Poems from 'Another Journal of Chaotic Ideas'

Between the lines

The night sleeps like she’s always had

On my pillow I lay my weary head,

Open eyes to galaxies and dreams

A world fueled by love, a world in which I’m at ease.

Basic goodness is our right

Children of the universe

We skip pebbles on the ocean’s shore,

Living lost memories

Our name is riding on the wind, it calls.

How far down life’s highway

Are you willing to place the bet?

The traffic crawls to a stop,

Two lanes on the bridge become a jam.

Loving lost memories

We turn the book,

Gaze upon the page;

Recall a memory vague.

We promise and we collect

Give, take, give, take, take, take.

A scale tipped out of balance,

There’s only one way to dance.

Close your eyes,

But keep watch on the page,

Every secret ever told

is staring you in the face.

Your skin tingles,

Your dream delights,

One hope, one dream,

Within you is the light.

A.S. 14/1/2015

Henry’s Prophecy

I put my head under

Only for a second

and now, everywhere

I turn my head


All I see is blue, dark, red;

Three principal colours,

One right, one left.

The fish are swimming

Around and around my head

My hands are cold

My feet are wet.

Perhaps it’s time

To listen to Henry the octopus,

He can tell the future, you know.

I asked him once

What would happen to me

He just shook his head

He told me this story instead.

“Once there was a world

So blue it was red,

The sun rose so bright,

That night was black.”

A.S. Oct 2015.

How not to sink

Keep things simple. Elegance lies in economy.

Waste not the precious gifts of youth

Use not the endless chains,

Unforgiving loops of thought

That always bring you back

To the same milestone

You have left behind.

Be not too greedy,

Take satisfaction in matters

As they stand,

Yet hold your vision steady.

Get ready to launch your raft

When the boat begins to sail,

A life jacket has never saved a single life

Except of those who have worn it.

The Titanic sunk for a simple reason,

It was never built to sail,

Instead she was to leap between the continents

Carrying the world’s wealth with ease;

Some ideas are set to fail.

In her confidence

It all came crashing down,

Iceberg, momentum

Scrape, leak, icy water.

May they rest beneath the waves.

A.S. 2/11/15