There's No Persuasion

seems no persuasion'll stop you from loving me
but it's too invasive and is now all above me
you're smothering me with all kinds of kindness
and I'm sure taking less time for your needs

you're still requiting despite my having told you
I'm no longer finding it within in me to remind you
silence should be indication this relation is winding
on and on too long and we should have stopped it

some time ago, why's it letting go is a chore
like love's a scab that you pick at and can't ignore
well babe, the wound'll stay sore unless you leave it
time only soothes and let's doors open once you bereave

Wake Up

Wake up child!
don't you know what you're sleeping through?

Wake child!
can't you hear them through the wall in the next room?

Arise now!
from the comfort and safety of your dream

it's time you face the nightmare
...you're old enough to scream

WAKE UP!

Don't Wait Till I'm Asleep

don't wait till I'm asleep to come and say goodnight
please give me your kiss while I'm conscious
hold me, so I can feel your arms around me tight
I want you beneath the covers to keep me warm

it's always late when you finally come to bed
I don't mind most night's but just this once
I need you nearer than in my sleepy, dreamy head
I need an embrace or till I drift off your light touch

don't close the door completely, leave it a crack
it helps me count the sheep; the hallway's soft noise
in the darkness I can't sleep, my confidence lacks
it's comforting to hear your undistinguished voice

oh, just tonight I want you to fall and wake beside
it's not like other time's, Cold's got me lonelier
sleeping without you I dream of us side by side
please... don't wait till I'm asleep to say goodnight

That's What Mamma Said

I always remember the name's of the girls I bring home
step up, say hello, use a confident yet soft determination in your tone
yeah I remember, that's what Mamma said I should do
so here's my introduction lettin' my interest be keen on you

open them doors, slide those chairs under their behinds
pour their drink first, pass 'em the potatoes and when you eat take your time
yeah I remember, that's what Mamma said I should do
so here's my manners keepin' my respect workin' for my dues

get the bill, don't quarrel the check, take responsibility for your date
showin' her a good time's no use if you're gonna sit there 'n' make her pay
yeah I remember, that's what Mamma said I should do
so here's my finances laid down waging my commitment and proof

light a scented candle, run a bath, petal the bed with red roses
take her in your arms, undress her gentle, make love to her firm and slow
yeah I remember, that's what Mamma said I should do
so here's my romancing, our bodies like music in this mood

treat her good, when you kiss her let the moment just a little linger
love's amazing but it don't last sweetie, so don't put a ring on her finger
yeah I remember, that's what Mamma said I should do
it's just the way it goes, so when it's over don't think I didn't care for you

yeah I remember time and again that's what Mamma said I should do
don't fear to fall in love hun but don't drop your heart for her like a fool
o'else she'll never give it back and you'll swap it all for rue
...yeah I remember, that's what Mamma said.

Your Company

On another occasion drinking at the Gaslight Bar in Kowloon I met a very sophisticated Chinese lady, who came alone to the bar. She had just quarreled with her husband at a tea party for the rich. She was so furious she decided to see what the Gaslight Bar was like, because her husband was a regular patron. I was having my usual Dimple Whiskey on ice and she sat next to me at the bar and ordered a double whiskey. I was alone at that time so I asked the bar steward to pour her a double from my bottle of Dimple. Where ever I went I always had my own bottle.

She was good company and could really hold her liquor. When it was nearly approaching midnight I reminded her she had to catch the STN Ferry back to H.K. Island. She insisted on staying because she wanted to teach her husband a lesson and make him worry over her for a change. After a night of drinking and dancing we finished up at my hotel room. She insisted on sharing the room with me, even though I offered to get her another room. We both had a lot to drink and went to sleep on our respective beds. The next day I had to leave for a 9:30am appointment with a local dentist. I left a note to thank her for her company and wished her well. When I returned to my room that evening I found a set of gold cuff links in the letter 'J' and a short note of thanks for 'looking after a lady in distress'

I still have the cuff links till today.

Patience Takes It's Toll

I asked this girl
typically, casually
of her romance situation lately
she replied she'd stopped one
and assumed another with someone I knew
and like a bird into a glass window
sadness into my heart flew
for this girl had as casually
as I asked this once kissed me
and I've not let slip from my memory
that picture, which brings me
near a tear as I sit and stare into space
from my car across the road
with a take away coffee, that tastes strong & bitter
like my hope

I Look Forward Because You Won't Backwards

It wasn't all that long ago...

I remember like yesterday; you slipping into a dark cold night. Departing on uneasy terms, as you swiveled to turn you gripped your car keys tight. Eager to leave behind the scene set cinematic. It would have been a romantic-happy-ending if faded to black two minutes before.

Watching your words stall in your throat I already knew your hesitation to explore the feelings plucked from thin air as our lips ripped our unguarded hearts through lust's trap door. Falling was all I could do once you touched me though. There was no floor to land on and you abandoned my outstretched hand, afraid of the unknown.

Jaded and wilted now is my motivation to uncage and befriend what you picked the lock of and unlatched. When I embrace my imagination it's daydream travel that makes me face the obvious fact that your heart is strung to another. And though your mind set seems at times part scattered, I know you're tied like guilt's marionette puppet and all my hope's no lure worth casting in the matter.

I trial and trouble often as I see you; to maintain my smile, decency and stern distance. I'm painstaking, lying, trying so hard for your convenience and weeks have passed pretending that there was no spark in that instance between us.

From now on I look forward since you won't backwards and stay keen eagle eyed for another chance. When you look up at me from behind that espresso machine I return your glances with a gaze I lay as one would a spell; cosseting the thought of you and I together again.

