YouTube Tuesday: Death in the Summer

Well, I’ve been away for a couple of days, super busy with the 50th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies at the University of Birmingham. The Symposium was fantastic, I got to see some great papers and meet some inspiring academics.

12 hour days of volunteering now over, it’s time for another YouTube Tuesday. Here’s Death in the Summer.

Death in the Summer

Icicles hanging in rows from the ceiling
Dripping freezing water onto the tiles
Until a pool that chills me forms below

It’s summer outside; inside winter reigns
Where heat cannot penetrate, and water drips
Though the icicles refuse to melt away

Children play merry games of chase in the playground
Parents bask in the midday sun with lazy abandon
And there is frost around me in this frozen wasteland

Smiles should ease the harshness of this storm
Should, a word on which to focus all attention
But still those icicles drip water onto the tiles

The kitchen is abandoned to another dimension
Where this bleak wilderness has not taken control
Nor the universe agreed upon my icy tomb

The tiles were the final place you laid your head

Throwback Thursday: Mum

As it’s Mother’s Day in the UK this Sunday, here’s a throwback to a poem from Mother’s Day 2015.

I am comforted
By your presence;
Warmed by your love.

Source: Mum

Paper Wrapping

Beware!
Watch your fingers
And open this gift carefully
For there was a time
When it was strong,
Encased in steel,
But now the outer layer
Is nothing more
Than thin wrapping paper –
Tacky
Littered with stars and circles
In ugly colours –
So take your time
And make sure you use
A delicate touch
Especially over my heart,
Where the paper is thinnest
And has been taped back together
So many times
That the colours have faded
And the shapes,
Distorted,
Are no longer solid.
So as you peel away this wrapping
Each layer
Slowly revealing more
Of what is truly hidden beneath,
Remember that one day
I may have to tape it back together again
And if you do not
Take care, if you tear
This paper to pieces,
There may be nothing left
To put back together.

YouTube Tuesday: “Work on It,” They Said

It’s Tuesday again – so here’s another poem from my YouTube channel. I’ve always loved this one, so I hope you enjoy hearing it out loud!

“Work on It,” They Said

A pit of lust and sleaze:
Our love is a disease;
A burning, itchy feeling
In every fibre of my being

It began when we declared
That our future would be shared
In solitude and health;
My sickness and your wealth

It grew into something bleaker
As my life signs became weaker
Now what sparks the tender flame
Is nothing more than shame

When we got deeper into life
Our marriage bonds untied:
The sound of your very name
Only increases my pain

Both of us have suffered
(And found pleasure in another);
This illness has consumed me:
Without love, we’d both be free

I’ve started to get quite a collection of poetry on my YouTube channel now. It’s still a work in progress, but please feel free to check out some of the other videos and let me know what you think: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkm8NH1OLCcoI3UkIHvVM6A

Pray

I pray for a miracle today

Give me strength, give me power

Though still I feel I will betray

The one who makes me cry and cower

The morning is like any other

Wake up, get up, and the work begins

But when he comes to me, I discover

His anger beneath his wily grin

The first punch leaves me on the floor

I pray again, screams in my mind

But find I still cannot ignore

The guilt of leaving him behind

I pray for a miracle each morning

Before the bruises start to form

And every time, he gives me warning:

For me, this life should be the norm

The sneers, the shouting, bitter words

That hurt far greater than his fists

No change, this is all I deserve

Until my heart can be dismissed

Throwback Thursday: Deceiver

A throwback to a short poem about overcoming an abuse of power.

What secrets lie behind your words? So sweet; so devilish in design; Manipulation to make me believe. Thankfully, I do not believe a word. You speak poison, playing a twisted game And I will no lon…

Source: Deceiver

YouTube Tuesday: A Siren Sang to Me

It’s Tuesday again, and that means another poem uploaded onto my YouTube account. This one is “A Siren Sang to Me”.

A Siren Sang to Me

Her voice was fire burning through my veins:
As I listened to her sing, I cared not for lyrics,
Meanings or interpretations, for she was enough
Without another to rewrite her words.
She scorched her way around my body
Burning memories of pain and heartbreak caused
By past lovers; her purging flames sought out my heart
And encased it in the heat of ecstasy.
I fell in love with the way she sounded:
The spark of her laughter, her blistering songs.
I was reduced to ashes by a stranger’s voice,
Like a sailor shipwrecked on some rocky isle.

If you enjoyed this, please take a moment to like the video on YouTube by clicking on the title of the video and following the link.

Throwback Thursday: Skinned Alive

A short poem for this week’s Throwback Thursday, another from Poetry 101 Rehab.

Memories of you creep beneath my flesh Working their way deep inside I could cut you out with a knife But that would only leave scars Worse than the ones you gave me When you ran away with her A re…

Source: Skinned Alive

Things to Live For

New movies
New shoes
The carefree, welcome feeling
Of a mid-afternoon snooze
Cheese pizza
Chocolate cake
How the sun seeps through the clouds
At the moment of daybreak
Big dreams
Old friends
The relief and celebration
When the working week ends
Not much
It’s true
Just a little longer with me
And a little longer with you

New Love Begins

They were the shadows that danced on street corners
Swirling, spinning, their shapes combining
Beneath the flickering lamps on street corners
Down dark, grubby alleyways, under heavy rain
As their shoes splashed in the filthy puddles
Throwing up droplets of water, as the water rippled
And waves reared up, then crashed onto insects lost
In an unanticipated downpour from above
They were the colours that blended together, reflected
In the windows of the stores across the street
From flashy neon lights, exclaiming businesses
In gaudy signs, for the sleaziest means
As their clothes twisted and moved in tandem
Rubbing against one another, coming closer and closer
And their hands met in the darkness, then closed tight
With fingers that refused to let go