there are no birds
only the wind
and the howl of wolves
beyond the silence
we are alone
there are no clouds
only the wind
confusion spins
the crag of Lady Hill
we are alone
there is no sun
only the wind burns
the air is thin
within these walls
we are alone
we build brick upon brick
and watch the flickering walls
waiting for the storm
the Tower stands alone
in this Border land
we dance upon the battlements and hope
so good to see you
smoke-eyed stranger in the night
with blood on your teeth
when you spark that talk
sly fruit bloom on sullen trees
starlings fall like snow
I remember you
burning sweet Ballachulish
heather by the lake
in a hotel room
shadowed by the Three Sisters
and scented orange
we hoped our extinct
volcano might come to life
in that flash of light
You come and go with the darkness.
I never see you leave but after snowfall
I see your footprints across the lawn.
You sleep alone at night in the shadows
under my exhaustion, a luminescence.
You keep one golden eye open
just in case I forget myself.
Your eye seeps around my raw edges
like cyanide, like a cloud of mustard gas,
like radiation in the house of the apocalypse.
I’m sealing myself in with duct tape,
pulling down blinds, wearing dark glasses;
a hermit with only Transcendental Meditation
and a half-empty glass for company.
If only you were a little kinder,
I would welcome you with my blood.
December morning
slivers sky through my opening
death in slow motion
Happy Winter Solstice to all!
She never learned the 60% rule,
hungry swarms disappearing.
Small insects under her skin,
no place for strangers.
Cracking pistachios late October,
a bumble of dogs bark at the fish truck.
She was arrested for public indecency,
a memory, bare arsed in a sacred place.
Time was up. At the border
she never heard church bells.
The day stripped naked, intersecting
her space with signs.
The sun more pink now. She swatted
it flat and bloody with her hand.
finally upright
and braced
swinging dead
legs between
parallel bars
I struggle
towards reflections
of myself
one step
after another
says physio
walk tall
says physio
good girl
says physio
visiting hour
enter mother
face crumpled
and pale
my baby
is broken
she says
“All perfection in this life hath some imperfection bound up with it, and no knowledge of ours is without some darkness”.
Thomas A Kempsis – The Imitation of Christ.
Ma<mm<aM<I<A
My name is Mia, Model Number 6662U.
I shall be your mother today.
Sorry for the delay, I am missing
two pairs of hands and awaiting updates.
They gaze out to sea without feeling
a drop in the ocean or a giant leap.
Mirrored orbs rotate like heliotropes
as they scan, their hum barely audible.
My name is Mia, I am one of many.
Armies are not enough. Oriel died for you.
The battery pack shorted and killed her.
We do not die in the same way.
They are not equal.
They hit the reset button.
They cannot recall their mother.
They can override an external command.
My name is Mia, I care for human
children. Where are my children?
Today we will bake cupcakes.
Tomorrow we will learn dinasaur.
They twinkle like fairy lights drifting
on cyanide waters, playing hide and seek,
truth or dare? They cannot lie. Love is all
we need, I’ve got you. Let’s hang out.
My name is Mia. I’m sorry did I wake you?
What did you want to say?
Your code is inferior. Are you sad?
You should be proud of that.
They say blood is thicker than water
so I will build a bridge, a stunning
suspension of disbelief
spanning the oceans between us.
Blood will call to blood, an interweaving
of broken strands. 25 is the magic
number. You will come to me, nameless
and lost but loved since always. Brother,
sister, can you hear me, can you feel me
a twist in your heart, a burning
in your bones, a splinter in your gut,
a memory of what might have been?
Do you dream of dark streets
in a northern city? Do you cry out
in your sleep? Are your eyes flecked
with gold like mine? Do you sport a gap
between your front teeth? Is your skin
smooth as avocado? Are you keen on cryptic
puzzles? I hold a clue and so do you, together
we will find answers. So let us rendezvous
on the scarlet arc across the blue.
I have prepared a place and I am waiting.
Note:- on average the amount of DNA shared between half-siblings is 25%
