Heart

John Mayer Reminder 5:8

Love ain’t a thing,
love is a verb.
Love is giving
and commitment,
an adventure
for star-crossed souls.
But when adventure
is too much
for a weary body,
love is time.
Love is every hour
of dedication,
every day of old stories,
every year of
anniversary.
It is the conversations
and songs
and, if one is lucky,
the slow dance.
Love ain’t a thing,
love is a verb.

Nighttime Embraces

It’s simple really,
what I want.
I want nighttime embraces.
I want a hand to fit mine.
I want tears to end in comfort,
not solitude.
I want lips to kiss
and a heartbeat to feel,
and sometimes I want something more.
I want a friend,
a someone who won’t mind a cheesy ending,
a captain over rough waters
and an artist on dry land.
I want comfort, just comfort.
I want imperfect perfection,
nothing more or less.

Lyrics

These words are easy,
their melody kind,
and I’ve written hundreds
of these in my time.
But for every poem
that I have penned,
I would give each one up
to write lyrics again.
The best of myself
came with a voice
that sounded like Heaven
had lent angel’s noise.
I would take every word
and weave it in song,
and the voice would carry
each word along
into ears
and into hearts,
and my lessons in failure,
I could impart.
It was never perfect,
but my words were raised up
with each note added
to reach just enough.
I miss the piano
and I miss the guitar
and I miss how my words
could be raised above par.
And for every poem
that I have penned,
I would give each one up
to write lyrics again.

Memories in the Dark

When the cold of winter is settling in,
when distracting normality is gone for a moment,
when the only noise left is the buzz of the television
and the dragging of feet on carpet,
and when I am here in my dark kitchen alone…

When I am faced with nothing more than myself,
I remember the things beyond the material.
Flesh is nothing for a moment,
and the happy soul is all to recall.

When I remember flesh,
I wish for nothing.
When I remember a kindred spirit,
I wish for yesterdays to return
and oceans to disappear.

Homes

A month away from these whirring computers
and the delight of my own bed
made me miss a home I never thought I had.
The wind and sand of that far off place
made me realise how singular, how unique,
my own sands were.
I met place after place that was like my own,
but ultimately I knew that none were home.
And now I am here, I am home;
I have a book at my hands
and a brother to my left
and family just down the street.
And while most of me is happy,
that one part remains…
The family I learned I had in another place,
another land,
makes me miss a second home
I never thought I had.

If It Were Real

I wish Dr Who was real;
not only because it would mean
a fantastical world of hopes
and dreams, not only because
infinity would finally be
finite, and not only because
I would no longer feel
like the only outlier. I wish
it was real because despite
oceans and winds and people
between us, despite the only way
to see your eyes being through
a one-way window, despite
knowing that the only way
to hear your voice is
through memories, everything
would seem so much smaller.
If it were real, you would seem
so much closer. If it were real,
maybe I’d only miss you
half as much.

Garden of Roses

There’s a garden of roses
outside of my room
and the roses do grow
while new flowers bloom.
I keep planting more,
the flowerbed grows
with every new
and perfect rose.
But the problem is,
with perfection that is,
that roses will wilt
against every wish.
Into time’s arms
the roses will fall;
eventually, each of them,
one and all.
But such is the grandness
of precious life:
it’s filled with ups
and downs and strife.
It’s the way that it is,
the way that life goes
for every single
perfect rose.
So forever, I
will plant one more;
an eternal garden
at my door,
and maybe time
will grant just one
that never wilts,
or until I’m done
it will survive,
a perfect rose
in sync with my
own crooked nose.
I don’t need perfect,
just perfection
to echo me,
be my reflection.
I will wait
until it grows
amongst my flowers:
my perfect rose.