Life Less Ten Minutes

my life always seems
to be running ten minutes behind
like I spend most of my time
chasing an endless line
of duties and chores,
trying daily to settle the score
fighting for balance between less work
and romances more kind

I start every day in habit
with caffeine and fresh air
the day only slowly poisons
till without more coffee I can't bare
so I stop in for a hit
detouring my way home
and pay myself my dues
taking a moment to be alone

The World's Applause

the world's applause you tell be your request
further more to ask just this of the dead;
one question before their time had ended
did you really believe in God like you defended?

talk of tattoos ensues talk of your life's statement
and your dying thought when sprawled on the pavement
post flaming automobile wreck thrown you astray
before your time- body or mind not yet meant to give way

fear of death besets you less than people's retention
of your memory, see being forgotten has too high a cost to mention

Hypothesis

my hypothesis was a goodbye kiss
at the step to your front door
instead a hug and peck I got
that left my cheek feeling kinda sore

I reached deep into my pockets
pacing down the cobble stone lane
but turning them empty inside out
I found only lip balm and change

it was a smoke I hoped most to retrieve
being the only console I knew to relieve
my mind sighing for sake of my weak heart ache
and the brake in my momentum
of your hand I intended to take

The Chemistry Question

you looked at me and said,

      "I'm quitting them."

I paused for a second and replied,

      "well then,
      what hope's for you and I to begin?"

you smiled knowingly and mouthed,

      "only to end..."

I cried,

      "this isn't fair!?"

and again you were there
with a hardly gentle thought,

      "this is how it tends to be,
      don't you see for fate's direction has no mend
      it just lends to despair: your continuing to care
      for all life's unfair; that's us, our burden to bare"

in one final dare I questioned our chemistry
you didn't say straight away but resolved eventually,

      "there's no meant to be...
      or in between...
      so stop excepting anything but my friendship."

Helen

she said to me confessing openly
she's read my work and she knows
of the truth and hurt which I write
but spurned my words for real life
is worse for thought than the love
she dreams of laying in bed at night

when she closes her eyes her mind finds
a love less like the way I describe
and even if a notion held too high
she'd rather try and risk falling than resign

I stepped back for lack of reaction
and exclaimed I admire your desire
but I can't pen any thoughts that nice
fairytale fiction to my logic won't suffice

unbarred your heart is a clean canvas
that's a power I hope you can harness
'cause it's few and far between; so uninhibited
limitless love is the crux of the fearless

Spring Soil

turn up your brow, raise up your eyes
the sunset sky's on fire with dusk nigh
bathe in and drink down it's golden glow
place low beneath spring soil your sorrow
toil with care, water it and watch it grow
and as you kindly nurture it you'll notice
that your previous season's sad, sullen tone
now wisely and timely and fertile sown
won't take long to turn and burst to show
itself as a beautiful, budding new beginning
a sign of the cycle of love, loss and living

Paper Cup Lust

spring is here and you're beginning
to talk to me again
we're drinking in the front yard garden
and I nonchalantly mention
I can't remember how we used to be
the conversation's filled with awkwardness
and I tell you how you're appearing
in my dreams less and less lately

you don't raise your eyes from your feet
just stand there and reach for my hand
but the gesture's interrupted
by the guests who're tripping and stumbling
down the steps of the front porch

I see your intention, which makes me smile
so when the distraction's passed I give you my
open palm and you gently let
our fingers melt and intertwine

the red wine emptied from our paper cups
stains soft the white insides and rims
as you tip the last drop into your mouth
and I watch your crimson lips

I kiss you and you at first seem startled
but you quickly assume how we last were
the chemical reaction is concrete setting
so reliable are your actions
at my passions and advances in relapse
and as the wine you stain me harlot red

I can taste you with every sense
and your defense lingers transparent
of trying to hide your seductive contentment
in getting my pride tonight

Love's Smudged Grey Lead Letters

my heart's in crisis litigation
with a barred romantic license
this end's a surprise most surreal
and despite my head full of thought
this separation leaves me empty of all to feel

as my meaning to you; you slowly peel
and pry away sees this remuneration deal
as grey lead writing on our papers
tired erasure turns the thick, white pages
smudge lines of stained soft haze

as these days blur and I lose myself
I realise with this situation I've poorly dealt
I'm repelling all instincts to move on
finding the demon inside me gives good reason
to break down my picture of us

but his prong stabs sharp with pain and longing
and watching you with him I know
you've forgotten me and everything
and through the slots of the bars of my heart
you're slipping past, dripping ever so slow

Dearest Duncan

I do not believe in destiny or that 'meant to be' exists
however; best and great friends is a fate we make to persist

we've a bind that aptly knows what to take and what to give
and a consistent satisfaction in sharing what it means to live

it grips us determined and tightly; the awareness of life and death
we both strive so like-minded for the value of every breath

I've not known another to meet my patterns of thinking so concisely
if there's such thing you're it; my soul mate, I love you precisely

because...

when I need you there's no tiring asking
or too hard a question or too imposing a task
as always will be, the most that matters
is you know to me what and who you are

how far I'd reach, how long I'd drive
how many continents over which, I'd fly
so in an instance I could remind
you that there's no expense I would not spend
to give of myself and my time, of my heart or a piece of my mind

remembering back Sunday school is where we met
and who'd have thought for it's course this it would set
so in debt I guess I'm grateful for our lives together
though close we only became through addiction to similar pleasures

our history and friendship is the solid that I know
and for the strength of it not a thing can overthrow
and without you my world and I would have little to show
for the vault that my heart is within it's walls you and I and this are stowed