A Lady

A turn of her cheek,

Exquisite,

Deft,

Perfectly timed.

Desirable, admirable 

Denial.

Parkstreet

Jet Set

Airport hotel

Zen.

Double glazed silence,

Watching jets

Roar.

Parkstreet

Ko-Fi

Buddhist Girl

Buddhist girl

I want

To sit

Under

Your Bodhi.

Parkstreet

I Like Your Boots

In an alternate universe

You and I are lovers,

But you

Still wear those boots.

Parkstreet.

Musicians

We look out

Through our own

Twisted prisms. 

Egomaniacs, pretenders, psychopaths, actors and fools.

And yet,

We don't go on about KPI's, 

So that's something.

Parkstreet.

Politics, The Moon, Love

You can't own land, Earth doesn't recognise title deeds, all you can do is control the wealth that humans associate with land, and refuse to share it.

You see? I would give you the moon, but my politics won't allow it.




Parkstreet.

Tea And Sigh

He handed me a shopping list.

aspirin

sleeping pills

vodka

razor blades

Sharing an apartment

With a poet

Can be wearing.

They can't make tea

And sigh

Like normal people.

Parkstreet.

Like The Twin Suns Of Tatooine

When she quoted Star Wars

Accurately,

Humorously,

In context,

I saw her dazzling eyes

For the first time.

Parkstreet

Ko-fi

Right Now

Right now

I'd love to be walking past The Know,

On NE Alberta,

Dodging

The inaccurate spitting technique

Of the underage rock chicks

Hanging outside,

Bless their little torn stockings.

Parkstreet

(cue dancing girls)

Brush off my old blues suit, 
Borrow a sombre tie.
Polish my black mood shoes,
Time to say goodbye.

A rite
Must be performed.
And you,
A performer,
And me,
A performer,
Identical costumes
For the show.

Words written.
Bullet bitten.
Nerve uncertain,
Open curtain.

Words spoken.
Heart broken.
Voice broken.
Everything is broken.

But hey,
At least I'm looking good,
Right mate? 
You too.

The show must go on.
(cue dancing girls).

Parkstreet

Ko-fi

Paint Flakes

Hope has flaked

Like the cheap paint

On the sun burned window sills

Of a rented apartment.

He sees the window sills as beautiful,

"Look at the texture", he says.

She didn't know living with an artist

Would be like this.

She leaves her goodbye note

In a pile of swept up paint flakes

On the floor.

Parkstreet

Ko-Fi

The Past Can Kiss My Arse

The past

Can kiss my arse.

The past,

Stumbling about like an old drunk,

Butting into conversations,

Repeating itself

Like a scratched record that pokes me in the chest and insists I listen,

Keeping me awake

With its flatulent,

Wise man,

Boring

Foolishness.

The past

Can kiss my arse. 

Parkstreet

Don't Fence Me In

The ceilings in this studio apartment

Are so low

There isn't room

For a man

To hang himself.

Parkstreet

When He Said You Were Beautiful

When he said you were beautiful

He didn't notice that your hair was dry and rough from being dyed for too many years,

He didn't notice the worried lines around your eyes,

He didn't notice the scar on your chin, although he did recall the story behind it.

He didn't notice the creases on your neck, from when you put on weight during pregnancy.

He didn't notice the stretch marks on your belly or the cellulite on your thighs. 

He did notice your funny knees, but he always found them charming.

He saw all these things,

But he didn't notice them. 

All he noticed was that you were beautiful. 

Then he said you were beautiful.

Parkstreet

Synonym

Did I say beautiful?

I meant to say

Brutal. 

I sometimes

Confuse the two.

Parkstreet

5th And Washington

Standing on a bus stop

On the other side of the world,

Waiting to be transported 

A few miles down the road.

For a few moments

Feel Earth spinning

Under feet,

Recall sunrise

Flying into California,

Coming towards

As I came towards.

Board bus,

Feel Earth spinning

Under spinning wheels,

Distracted by locating

5th and Washington,

Alight bus,

Step back

Onto flat earth.

Parkstreet 

Domesticated

I think of you

Three times

Before sleep,

A dog

Turning three times,

A memory

Of wild wolf nights.

Parkstreet

May I Have The Pleasure?

The ghosts

Of the hairs

On the back of my neck

Stand up

To ask

The ghosts

Of the hairs

On the back of your neck

To dance.

Parkstreet

Ko-fi

Distance

All I needed to know

Was that sometimes

One corner of your mouth

Smiled a little

When I wasn't around.

