As you turned south in the cold, my swifts lingered unknowing.
Acrobats of the sky, they looped and danced in the setting sun.
Not sensing the cool winds approaching, nor the distance you had flown.
All that remained were feathers, blown from an unfinished nest.
If my swifts landed for a moment, the question I would ask is; did they feel your warmth up high?
Did they understand the glow in your eyes?
Now in colder times, I question every raindrop if it ever touched your skin.
I clutch at the breeze and ask if it’s carried your voice.
My swifts flew so high, they forgot to look down.
Too proud to realise it was the wind that held them aloft.
The same wind on which you flew away
The same wind that whispered your goodbyes
-
Swifts
-
Saaqi (Barkeep)
Barkeep give me one more
That’s all I need I swear
Just another drop
Bittersweet in its delivery
Warming the throat
Wetting the eyes
The perfect disguise
-
Jubilee line
Burgers, brogues, bleating kids
The worst play I’ve paid for
An endless ensemble
Entering, exiting…exasperating!
A sensory explosion of the vomiting kind
Sticky handles…
Nice.
-
Sunday Blues
Today I sing the blues
I lost my girl to a bad deed
Today I sing the blues
I’m the bluest of blues indeedShe gave me love like a flame
The fire in my heart burned for her
She gave me love like a flame
But like a foolish man I turned from her[hook]
She was my baby and now I cry
She was my baby and now I cry!
I used to kiss her goodmorning
Now I can’t even kiss her goodbyeYesterday I seen my baby walkin’
I see my baby walkin’ away
She used to walk her sexy walk with me
Not no more since I done betrayedDear God what am I to do?
What am I to do without my baby?
I just want to hold her so tight lord
But my baby, my baby says we’re throughShe was my baby and now I cry
She was my baby and now I cry!
I used to kiss her goodmorning
Now I can’t even kiss her goodbyeI was no good
Thats right! I said I was no good
I played with my baby’s heart
I didnt do what a good man shouldI loved my darling
Lord I loved my baby so
Love that I never showed
Now my baby’s tellin’ me,
She tellin’ me I gotta goShe was my baby and now I cry
She was my baby and now I cry!
I used to kiss her goodmorning
Now I can’t even kiss her goodbye
-
South London soul
Once upon a time
Not too long ago
In deepest darkest Peckham
Where life’s kinda slowFive boys turned up
All ready to mingle
Jokers the lot of them
There’s a reason they’re singleThe sound was James Brown
Funkin’ hipsters in snapbacks
Singing ‘It’s a mans world’
Two-stepping to PaybackThere was bounty of beauties
Some cool and some bitchy
Some with lip hair, kinda like Lionel RichieMore mules than jewels
But the boys weren’t fussed
Full of night fever
Brains drunk on lustThe time now 4am
And the women were sparse
The boys kept on hustling
A complete tour-de-farceOne finally cracked it
He bagged him a lady
She whispered in his ear
‘Oooh I love to love you baby’5 in the morning
The crowd was looking drab
What’s the answer?
What’s the question?
Is it cab or kebab?Now the story ends
As the dawn creeps closer
Stumbling outside, feeling cold and sober
Alone and hungover, walked one of the jokers
All of a sudden, there’s a tap on his shoulder
Startled by the touch, even more by the odour
His bleary eyes settle on a gurning ogreHer skin was scales and her nose was runny
‘I’ll lick your bumhole sir, just gimme some money’The joker heard enough
He turned and made a dash
The ogre followed screaming
‘Please I need the cash!’Just another night in crackwhore heaven
Where soul meets the dole
Welcome to Peckham 🙂
-
The fake aces
Time is a healer
But there is no pain
So sublime is the dealer
I love playing this gameThe tide isn’t turning
And my will is weak
This hand isn’t earning
I will lose this streakThere is no skill
Instincts at play
Eyes locked until
One blink betraysTurning up the cards
Revealing stone faces
Under the dealers regard
I play them as acesAblaze in the darkness
The spotlight hums
Testing my sharpness
Play smart or play dumb?But the dealer is smarter
The epitomy of wit
With this hand could I barter?
Or fold and submit?Down the river we travel
A swell of crimson shades
Alas my hand unravels
You bail with buckets not spadesTime is a healer
But there is no pain
So sublime is the dealer
I love playing this game
-
Goodnight smile
Stumbling through clouds,
hanging low on your brow
The weight grows
The weight grows
Distant lights silhouette you
Shadows linger
Pinholes replace the aura
Ashes of a sublime corona
Heavy legs, tread carefully
Tight chest, just breathe
The smile was loaned
You have to pay it back
-
The Train
The train in silent majesty
Easing along till it ceased
Settling in by the window
I await the visual feastThe train beginning to rumble
Cantering gently into its stride
The scene begins to emerge
Carved in two by the tracks divideIn the distance a settled picture
Rippling clouds in a perfect blue
Unlike the immediate chaos
Blighting a bountiful viewDeciphering what’s before me
In honesty more an attempt
Cocooned in the blur of colour
My senses begin to relentDaydreaming I begin to wonder
Awaiting the journeys end
The train begins to slow
Yet this stop I must transcendThe beauty of this place
Enveloped me in a breath
Stealing the air from within me
So enticing in it’s undressAt once tranquil and exciting
The doors open to reveal more
Crumbling fast I want to wander
So powerful is the rapportAlas I remain seated
Eyes down to stay calm
This is not my destination
I play with the ticket in my palm
-
The pixie of havoc
On a breeze from afar
Through a door left ajar
Came crashing the pixie of havocThe room now alight
With this delicate delight
From her sapphire stare
In their magnificent glare
I was transfixed by the pixie of havocOvercome by the prospect
Though the creature is suspect
Unaware of her name
Drawn into her flame
I was immersed by the pixie of havocSilken wings blew a breeze
Such a giggling tease
Fluttering up to my face
Leaning into embrace
I succumbed to the pixie of havocA provocative kiss
From this diminutive miss
Drew thoughts so impure
For she was far from demure
Who was this pixie of havoc?Dazed by seduction
I missed the destruction
Though I knew all along
This was all sorts of wrong
I fell back to the floor
As she flew out of the door
I smiled farewell to the pixie of havoc.
