blood

mineral green

what can I tell you

about

swift-moving morning-mineral water

cold and clean

when the world pauses

insects scream

the trees watch

ancient and serene

above a sandy bottle-green

river bed

so pure

dimpled surface like

a music-box cylinder

our arms the combs

in tune

her hair in curls

at her neck

my feet kick

like a child’s

below

in the depths

so clear it looks near

tearing the blue

of our kids’ licked-lenses

off our eyes

so

the ungoggled

colours slant sepia

in a heartbeat

like blood, like 80s photographs

the tint

of old leaves

oh

how can I explain

the magic of that

scene

 

Photo by Irene Aguilera Blanco on Unsplash

Streak – with audio

I didn’t touch you

for months and weeks

and it grew cold

yet bright and dry

in those shining mornings

we would fly through

the world, rounding on

rock shelves and

my heart lifted as the

ache set in deeper

feet cruel and

whispering to stop please

why oh why can’t you

listen when we speak

throwing you down

in sacrificial streak

like gravel, like blood, like steak

ignored until a louder voice

must shriek and tear

away tissues and strings

destruction looms

if only you’d touched me

sooner, soothed or

seen my toil

we might not be in

this awful spoil

 

Recording of ‘Streak’ https://on.soundcloud.com/pnvXB

 

Blood

every woman knows

how to wash

blood from cloth

so it disappears

you might see the shadow of the stain

if you know how to look

oh, we hear the whispers

secret shames, not saying names

like we know the ache of

cold hands

cracked with soap

to soak blood away

tendrils shift and flow but

no, never be new again

blood, blood, indelible and

has War been declared?

or merely a parable

as we breathe battle cries

in soft, lipstick-smears

but

don’t underestimate the touch

the shrill, strident, bossy, quiet, nurturing clamour

of those who ken

how

to out blood

because we know how

know when,

oh, me too

minor, major, doesn’t matter

the wound sits

dark, underneath

and maybe it’s time

to win a battle

crack silence, a shot

and

take a little ground

do not, do not, underestimate the power

of those whose life is bound

in blood and shadows

do you feel it? The rising awe, the gore

I can taste blood. Blood! I can taste

a shift. blood

Blood,

I can taste…

victory

 

 

Added to dVerse open link night