The wind whispers away
her arabica secrets.
Within her body my cure, elegant
corseted in bone china.
She holds my personality’s fix,
to vivid life,
removed from days mundane realism.
In her embracing air I’m adrift,
attention swayed
by the hips of passing others,
punctuated by sips
of scolding salvation.
Jostled by the rhythmic rock of the 7:44,
through swaying others, you
a jasmine flower.
Our eyes never met
our time dispersed either side of the carriages end.
-The closest we’ll ever be.
Our union was without words, embrace
nor an emotional wink requited.
I know nothing of you, but
your radiant presence
illuminating my overcast morn,
All before you,
devoid of beauty’s vivid colour.
I starved for a glance unreturned;
your eyes through the window
adrift with the birds.
Our motion breaks
and now we all change,
all change;
arrived at London Bridge
our encounter unrealised.
Upon Greenwich hill I stare
through swaying maples,
at grand temples of wealth;
unenvious of their material souls.
I long not for their goods
to adorn my soul,
to collect their fiat wealth,
to amass my self worth.
Instead I search inward,
for an intangible whole,
for completion found
in blissful quiet.
With idealism we aspire
for lives different;
ballot papers blotted
with our hopeful future.
We vote,
each laying claim
to the outcome of our futures,
All professing the right route,
with other’s outdated and passé
We shuffle in booths.
We post our desires.
Handing over wishlists
to be seen and discounted.
We attend the sparse
drips of news,
to see if our faith was well placed.
our aspirations dormant
awaiting fruition.
With a shuffle of feet and cabinet,
we see defeat.
With hopes unheard,
pausing dreams of
an ulterior status quo.
You, born the eleventh
in poetry’s month,
exhale pure air.
on virgin canvas.
Your purity shared
in the sweeping
loops of words bled
on page.
Temptations echo
as Tupac ruminates
on clandestine longing.
My eyes listing
across your profile’s face.
Our departure long formed,
an ocean of years between us.
The first drop spilling
a premature end
to a former friend.
On your face I see
your successes, exciting and contemporary;
and my heart outlines a jealous love.
I dived in bed,
A brief respite before I leave.
For a moment I smelt you;
Your scent in my sheets,
I was happy.
I was with you.
J.C. FitzDerick 