1. |
Violette
03:22
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These men I travel with:
we smell of sour milk and cigarettes
And the stench we wear on our sleeves;
A waltz to dischordant minuets
“Will my destruction ever cease?”
you scream from within your tomb
of opaque vapours in your phone;
inhaled and exhaled by a womb
Seize your last message
and hold tight, hold on to those bullets;
your little lead soldiers;
little bricks in your homestead;
shot for shot they’ll fall
They will fall
They will fall
[Your delicate researches
Your presence of mind
Twice held, never caught]
A leaping vibration; bounce on by
The baying hoards;
a silver backed bream,
running to your net
Locked: still and confined
Clap the timelessness
The mechanics couldn’t split your mind; perhaps your teeth
Seize your last message
and hold tight, hold on to those bullets;
your little lead soldiers;
little bricks in your homestead;
shot for shot they’ll fall
They will fall
They will fall
[Your delicate researches
Your presence of mind
Twice held, never caught]
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2. |
Permanence
05:13
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I’m salty
I’m malting
Strip the mould
Away from me
Lift me up
From the earth
Thaw the frost
For my re-birth
We should photograph
All of this
Our changing skins
Our dying cells
The cancers that took our lives
The motorways, unfaithful wives
They all came together
For the frame
Exhaled smoke
The deals we broke
Unfinished poems
That we wrote
Unused paint
And lighter fuel
Wallpaper
But no walls
It all came together
For the frame
We should document
All our crimes
The losses made
The fruit decayed
The threats we faced
From the sick
The promise that
He’d knife your neck
They all came together
For the frame
Holes in your shoes
Ladders in your tights
The dents in your tins
The lust in your nights
Tea bags split
The lump in your tit
The hate and despair
That you hid from him
They all came together
For the frame
All just to show
We are the same
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3. |
Let Me Nurse You, Honey
03:44
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Your eyes:
clear and calm:
a hawk dropping down,
without
her wings spread
Somewhere
within your stripes;
the weathered lust for life
awaits
my purpose
Lay down
Lay low
Open the fist
that coiled years ago
Darling let me
Wash
your wounds
and frighten off
the men who want to destroy you
Honey
let me get close
so I can untie the weights they strung you to
Remember the rocks?
Do you remember the kelp
you said
looked like
angels?
Well, girl,
I’ll take you back.
We’ll jump into the black
waters
and
sink
Sway free
Sway free
Look around you;
I’ll never let you go.
You’ll see
Lay down
Lay low
Open the fist
that coiled years ago
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4. |
Pickle
03:05
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Call in the army, the waves are coming
They crash on our heads
The fibres that hold you now hold to me;
they crept into bed
And the grey-licked stamps
on the letters we wrote;
with words that ran away with the tears
and leaked on to our palms
The vinegar pickling our hearts;
the juices that go on;
all makes the flavour I now feel
stronger than the other one
Let us lock limbs
I work in the law
but I don’t know why
Tales of gales and the times that you flailed;
please just don’t lie
And the grey-licked stamps
on the letters we wrote;
with words that ran away with the tears
and leaked on to our palms
The vinegar pickling our hearts;
the juices that go on;
all makes the flavour I now feel
stronger than the other one
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5. |
Shadow Black Cube Grey
02:48
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6. |
The Felt
03:02
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The snooker table now lives in the barn
at angles to the brick walls
collecting dust
It used to take centre-stage
on the landing space
It used to take pride of place
in all our hearts
Shall we reinstate him?
Pull out all the legs?
Give the boy a clean?
With a thistle brush the webs out from the green?
How could we have done this?
Our child was conceived on this:
without this simple structure
we would have surely fallen apart
Rip up the felt
underneath is a picture of us
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7. |
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Stepping off
the bus you took,
escaping the lover
that you don’t love no-more
Tearing at the single ticket,
drinking up the sadness in your palms
This is the
kisses of
that silent
seduction you craved
Try to smell the
dandelions:
you’ll wake up
covered in your piss
Oh my lord!
Is this what muscles do
when a back arches in delight?
That old body;
its stale coffee;
a warm cadaver
Terror in my night
Slip through these
shaking fingers
“Silence!”
That is enough…
The day
you fall in love
is the
day
the rot settles in
A growing sense of age
is all that you left with him
along with a bed full of stains
He will never taste the same:
his iron has oxidised within
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8. |
Luxembourg
04:18
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The stone in my fruit is drying out
The worries in my suitcase are empty now
But I will keep carrying my doubts
For the train that led me here
Has gone away
deep into Europe
leaving me stranded
with only you
The grapes round your neck swing with each step you take
closer to my bedroom where all your dresses lay:
like totems of a love;
fallen chandeliers;
the remnants of two lives about to appear as one
How are things I London now I’m out of town?
Are you drunk on the freedom that my exit gave?
Is the old Turkish store-keeper’s eyes on your back?
Do you wear my favourite shirt striped white and black?
These new city walls;
new city rules;
will not hold me back
As the grapes round your neck swing with each step you take
closer to my bedroom where all your dresses lay:
like totems of a love;
fallen chandeliers;
the remnants of two lives about to appear as one
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9. |
Harvey
02:49
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10. |
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Pay it no attention;
that petty rhythm
No explosions will silence you,
no failing knees to hold
The sleight of lips
Cities drown like babies
caught by mother’s peace
And our fathers go out into the night
to protect the alleyways and sins
The sleight of hips
“I’m better of dead”, you said
when you fled from the slurry of the red
smeared across your head
And the cracked cornices of your frame;
the scars upon your name;
testament to all the shit you gave
The sleight of lips
That petty rhythm sleeps
and clicks to calm your dreams
With every clack: attack
at you seams
Has no-one told you that you should wear yellow?
It doesn’t suit you:
its surprise betrays you,
and the sun blushes
The sleight of rays
“And I’m better of dead”, you said
when you fled from the slurry of the red
smeared across your head
And the cracked cornices of your frame;
the scars upon your name;
testament to all the shit you gave
The sleight of lips
The sleight of lips
These words itch
Split rosehips
Drop it alone
Cry-out!
Spit out the apple pips
These words itch
Split rosehips
Drop it alone
Cry-out!
Spit out the apple pips
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