17 Licks

17 Licks 

Small fish swim down stream
from deep pools where they were hatched
      spawned a million times

                              
              This small dish of rain
            shines like a plate of bright sun
                  caught in flagrante

    
   Coal fires flame inside
the belly of an engine
       rising to full steam


               Rails glint in moonlight
             frost covers up the edges
                   of a cold platform


    Where the blackbird sings
slow dawn slithers up to see
       who has breakfast first


                Foxes scream at night
             fearing us and attracting 
                    friends for company


     When you sleep my love
 dark night coils around your form
        keeping safe your heart


                 In a tree house topped
             by green leaved branches bending
                     in the wind   you sit


      Full of praise for fun
the small comedian laughed as
         he died of stage fright


                  Pigeons sit above
             the heads of travellers splat
                       by white spots of shit


       Where contention reigns
 sanity is not intact
         conflict batters peace


                   Shoes that do not fit
               pinch the toes  the insteps swell
                        the feet start aching


       Drinking in a pub
  though costly and frowned upon
          socialises you


                    A morning of rain
               before the grass can be cut
                        an afternoon's rest


       That black dress you wore
  we were drinking in that bar
          your legs smooth and brown


                     The sun on hot sand
               burned onto your feet as you
                        ran into the sea


        The garden you dig
   deeper than the depth of soil
           grows from inside you