Avert Your Eyes From The Happy

liked you more when you were a ghost
calloused fingertips from strumming strings and pressing chords
told me about the words that you formed
mouths shut and songs unsung, littered with sharp late lines.
an art project on the shadows of a male posing for a portrait
I could hardly recognise you beneath it.
palms pressing, pleading against the ice.

well we can’t have each other now
but we can make cakes upon cakes of coated ice chocolate
collect our thoughts crash collision into a plastic bag.
selective picking, dull to bright
save the best for last of everything.
the taste can last forever on, but if it doesn’t we haven’t moved
so follow the tracks to nowhere.

meeting along the river’s rotting edge
cameras mounted and waters rushing and raging a frame
for your shadowed frame kissing liquid cheeks
for your American head pushed properly into a French beret
petals pass and dance and turn into the
whirlpools beneath us
sent by a lover ten thousand miles away by a stream
lone lover waiting by the telephone and looking out for them
but there they are, stuck like beached whales
like penguins on New York City rails.

our dreams are interwoven into weaving spirals
bubbles encircling a school of fish against the backdrops of coral
clearer images on a hazier night
moonlight complimenting only your socks and the sky.
beneath the surface our hosts are the sharks in the salad
we’ll breathe underwater and we won’t rise to the surface again.

aquarium lights reflect aqua shades against turquoise eyes
avert them from the happy couple spilling sparks on the pavement
that’s just their greed and your jealousy.
save the best for last of everything
tread the worst and best tracks to nowhere.