6 pm pyjamas

Continuum Stars spark and shatter in the distant skies, pinprick rainbows in the far away, catching us slowly so slowly as light lingers on and reminds us now of what has passed.  Continuum.

Slumber Aphrodite slinks through cobwebbed bowers In her dreams she whiles away the hours Her slumber purrs within and her mind dances Through the places she has been and the chances That she took and those she lost She doesn't care at what cost For she is dreaming now of how and when She will be whole again

Animated Your face Animated As the world turns And life darts within and about, You laugh

Rooftops My fingers are strangers on the rooftops of your spine, Illicit visitors cruising quietly towards their destination, Shivers bring palms down to continue the journey, Warm skin beneath cool enquiry offers answers That flicker in the air and leave as quickly As a sharpened breath awaiting a tongue's caress.

Wordsmith The wordsmith spins and turns the magic While the pen creates and the page is filled.

Gold You gave me gold so when I grew old I would be safe That gold is a trove hidden from sight until the time is right And you dig and cover and map and run While all about you is chaos and ruin comes calling On wide booted feet that crush and crumble bone Amid the crying and the smoke I remember the place And see their faces as they search for what is mine but I am not old and you are not here and it is too late When the ground lies wrecked and savage truths split the land We forget hope and memory is buried beneath the blood Until a new time when quiet rules and curiosity finds what you gave me so I would be safe when I grew old.

Reverie Damp grass soft on tired toes Daisy chains in the rain Airborne cobwebs catch the face Caterpillars trailing, riding the currents  Clematis tangles through summer shade Rose petals spiraling on pond water I feel a pinch, hard and unwelcome My reverie - is abruptly halted by real life.

Torture The ancestors are taken Vilified and humiliated Laid to rest? What a joke. If there is treasure there It is not theirs but ours Ours to take and make A fortune And leave those bones Locked up and under torture

Breath Stones standing, watching Sun creeps, peeping through Midsummer's day breath Serendipity A chance meeting The glass castle cracks Baked ground rips apart A salt shaker twists as it smashes Bitter contents seeping through gaping wounds Trees are airborne missiles Black sand rising while the earth shudders A hand outstretched is missed But then grasped and held tight Serendipity

Wherefore Around the tiles the wailing banshee screams Scatter-shot hailstones chiming against panes Timbers groan, shuddering shoulder to the wind As spiteful rain twists and whips under lightening shards Darkness descending to blanket the earth Silence The storm has baulked but wherefore i cannot say

Panties Ted Hughes wrote, 'and the blue tit zipped clear of lace panties'. This seems unlikely. But more picturesque than y-fronts. Desire Desire talks like a professor - but makes no sense, Wanting the unecessary, Needing the unwanted, Sparking scarlet and hungry, Whispering secrets that wrap and crush, Pinching as breath twists - and slicing tiny pieces of the heart.

Impeccable I am impeccable: Question the vanishing truth of mystery, and wonder am I?

Ergo the human body is infallible ergo you will get fat your hair never looks quite right ergo don't bother looking in the mirror parking fines are ridiculous ergo cycle 'shock and awe' sounds better than it is ergo don't believe everything they tell you stubbing your toe is outrageously painful ergo wear shoes weather forecasts will be subject to late change ergo carry the umbrella and sun hat the truth hurts ergo be prepared or don't ask people who lark about on punts end up in the drink ergo take a change of clothes one day all this will end ergo love every minute 

So there is much excitement at work regarding a certain Harrison Ford who is receiving treatment at the hospital.  Naturally, I am not about to reveal anything about his injuries and care that would infringe his patient confidentiality - I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, I'M 'ONLY' A TEACHER THERE SO DON'T PANIC: I get all my information from the internet, just like everybody else you know.  However, his presence (cue, 'I felt a disturbance in the Force') has made me consider what it is about him and what he does which means that I have been beside myself with excitement that I AM IN THE SAME BUILDING AS HIM.  This has not had the same effect on my colleagues who are somewhat bemused, (it isn't as though it's Bradley Cooper' one of them muttered, 'isn't he from the 70s?' queried another).  If I could meet him. I wouldn't know what to say.  I would be a blithering idiot, I imagine just like everyone else he tries to avoid meeting who admire h...

