Divers

They dive

deep down

the ones who dare

with total trust in oxygen tanks

and the quality of care

that goes into nurturing

something as basic as a breath 

They dive for what they find

bubbling between the fissures

of anonymity

grains of sand stirred by fish tails

long-flickered out of sight

shoals of tiny species

gliding en masse

to camouflage weakness –

all the lessons of the world  

flowing in semi-darkness and flawless

not the slightest hint of triumph

at their success

They dive to feel the beat

of their own heart, compressed

the rush of knowing they’ve reached

home in an alien world

where the rules are unknown

therefore unbroken

and the old self is shed

drowning the madness overhead

renewed for a moment

before the air

runs out

New Year’s Day

Day ONE yawns.

Its cavernous throat fire-cracks open

midnight wide, deep, dark

unknown and unexpected as the turning point of pain

grown familiar, suddenly hinting at reprieve.

The sun has upended on the east

probably peach-pink in the early hours before waking

those same colours of yesterday’s leave-taking

when my heart turned grey-blue karst

skidding along an empty strand

pulse flapping on gull wings, the silence matted

with the prospect of migration into a new year.

It draws the most reticent mind forward

the most determined, the most depressed

the way it unleashes all those bubbles

of bottled past onto the still calm of a wintery slate

auguring promise amidst the infinite banalities

of an otherwise ordinary day.

Sunflowers

Fields stretch

their sunflower heads

spread blankets of seeds

over empty streets

medieval miles

from the rain

the rows wizened yellow

fading, dragging

reason to the ground

same old same old

sun dance day in

day out, eyes glazing

till the odd head

swivels, lops away

a minor continent of summer

disappearing

it’s not a dream

it’s the boys, lost

in a fortress of flowers

frog hunting heaven

saving those faces

from the scythe

one for me

one for you