Needle

They lay me back, taking the pressure,
High iron, lots of energy, healthy,
Made to donate, they say.
Needle pierces the skin, a pint the maximum
One can give away to those who need it,
Yet as they pull the needle out of the puncture,
Plaster it up as the slight bruising begins to form,
I just want to stick myself again, take it all out,
Lose all the blood that keeps me alive.

Strangers leave this room with smiles,
Knowing they have changed somebody’s life;
I laugh with my friends whose smiles I envy,
Resisting the urge to just hook myself to the
Machine and let myself slip into sleep.
A release is within my grasp that I cannot have,
An excuse that would absolve me of all blame,
Allowing me to flee just like he did,
Just not as obvious to the eyes of everybody.

Others seek an escape through needles, too,
But I am not like those who litter the City Centre,
Hogging the paths because they have nowhere to go,
No jobs to pay them, nobody to help them;
Down and outs whose numbers never came up,
Or who played Chance and paid the price for it.
I am not these people, I never will be these people,
I have more than I need and probably always will,
So why do I want a needle to help me run for?

Glimmering Cat’s Eye

Glimmer of a cat’s eye,
Shining star in the sky,
A double daring dance,
Harbouring past romance.

Face ages in the wind,
Years gone without rescind,
Movements graceful bear sight,
Seeing in a new light.

Past kiss I cannot keep,
Memoirs lost in your sweep,
Life slipping all the time,
Standing still for a climb.

My head smashes off walls,
The realisation crawls,
Never to be again,
Neither an if or when.

Sharp gaze cuts right through me,
Doubtless, what is to be.

Skeletal

Recollections pool within,
Dancing history tempts sin,
Dead and buried, dug back up,
Skeletal fragments, born enough.

Reminisces recall kisses,
Shared in rainy near misses,
Hands held tight in ignorance,
Futility without a chance.

Realisation months too old,
Forgotten with a flick of bold,
Returning lover never left,
Only concealment oh so deft.

Fragility renewed threatened,
Moans of ecstasy once deafened,
Now clouding thoughts and desires,
Reigniting burned out fires.

Heart torn manic obsessive,
Jumping the gun, so compulsive,
Unavoidable crossing chores,
Failure this time shuts all doors.

Now you will look into my eyes,
Removing those skeletal lies.

Valentine

As the conversation teeters toward the mundane,
I realise I am a victim of my mind’s game,
Always wishing and dreaming about the maybes
While ignoring the signs of the realities.
Twenty Valentines have passed me by in my life,
Cupid’s arrows have never been close in my eye,
And I think all I want is to lay by your side,
How have I forgotten lessons of times gone by?

Having barred myself from places of happiness,
And from being sucked in by the need to caress,
I grew weary of the dankness within this hole
And sought an escape from the constraints of my soul.
I begin to scale, liberation is at hand,
Condemnation comes in the crooked clefts to stand,
Then below I see you with your entrancing eyes,
Gazing up at me, like I had been telling lies.

The misinterpreter misinterpreted dreams,
A master in finding something less than it seems,
Misreading truth to see love in imperfections
And bound to discover heartbreaking corrections.
Even when my grip rested upon freedom’s soil,
It crumbled through my fingers, and I fell and toil,
Lost in the oblivion of your bright blue eyes,
Innocent’s blame absolved for my own twisting guise.

(by the time I realised I regretted trying to rhyme this one it was practically finished, so I didn't bother changing it 'round).

Dull Evening in February

A dull February evening heard through
An open window; smelled first, seen second.

Cars drive to and fro, as the dusk begins
To fade into time but not memory.

Remarkably unremarkable, this
Dimming candle light outside my window,

Glowing orange over suburbia,
No different to any other day.

Yet, on this day, the setting sun is a
Sign of something saying goodbye to me…

And of something new being born within.


(my second attempt at the iambic pentametre is slightly better than the first, I think).