Meliae

A children's poem I wrote using the Storybird app:

Meliae

Be my Valentine

Stop by the flowerbeds

And smell the petal scent -

The blood red rush

Of roses

In the verdant air.

Tear the roots

From the soil,

And let the thorns

Pierce your skin

Deeply

With the urgency

Of pain.

Don’t flinch -

This is what

My love for you

Is like.

Displacement.

Red

Blood

Red
Pain.

by Jean-Michel K.

Into Air

I saw the stars

twisting through the void

in great purple clouds

of dust and magic.

I heard the universe

breathing in sunbeams

washed in rolling shores

and cloud.

I saw shooting stars

speak of paradise

across the mountain tops,

and the desert tree

celebrate the burning sun.

I heard the footsteps

of light fall

on ancient rock

whispering stories from

this end of time to that.

And somewhere,

I lost my mind

between midnight

and first light

and you were singing

in space with words
that vanished into air.

by Jean-Michel K.

You Are The Sun

My homage to Billy Collins' "Litany"

YOU ARE THE SUN

You are the sun. You are the sky.
You are the stars that shine
With the midday moon.
You are the sun. You are always the sun.
You are beautiful.

You are the clouds that dance
With the wind. You are the wind.
You are the never-ending silence
Of the storm sky
Before it breaks the rain.
You are the sound
Of thunder.

You are the earth. You are the sky.
You are the colour of flowers.
You are the first glance
In the crowd
When lovers meet.
You are the stars.
You are definitely the stars.
I am the moon.

You are the teardrop -
The lingering sadness
Of the half-forgotten moon.
You are the morning’s first light.
You are all the sunsets.
You are the fire. You are the flames.
You are the storm.

You are the sun I am the moon.
You are the last thought
Before I close my eyes.
You are the sun. You are the stars.
You are the night and I am the moon.

by Jean-Michel K.

Maybe Your Magic is Working

Maybe
your words fell
among the amethyst
quartz and jasper
finding life beneath the soil
under the moss
sending roots
to cedar wood
walnut and maple.
Maybe your words
drifted on the wind
to be mouthed by ghosts
in sounds silent
among the clouds.
Maybe they melted
with the rain and
dappled fountains
danced with inkdrops
before the backlash
when my heart gave in
and the seconds stopped.
Maybe, just maybe
your magic is working.

by Jean-Michel K.

A history lesson

My take on Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues

A history lesson

Unhappy birthday to you!

"Almost always you can bet your bottom dollar that God is going to be on the side of the one who is being clobbered." Archbishop Desmond Tutu

So it was Desmond Tutu's birthday yesterday and I missed it. That always happens. Archbishop Desmond Tutu is South Africa's next big thing after Zoo Biscuits, Jelly Tots and Mandela. He is a Nobel Peace Price winner and really likes the colour purple.

In light of this event here is my poem for the day:

Unhappy birthday to you!

I hope the sun didn’t shine and it rained all day.
I hope you were lonely when no one turned up.
I hope the balloons burst and the decorations were dull.
I hope the clowns cried when their jokes fell flat.
I hope the music was old and the dance-floor dreary.
I hope you were sad when nobody sang.
I hope your fingers burnt when the candles didn’t blow out.
I hope the food was cold and your cake collapsed.
I hope your flowers died and your presents were crap.
Then you’ll see how I could be so blue when I wasn’t there for you.

(by Jean-Michel K.)

There is something splendid about you

There is something splendid about you,
I can see it
In your brown eyes
And the way
You smile
At strangers,
I can see it
In the way
You lift your hands
To the sky
And the sun
Shines.

There is something splendid about you,
I can see it
When you sleep
And the moon
Lights
The silence,
I can hear it
In your stories
Weaved
In make-believe.

There is something splendid about you,
I can read it
When you write,
Because no matter
What you say
The words spell
Kindness
And loveliness
And I know this
Because it’s true.

(by Jean-MIchel K.)

I want to see you naked

I want to see you naked.
I want you to stand
In the centre of the room
While I stop and stare.

I want to see the curve
Of your breasts and
The colour of your skin,
And the way your hair falls
In dust beams and half-light.
I want you to keep still.

I want to watch you forever,
Silently suspended, over there.
I want to feel the brush stroke,
And smell the oil.
I want to imagine the taste of you
On my tongue.

For you I would go crazy.
I would drink whiskey till I drop.
I would piss in puddles on the floor.
I would cut off my ear.

(by Jean-Michel K.)

Elizabeth

Your name is wonderful,
Elizabeth.
Say it slowly …..
whisper it with mystery,
Elizabeth.
Let it fill your mouth
and roll across your tongue
like chocolate,
Elizabeth.
Feel it
           on your lips.
Let it flower in your mind
like daffodils,
beautiful,
like Elizabeth.
Elizabeth.

(by Jean-Michel K.)

The Seashell's Song

Tossed by the hand that turned the tide,
I, who was swept onto your shores,
Lay low under the sun soaked sky.

