Lawrence Moore
Small Wonder
The firmness of a warm, extended hand
through dark as lover's chest contracts, expands,
all fuzzy little feelings fools pretend;
not one of these will matter come the end.
This way you shake their frame without a sound,
their feeble sighs from slowly coming round,
celerity, both flee towards the door;
commendable, yet still you lack reward.
Outside, strange scarlet hues for blues and greens,
bold rescue plans and other fruitless scenes.
You do your best but hope cannot outrun
such crazed impersonations of the sun
and as the flames start lapping future dreams,
small wonder what our seeds have just begun.
This Wick Unlit Do you begrudge or turn, embarrassed, from those evanescent hues, your incandescent yellows, blues and reds? Their flickerings and flummoxings might free you should they choose, may lead you places fountains fear to tread. This wick unlit will not cause harm nor tarnish ancient plans, still strands you with the lions just the same. To make it burn full optional as much as hearts' demands, like candles are allowed to house a flame.
Just a Ride I wish I could believe it otherwise, but life is just a special, one-off treat; if spent on biting nails, reciting fails and fretting, not forgetting fools' advice, you're left with an ordeal and not a ride and no one dresses in their brightest blues and hangs around in endless, screaming queues to suffer an ordeal (Georgina lies), so take my hand in yours and come what may, we'll leave the maps and compasses behind, meander down a random alleyway if suitably attracted by a sound, then when we freshen up and go inside, our hearts can show our heads it's just a ride. Lawrence Moore writes from a loft study overlooking the coastal city of Portsmouth where he lives with his husband Matt and nine mostly well behaved cats. He has poetry published at, among others, Sarasvati, Fevers of the Mind, Fahmidan Journal and The Madrigal. His debut chapbook, Aerial Sweetshop, was released by Alien Buddha Press in January 2022. His Twitter handle is @LawrenceMooreUK