The First Time

The first time I saw your tears,
I watched your happy flow out.

The first time I saw your face,
I felt your gaze upon mine.

The first time I heard your voice,
I was drawn to your you.

The first time I felt your cheek,
You felt my cheek on yours.

The first time you saw me online,
You felt beyond my quiet.

The first time you answered the phone,
I heard your happy smile. 

The first time I took your hand,
You slid closed your grip on mine.

The first time I hugged you tight,
Your heart unclenched to love.

The first time I smelt your hair,
It lingered for the day.

The first time we went for dinner,
We froze in the warm company.

The first time I gazed into your eyes,
You held my gaze in comfort.

The first time you held me tight,
I felt your depth of safe.

The first time I said I love you, 
You said I love you too. 

First published in issue #5 of Magine - https://www.facebook.com/groups/magine/

Moments etched

Jolted, I knew.

Warmth soaked the air of the day
Aromas mixed, rose, grass and bay
Hot slab at my feet
Cacophony around, not heard
Questions a whir
No words
Nothing to cling to
Ominous wrong
Alone

You heaved your last
Then no more
The peace of pain free
You'd gone
Silence
Loss
The image of you remains
Where you always were
What next?

Alone, hurt
Undeserved
Violation
Pleas, recast as lies
Nowhere safe from your reach
No escape
Confused

Story told
Waiting
Perched as he scribed
Will he? Won't he?
The eons of seconds
Deafening scratches of pen
He turned
Anticipation exploding
Life moving depends
Yes.

The long journey
To a foreign place
The preparation meticulous
The last sleepless night
Bids morning to an early start
Three two .. gone
And then it was done
Euphoric peace

In the blink of phone call
I could see you no more
No home
Life upturned, dumped out
Birthdays passed unmarked
You lives lived, a vacuum to me
Waiting, I had no choice
Each day inching to a possible

Shock
I read your words
Between them I felt the wet
Your tears poured
Each word plucked from the pool of pain
Each word adding to my pool
And then came more
Joy and pain, oft companions
Sit together

Into the world you came
Into your new world
My eyes you saw
My voice you heard
My touch your felt
The beginnings of bond
Love unbounded

Bruised, in silence
I failed
"Not like this"
Reverberating
"Then what?"
"You know"
I did
A step to take
Both wanted and not
Gain and loss
I knew what was to come
Bruised, survived.

So many years unseen
Nervous and excited
Taught
And then
So different yet the same
A hug worth nine thousand days
Yet but a moment had passed
Love never gone

Our eyes met
I was walking home, panged with hunger
You were sitting, being driven away
The last of your pain crippling
Within hours you'd gone
But that exchange,
A moment of bond
Later I would know it as love

With difficulty, I told you
With love you accepted
Your stories you'd told me
So much I had learnt
But this moment meant all
And taught me the most
You're missed but ever close

First published in issue #3 of Magine - https://www.facebook.com/groups/magine/

Growing up with dis lecks ee er

For the life of me I can not spell,
It made my schooling a living hell.
Late to read and late to write,
All I knew was learning fight.

Thus at school, labeled stupid
Out of class summarily booted
Down the hall to 'one more suited'
No hope for me, they concluded.

Now if it were math and numbers,
Oh thats ok, not an encumber.
But spelling, now thats a blunder,
We'll find a bus and toss you under.

Please don't make me read aloud,
It gets much worse when there's a crowd.
Read and say each solitary word,
If I read ahead, my brain gets blurred.

Words typed sdrawkcab
Just one hazzard
Whilst others just go...
Opps.. sorry.. missed missing

Dis lecks ics all untie
Dis lecks ics rule ko
I'm sure there's more jokes
A few I know

How ironic, the name of barrier,
The unspellable, dis lecks ee er

First published in issue #4 of Magine - https://www.facebook.com/groups/magine/