The Baptism.

Weep, child
in time your tears will flood the earth
leaving dashed hopes and faded memories
lost, themselves, amongst waves of regret.

Young dreams may survive the storm,
older souls will be reborn
until all the hurt has been restored.

Fortify your disillusioned expectations,
learn once more to believe in mirages;
yesterday is ours to lose, not to forget.

And when your weeping soaks the planet,
when the salt from your tears turns to ash,
a new sun will rise from the embers;
You shall be the light.

Weep, child
in time your pain will drown the earth
taking with it, to the bottom of the ocean,
harkenings of your childhood monsters.

Masts and sails and ships, Ahoy!
eternity, bless my baby boy.

Pride (of the Pencil Pushing Prophet)

There! I finally did what they dared me to
Half of me is still shaking in utter disbelief
And the other half is in some sorry state of denial
Things like this never bring relief.

Walked right into his office and said-
And i didnt even bother to knock-
Said, "Listen up, Mr. King Boss Master,
No more of this elitist nonsense;
Things are going to change, buddy!"

At this point, the weasel was shifting uneasily,
Working out his fast decreasing options,
King Boss Master was facing an uprising
Well beyond what company policy had outlined;
"After today," I continued, lost in a momentary high,
"Relations between us are going to improve,
Despite what your pay check says, guy!"

And sadly, that was it; i walked out of there
Thinking i had struck a blow for the little man.

Actually, i later reflected, no point was made,
Little sense flowed out of my lips into his head;
Left there in a haste to start scanning the classifieds.

The saddest music.

She said her name was Angel
and it wasnt hard to believe
for when she played the saddest music
the heavens gave her audience.

They'd write poems about her voice
yet she chose to sing to me
and when she played the saddest music
the whole world stopped to listen.

Her falling tears created percussion
only angels cried such miracles
cos when she played the saddest music
the oceans fell silent to hear it.

No one ever knew her lyrics
though she sang them every night
but when she played the saddest music
time paused to pay her attention.

If I could hear her song once more
then maybe I could unlearn it
Oh! how she played the saddest music
the sound of a heart as it breaks.

Malehood.

You leave for school
where you learn the first rule
gotta show them you're a fighter
so you learn to bully and order boys
then you graduate, jeans pulled tighter
trade those in for khaki pants and courdoroys
and polished dress shoes, and far much less booze
you find you've actually grown fed up of the club scene
cant dance thinking of bills, so you switch to the pub screen
to watch Premiership football instead of girls shaking their asses
grinding out chain smoked cigarrettes and pondering over their ashes
more frequent Catholic masses to replace spending time with your vanishing friends
you realise you've watched every movie and you always seem to know how it ends
so you take on existentialism and wonder who's been backseat driving your life
you barely recognise your wife who you only notice when you dont have sex
switch from Ray Ban Shades to those dull yet distinguished specs
your body's not exactly what it used to be anymore
any sport activity leaves you writhing on the floor
next thing you know, gotta use a walking cane
until all you know is the ever-increasing pain
forgetting the things you thought you knew
but when did life forget about you?

Moonwalking on Mars.

Darker sister
Of the night,
Nearly close enough
To see my light,
Give me company,
End my sorrow;
Take me to a brighter tomorrow,
Lay with me
Out of time and place,
Very soon
Every star will light up
Your face;
Darker sister
Of the secret pain,
Vacate this joyless planet;
Escape with me to where only
Yesterday's joys remain.

Prayer (of the pencil-pushing prophet)

Black Tea
in the fractured corporate mug
what are you so smug about?
So brave without the slightest clue
as to who you truly are
or of what's in the stars.

Black Free
where the banished warriors roam loose
whose juice is the blood of rocks
without locks or chains on their feet
dance to the beat of time and history
whose memory is an ancient mystery.

Black Tree
regrettably uprooted from my past
too fast a signal of the end
my dying friend who's lost his shade
so now i wade alone through the dark
searching for Noah's lost Ark.

Black Dream
that never gave me a chance
no thanks for all that i've become
I'm done with everything I'm not
we both forgot how to love each other
awake, i have no brother.

Black Sea
that keeps forever the men it swallows
hidden in the shallows left unfound
beneath a mound of invisible sand
where the hopes of men have sunk
you wont hear me for I am drunk.