Lavender garden by Priscilla

Lavender garden painting by Priscilla. Shoutsouts to Ron Finemore for the Eckersley's voucher.

Is that what I look like?

IS THAT WHAT I LOOK LIKE? (D A D F# B E, capo 3)

Pour the milk out first, I can wait. This cat really needs it.

You don’t have to say. I see the curtains drawn. He has gone away.

And we talk about how to get to Wallsend while the cat drinks his dinner.

All this going. A lot of leaving.

Did you see the sunrise this morning?

 

It was just a week ago I gave him a haircut. All he said was: Is that what I look like?

He had weed in the bathroom next to shaving cream and a razor. He said I could use them to shave his shoulders if I want (I didn’t).

When I left I said I’d call him on Christmas but I never did. He died in the hospital early that morning.

Dominoes, 11am. Pepperoni, never again.

 

Maybe we are like Adrianne, happy living inside. Oblivious to the rest of the street.

Until one day, there’s a tear in the screen of the bedroom window. We paw at it, we jump.

And suddenly there’s this great big blue sky and a great big sun.

Until then, you didn’t know what you looked like.

I’m not leaving but I am coming.

Wait for me with a mirror.

New lung

NEW LUNG (D G D G A E, capo 1)

New lung, new me. Now I can breathe. Now I’ll be fine.

New face, new hair. New kitchenware. I left my favourite coffee cup somewhere.

 

Same words, same books. My world just shook. Did you feel it?

Same water, same tea. Same misery. You’ve been hurt, too. Don’t worry about me.

 

New lung, new heart. Same rusty parts. Same torture.

New place, new chairs. New kitchenware. Same tones and hues.

Whale

WHALE (E A D G B E)

The leaves bounce giddily, the crows caw nervously, the sand is damp.

The beach hums peacefully, the world turns easily today.

The light is warm and the water is too.

The sky goes pink and orange and purple.

 

The ocean stirs quietly, the waves break silently, the day breathes in.

Trees sway to and fro, the dolphins know exactly what to do.

A rope is pulled and the clouds make way.

A balloon is blown, it inflates and floats through the morning.

 

Footprints get deeper, the air feels thicker, the wind picks up.

Birds are singing and some are laughing at us.

And like a humpback whale I am grateful.

Like a humpback whale.

Blown in

BLOWN IN (E A D G B E)

Blown in overnight.

I can feel the change.

Can you?

 

I slept in again.

A small hand woke me up.

I was glad it did.

 

(And we held each other close.)

And I have never seen something so real, something so simple.

 

We sang an old song but it sounded new.

I forgot I knew.

 

They wait patiently.

Unexpectedly we fall.

 

If I can do this right,

I can go to sleep at a reasonable hour and know I’ve done the best I can.

 

They never knew they were destroying what they tried so hard to protect.

They still don’t.

Windy today (inside)

WINDY TODAY (INSIDE) (D A D G B E, capo 2)

It’s so windy today.

Doors slam all down the street.

Eggplants torn from their branches.

Taken too soon, but who isn’t?

Out the corner of my eye saw a shadow of the night.

Felt a hand upon my shoulder.

 

Streetcats nowhere to be seen.

Trampolines only for the bravest.

Neighbours are sleeping in.

Agapanthuses do not approve.

And it sprinkled for a while.

While the ocean cleared its throat.

While we secured our loose ends.

 

Don’t just stare at the sun.

Although you will want to.

Afternoons explode like fireworks.

Every single tree takes a deep green breath.

In the undisputed light.

In the shadow of a wave.

On an eyrie of destruction.