New Poetry.

A Murdered Child

One day I came across a murdered child.
Motionless on the concrete,
A patterned slab of grey and black
Chipped and cracked and dirty.
Huddled, curled up into himself,
So fragile in the morning dew
That settled over him during the night.

He looked bright in the spring sunshine,
Tawny hues and copper browns shone like explosions.
And I wondered for a moment
That perhaps he was only sleeping,
Basking in the light of dawn.
But I knew this wasn’t true,
That he was long gone from this world.

I saw the parted lips,
As if he was still letting out his final shriek.
And the shining eyes unmoving, quiet.
I moved his broken body gently,
He went limp in my hands,
Bones snapped and fell away.
A tiny bird, killed by the cat.

The Balloon.

You held me,
A balloon on a string.
As a child I was close,
Bobbing cheerily at your side.
Reaching up to the skies,
But never straying too far.
You held me, so tenderly.

And I grew,
The winds of age came.
I struggled against you,
A balloon too big to be held so close.
Fighting to be swept away,
To be lost in the darkness of youth.
And you held me, so protectively.

I am grown,
You unwind the cord a little.
I float further away,
Searching for my own way.
Reaching for the free air,
For my dreams, but still too close.
And you held me, so stubbornly.

Let me go,
You fear the engines of planes.
But you made me so well,
Gave me life and the courage to float.
And I will touch the stars,
But one day, I will happily return.
And you will hold me, once more.

One Day.

they were standing
in the
dry dirt and the
sun was bright.
and it hurt my eyes
and i didn’t like the shouting.
it would have
been a nice day if
they weren’t shouting.

pressed against the
car window or
huddling against my baby brother.
i forget but i
was crying.
i didn’t like the hitting.
it would have been
a nice day if
they weren’t hitting.

and i saw mammy cry
and daddy
with his fists high up.
and the car
was too hot.
it would have
been a nice day if
the car wasn’t hot.

and we went
inside the kitchen
and outside
they were still shouting.
and i could hear the tv
dunno what was on.
it was a nice day
cos grandma
she gave us biscuits.