Poem: Late September Morning

One of those fresh cold mornings
With air in the air
And sun on the sky,
Neighbourhood breath breathing through
The slightly-opened window,
And September thinking of sleeping for another
Year.

It’s not as if this day matters more
Than all or any of all the other days
          (any more than a particular kiss
                     or the lack of a particular kiss
                             should become everything that is)
But

Where does this scent of smoke come from?
Why does autumn associate itself with incense?
How does the green grass absorb all that gold?

And what am I doing
Allowing a morning
To remind me of you?

27 September 2002

Poem: Signals

A saltire stitched from contrails
In the sky above Edinburgh Castle:
The mood of the nation.

Such signs are meaningless outside metaphor,
Unlike the signs
That pass between us when we pass.

Our bodies’ signals
Sneak truths out below our voices.
Some confusion ensues.

But the problems in Pakistan
Put our hearts in perspective,
And the negotiations of romance

Are the rose-red of lips not
The rage-red of bloodshed,
And the exchanges of glances,

However painful,
Leave us intact.

8 November 2007

Poem: Glance

She kissed me with her eyes.

Oh, nothing deep,
A brief caress,

A passing glance,
A second’s pause.

A pleasing heartbreak,
A heartbeat,

A moment’s movement,
An isolated incident.

An insulated moment
Isolated from incident.

A sliver of sunlight
Piercing the rain of the day.

19 April 2007

Poem: Multi-Storey Car Park

(For Lewis Dryburgh)

After climbing
Step after step after step,
Lewis stands astride the car park,
The grey car park.

He is poised like a surfer
Overlooking the city:
Grey.
He has a grin on his face.

Lewis turns away from the city
To examine the car park,
The beautiful car park,
Grey.

Concrete is a part of our lives.
Sunsets are a part of our lives.
Our lives are a part of our lives:
Orange. Grey.

We are the small joys in all of it;
The flux and ferment of life.
Our hearts are part of it.
Car parks are part of it.

Lewis climbs down from the car park.

1 September 2011