Tales from the Oven

An Ikea cup, ceramic
A tall tumbler, plastic
My skin, allergic.

A mobile phone, generic
Lift music, cathartic
Friday’s traffic, epic.

The boss, “terrific”
The “instructions”, specific
The to-do list, just “perfect”.

A poet, relic
A singer, magic
Stuff it, will you, Manic?

A post it note
A cap of a pen
Lie stray upon my desk

My keyboard laughs
At my vain attempts
To craft a clever phrase

I stare ahead
I stretch my neck
I start and I erase

A phone call rings
A saving grace
An excuse for nothing made.

I hear soft whispers of a dream
Amidst a coral sky
Filled with little polka dots
of puffy, fluffy whites
Dashes of orange glow—
—threatening to leave
But turn and brandish burnt bronze
To match my satin sleeves

Flashes of blue are painted in
as the day waves goodbye
As twilight beckons
Memories leave
And a cool evening says hi
City lights blink on
Warm headlights come alive

And as vision fades to tender darkness
Sounds come alive.

I write, 
but that doesn’t make me
a writer

I sing, 
but that don’t make me 
a singer

I play music,
but that doesn’t make me
a musician

I publicise,
but it doesn’t make me
a publicist

Boxes are bad for health
They cage you in to spit you out
It is better to be known by nothing but yourself
In that way, you can do everything

This time tomorrow I will lie here
Waiting for time to come 
Dreaming, pondering, listening, maybe writing
Waiting on eight to come.

Dive in to life
Feel its intensity
Never wish you were someplace else
And miss the drama of today,
deprived of it’s meaning

Dive in to life
Just soak it all in
Grit your teeth as you bare your heart
Let your mind go on overdrive
As you tussle for your life

Dive in to life
Forget the mirror
We grow best when we forget ourselves
When we go forward and look ahead
When we let ourselves go

Dive in to life
Oh weary traveller
And let the ocean prop you up
Lift your weight and keep you up
And take home precious treasure

The early bird catches the worm
Yet the early worm catches the dew
The dew that falls on a blade of grass
The dew that kisses the petals on a rose

The agile cat catches the mouse
But the mouse has seen the edges of the world
Has spied the secrets behind every door
Has known the vice of every man

Fair is He who created the earth
He imparts goodness to every creature
The rich may purchase goods of gold
The poor delight in creation’s wealth

So be content in all you do
A rich man’s trials are never trivial
Pride attacks all souls, rich or poor
Only bend your knee to your God
Emmanuel

A strange peace invades my heart
A quiet glow of light sweeping through
Was it the dream of skies so blue?
Was it just a hope of tomorrow so huge?

A gentle silence dances in my mind
Though imaginations—yesterday fears— 
the size of tiny needles 
throw themselves in vain to break it

The fears of yesterday are gone
Today’s Dawn has erased everything
Eased my troubled heart You have, my Lord
Assuaged my tired thoughts have You, my Master
Like a gentle smelling balm, that works in slumberland
You have cured my heart from all it’s pangs.

What do you do
When there’s only so much that your heart 
can take

What do you do 
When what you believe in slips off your hands
into a pool of murky waters

What do you do
When words fall to the ground like seeds
but never come to life

What do you do
When your hopes come but pass you by 
like a sea breeze against a rock

What do you do 
When a truck filled with nightmares come
straight on at you

Do you hide your heart?
Do you turn away?
Do you grit your teeth?

Do you simply weep?