Furious waves raged against
The stone stubborn rock,
And you, who sat silent in
The moonless night
Pitch-black and star-struck,
Missed the moon to your night.

Soon shined the fiery sun
And you, who chased the wind
Down the sun-dappled path to
Where I lay low, listened to my song
Bringing day to my lightless night.

(by Jean-Michel K.)

Valhalla

Swallowed by an eternal sleep
I saw a Valkryie at my feet
With blazing eyes and fiery hair
She swept me up into the air

Far beyond the clouds we soared
Past the ancient stars that roared
We came upon the Northern Lights
In all the colours of the night

Throughout heaven she did wield
Flashing light from her golden shield
Emerald streams of orange green
Transformed into a yellow beam

Then under banners proudly arched
Maiden warriors and heroes marched
Across the Rainbow Bridge that lies
Before the gates of paradise

(by Jean-Michel K.)

Desolation Angels

I watched him die
Lying there on the bed
His great big human heart
Counting down the beats
Till the blood stopped
And life left his skin

She told me how they met
That summer in sixty-four
Barefoot on the beach
He always made her laugh she said
Right up to the end
Her tears had nowhere to hide now

The room is turning with the tide
Even the moon is drifting through the dark
Lost in space
Isn’t it beautiful?
Doesn’t it make you sad?

Sleep in my arms tonight
Let the world be still
This is all we have
The stars, they shine for no one
Dead men ache for dreams
And we are all alone in the end

(by Jean-Michel K.)

Evening Song

Enter the empty streets
Of the moonless night swept in
Screaming sheets of rain soaked air
In stairwell halls of ghost light lamps
Lit in haunted halls and houses warm
With fireside laughter and supper time
Magic breathing in the corridors of
Dish-washed kitchens packed with bodies
Bathed in oil and scent smelling incense
Turned in beds behind day tired doors
Shut to sleep with fairytales told
Of dragons dead in dreamtime bliss
Shut the book and give me a kiss

(by Jean-Michel K.)

Auld lang syne

Pack away the past

Shake off the mourning

Turn the page

Close the book

Forgive

Let go

Take the time to forget

It’s over now

Be free

Tomorrow

Is almost here

You can see it

In the distance

Where scattered trees

Draw silhouettes

In the sunset

(by Jean-Michel K.)

Goodnight

It’s night time now

and I can see shadows

swirling through

the concrete walls

everywhere.

I can feel my toes

against the sheets

and the blanket

on my chest

and the cool night air

creeping through

the open window

by my head.

I can hear a truck

changing gears

down the road

maybe the driver

is listening

to the late show

on Capital Radio

and thinking

about his girlfriend

and his little boy

back home.

I can hear you

sleeping

next to me

and realise

there is

nowhere else

I’d rather be.

That’s how

lucky

I am.

(by Jean-Michel K.)

You rock my socks and paint my skies with rainbows

I don’t know what words to write

that would make you mine

or how many ways I can say

I love you.

I don’t know any secret spells

or magic incantations

that would make you turn around

and fall in love with me.

I don’t know to what foreign gods

I should pray

or where to put the lucky charms

and talismans.

I don’t know where to hang the mistletoe

to trap you with a kiss

but all I know is how

you rock my socks and paint my skies with rainbows.

(by Jean-Michel K.)

I have fallen in love with a ghost

I have fallen in love with a ghost
Not just any ghost
You see
But the most beautiful ghost

She has my heart and I have hers
And when the night comes
I see her
Through my words

I am in love with a ghost
Who knows
What I think
Of her porcelain skin

And her gentle eyes
That watch me all the time

I have fallen in love with a ghost
Whose transparent heart
Sees no end to her love
And devotion

I am haunted by a ghost
Not just any ghost
You see
But the sweetest ghost

I light candles for her
And she whispers to me

(by Jean-Michel K.)

Shine

Do you wonder where I am when you watch
the stars perform their midnight mass?
Do your eyes reflect Sirius, the Dog Star,
shining by Orion?

Do you wonder what I’m doing
in the silence of the space between us?
Do you wish on falling stars while supernovas
drift by wandering suns in halos of golden light?

Are you lonely when you look at the moon?
Is your heart empty inside?
Can you see the nebula clouds glittering with stardust
while Alpha Centauri stands guard at heaven’s gate?

Do you wonder what I’m thinking
right here right now?
Jupiter serenades its spinning moons,
but all I can do is write a message for you:
The stars don’t love you.
I do.

(by Jean-Michel K.)

Abracadabra

Here I give you this-
a starry night,
seven moons and a castle,
mountains wrapped in snow.

Here I give you a story-
a swinging lantern,
an urgent secret,
a hero in great danger.

Here I give you a blazing sun,
empty beaches
and a turquoise sea.
A shipwreck. Sunken treasure.
A survivor.

Here I give you rivers
flowing through your front door,
rainbows in your living room,
the plumber a prince,
a kiss, a fairytale wedding.

Here I give you this-
a poem.
May the words put a spell on you.

(by Jean-Michel K.)