#86

The four walls of my house
welcomed
Three new lives today
Packed in four suitcases, five bags
And six cartons
Four more yet to arrive
Lost in transit
Like official affidavits in
My uncle's name, we tremble
When we cross his path
Three humans, flesh and bone
Three new lives minus one
From a desert of death, ignored
Where their language is as sweet
As summer dates and grapes from Turkey
They are known to sell
And yet they sharpen their blade
On their tongue
A land where women have turned
To shadows turned to dust
And the dust goes with the wind
Blowing nowhere and gathers in this
Desert with no shelter and home
Three new lives
Waiting to become one

#87

So up in smoke
Or in the land
In a barrel in the ocean
on a boat
Down the hatch
Wherever you may sleep
Or meet the tears
we weep
Know this
You didn't pass through
These hands
Like the crystal grains
Of sand

#88

You're searching for the exits
Looking at the clock
Your bastard heart still keeps rolling
Down life's mountain like a rock

Tumbling through the air
You find what you believe
You spin and dance and hold the hand
Of all you came to need

And when the end comes
You save not a sigh
No letters with letters that make words
No songs for goodbye

#89

Today i am okay with not meeting you
to watch you trudge slowly towards me
and beam a large smile
you walk so slowly
dragging your feet
like a slave of obligation
I, your lowly master
or so I think
millions of years between us
turned to sand
And broken like rocks
we dragged to build a monument
we never visit
today i am okay with not meeting you
is perhaps
what you tell yourself everyday

#90

My house has numbers
you cannot fathom
Marooned at edge of a city
On the verge of collapse
The cracks get wider
As the 11% coalesce and converge
The veins jut out like a
Badly made old painting
And sure its washed by a sewage river
Far away from
Your picket fence, your
Friendly neighbourhood dog
And air conditioned, 24x7 power backup
And high-speed internet connection
Another ghetto full of spells and curses
For mothers and sisters and often I wish
It would just flow away in the river
Or get swallowed in its own tide
Of ineptitude, when they raise
Six story tall broken dreams on
A 50-square foot plot
I'm not leaving till I
Leave for good
I will not step out of what
I call my home
Until I step away
To a town drenched with tales of my mother
To a city drowned in time
Come see me instead

#91

I beat the wolves
Blue and back
Now I'm famished
As my claws dry
And my fangs sleep
The night is
My disguise
While you run
hide and flee.

#92

The flame has changed shape
Put on colours
Now it dances
In the dark
Swaying in the wind
And now the rain is gone
Into seven shades
And the sun of the day
Has has its say
The light burns at both ends
Its here to stay.

#93

You used to cut yourself
And send me pictures
Of your bleeding arms
Now you click
And put up pictures
Where you're
Cutting a heart shaped cake

#94

I like watching
Women bob their head
And the men
Dancing on the spot
The people losing
Their minds and
Not their money
And friends
Having full bellies
Everyone smiling
At least once everyday
And 4 second hugs
I like time balanced
On the scale of
Silence and
Proportion
not distance
For lengths can only
Cover so much
And our arms only
Reach so far
But I am here
And so are you
So let's forget
About how tomorrows
Will comprise of us
Gazing out the window
Flicking a pen
And recalling
Each other's voice

#95

I'll forgive your armies
Of loss, of giving no love
Of the sorrows and sorry
You surround yourself with
Of the sound you don't make
As you approach
With your
Head held low
And your fears
Rising to the fore
Your sunken eyes
Forever lie
You smile and say
The place where you stand
Is alone.

#96

I'm trying to pack 27 years
Into a suitcase
And the memories
Keep spilling out.

#97

The world dances
when you're in a train
The hills turns to mountains
Plain fields rise and fall
The tracks converge
In X and Y
Divide and become
Two and then one again
The locomotive salsa
Spares none
Stirs you like tea
In your sleep.

#98

I've never understood women
Who don't wear
The same clothes twice
And men who check their hair
In the wind
Fighting repetition
Feigning perfection
Forgetting human.

Time

Time is getting old
Even the clock ticks slow
Each wave of the passing hour
Doesn't predict sunshine or shower
It tells you what you already know.

Apologies

Apologies for the letters I wrote
They say emotions aren't impressive
In the year of our lord 2015
Maybe resting your head on my bony shoulders
Hurts your neck, and that's fine
"Curves are better than lines," you say
"Okay," I nod.

Maybe when I hold you my ribs are too sharp
And they nudge you in the worst way possible
Like waves of words hitting your sides.

Perhaps this is why you approach me
As a city you're unsure of living in
But I can be a home, not just four walls
And you can leave the lights on
Fuck my roads paved with good intentions
And almost no potholes.

Apologies that I only read and write
And no I can't drive nor am i good with
Directions, just better at getting lost
And we could have, if you
Only said, "Sure".

Lips

You open your eyes
Your mouth is light
A perfect round orb
In this land of starkness
I know your disguise
The silent humming at night
Your lips eclipse
I'm left in darkness.

Haven't Seen

I haven't seen the stars in the sky in Rome
Haven't seen Turkey's blue and golden domes
Haven't seen a route called 66 stretching on like truth
But I have seen you and I think you'll do.

I haven't seen the colours dry on Italy's walls
Haven't pointed to David & Goliath in hallowed halls
Haven't seen London's cobbled streets or Jack's bloody letter
But I've seen you and I think you're better.

I haven't seen the ruins of Pompeii washed by fires of the mountains
Haven't seen glass meet stone at the Louvre or nature's fountains
I haven't seen the towers of Dubai scrape the sky
But I've seen you and you make me smile.

I haven't seen the locks the lovers in Germany tied to a bridge
Haven't seen the Grand Canyon or its stony ridge
Haven't seen Mayan ruins held by the clouds up above
But I see you now and I think you're enough.

Long

It's been too long for longing
Too late for waiting
And you'd rather hum,
"I speak too soon,
I think too fast."
The milk boiled, burned, over spilled
Stained your skin
The clouds that loom above her head
Never rain
The stars, like your home,
gather dust.
Send me the miles you've travelled,
Send me the sky, the moon, the earth
Send me all you've seen from up high
Send me a photograph of your smile
Crooked teeth by crooked steps
Send me the rain of your city
And the only shade of green you know
If you cannot send these postcards
Send me away.

Silent muse, violent ruse
Tarred old clues
To a mystery never solved
You know the ways of the world
You have a way with words
Said no one ever, but
I'll still tell you all
Till I end up tripping over
My own sound
Sounds, you know those things
No one can save, but I try
As i try dancing
with your shadow
Singing when no one's around
And sure, you say you like poetry
Like a man with three wives
And know the names of paintings from
France, dating back to the 19th century
A time, you wish was yours
A time, where you wish you belonged
But here you are
And there, I see
Me in your mirror
Left writing this fucking poem
Again as another century turns,
yawns and begins
Like just another day
In your book kept out of
Reach on a shelf, know this -
you're a photograph with no caption.

Keys

I feel forgotten 
Lost 
Misplaced
Like keys in a bowl 
You kept too high,
Out of reach
Like keys that lead to 
Locks that open doors 
You've closed for good
Like keys, with crooked teeth gone
Brittle with time