You are loved
Valentine’s Too Late
Two heart shaped balloons
Looming
Above their table
Him
Her
Starring ahead
Just so that they don’t
HAVE
to
look
at
one
another
Agony
So tangible
My eyes are drawn to them
A couple?
Window Seat
One of the best in the restaurant
The kitschy cheerfulness
of the heart-shaped balloons
Is fighting a lost battle
Love was lost when?
There is not even positive regard
Body language closed off
As if they just survived a battle
And now the king forces the enemy warriors
To reconcile
Happy Valentine’s Day
Outer Hebrides: Signs of Tenderness
I am people-watching
Grandparents
A boy wrapped in a thick towel
After an hour paying in freezing water
A young couple
Cuddling closely
Refusing to declare defeat against the evening’s chill
Two women
Like sisters
Spending time mostly in silence
With beers
Each a tent on their own
Little girl
Carrying sibbling piggyback down the sandy dunes
Siblings legs are too short
Elderly man
Alone cannot get his tend set up
Younger man walking over
Helping
There is hope
Always hope
Where love is
No matter what love looks like
Outer Hebrides: A flawed man
I am watching the light of a head-torch
Like a will-o’-the-wisp bobbing above ground
My hopes are where this light is
Strong arms holding me
A giant caring loving heart
In a flawed man you say
We are all flawed I answer
Outer Hebrides: You and I
Where my road will lead
I know not
Where your road will lead
You know not
But I know for sure
That for now
We walk together
Home
Your heart beat
The sound of my world
Ticking on steadily
I am listening
Safe
Home
Be relentless
Live relentlessly
Relentlessly optimistic
Relentlessly happy
Give into your sadness with all your being
And let it run, run, down the river
Give into your joy with all your heart
Let your inner child embrace life again
Give into your anger with all your might
Let it rage until your knuckles bleed
Give into your love with all your Self
Let it grow, grow until it leaps onto others
Be relentless
In living this life of yours
Just one rule
Don’t destroy anyone else on the way
The love of others
Leaves you no choice
But revise
Your self-loathing
All Edges
I am always all edges
Grating
Scratching
Upsetting
Not fitting in
I am always all edges
Saying the wrong things
Too much
Too straight
No filter
I am always all edges
Strong colours
Strong bones
Strong mind
Strong willed
I am always fighting
Windmills
Sometimes
Enemies
But they are mostly dead now
Sometimes
I wish
For a little bit
For a day or so
I could just blend in
Be a chameleon
Pretend I know how to hack this life thing
You Can
You can know yourself
Like the back of your hand
You can love yourself
With all your might
You can shine a light
Into the dark corners of your soul
While holding a poker
–Just in case
You can forgive
So generously
As if your life depended on it
–It just might
You can kick
Your own backside
Gently but assertive
–When needs be
You can stand tall
Within yourself
With pride and humility
And serve
Freedom
