White Leopard

In all the mediocrity of throwaway poetry

Gazing in the galaxy ,

I give the gift you give to me

And ev'ryone says "haven't we

Heard this somewhere before"?

A knock at the door ,

Then three and then four

A crackling claw,

A prickling paw.

Pour salt on the wound

A taste of lead on the spoon, I been bribing the groom

Weaving weft on the loom.

So , warp me a window

To wish me a room ,

These aching walls come crashing down ,

Anytime soon.

Deal me a dictionary ,

Drowning in prose-

Or a rhyming dictionary that you learnt by rote.

A white leopard came scratching at the door.

A silver claw , clipboard in hand,

And beckoning a cup for tea.

How could a band of thieves conspire to conceal

A countess of knives.

Open your eyes

And watch the band crawl inside ,

Fill in the visitors book

And wipe their dirty feet-

As they leave, they hand you a coin and tell you,

"Start again , again".

I thought I saw silver , but it was just a spoon

hang me from the hook,

Empty the room.

Carve me in satin , and leave me for the swans.

Crane me up to the ceiling

To see what you believe in.

There's always some dead man ,

Yawning next door,

Leafing thru my territory

Chasing leads for a story.

Carry on , up to the balcony,

Come and meet us , and our animals

Dowsed in oil.

Crumbs under the rug , a silky grey bird

Breathing fire

Does anyone have any questions?

In my next life I will not be afraid of water

Hopefully I won't be around to remember.

Claim a dragon from the raffle

What bad habits you have -"all the better to see you with".

Leafing thru the

Graveyard journals

Children gently falling backwards.

Drink the tonic from the apothecary's mouth

A sun-drenched daughter

To cure the drought.

Head in a bucket , head in a bowl

Out the door and down the hole

Sit still , reinvent the wheel,

Some day we might meet ,we might say how we feel.

Six darts , six dots , two dashes

Clogged up dirt on my eyelashes.

Seraphin and Cherubin now

Sign me up and Cash me in.