Contact List

You, name on the list
An entry among many
I'll be taking the risk
Of catching you surly

Do you love where you live?
Does your desk see a window?
Does every Friday bestow
Casual shirts, ties festive?

Did you imagine, years ago
Your dreams light, brain heavy
A face fresher, a sleek torso
Others, not you, were phoney

I tick you off, I made
My attempt to reach you
On that list you fade
Metaphorically

Whenever I'm Alone With You

Leaving my parents' house early
To avoid awkward conversation
I will be older, more successful
I will move to a central location

Were you dropping hints to me
When we laid there together
Were you expecting something
From me, to take us further

Will you still need me
When you are more fulfilled
Will you still think of me
When you're closer to your goals

I smelled your scent on my T-shirt
I may have been wrong
To be satisfied

The crimes of time

Youth doesn't pay the bills
Your dreams get weighed down
By the hollowness of wallets
After the ring of cash tills

Beauty won't keep you with me
As my hairs wilt to grey
As my veins start to pop
Love never stays free

The kids need their tutoring
The lawn needs their watering
The house, it needs upgrading
What I'm simply saying
Is that bills need paying

Commuter

Forty minutes from one end to another
Still another twenty til home
Headphones cater for my self-pity
So glad to be alone

To have been brave to make demands
Say what I want done
To have blocked out the words
That ruin my fun

Throwing my body down on the bed
Tomorrow another 24 hours
I'll sleep when I'm dead
For now I live out my worries

The 50%

On your application, it was all
Aspirations of social mobility
For your motivation, it was mostly
Caffeine pills and short fixes

For your family, it was all
Our boy can be exceptional
In your urge to please, it was key
To show you as how others see

Three years wait, now here you are
Smiles ready for capturing
Nerves ready for releasing
Dreams ready for realising

The day, it always seemed so far
And finally, there you are
On page 24 of the brochure
Size 10 font, class of 2011

In My Heart It Was So Real

Back into the swing of things
Back into the throes of obsession
If this bird ever had wings
The cage around it is infatuation

Just wanted to talk the hard talk
That I can be alone and free
It's impossible to walk the real walk
And deny myself my needs

There's a rock on my back
Emotions compressed over time
I don't know how to crack
And follow the fault lines

Enough fingerprints on keyboards
Enough recantations in the dark
Pain and coping is what life's for
Sometimes it's vague, sometimes stark

The Dog and its Reflection

Business transactions do nothing for the soul
Drowning it in schedules and meetings
Underneath white shirts and ironed ties
The childish heart that wants to fly

Name checks, awareness, subliminal
Advertising, but what other route
Is there in a competition?
There can be no completion

When battles are won, prizes lose
All allure, when wants are met
The needs seem so irrational
Magic lives in the unobtainable