TEMPERANCE
Blow my trumpet
Thy cradle has seen fit
to clasp reticent finger
around air of simplest minds
{–} inside the confines
of
bought tranquillity
Nights’ tendrils
and maiden’s symphonic lullaby
gave breath the quiet meaning
she so ardently sought
to transpose
And inversely compose
by the white mirror
of his lucid comprehension
(a sombre expanse:)
No provision affixes
to the glares made by unfair dismissal
of ominous hearts,
where prosperity
was the only blatant cause of concern
hushed alcove
is tugging
at a baleful continent
Imperial charm, [the aura
of a bleached sunset]
billowing winds
and effusive tribulation;
our troubles propped easily
upon elbows that caress
Hope
with cartoon momentum
like uninterrupted flames…
Lewd demand is perched haggardly
upon fingers of gnarled courtesy
bulk—
is constructed
with sprawling satisfaction.
~ ~
CORNERED HUMOUR
Did you notice
the lights
were home,
but the grown-ups
were out ? ?
Threading objectives
through the eye
of an
antiquated keyhole…
have they unfinished business?
or are they just suited
to the soundtrack
of their self-neglect?
meanwhile, meticulous envy
is propped against
the broom cupboard
Waiting for
opportunities to build
a makeshift teepee,
[unimpeachably] off-limits
and secured
in unequivocal hectares
Seriously—
was it just an accident?
Or did they really mean
to be so faithfully horrid,
The torrent
of five-star demand
being so-so overwhelming
champagne barricades
For those gaping feelings
we found unfashionable
Protection is safe—
but not always biodegradable.
~ ~
SOFTENED SKETCH
Scenes in the darkened
foreground, like so:
Sooty visitors leaning over
the lovers’ Balcony,
contesting an extraordinary deck
that extends for miles
and miles, reducing to
kilometric centimetres
Am I confusing your function?
raise the quotient
to superscript,
I’m the power of four—
even with one crucial component
missing
clip-on thumb [flanking]
broken index finger,
subtract the common-jointed wrist
Obligations find my skinny pencil
immortalised in
gargantuan manifestations,
stocked up on luxurious carat
They won’t find me
canvassing for
the insoluble mathematician,
I’ve finished the pictures in
my three-tiered application
Call now the gofer—get him to
wrangle more staples
from the centrefold
Bona fide furnishings stand out,
because they sat me behind barbed-wire
until I could articulate
proper drawing;
[no fixtures]
no pastel
Just bold exploits.