08 January 2024

rain calls up

I saw dad's number 
on my phone
and wondered if he 
feels alone
up on the mountain 
with the rain on his head
while I'm snug and dry 
in a warm comfy bed

what if I called him, 
what would he say?
maybe I need to listen 
in a different way
to the drips on the leaves, 
to the splat on the ground
the vibrations of the earth 
hold me safe and sound

he answers with 
the percussion of water
fingers on my back, 
a hug from my daughter
bit by bit, 
I drop my defences
I can hear dad now 
with all of my senses

13 December 2023

epacris

life is close to death

balance comes from being wobbly

does your heart ache like mine?

yeah, probably


what are we learning today?

what makes a tree keep growing?

i have to stay here now

while you, my love, keep going

04 September 2023

writing on the wall

how can I write

about climbing?

my body moves up 

my pen moves down

over the rock

over the page


the regular pauses 

are the same

searching for a handhold

the right word

a crack to place protection

a feeling to hold my heart


the blank rock

the empty page

the line of weakness

the easier way


the easiest way is

not do it at all

not delve your thoughts

not risk a fall


that leads nowhere

we learn nothing new

fear cannot be conquered

but can teach us something true 

08 June 2023

stranded

I can see 
what I do
as if 
from afar
I look like 
a character
on a train
and when 
other passengers 
get on 
the plot 
shifts
so subtly
as to be
meaningless

the train
continues
but something 
remains
everywhere
the feeling
that we
keep moving 
to avoid
the conclusion
we are
stranded

04 April 2023

upstream

set your hopes afloat 

on the river

let them sail away 

to deliver


a message of love 

downstream

wake up my dear

from your troubled dream


i won't 

see you again

i hear your voice

now and then


yesterday 

we were a team

now i'm walking alone 

upstream

05 September 2022

 Long way together

You woke me in the morning.

You got me out of bed.

We ran a long way together,

then you let me go ahead.


Where this path goes now

I don't really know.

You said, "I have to leave you."

So for now, I'll let you go.

03 July 2022

hands in the earth

there's a growing feeling

that i may not be

the first human

to feel sad


after rain

water wriggles its way

creating and following 

a path


how can sadness 

be old and new?

choose one or the other

for fuck's sake


when the land 

takes me back

how will it know

my name?


hands will remember 

and perhaps

we'll hold 

each other with love