nearlyallgone

When I fall asleep I shall dream only of you, without anything else to think of. The time between sleeping and waking is where you live now. There is no peace of mind, only shadows, shadows, shadows. In the past you were close to me but you have moved further away as time has passed. Now you are almost alien to me, moving beyond the curtain of this world. I see you skirting clouds and edges, just missing cracks and moving through objects. When did we lose touch? When did our fingers part? Have we grown so old so fast? Can it really be that all that is left is this strange, unpleasant silence between us? The science of leaving you.

Round the headland Where the swallows nest Sweep up the coast to the next bay Out into the sea Where tomorrow and horizon are made The little pools Each round, deep, and clear Pressed down, definite Over the rocks and under the starlight Up to the arms of the church And in the little graveyard Old bones still sit, still stirred By the march of the land into the sea Stretched out across the sand Ancient holes and the modern man Back up into the trees Put some distance behind me At the edge of what I know to look for Is the edge of what I can find.

In a distant photograph, I see it in you eyes It's no surprise, the world has turned And I have leart that everything will pass In another stranger's face, catch a familiar look Everything you took, you left me so hurt And I have learnt that everything will pass In the words of someone else's song, you live on unspoken The walls lie crumbled and broken, robbed me of the life I thought I'd earnt And I have learnt that everything will pass In the sky tonight alone, a single star exposed And the feeling in me grows, touched by fire forever burnt And I have learnt that everything will pass And the feeling in me grows, touched by fire

When the world is tied around us Folded within fabric Senitmental to a fault Oh, there were good days And happy times, many a happy afternoon Rocks in the sea, once Pebbles in streams flowing slowly out. The day is drawing in Sun shines off the tips of the branches Now barren Thick with mulch on the wet earth And moving in silence, birds returning Nesting for daybreak tomorrow. The world is almost empty, almost still At once becoming old and new.

Desolate, the horizon is void Removed from the world up here Casting white about Scattered with a line of trees Diminish into the distance Thick with frost Dulled by the night before Shaking at the roots Pulled from the earth Every sinew pulses Every nerve atwinge Formed in formlessness Informed by ignorance I listen for the words Pushed into the world Silence in the clouds Turn the lights off to drive I can see the trees on fire Burnt the scrub to embers Died down as the thick snow falls Lost into the void of memory.

Overarching fingers, I never thought I'd reach them In all my days Tall beyond measure And in the end so small I reach out in pain Suffered to undertake me Such impossible journeys Old stone worn thin Remember something beautiful A day, an hour, a moment Forever outstretched I will remember glowing embers In a burnt out cathedral And as nightime descended A rough kiss goodnight Sweet dreams in strange chambers Full faith and conviction Up in the spire above the town On the top of the hill Alone, and proud You look down at the land Further than I can see Lost in the pale blue distance.

Bent trees without leaves Growing out of the wind Muscular prongs pointing to The dismal outcrop. Thick with chalky pebbles Devoid of thick grass here The waves are crashing on the rocks, And the lighthouse looks down. Round the corner, see the sign That confirms your fears. Parking tickets blown away by the wind, We stop for lunch at Beachy Head. The wrappings of old flowers blown Against the warning sign.

You are perched above me, looking around And your voice… your voice It is a song more ancient than these walls It is something pure and beautiful I built a box and nailed it up for you So I could watch your children grow I saw one fall and never get up And I saw you turn away The sun is out, and you dip and turn the wind You bathe and you rest, perched once more Once I was sure your voice was hoarse But I waited and you sang true again And next year, will you return? I would hate to find you next to the road If I did, I would pick you up gently, so as not to bend a feather I would place you in an open box in case you were stunn

They grap me with their tiny hands Time and again We will be locked in this battle forever, faithful friend There is never time anymore Time and again We have lost the thing that led us here The way I've looked at you Time and again We were never prepared for such a thing The afternoon sun hits your bare shoulder Time and again.

Walking home one night. Any night. This night. I am walking home. The moon is big. Very big. Bigger than I've ever seen. It's half the size of the sky. I can make out every crater, every dip and every peak. The town is dark. Very dark. There isn't a light in the street. The moon is so big I can see exactly where I'm going. The walls and the pavement are blue in the silver light. They are shiny, it's been raining tonight and they're wet. The air tastes of rain. It's so dark, except for the shining surfaces. Each one moves as I walk past. I turn down a familiar street. Any street. The glints on the walls are all moving with me. A thousand tiny