Returning from the wintry dark
That dims the world outside
Where in the park the snowflakes dance
And frozen shadows hide
You lean out of the window frame
Chipped and freckled paint
The river flows like time outside
And evening's light grows faint
Shirtless men in dirty clothes
Earthen cups in endless rows
Love upon a tearstained face
On a dusty darkened road
Visions swim before your eyes
Songs living in your head
Ghosts of fingers that have grasped
And tears that you have shed
You whisper in the darkened hall
The ghosts of thought reply
That no-one built of flesh and blood
Can hear the verse you sigh
Breathing couplets in the dark
Though none but you can hear
Soft sestinas in the park
Where snowflakes melt like tears
And if the mermaids sing to you
Though they sing not to the rest
Write down what they say to you
For poet, you are blessed
Poetry like raindrops fall
On rooftops parched and dry
Love songs that ring true and sharp
Are mingling with the sky
Halos under street lights dim
Silence that can scream
Cigarette ends that tell you more
Than men can ever dream
Turn the ashes back to flame
Rainbows back to dreams
All the beauty in the world
Is pouring out in streams
Some of us are made of words
This world is just a book
Love is just a paper cut
That you for more mistook
Words and metre, thought and rhyme
And if perchance to dream
Think not of me as any more
Than a stray sunbeam
That flitters through your temple's roof
And lights the still dark room
Where motes of silver dust arise
And dance with your own gloom
That dims the world outside
Where in the park the snowflakes dance
And frozen shadows hide
You lean out of the window frame
Chipped and freckled paint
The river flows like time outside
And evening's light grows faint
Shirtless men in dirty clothes
Earthen cups in endless rows
Love upon a tearstained face
On a dusty darkened road
Visions swim before your eyes
Songs living in your head
Ghosts of fingers that have grasped
And tears that you have shed
You whisper in the darkened hall
The ghosts of thought reply
That no-one built of flesh and blood
Can hear the verse you sigh
Breathing couplets in the dark
Though none but you can hear
Soft sestinas in the park
Where snowflakes melt like tears
And if the mermaids sing to you
Though they sing not to the rest
Write down what they say to you
For poet, you are blessed
Poetry like raindrops fall
On rooftops parched and dry
Love songs that ring true and sharp
Are mingling with the sky
Halos under street lights dim
Silence that can scream
Cigarette ends that tell you more
Than men can ever dream
Turn the ashes back to flame
Rainbows back to dreams
All the beauty in the world
Is pouring out in streams
Some of us are made of words
This world is just a book
Love is just a paper cut
That you for more mistook
Words and metre, thought and rhyme
And if perchance to dream
Think not of me as any more
Than a stray sunbeam
That flitters through your temple's roof
And lights the still dark room
Where motes of silver dust arise
And dance with your own gloom
