Lines texted to a friend

ONE

I love the lines
on your face
when you laugh:
young and passing,
there and not there,
there again
and gone.


TWO

I love the lines
that you hide
on your arm:
white and angry,
furtive, covered
carvings, there
for good.


THREE

So let my lines
make love to you,
my passing sadness,
laughter over supper,
message on the phone,
my friend.

In Your Eye

It’s strange, the way that ‘I’
so neatly fits into the object
that defines me: in your eye
I find my stage, my self respect,
my audience, my reason why.
But if you close your eyes, reject
me, my performance starts to die.

Red

On my toes,
around my neck

and in your eyes; now
running down my face

to my blouse,
to the floor.

Mutatis Mutandis

You
upon a beach:
curves reforming in the wind;
channels, openings emerging.
Time is changing
everything.


This is for Elodie Isabelle Daniels, 17 years old and on the move. It arose because I, like Elodie, find something in walking along beaches. When I am on holiday, I get up very early in the morning and walk along Cardigan Bay, feeling the constantly changing environment around me.