Pillow-Talk

I tuck myself into you.

The front of my knee

Fondles the back of your knee.

You tip your shoulder back,

Nudge my shoulder.

Hey you, you say.

Happiness is a little slip of a thing.

Published by Wordlegs in their Spring 2014 issue.

Monogamy

I like only you I like you only I only like you

drought

this is the third dry year and 

this year is the deepest 

of the dry years

the commentator says

as though dryness were a well

sinking down and down

into eventual wetness

taking me rustily 

down and down in a bucket

mouth parched body humid
waiting and wanting

the eventual to be now

for the dip, float and gush

First published in Skylight47 in April 2016

Advice Given To Soothe The Sore Heart

Leave the thing alone for as long as you can.

Don't scratch at it.

Try a hot water bottle 
Sandwiched between a pillow and your back.

Don't wear mascara on nights out.

Feel a mess for a while. That's ok.

Drink lots of water. 

Friends will donate hugs, if you ask nicely. 

Ask nicely.

Don't ask why. Or do ask why

But leave the answer sit on the counter-top.

Leave it settle.

Pour it down the sink. Go for a walk.

Leave the bloody thing alone for as long as you can.

When it happens, engage and hold the eye contact 
That your fear begs you to avoid.
No one can see your legs shake.

The heart was not meant to stay soothed. 

Love again.

Sandymount Haiku

Roundabouts prompt views

Shy wave considers approach

Steeples prick the coast

Charcoal floating on slate

Horizon ships darker bolts 

Sandymount Beach dusk 

When Did Women Stop Fainting?

When did women stop fainting?
Was it at about the same time
That men stopped carrying smelling salts?
Did smelling salts producers have time
To capture other markets?
Did anyone lament the tapering off of
The feminine wile that beguiled so many, supposedly?
Did some women cling to it, pull its stays tight, 
Or fake it, eeking its time out?
Did all the women just stop en masse?
Did a plague of alertness suddenly transmit itself,
Catching from one woman to another,
A slow hop from body to body
Of wake, of consciousness?

Popularity, Personified

Smugness was her scarf,

Inked pinkly, cerisely,

She stroked it smugly.

Smugness was her scarf.

Idleness was her chignon,

Gleaming, burnished, shiny

She fondled it idly.

Idleness was her chignon.

Cuteness was her weapon,

Trigger fingered, ready,

She cocked it cutely.

Cuteness was her weapon.

Blandness was her boyfriend,

Broad-shouldered, dreamy

She loved blandly.

Blandness was her boyfriend.