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#FiveTwitterPoems | BLOODY DARLINGS

1.

NO SHARP INTAKE

 

Death does not

come knocking

of a sudden

when you’re old

 

It hangs around

the sterile bed

waiting to slip

a little of itself

into every breath

until you are full

so full of death

that you dare

breathe no more

 

-------------------------------

 

2.

WRONG BUS

 

Small bird, shrivelled

feathers gone, skin 'n' bone

Your bedsores are killing you!

Eyelids flutter, focus blazing:

 

“This is what you get, Rich!

This is what happens

when you're 60!”

 

She's on the wrong bus.

So I tell her: “You're 86, love, 86.”

 

I leave the number

hanging in the air

 

Her eyes widen:

“Am I 86, Rich?

I'm 86, Rich! 86!”

 

Realisation dawns

blinding the driver

 

See me hop off the bus

at the edge of the cliff

 

-------------------------------

 

3.

LET ME STROKE YOUR GRIEF

 

The little pleasures

depth of warm flesh

small words and token

singing gestures

 

a chorus of highlights

bright things trickling

laughter gurgling thick

leaning in for secrets

 

let me hold the door

wait stroking your grief

give it back when you’re ready

to be carried home

 

-------------------------------

 

4.

FOREVER LOST

 

some random thoughts
‪about seeking and finding
‪crossed my mind tonight
‪on a quest together

exploring my acre
‪of cerebral jungle
‪this poorly mapped
‪terra cognita where

voyage and discovery
‪are travelling companions
‪and sometimes lovers
‪when they’re in the mood

 

-------------------------------

 

5.

BLOODY DARLINGS

 

This morning I killed three darlings
then scraped, scrubbed and polished
away all evidence of their presence

 

As I washed off the blood
sweat and tears of wasted hours
I saw them briefly as spirits
brashly raised in a séance
before I washed them out
like babies with the bathwater