Lyrics & Poems

A collection of my writings, lyrical and poetic. Interspersed with beauty.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Stone

Stone, stone, buried deep underground Dull thud and muffled sound Of daily life trudging on Boot and trainer and stiletto upon Brick, brick, in the wall I bet you've really seen it all Love and friendship, fear and hate Crime and feelings intimate Rock, rock, standing still Peeking out from upon the hill Lonely silhouette in wind and rain Waiting for the moon to wane Meteor, meteor, orbiting the earth Round and around for every birth And every death and every war And every smile worth living for Stone, stone, hold my bones And take my flesh to other zones Metamorphosize and become new So I can be silent and still, too.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Mayan Treasure

Take my hand, and follow me There’s something special you have to see Brush through curtains of emerald leaves Broad rain-catchers and dainty weaves Dance across dense carpets of moss Alongside raging rivers miles across To where the sun meets the sea Where grows a magical sort of tree   Doesn’t seem like much on first inspection Mottled, tough bark of dark complexion Broad, striped leaves of sea-spring green But look beyond this humble screen For star-like flowers peeking out From the trunk itself they slyly sprout And if you’re lucky, you just might find The wonder that caught the Mayan mind   King of treats, the dessert God The great, almighty, cocoa pod. No bigger than a curled-up fist The reason chocolate came to exist So thank the soil and thank the rain And thank this tree that endures the pain Of losing its baby seed-borne treeling To grant us that divine chocolate feeling

[theblacknessinside-blog]

May

Yellow-green life sprouts vibrantly from every tree Newborn lambs, fluffy ducklings and sparrows flying free Confetti blossoms celebrate the marriage of roots to the earth Gracing the rolling hills with wondrous new birth The skeletons of winter once so bleak and cold Now clothed in radiant perseverance, brilliant and bold The scent of April showers on healthy fresh soil The first delicate fronds of Spring now beginning to uncoil Take a deep breath and welcome the feeling of bliss Say goodbye to winter's harsh embrace, and hello to Summer's kiss.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

The Prize Acorn

Spring squirrels nestle in the leaves Soon to become summer thieves Scamper up the wet bark, scurry Towards the trophy nut, must hurry! Chestnut brown and polished clean The biggest acorn you've ever seen A twist of feathery tail Paws outstretched, must avail Pick of the bunch Proud as punch Let's bury it just here And come back for it another year.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

The lights left on all night The locks have all been changed While I'm inside And I'm beating down the door Knuckles bloody broken raw Trying to take these walls and turn them inside out It's all for nothing...

"Perspectives" - Hands Like Houses (Dissonants 2015)

[theblacknessinside-blog]

The Sky Is The Limit

What if the world turned upside down? In deepest azure we would drown Sky becomes land as we fall Eternal descent through an ozone pool And I wonder Would the foundations we think we laid so well Stay rooted firm and standing tall? If the world turned upside down Would we aspire to reach the sky? Or tumble with only a frown At the mass of grey above? Deepest blue I call to you Stay where you are.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Skyscraper

Stratus-grey totems of sand and rock and steel Rigid and strict, unmoving and intimidating Standing over the world Reflecting back our nature in cold, lifeless window-eyes -Not nature itself- But what has become natural to us. Forcing concrete deep down into the earth And twisting ever higher, block by block Floor by floor Ecstasy from suspending an office up high But why do we need to reach the sky? When all we love and live is down here on the ground The plants and animals and tranquil sound Of morning birds and whispered words Trickling streams with lush green seams And people. Family, friends, and all that is good. These stratus- grey totems are for what? Achievements they are not. Rather a monument to humanity Evidence of our obscenity.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Business Mornings

The half-light is alive with hustle and bustle As stern-faced suit tries to muscle Two places ahead of the competition Must get to the train first! It’s a critical mission. Body-to-body in densely packed space
Avoiding eye contact with any other’s face Scurry and scrap to save 15 seconds’ time We simply must arrive before the clock strikes nine. 
Glare and grimace and scowl and frown No eye contact must look down If we’re a second late we’ll be singled out Chopping block tomorrow without a doubt. We’ve built this stress around ourselves File our most human graces in archive shelves I’m sorry that your stop isn’t for another mile But the least you could do is smile…

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Nevermind

'Nevermind.' Whispers Autumn's last golden leaf As it sinks gracefully to the bare icy ground beneath To be trodden into the dirt by Wellington boot and dog's paw. 'Nevermind.' Mumbles the hedgehog As the cold forces him to take one last look at his home Before settling for the dark solace of hibernation. 'Nevermind.' Bubbles the little goldfish As she raps her little nose against the glassy ice sheet that covers her pond Then turns and swims to the darkest depths where some warmth yet stays. 'Nevermind.' Gobbles the well-fed turkey As she is shipped off to the slaughterhouse To become lifeless centrepiece of someone's Christmas Dinner. 'Nevermind.' Croaks the homeless man Lonely and cold with no family to turn to Reaching to cheap alcohol to drown the sadness in his heart. 'Nevermind.' Thinks the young girl in country far away Who alone looks after all her siblings and can barely feed herself Praying that drought won't strike this year. 'Nevermind.' Rasps the refugee family Weary and starving from their gruelling journey From a war-torn hell to a hellish mass of tents, poverty and frustration. 'Nevermind.' Sobs the once-mother Her son taken from her in a mass shooting at his school Crying as she sees the stocking of flowers her husband has left by his empty bed. 'Nevermind.' Rumbles the earth As we strike it and maim it and reap it of all it has Coughing and spluttering through smog and greenhouse gases. 'Nevermind.' Such powerful resilience do all these display. This Christmas, and every Christmas, you can mind. From praying for those suffering to opening your door to someone in need, Stop saying 'nevermind.'

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Moon

Planetary moon-rise, I see through your disguise. You glow so bright But you steal your light Pockmarked and dusty Battered by galaxial debris I know your secret You push and pull the waters Like the tumult at your core You don't fool me anymore It's cold and empty up there In the space that became your home But moon, I know your secret I know you feel alone.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

December Day // Internal Appraisal

Bleary-eyed and sunk in my seat Rumbling along the track Staring dumbly at the grey blur that rushes past A metaphor for my life? Ploughing on through it all But at least the train knows its destination Blanket clouds saturated with first morning sun Tear off a piece and hold it to your face Feel the sun's embrace On lonely December day October flower April shower But I digress Wandering and wondering End of the line, time to change. This isn't my destination.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Angels keep coming after me Chalk outlines they captivate Comatose concrete Stole my hopes and dreams It's getting hard to sink When you're six feet deep Am I dying? Floating above my body Armageddon running through my veins I never wanted it to end this way Dying Floating above my body I wish that I could numb this pain We live and then we medicate.

Blessthefall - Condition // Comatose

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Everyone is good at something, and some people are good at everything. Damn them.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Heartwood

Twisting tendrils of evergreen ivy Twist and turn through my greenwood bones My roots take hold Digging into the rich soil For I am one with the world Scratch at my bark But my heartwood is pure Bleed away my precious life sap Seeping into the earth as if gone for ever But I re-assimilate For I am sempiternal Everlasting evergreen Through vicious natural cycle Persistent resilience Indestructible Life.

[theblacknessinside-blog]

The choices I have made Will lead me to An early grave. Death is screaming Death is screaming My name But I refuse To listen

'Early Grave' Architects, Hollow Crown, 2009

[theblacknessinside-blog]

I believe in me. I believe in you. And I believe that we are not meaningless.

We Came as Romans

[theblacknessinside-blog]

Living for others' approval and living for others are not the same thing.

We Came As Romans