Achiever

Somewhere between suckling at the breast
and now, she grew up
gathered her skins close, lit
the leftovers with a blow torch
and marched on through
non-stop until her print
was etched in black and white
and framed on a prominent wall.

Treasure

I find you washed up on the beach
skeletal, blacked, a contrast
to the white waves and wavering sun
that glares less than gold

broken, yet shimmering
feather, shell, leaf, pumice, drift-
wood, scattered along the sleepless shoreline
waiting for the name, treasure.

Unpreventable sunset

In dying you became vibrant,
rusted reds clamour for the outside,
blue is banished to above, where we look
askance as if every question
deserves an answer, every bird
the ability to fly. In death
you smell of lillies, of fresh sawn pine
that returns memories of forest walks
and sunsets we could not prevent.

Duct tape

It holds the page together,
makes my pen a one-piece
and yet when I write
the day becomes scattered
between lines, scrawled
to the edges, unstuck
and dangerously close
to the graffiti decorating
the wall under the bridge
where empty needles lay.
If it weren't for the tape
torn white remnants would blow
down the street, sweep
up to the city, mache
the tallest building
with pieces of poetry.
If it weren't for the tape
my words would be
singularly spoilt.