Half-baked
I
don't write all that much, but some of what I do is here for your...entertainment?
You'll
be able to follow what I'm up to, by returning here on occasion - if the
mood strikes me and I write some more, I might just publish it here.
(If you're really not enjoying it, you could always try the guest poetry
instead! Try the Band
Stand
page.)
Josie
She
moved as though still in fluid,
Her eyes reflecting the eerie blackness of the womb.
When she slept, we heard her singing, sighing: a distant hum,
And I am reminded of mermaids.
We marvel at her consummate beauty
And miniature perfection: Delicate, dusty eyebrows,
The minute rendition of her mother’s nose,
Her ears, pink and shell-like.
Again, I am back at the sea.
Her proud father draws us back,
"It’s her fingers I love - just look."
We admire their flawless form,
Each little crease of the knuckles curled in comfort.
"Her nails are so neat and so tiny."
I look, and see ten white-capped oyster pearls,
Strung across the hands of the Sea Baby.
13th July, 2000.
Wish
When
I picture you
I think of Waitomo glow-worms,
tiny specks of light and life
clinging to cave walls;
little threads of beauty
and ugly-bug oddness combined.
When you picture me,
imagine me wishing that the tenacity
which brought you so far
will leave you clinging, secure
in that cavernous space we share,
Little bug.
Little star.
Tiny speck of life and light.
10th March, 2000
Newt
It
won't do, little newt,
to think of you more.
Little brine shrimp
who never passed
the saltwater stage.
We imagined you grown,
home and dry,
but you had other plans.
None as far-reaching as ours.
May 2001
Craving
When
we were together,
you and I,
remember how we lived off baked beans?
You said they were your favourite
and, because I loved you,
we ate them every day.
I could have written the book:
Cooking with Baked Beans, or
101 Ways with Beans.
We tried them on toast,
on jacket potatoes,
with pies, sausages, fish;
you didn't seem to mind
- you even liked the beans from the Kentucky Fried!
How long was it,
the bean diet?
Maybe a fortnight,
less?
I have to say, I don't miss the beans,
but you?
Every day.
March 2002
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