Dinosaur I see you looking back at me Cosmic dust slitting your eyes Nails dug deep, gripping on Desperate  not to leave I see you looking back at me  Blood flowing , skin drying, Silent mouth screaming 'no' Body refusing to work I see you looking back at me Knowing it has happened all before Thinking it was back then, just them Not us, it couldn't happen again I see you looking back at me Wishing you had acted when you could

Gargantuan Gargantuan means pretty much bigger than normal, More massive than giant and higher than huge, I remembered that as I looked up at the creature, Black and sombre, poised to pounce, eyes wary, Towering up and up, so high it could barely be seen, Wondering if it would mean the end of mankind - I imagined it chasing people; screaming, desperate, All of their lives rushing before them in the face of terror But then I snapped out of it, opened the window, And left the room, not to return until the spider had gone.

This word is worse than 'galumphing'! Gentlemen Gentlemen, I implore you, think before you leap. Your masters may tell you, 'jump' but if my heart you wish to keep, You will rebel, you will say no, you will refuse to go. I have loved you all and your demise will be my final woe, I imagine your uniforms smart and tight, Those boots I watched you polish - oh so bright, You march in line, each there for the other, But, I implore you please, do not forget your mother.

Galumphing The Galumphing is a terrible creature, He lies disguised as a verb, His smell is a prominent feature, Tho he disguises it with herbs, He slithers and predates as a noun, How cleverly, steadily he will creep, He will often be noted about town, His teeth rattle as he boldly leaps. And for most he will never be seen, But to others that view will be their last, For he is known to be mean, When you hear him approach, hope he slinks past. Argh!  This is a horrible word!  I'm trying to be over clever and force the word to do something for me that it is very resistant to. Sadly, this falls flat on its face but onwards and upwards - didn't somebody somewhere once say that, 'tomorrow is another day'?  Part of this challenge is accepting that if I am not giving the time to think and work on drafts, that rough work will be what results.  Sometimes that throws up interesting things, sometimes it doesn't (as in today's little effort).  Always worth do...

Hilarious Claws push earth away Neck elongated, straining Eyes bright, staring Body taught, precise Wings prepared, outstretched Last effort Clucking and flapping The ground drops away The sky could be the limit But a short fence post will do A chicken in flight

Skeleton There's a skeleton in your closet.  Did you know?  I hear it rattling, skulking and biding its time.  Do you hear it?  I see it.  Long fingers - boney unsurprisingly, emerging from the wooden box.  Teeth clacking, it bides its time.  Bright colours fading, fabric rotting.  Do you smell it?  The scent of treachery.  Sadness is airborne.  Stick out your tongue, so warm and fleshy.  Do you taste it?  Despair comes creeping.  Can you feel it?  Those bones are reaching out from the past.  And you will pay.

Supine Supine, she floats Close to the boats Once fast and fleet Now simply meat Harpooned, he gasps Twists from their grasp Ice floes crack Split rudder flaps Diving deep, fast Men in the past Curses in salty air Now they care Home empty handed   No reward landed    

Meatspace She said to meet here, But I think I'm in the wrong place. She definitely said here, There is a lot of blood in the air. I wish I'd got her number, A smell of death oozing into my pores. This is not exactly date friendly, Sharp blades and tufts of hair. I think it's time to leave, This is not my idea of a fun meet space. I have no idea what a meatspace is but apparently it is in the Urban dictionary so I'm now going to look it up!

Rise She is broken But still she rises Despair touches her But still she rises Her voice leaves her But still she rises She fights hard And still she rises Her truth sings out And she rises And when her work is complete She rises for the final time And is welcomed home My words seem pretty ineffectual in the face of the mighty Maya Angelou but this is for her. 

Glass She  thinks  her heart  is  tough like crystal thick and weighty.   Impenetrable.     But it is just a standard heart - thin glass that is easily shattered.

Justice The yellow ribbons tell of justice sought, We need him back, the parents say, And all agree - bring him home, He's one of us, we don't abandon, He stood by the flag and we do not forget, Bring us a happy ever after and do it soon, Five years is too long; give us results, He can't cope and we want closure. We need to believe that miracles happen. Choices are made, meetings taken, Where is the risk and the satisfaction? Decisions set in motion cannot be slowed, Jubilation - justice is served! He is free.  Our brave boy coming home, But rumours surface - he is not true, We have been duped, where is the hero? The ribbons droop, muddied with rain, The flag unyielding in the media maelstrom. I'm interested in how everybody wants to be part of something, to be in the news, to be THE news and to feel a sense of engagement and entitlement in the affairs of others.  In this case, a soldier has been held captive for many years and a difficult and conte...

Panache.  A short poem Some people have it in spades. I don't.

Passion Persuasive Actualised Selfish Sensual Incremental Only Necessary This is a great subject for a poem but has to be satisfied with an acrostic due to time constraints!

Brains Brains on the table This mass holding memories Creating a self Unique being, giving love A spark in the world gone out