Sample poems from ‘The Last Tourist’

Zoo

here is a weeping man standing his ground
before the giant tortoise
and anyone passing might think him noble
for clearly his heart aches
though it aches for every tortoise he has known
amoung his own kind
for those who carry on their backs
the shells of their fathers
into which they shrink
from daily disappointment
from the risks as necessary to love
as sun and moon light are to life
for tortoise hearts like his
with their slow and steady beat
dreaming freedom is the bigger cage
and love will come to those who wait
he weeps

Alms 

she is walking toward you head bowed hands forming a bowl shape
as if to receive alms only the closer she gets the fuller the bowl seems
her steps leave the ground and suddenly here she is looking down and you see
she draws the same breath shares the same pulse as the runty body
of the bird she holds and her eyes are tiny port holes of light
through which can be seen once upon a time when you too
took the long way around the ant hill ate with the midnight mouse
and suddenly your heart is not in the cull and for the first time
you find your self unsure reaching out making a wish
the light cutting off your hand the bowl falling breaking taking flight

Separation

when we meet when we speak
it is as if

we are treading water
it is as if

we never were
immersed each in the other

floating now between the flags
buoyed by the present tense

we do not sink or swim
but with fathomless regret

admit to wedlock
where we only meant to love

freely that all intent was good
even worthy

we hold our own against the tides
seasons come and go

but it’s a hard act day in day out
keeping to the shallows

when our hearts have been shaped
by the secrets of the deep