Parkstreet

Worms

The early bird

Catches the worm.

At this hour

The cafe is closed

So I must take

Railway station coffee

And croissant

Which may as well

Be worms.

Parkstreet

Not Magic

My world weary Wendy,

You thought me a silly boy

When I wanted us to fly around the world.

But I knew we'd have to save money,

Fly Qantas,

Not magic.

Parkstreet

Hey Little Punky Girl

Hey,

Little punky girl, 

You reckon you invented 

Angst?

You're like a Gilligan's Island 

Rerun,

Much less fun,

And you ain't no Mary Ann.

Parkstreet

The Patron Saint Of Celebrities

He's the assistant
To the photographer
To the stars.

The photographer tells him,
"We're not here
To take their portrait,
We're here
To make them feel loved".

So,
Wherever they go,
The assistant

To the photographer

To the stars

Steals
One silver teaspoon
And one pair of knickers,
And the stars
Know they are loved.

Parkstreet

Ko-Fi

A Wise Bear

If a bear

Wants to be a bear, 

Wild and free,

It is best

He doesn't reveal

He can dance.

Parkstreet

Ko-fi

Lie On Me Like A Blanket

Come back to bed,

Lie on me like a blanket.

A blanket with clumsy knees

And sharp elbows.

Rest your coffee breath

On my ear,

Your warm thigh

On my belly,

Your awake hands

In my hair.

Lie on me,

Like a blanket,

Let me feel

Your weight,

Warm and awake and alive,

While I sleep.

Parkstreet

What The World Needs Now

What the world

Needs now

Is a big

And bloody

War,

So the music

Gets good again.

Parkstreet

Blink Twice

Zero mass,

Pure radiation,

Not a hook

To hang my hat on.

Am I travelling light?

I'm a photon.

Blink twice,

I'm gone.

Parkstreet

Unsure

Unsure

If he is in love,

Or in the tropics,

The sound of mosquitoes

Spawning in his bedside

Water glass

Wakes him from dreams

Of her.

Parkstreet

Unable

Unable

To shed his old skin

He grew ever more

Tightly bound

And thin skinned

As he grew

Larger.

Until he grew old

And shrunk,

Comfortable 

In his own skin

At last.

Parkstreet

Two Guitars

The floor

Of my apartment 

Is covered

By guitar cases.

Two.

Two guitar cases.

This is about

How small

My apartment is,

Not about

Guitars.

Parkstreet

Ko-fi

Vigil

Awake,

Wide open one a.m.

Window

Sitting silently smoking,

Searching streetscape.

Wanting a witness.

To see,

To assure Self

Exists.

Parkstreet

Ko-Fi

Not A Metaphor

Dreary laundromat,

Clothes dryer timer,

Counting down minutes,

Then seconds.

When my time is up

I'll go

To a better place.

Perhaps a cafe?

Or somewhere else

That exists.

Parkstreet

And Mexico

And Mexico

Can be anywhere,

And instead of being rich

And pretending we are poor,

We can be poor,

And pretend we are rich, 

And pretending to be poor,

And Mexico

Can be anywhere.

Parkstreet

Oh Echo

"Echo."

"Echo."

"Echo, I know your story."

"Story."

"Because you fooled Hera she punished you."

"You."

"You were doomed to speak only the last word you heard, forever."

"Forever."

"Echo, I'm here to tell you that the gods are dead."

"Dead."

"Echo, I'm here to set you free."

"Free."

"Echo, the gods are dead, they can no longer punish you, be free."

"Free."

"Please Echo, be free."

"Free."

"Please Echo!"

"Echo!"

"Oh, Echo!"

"Echo!"





Parkstreet

Ko-Fi

Green Beans, Unrequited

You remember a time when you were a kid, your mother was a little flustered cooking dinner, she boiled the green beans a little too long, then forgot to drain them, then let them go a little cold, so they were mushy and a little bitter and squeaked between your teeth when you ate them, but your father was giving you that look so you just had to chew them up, squashed in with some mashed potato, then many years later you told a girl that you loved her and she returned a sympathetic smile, then she asked you what you were thinking about and you replied, "green beans", and she thought you were being a little bitter and having a joke at her expense, but the sensation in your mouth was exactly the same and there was no way to explain and you never saw her again and you had to chew it up, eased down with some liquor, because your father's eyes taught you that's what you do.

Parkstreet

Ko-fi