a birthday wish

We went out, once, in the evening,
It was balmy, it was spring.
My eyes were melting like butter,
Your hands were very clean.

We walked beside the shopfronts
Lights smiled beneath old lace,
You admired nice things in the windows:
I stole cheap looks at your face.

The air was thick with the promise,
The promise of pelting rain,
And the cloud-canopy hung heavy
So we sheltered in a film.

We whispered all through the previews:
You talked travel, I made jokes;
Which fat man would choke on his popcorn,
Which girl you secretly liked.

America unfolded before us,
Made magnificent by the big screen
And l leant over to ask you,
‘What’s that building over there?’

My mouth was close to your ear then,
It’s smooth shell was pale and petite,
And my eyes made soothing ocean sounds
As your limbs leapt right out of your seat.

You hovered, or I held you there...

I stared as you candled the cupcake
I thought I had so much to learn,
About fire, about fearlessness,
So I just smiled: ‘Let it burn.’

prologue

A warm spring evening in September
Finds us all in some student dive,
Where pot plants wilt and fungus thrives,
And pets are lucky to stay alive
Amidst the kitchen chaos. Remember
How your smoke-filled student days were spent?
Submerged in music, behind on rent,
In tangled love affairs. Repent
Not reader! Rejoice instead!
Forgo those thoughts best left unsaid,
And with indulgence, avert your gaze
Towards these newbies and their naive ways.

fragments from a dinner party

a narrative in iambic tentrameter exploring the lives & lies of four dear friends.