sleep 
you soothe me
you help me 
you immerse me
in thoughtlessness
and your sweet gentle care 
 
i crave 
your company

you're a friend.

open space
can you
wrap yourself
around me?

so i don't feel
caged anymore

toussaint

the pianist
does his thing
and we are prisoners
behind his bars

real

​those words
you said to me
still ring in my ears
every time i feel low

time and time again
they put things in perspective
and bring balance
back into my world

you were ruthless
and it was a relief
that you offered no
sugar-coated sympathy

but you simply, plainly
put things in place
you helped me
pick myself up

and i will never
forget it.
dei thoo, you said​
is this the end of the world?​

why worry now

my feet soak
in a bucket of

white foam 

water
warms to my feet

warms my aching soles

dire straits
blasts through

the speakers

an assortment of novels

lie around me

on the bed 

i holler above

knopfler's low voice

lyrics i have known
since school 

and i see 

you're going to say 

something
but no, stop

you can't touch
this moment
save it for later

because right now

lady writer's
on the tv

​​

wheelie

a boy

​on a bicycle

sails past me 

quietly, and 

in the light

of the lamp-post

near the grocery store

​​i see him

do a wheelie 

simply, freely 

and almost 

unceremoniously 

on the empty street

nothing that anyone else

might have seen

except the evening stars

his front wheel 

was silhouetted against. 

tie-breaker

i watch
this relationship
gasp for air

limbs flailing
it struggles
to survive

i am baffled
at how love
can be warped

twisted, skewed
and distorted
like a photoshop image

i am shocked at how

it can transform itself

into this

and i weep
till i feel

i might 

cough up
my intestines.

i go through

anger, bitterness

self-doubt
and disappointment

i try to save

bits and pieces frantically

but i realise that

at some point
the relationship
can't take its own weight

and in the end
i only want
to save myself. 

"I love this song!"

it's the moment
you play something
and I recognize it

it's your voice
in harmony
with mine

it's the look
in your eyes
that shine into mine

in anticipation
and knowingness
it's the pause

before we sing
the chorus
it's the acknowledgement

of shared histories
in an old song
we both know the lyrics of

it's upliftment
it's losing ourselves
to a common power

music is your friend
as it is mine
but the companionship

between you and me
is exclusive, it is
a magical connect

however brief,
momentary
or fleeting

in that split second
as you catch my eye
while on stage

or in the hours
that we sing softly
to acoustic guitars

all loneliness
explodes and dissolves
into a fuel

that will keep
my feet moving
i'm grateful for you.

solution

a great many 
problems are solved
by keeping your mouth shut.