In the grate, the shivering flames
hungrily wrap their lips around logs
The boards above me creek
my wife haunting somewhere
the baby's hands reach out
wave before its sleeping eyes

The wind is howling...

The smiles on our faces as we galloped down the aisle
making sense of scattered photograph moments
but I can't remember why
can't think of anything but waiting
and doing everything...

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Cutting to the heart of all this longing
is it the vicious tongue you wag at me
or the perpetual mystery hanging from your actions
the contradictions of your possible state of mind

I see the hurt, I feel the pain you carry
and sense the urge to be desired by men
the flirt of all you do rings loudly before you
and against my better judgement
I can’t help but come swimming back to your sho...

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Getting acquainted with the moon 
behind glass
we exchange so many glances
and on my back
a thousand heart-attacks roll past
My fingers beside, cross and uncross
as you sleep, so black
back in the real world
paid up entirely
on your subscription
to actual reality

O would you bring me a souvenir
from the envious depths of endless peace
perhaps a child or a patient nurse
or some cont...

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Out driving our first cars at night
snaking the blackness of North East country roads
I'd flick the headlights off
hear the girls scream
then back on and we'd crack up laughing

In our town, there wasn't much to do
but wander looping streets 
haunt the park outside of college
blow house to house, see who was home
or spend it lying in your bedroom laughing

When you and Chris split, he ...

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O, the house looks like a painting
we can't agree on anything
what I want is meaningless to you
what you want awkwardly remains obtuse
and unreadable

O, the house looks like a painting
no longer are we in step with anything
you casually slighted something
I spent the morning trying to unpack it
to understand you

It's corrosive
it's unsustainable
it's the only way we know to be

I...

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On some night-time road
with only the distant moon
or your dimming torch 
meting its weak light out

Do not be afraid of getting lost
some new thing 
may come to you there 
on the path that you can't see
some great thing may surprise you

On that long journey 
towards day's promised ending
without a real map 
to study or call upon

Do not be afraid of being wrong
take a chance 
a...

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Writing in circles again
I'm chasing your tail
self-referential 
to edge of pointlessness

The nihilistic streak in me
vibrates at the thought of you
It's like I take my pulse
while getting your name tattooed

You've got your phantom hook in me
just deep enough to tear
welcome back
o, welcome back...

The most concise statement I ever etched
the most desperately impassioned verse s...

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I would not say this heart is hungry
I dare not say this heart is heavy
I only know now, a surer sense of all I want
a clearer description of what will fire
the drive, the rush, the love in me

If we're not going out tonight
then can we just sit and giggle
at each other, at the TV, at the others
can she laugh with me, make fun of me
until we have tears in our eyes, can’t breathe

When ...

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With eyes closed
I'm morning mellow
and grateful

Survived another crash
the screech of a derailment
isn't mine this time
but it only gets later 
in the day of my life
my luck must be spilling out
soon to all be spilled

Morning mellow, with eyes closed
still invincible 
at thirty seven

Beyond the pane
summer wind rips
licks at the glass
makes me feel small
and safe, for now

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With years piling up around us
the shape we make, gets whittled more precisely
tongue and groove lock ever tighter
I want to spell it out
the way we did when we were younger
I want to paint my love across his skin
but I'm stopped
before I try
my body gets in the way...

The house swaddles us so comfy
built a nest from our shared blueprints
complimentary thought in tessellation
I want ...

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What do we have
at the end of our walk
just the smiles on our faces
and a pocketful of rain

I have learned from you all
I have laughed with you all
I have burned for you all
but always, always you'll be gone

What do we have 
at the end of our walk
just the things we have shared
and a pocketful of rain

So grateful to have seen you
I'm honoured to have met you
indebted to your fr...

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At the bar, watching you work
breaking the waves
going cabin to cabin

An opiate look across your eyes
pushing to feel the rush
surging into the night

There's a high between those thighs
you've been falling
for the feeling of falling
hooked 
on the commodity of love

See them capsize
or to splash inside another's eyes
the static shock of fingertips and kisses
the life eclipse
se...

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Friday night we walked along the beach
talking over a static sea
through all we wearily witnessed this year
still we speak in riddles
the way men often can
it only gets harder as you get older
weighted with expectation
You didn't turn to face me
kept your eyes fixed on the horizon
said 'she's pregnant' 
with a pregnant smile

Black boots kicking stones across wet sand
choking out cong...

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