by the road
of many leaves
we sat for a while
and watched the sun
as it set
we could have been
lost amongst the sparks
instead
we watched them
float on by
a leaf emblazoned
in an aura of maybe
in possibilities
a momentary flow
in sadness tinged
the road
took you to it
left us
bereft and beyond
to choke back tears
and watch the sun set
without you
.
the gravel by the roadside
spat in the daylight
someone dug a shallow trench
late one Saturday night
and fell asleep, all alone
amongst the sage scrub dreams
around their open grave
the cactus wrens hailed the stars
and nobody stopped to weep
and nobody stopped to watch
and every passing truck
kicked in a pile of stones
the desert wasted another soul
the road ran through its heart
I believe you saw the snow
on the tops of distant mountains
.
they gave us films
and a cracked
soundscape
for us to follow
swallowing dust
from canyons
and valleys
in hope
not in belief
and one by one
the cowboys died
the rockets blew
the aliens did not arrive
and we
we trundled on
from stop to stop
from one broken
vow to the next
from broken heart
to aching back until
we lost all hope
and found belief
.
this ribbon
which ties the sky
to the centre of our burning earth
is frayed
shredded
and loosed
you will not travel
down it today
nor tomorrow
nor in tomorrow’s dreams
you will wait
until the ribbon breaks
and you will fall
through the firmament
into my arms
and there you will cry
until it hurts to cry
until the burning earth
and cloudless sky
meet within your heart
as ribbon tied
.
“the truck stop”, she said.
“I’ll meet you at the truck stop”
and he knew
she wouldn’t come
or if she did she wouldn’t be the same
but he sat there
nonetheless
for hours waiting
until
he was no longer waiting
just sitting
being
radio on
windows steaming
a second bag of chips
on the passenger seat
he just knew
.
days
take days
somewhere along the way
we forgot
when we had less we knew this
when we saw the world
through the eyes of a wren
we are the dreamers
of the vanishing point
where the road and the sky
and our journey ends
we are the dreamers
who will never reach
any kind of end
not this day
nor the next
nor any day
days are here
and they are just days
.
one day
they held each other
so close they merged
and the universe
made itself
apparent in their being
that day
had a single sunrise
a single sunset
and ended
unremarked
nothing in that universe
changed
the flickering of stars
was the flickering of stars
the road stretched on
carless or with cars
the cemeteries filled
were forgotten
blew away as dust
love’s moment came
.
this day which will come
some
call it a destination
some
call it the end of everything
but
it never is
well rarely
I saw two magpies
green tails, blue wings
and eyes in which
I read a hole the depth
of sadness known
and sadness lost
the pain of life is
that for some it ends
and for some it never does
this day will come my love
and I cannot cannot stop it
the magpies will call
will gather to them
the things they need
and they will fly on
from tree to tree
oblivious
to the human eyes
crying
and reading in their gaze
a meaning for a life
that was never there
and was never meant to be
the day: impassive
magpies: impassive
tears: the water of life
our destination
the end of every journey
taken or left
as dreams
and regrets
at the roadside
.
.
life
has left your skin
black and blue
stretched
and worn
I
run my hands
over your warmth
the resin twists
of times we spent
on desert plains
on mountains
winding limb
round limb
until
at last
the cold of night
the cold of dawn
the breath mists
.
she
touched his feet
with gentle
finger tips
the calluses
sensitive points
blood
and knots of pain
she eased it all
he broke her heart
again and again
one Saturday night
the road home
was silent
but for the birds
stirred into songs
of “nevermore”
.
farewell is a cloud of empty sky fading into wisps you know there is no way back and the canyons are deep under such a blue sky such a wide open plain and in the distance what remains of the home that you made shutters lost to the dry prairie wind clatter out echoes of the love that you made once in the storyland of memory in the bright brazen light of the history of your ancient life and there on the point of belonging and forgetting a road begins to unfurl across the grassland across the desert across clear skies of distance across them all you come your footsteps silent tracing jackal paw trails to the blood horizon tricked the mirage into believing it all made sense you said you loved you said it in the way that others say
and mean
farewell
.
by the road
sat
the old dog
looking west
he never did
trust
that horizon
he sat
and he looked
long
and hard
at the dust
as it hovered
above
the asphalt
he was old
and
he knew death
he sat
and watched
and licked his old mouth
dry
and sometimes
she would say goodbye
and mean it
and sometimes
she would wave them off
and know
she would never
see them again
she rarely wondered
if they
thought of her
even sometimes
she held their hands
as they trembled
like children
and let them
walk out into the night
alone and cold
and sometimes
she took their breath away
and didn’t give it back
.
Roads 