Wrapping Words

I want to wrap my words

around your mind

and let them linger there.

I want to stitch a speech

that slips into your heart

when you least expect it.

I want to flick lace-edged phrases

across your eager eyes

so you can feast upon

the literary delights from my

treasure chest of clichés.

But I can't.

Flitterbox: Feist ~ Secret Heart

Sticky Threads

Flitterbox: Snow Patrol ~ Signal Fire

LHR SIN

Ten o’clock in the morning.

The ice sticks on the ground

white streets; mud-tainted

Silence.

Crawling along roads with fear

It’s risky at this time of year.

Half past eight in the evening.

People stuck in queues, crowds

hot tea; tired eyes

Waiting.

All flights subject to delay

Christmas is just another day.

Snow, snow, go away...
Flitterbox: Coldplay ~ Christmas Lights

Soupy Squash

Flitterbox: KT Tunstall ~ Fade Like A Shadow

Hai Yu

Flitterbox: Simon & Garfunkel ~ Sound of Silence

5 AM

Five o'clock in the morning. 

The sun peeps through the clouds

blue skies; pink-tinted

Silence. 

Speeding along the motorway.

It's quiet at this time of day. 

Half past six in the morning. 

People pass through the crowds

black coffee; tear-stained

Goodbye. 

Four hundred pills: one a day

It keeps malaria at bay. 

I don't know what else to say. 

Boxed Butterfly

Today, I have been a balloon on a broken string.

Trouble is, sometimes, I just can't switch myself off. 

I am afraid of falling in love so I
Keep myself to myself
I want a cookie and I need a hug but I
Keep myself to myself


I keep myself to myself
And when I’m sad
I comfort myself with thinking that
No-one understands

On the jukebox: The Boy Least Likely To ~ When Life Gives Me Lemons, I Make Lemonade

Tiger Eye

Today, I have seen in the new year.

In me, past, present, future meet
To hold long chiding conference.
My lusts usurp the present tense
And strangle Reason in his seat.
My loves leap through the future’s fence
To dance with dream-enfranchised feet.

In me the cave-man clasps the seer,
And garlanded Apollo goes
Chanting to Abraham’s deaf ear.
In me the tiger sniffs the rose.
Look in my heart, kind friends, and tremble,
Since there your elements assemble.

Siegfried Sassoon

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love you guys.

On the jukebox: Boy Least Likely To ~ Hugging My Grudge

Just Us

I just have you,
as something to do,
And you just need me,
as someone to see.

And that is how we get along,
Not too much, for not too long.

On the jukebox: The Corrs ~ So Young

Great Britain

Today, I have wandered o'er vales and hills.

Red, white and blue,
What does it mean to you?
Surely you're proud
Shout it aloud.
Britons awake!

What I love about coming back from holidays is coming back to England. After a long and winding scenic journey, I collapsed into bed, exhausted, as the birds sang their morning tunes outside my open window. Awoken mid-afternoon to the constant pitter-pattering of rain, it felt good to be in the country that I call home.

I love England.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I enjoy going away for a few days or weeks - to have the opportunity to experience new cultures, to return to favourite places, visit familiar faces in far-off lands. But it's fantastic to come back, appreciate the simple things. Green! Trees! Hills! Valleys! Temperate Temperatures! Dips and blips and twists and turns! I love the variation in landscape, routes, architecture, history. I love the British humour; the British customs; the British manner. I love knowing where I am; where to go; what to do.

Home is where the heart is.

The sense of belonging is what it comes down to. Indeed, I feel more comfortable knowing I am a resident of the country rather than a transient tourist. Even just visiting family or friends across the waves means fitting in better, as it's easier to adopt the association with the community rather than feeling like a faceless alien in a foreign place. Since I've got older, I've noticed it more, as when I was younger it didn't bother me so - but then I never had a say in where I'd go.

Travelling the world doesn't appeal to me all that much, particulary. There's no latent desire locked up inside my soul to see all there is to see. Of course, there are so many amazing destinations, so much I've enjoyed experiencing and still a fair few hotspots on my hitlist. But I'm glad to be settled in the UK for the time being - it's good to be home!

