Monthly Archives: December 2023

A Kind of Song

I awake by you,

(Your headphones in).

I guess they quiet

The inner din

Of your unquiet mind)

 

Despite my desire

To avoid your fire

I have held you tight

For another night

Finding in your kiss

A kind of passing bliss

Tasting of perfume

Cigarettes and regret.

 

When my Busy Thoughts

When my busy thoughts

For a moment, stop,

I become aware

Of the clock

Ticking away my day.

 

I may turn away

And write.

But old Time

Will not delay

The night

To accommodate my rhyme.

I Met a Young Man Named Wong

I met a young man named Wong

Who spoke of wine, women and song.

When I said, “is that Housman?”,

He said, “no, it is Dowson!”.

He’s an educated young man is Wong!

A Hyacinth’s Scent Last Night

A hyacinth’s scent last night

Brought such delight

To me as she stood,

Pure and white

In her box of wood.

 

 

Others unopened stood

In that box of wood.

They will flower and die

As will I.

There Once Was a Place

There once was a place

Where men went

To find a kind

Of temporary content

And many a girl’s face

Graced that place

Where men could buy

A lie

Of love.

But perhaps a few

Believed it was true.

 

Some poor fools

Tried to buy

Girl’s love

With jewels.

The girls would smile

And would inwardly say,

“He is good

For a while

Until his money runs away”.

 

 

Sometimes, girls awaking from sleep

Would weep

And when kindly men

Heard them cry

They would wonder “why

Do I

Try to buy

Her love?”.

 

Some men would die

Inside and lose all empathy.

For such a He

The payment of a fee

Made everything okay

And he could say

And do

Whatever he wanted to.

 

Not all girls took drugs

And few had thugs

Keeping them in the life.

But poverty’s sharp  knife

May cause us all

To slip and fall.

 

Some women freely chose

To give a certain part,

(But never their heart)

To men for a fee.

Though some deny

That such women freely chose

Or maintain that she

Is the minority

And that the privileged few

May have true

Freedom, while the majority

Are not free.

 

The place has long gone

But the profession lives on.

In dark streets

And expensive hotels

Client and girl meet

And the poet tells

How a fee

Often obfuscates morality.

And how all must

End in dust.

And

At Christmas Time

At Christmas time

I compose a rhyme

Of winter weather

And us all together

Emptying the wine

As we talk of bygone times,

While the clock on the wall

Watches us all

Until sleep calls

Us one by one

And we are gone.

A Young Lady’s Reputation

A young lady of this great nation

Is well known for her spotless reputation.

Her name it is Miss Heather

And we’ve never been seen together

Which explains that young lady’s spotless reputation …