Breathe In
Breathe in, four seconds
Hold on, for two
Breathe out, six seconds
Clench your fists,
and let them go
Words learnt, soon forgotten
Games played till we don't care
Took in too much oxygen
Took in too much air
Magic's physical it seems,
functions through our bodies' needs
Appetites and lurid dreams
now only half remembered
A form of maths, a way between
the margins and the old extremes
We leave but now in memories
we reason out conclusions
Old Crow
Some old crow came back to the city,
all tall stories and road dust
His beak was chipped his feathers ruffled,
his wings were holding up
Chimneys stretched out to the distance,
rising like teeth up from every roof
and from them his friends called out,
'We're glad that you're back,
now feed us and give up your news'
'The things I've seen boys,
you won't believe
Listen close now,
I bring reprieve'
Common sense is a lie,
the rivers run backwards
The sun it spins cartwheels
across the sky
These words are alright
but their order is scrambled
and none of us notice
the warnings in time
'The things I've seen boys,
you won't believe
Step away now,
and give me peace'
In the night there grow fires
and misinformation
a barrage of questions
greets the morning again
When the damage is cleared
and your order lies broken
the curious gather
to ask what it all meant
In the morning keep on trying
hold a sob like a splinter deep
In the hands of a foolish liar
panicking in the summer heat
Other birds have great desires,
words to spare and scrapyard feasts
This old crow will just keep flying
over all your dirty streets
Idiot Icarus
Imagine an island we must escape
The streets are paved with neon and bad tastes
Each house is veiled in feelings of dismay
and awkward moments pour down
Build me some wings please and build them straight
each feather's a welcome moment
I didn't fall upon and break,
with hands made clumsy,
a heart misplaced
A malaise spreading outwards
now plain is clear as day
We move near the sun,
we move near the break point
We saw an idiot Icarus
falling with legs akimbo
We move near the sun,
we move near the breakpoint
We saw an idiot Icarus,
seconds from hitting the water
I'm going up on the mountain
to work out my own set of laws
and when I come down
you'd better watch out,
because my heart is harder than yours
One Year
One year of fighting,
fighting to stay in one place
One year of violence,
blows to the head and the face
One year of trying,
trying to remain the same
One year of behaviour,
behaviour that fluctuates
One time the tv,
smashed up and jammed in the door
Ghosts in the machine
win out and you fall to the floor
One time the window,
on collision course with your right hand
We waited in line for an x-ray,
a marking point or a line in the sand
Hidden Thieves
A curse on all these hidden thieves,
who opened the doors and disturbed the peace
Born of unrelenting needs
They carry off memories with insolent ease
At your place you cannot sleep,
drag yourself back to your feet
Unforthcoming about dreams
that make the mountain twice as steep
Some hidden something is here,
now halfway between the sheltering walls
Some hidden sun is now clear,
hovering between my body and yours
In evenings heart new voices speak
Did over the house,
escaped down the street
Made off with a broadcast of marching feet,
two bottles of whimsy and a box of conceit
At your place you cannot sleep,
drag yourself back to your feet
Unforthcoming about dreams
that make the mountain twice as steep
I've seen all these things,
the foreign towns, the holy words of amateurs
The woven words, unspoken words,
the words give birth to avarice
The snow it falls upon your street,
betrays the movements of my feet
I hesitate, I can't be brief
We frame our thoughts in halting speech
Flying Machine
Morning's clear like glass that's seen a single winter
The house that holds our bodies coughs,
the stove it cannot cope
The cold gets into every hope and misadventure
The wind blows in,
it brings the boats from up the coast
The machine sleeps alone,
it's covered up with canvas
The townsfolk laugh at us,
they talk behind our backs
The weather speaks in riddles,
gives no easy answers
Timber wings supply what hostile glances lack
Open wide the doors and start the monster moving
The hill is steep,
the path is rutted and unkempt
This body strains against the weight of limitations
Push on hard and gather whatever is left
There are no options now because while you lay dreaming
I built the scheme that broke an army of regrets
If No-One Else Saw It
Why are we still awake?
Bitter, bitter
What is this special taste?
More than liquor
Swiftly home the air is passing,
soft and warm, silent storms,
weather fronts within us we dismiss
Taken leave is given back,
the fictions and distorted facts,
lost opportunities held within my fist
Hello heroes of a former age
In histories I've foraged for your stories
Whilst around me theft becomes
the drum that keeps the timing of
the mysteries that batter at our bodies
Hurry home, I can't believe
the things I've said and haven't done
I write them in an endless growing list
Evening lines the chances up,
jousting at the windmill tops,
'We are here to stay' they still insist
If no-one else saw it,
you might as well not have seen it