-
Tribute
A doorway, an opening, a way out
A place where echoes are lost
Where the sun kisses the horizon;
the clouds whisper dreams the breeze carried in
Where eloquence conveys intricacies with simplicity
A cave for the coward and podium for the pompous
Allowing the dreamer to fly, the heartbroken to cry
and the madman to die.
The poem.
-
Commuting blues
I walked to the tube this morning
The sunshine blinded my eyes
I walked to the tube this morning
I left my oyster at home
So the barrier won’t be satisfiedI was going to be late people!
Time was no friend of mine
I was going to be late lord
And to buy a new ticket
I didn’t even have a dimeSo Imma turn back baby
Turn back and head on home
Imma turn my back baby!
I’ll call the bossman,
And cough down the phone!
-
Forgotten
How sad the way it fades
Once cherished moments
Once inseparable
Once at oneSo it is and so it remains
An insignificance of history
A blot, barely a mark in time
Its last breath lost in the breezeYet in every breeze I recall you
In its chill I feel your embrace
Arms I cannot remember
Hands I’ve long forgotten
-
Unmasked
To a fanfare and a cheer
Comes the pinnacle of this parade
Dressed in his fineries
Please welcome
The king of the masqueradeRevered and respected
A fine spectacle indeed
Each act evokes,
All you could ask
All you could needAdmiration for the mask
The man, merely its stage
Honest eyes hidden,
Within the shadows of charadeYet the audience assumes
The audience wants more
But the show must end
The mask slips to the floor
-
When I’m old
Walking tall, slick hair glistening
Spouting pretence like everyone is listeningA peacock a strutting fool
Professing though still at schoolRiding on charisma and a smile
Substance is only for abuse
It’s all about styleBut one day the words fail
And all assurances grow staleTired eyes replace the sleaze
Gasping for air,
too many treesWhen all that I am has gone
When every ounce is sold
Promise me one thing
Still be my girl when I’m old.
-
Monday morning rush hour
Peer beneath the veneer and
the queue is a battle line
Shakespearean finesse fuelled actors
A chorus of soliloquy
Pinstripe suits or
down trodden trolls
Makes no matter
The doors open for all
-
No man’s land
Sipping the devils juice, his existence is far from real to me
Legends of faith, warriors of God its all just so surreal to meI followed the same passages how did i get lost along the way?
When I needed help, I was told to kneel and prayMy complexion is perplexing, which shade is my own?
Stand with whites, stand with browns or do I stand alone?Lies are my comfort, they hold the world above my shoulders
Inevitably they will kill me, their weight bears down like bouldersSmiles of my loved ones and harmony in my mind
One or the other since both I’ll never findI don’t know who I am, I don’t know where to stand
I relate to one yet belong to another. I am no man’s land.
-
The truth
The words that got stuck
Overruled by panic and pity
Held back and held down tight
Sensible words, subtleWords ill-conceived
Illustriously poured from within
Whilst the truth
Could only look on
Words strung into chains,
of hope and promise
Since when have chains helped anyone?Again the truth
Could only look on
Humble empirical words
Lost in the charade of flowers
Far removed from the Eden that once was
The ever-present truth
The keystone
The foundation beneath this crumbling palaceIf only the truth was tended to
Given the voice it deserved
Instead it was laid to rest
Along with the shards
Bearing your reflection.
-
Something new
Wandering eyes
search for something new
Flashing lights bathed in sound
It’s time to see this throughAsk for a hand
And steal a heart
Sense a smile, grasp the rhythm
It’s a time to seize, a time to startDrink in the fantasy
Feel it begin to cure
All the pain that lay beneath
Lose it in her allureTake a step to the left
And hold her to your right
Breathe in the dream
Surrender to the nightCome dawn
Wandering eyes search for something new
For all the dreams the night before
I always wake up without you
-
The firefly
His strength sapped.
The lonely man retreats to the shadows.
For the sun shines no longer.
He knows no yesterdays nor tomorrowsA firefly curious to his condition;
flutters into his gloom
“Dear sir may I be so impolite;
as to lighten up your room?”A silence lingers;
and then his voice scrambles at the air
“Little friend I seek darkness;
to deny the company of despair”Flickering around his face;
the firefly looks into his eyes;
“Sir I see sorrow.
Despair is with you in your cries”His head a boulder;
Cradled on slumped shoulders
“What you see is what was.
A fearsome fire reduced to a smoulder.”“Then darkness you shall never attain.
Like myself you too carry a flame”
