Sheet of ice
stands tall and thin.
It sweats.
Droplets escape and flee,
dribble and fall
splash and gone.
Sheet of ice
stands proud
but trembling
with every shudder.
Stumbling along
a pot-holed road.
Droplets explode
with every crash.
Sheet of ice
stands shivering,
never melting.
“Dinner for one”
she chimes down the phone,
perky, polite, positive.
Chicken fried rice,
prawn crackers on the side.
30 minutes?
See you soon!
She bustles and tidies,
sets up the film.
Candles, dims lights,
a relaxing night in.
Dinner is served.
“Dinner for two?”
“Just one,” she smiles
at the waiter,
scuffles to her seat,
composed, head down,
eyes on the floor.
Quietly content,
a blush in her cheeks.
Orders, waits, eats.
The highlight of the night.
“Dinner for one?”
He asks across the counter
Bleep
scans the chicken korma
she nods, lips pursed,
packs bags without a word.
Chip and pin, receipt,
turns to leave.
Back to an empty home.
Satisfied stomach,
starving heart.
Always dinner for one.
So let us chat then, you and I.
I type it out, await reply.
Her window’s open, message seen
My boldness laid across her screen.
With baited breath my fingers hover;
I watch and wait,
Time ticks by.
Still no reply…
So how should I presume?
Webchat icon?
No, too soon.
On the feed the people post and tweet
Looking for something good to eat.
I stand and walk,
Wipe my brow.
There will be time,
Once we chat.
Sudden movement, what was that?
Just an ad.
A pop-up window nuzzles the screen,
Dances, flashes across my screen,
Persuading, seducing,
Potentially interrupting.
I shake the mouse,
Blank screen resumes.
My pathetic attempt still stands alone;
A conversation unconsummated.
And now it’s time for some KFC.
Username.
Password.
I re-enter the room;
Browse the faces, scan the names.
I know them all, I’ve known them all already.
Messaged each til dawn,
From evening to morning, morning to afternoon.
General chit-chat, cyberdates;
I have measured out my life in status updates.
They know me already, I know them all,
Their lives splattered across Facebook walls.
On the feed the people post and tweet
Looking for something good to eat.
Lonely men
Flirt with lit up screens in dark rooms,
With lust consumed,
They seek a flash of pleasure,
Their greasy hair combed over
Dishevelled brows overhanging dark eyes
Bookended with wrinkles.
Their fingers feed lies
To hopeful girls sprawled across Hello Kitty sheets,
Writhing with delight, twiddling their feet,
A guilty blush in their cheeks.
So how should I presume?
Any one will do,
Yet she may be one who,
Settling her laptop by her pillow
Might sigh and say,
“He is not what I want, at all.”
Would it be worth it in the end?
After endless revisions,
Constant typing, never sending.
To make the decision, ask the question
– what question?
Aye, there’s the rub.
For therein lies the potential for rejection.
Would it be worth a try?
If only the Wi-Fi
Could transmit my true feelings!
What I really want to say…
Could convey the words that are truly mine,
Compress my emotions into a single line
Or perhaps
Just give me courage enough to simply type…
“Hello.”
But the tension mounts,
The pressure builds too great
For a mere kilobyte to hold the weight.
Oh, to be able to say all that I mean,
To be truly seen
In a handful of symbols
Illuminated in liquid crystals.
To be alone with her
In a single connection
Among billions of bits and bytes.
Alone to talk of she and I…
But then her searching eyes would scan
My feeble lines.
See through the words and through the chat,
See the flaking skin and balding scalp.
She would laugh, Ctrl C, Ctrl V,
And then the world would see;
The laughing, mocking, twittering world
Would see…
So I silently retreat.
My words are plain for her to see,
Yet no word replies to me.
Should I make the attempt again?
Do I dare to post a tweet?
I wring my hands
My cursor flashes
Blink blink blink
Still a blank.
I grow bold… I grow bold…
The sweat upon my brow grows cold.
Should I type another word? Do I dare to shut it down?
