feet As I step on the mat It’s neighbors they greet And I see the old furniture I used to know Step into the light And let the pain go Give up on the solitary Lone expanse Though it’s been years Since we thought to dance And I see there’s a room At the end of the hall With a door open He says it’s yours and all And I finally know Come to realise That they’re living in what I built for their lives And all this time We’re waiting to see The masterpiece Foretold by me In the din, in the quiet In the subside I lay down to rest And close my eyes To finally know A slumber that’s real He didn’t leave me He just let me feel All of his peace So that I could deal With the moment as It’s resting long And my God I belong! And she doesn’t hate me Coz it is cool I think I may have Dreamt this in school So I rub my eyes Shake myself out Get rid of the fear Lose all the doubt Find the heart That heats my soul All is Love That’s the story I’m told
The Poetry Book 