I shall wash and shave and hit the town,
In smoke, liquor and women drown.
I do not think that they will speak to me.
I have lingered too long in the virtual ether,
Entangled in cables hugging the seabed,
Buried beneath the surging radio waves.
Human voices cannot wake me;
I have already drowned.
Just find it so had to say
something to you without
you gotten offended
Shouldn’t say horrible
things ten
I didn’t men it the way you
took it
Whatever don’t want
to now bye
Please let me explain
You don’t need too. You’ve
said enough already
But you took it the wrong
what
*way
Oh ok yeah it’s my fault
that’s fine ten
No I’m not saying that I
was meningitis that you
didn’t take it the way I
meant it
*meaning
So what did you meant
then?
It’s hard to explain
Can I call?
No
I’m busy
Just for two minutes so
I can see if your ok
I’ll be fine when you
leave me along
I won’t cos your my
friend and I won’t gave
up, please take to me
I’ve said all I need to
sat to you
We’re done I don’t want
to now. I’ll block your
number
😦
I just what you to now
what I really meant
before you decode not to
talk to me again
It was petty clear what
you meant
What you think I meant
and what I did mean are
two different things
Ok so I guess I’m wrong
then
No but whatever I said
that offended you, I’m
sorry
If you don’t even now
what it was then I can’t
forgive you
So our friendship’s over
cos of a misunderstanding?
Our friendship’s over
cos your not a friend
What about all the either
times I’ve been there for
you?
*message send failure*
ackchul
sickae it aw man
this hoose, they waines
he’s it thi pub
agaein
it’ll be a fight thi night
agaein.
lekkie’s oot,
oota fags.
ahve naeb’dy.
ma pals?
aye right.
skanks talkn buhind ma back
stirrn it
jis fir sumhn ae talk aboot.
easyer ae stahy in thi hoose
peacefuw, quiat,
ah kin furget evrehin.
jis wan pill, mebe two,
an am gid fir thi night.
bit wit aboot thi mornen?
och, mebe ah’ll tek a couple mare,
jis this wance.
ah’ll be fine.
time used to flow unceasingly
the earth arching round
endlessly tumbling spinning
before a glowing ball
suspended in distant space
light would rise and fade
darkness deepen and dispel
over the crests
of the rolling planets
all without a pause
all beautiful
time was infinite
with ever changing seasons
colours in constant flux
blue morphing radiant red
melting orange yellow
dispelling
snow falling
seeds pushing towards daylight
the earth growing alive again
because time never stopped
Now.
Time.
Is.
A.
Digit.
Counted.
Calculated.
Clear-cut.
And.
When.
It.
Stalls…
We are lost.
whispers of steam
drift up from the cup,
swirling and swimming in the air.
I inhale, sip, place,
write.
sitting in the corners
of library bars and cafes,
I linger on the borders of your vision.
watching, thinking, writing.
my pencil carves trenches on the page,
mapping out your lives.
you don’t see me,
but I see you,
hear you,
know you.
your mundane movements,
your regular routines,
never deviating from
your strange habits,
your ticks,
your fidgets.
you wander in,
run out for class.
the clock ticks your day away
as you read, chat, sip.
you’re captured in a thought,
processed,
bled out onto a page.
a collage of voices and faces,
a medley of lives.
each unique in the world,
all the same in the library café.
Fire has no place here.
The silent evil
creeps, fingers, sleeks
its way
into homes, streets,
childrens throats.
Attempting to peel away their skin,
crawl under it
and fall asleep.
A screaming siren thunders.
The predator is hunting
its flickering prey.
Reaches crossroads
earth stops turning
balances on its axis
a man freezes mid-stride
hesitant
on the crossing
a colossus of red charges by
Make way for the warriors.
The relentless flames
endlessly feed
without hesitation.
The fighters will do likewise.
Water shall consume fire.
Clocks tick, bodies rot,
leaves flourish and colours fade;
the true face of Time.
Headlights bounce, shimmer,
hurtle on through blackest night.
Evanescent, gone.
My Sound and Fury 