Today has taught me: Almost half of the residents of Toronto were born outside of Canada (...yet many immigrants will consider it their home.)

On the jukebox: Chantal Kreviazuk ~ Leaving On A Jet Plane

Preparation Procrastination

Today, I have researched and emailed and browsed and read and shopped and searched and planned and packed and panicked.

While packing isn't the most awful activity to carry out, it is still one that I do not enjoy. Half the time, I feel I'm living out of suitcases and boxes, these past few months have been no exception. As I struggle to gather together everything for my upcoming trip, I'm searching through untouched boxes from university living, along with bags from other visits, holidays, days out. The main worry is that I won't pack everything I need, and although that's never yet been a severe problem, there's always the potential for things to go wrong.

Perfectionism seeps through, touched by minor OCD-type mentalities. Have I checked it 187 times? Do I have everything? Will it be enough? Is it too much? What if it's too hot? What about when it rains? What will we do?

This part of preparation is the bit I hate. It's not even about leaving things to the last minute, it's all these factors that are beyond my control. I want to feel like I'm making the most of every moment, I want to fit everything in, I want to have an amazing time. Organisation isn't my forté, yet there's still this compulsion to have everything just so, I want to make sure I know all there is to know, planned all I can to make the most of the time, the place, the opportunity. Frantically emailing friends to find out what's best from the people who live there, people who've been there, websites, guide books, anything. I want to do everything, but there's not enough time, I want to experience as much as possible, but how to fit it all in, and when?

There's fireworks on this day
and you've got to visit here,
we'll provide you with a place to stay -
you know, we live quite near.

On Thursday it's a festival,
You've got to do the tour,
Make sure you see the best of it all,
And if you've time, there's more!

Well, I just want to say it twice,
there's that and this and there,
so as long as you can pay the price,
you could go any where!

À bientôt!

Today has taught me: I really should probably unpack as soon as I get back, and I really should probably pack before the day before. But I know that I really probably won't ever manage to do either of those things, and if there's an option, I will always procrastinate.

On the jukebox: 5ive ~ Don't Wanna Let You Go

Summer Scenery

Today, I have let go of an old companion.



What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.




No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.



No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.



No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.



No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.



A poor life this is if, full of care,



We have no time to stand and stare.



Farewell Fujifilm Finepix F11. You have served me well.
August 2006 - July 2008
RIP

On the jukebox: One Republic ~ Stop and Stare

Unexpected Embrace

Today, I have had a hug.

We all need a hug in the morning,

and one at the end of the day,
As many as possible squeezed in between,

to keep life's troubles at bay.
No matter wherever you ramble,

your problems be great or be small,
It is my belief, for instant relief,

a hug is the best cure of all.

I heard about the Free Hugs Campaign a while back. Now, I couldn't imagine participating in something like this, well, it's just not British, is it? Or you know, like, general human nature. The idea of cuddling random people doesn't particulary appeal to me. Would you do it?

Although , sometimes words aren't enough, and a hug really does help. Does the fact that it's from a stranger make a difference?

On the jukebox: Sickpuppies ~ All The Same

Seasonal Sunshine

Today, I have felt the sun of spring.

Daffodowndilly

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,

She wore her greenest gown;

She turned to the south wind

And curtsied up and down.

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbour:

"Winter is dead".

A. A. Milne

The Equinox has passed; the clocks have been put forward; the days are getting much lighter; hibernation is over.

It's official. Spring 2008 is here. And so am I.

On the jukebox: The Temptations ~ My Girl

Warm Fuzzy

Radiator-heated cosy pyjamas
With washed, clean and fresh hair
Baby-smooth skin and soft lips
In between comfy sheets
Phone call from a special friend
And a film never seen before
(confidently confirmed as good watching)
Equals contentment, for now.

On the jukebox: 3 Doors Down ~ Let Me Go

Friendly Faces

What is this life if, full of stats,
We have no time to sit for chats.

No time to lie beneath the skies
And chat, to listen and advise.

No time to think, when days we pass,
“We must enjoy this while it lasts”

No time to spend a sleepover night
Watch darkness turn then into light

No time to see to friendly faces,
And experience their warm embraces.

No time to wait till laughter brings
An appreciation of simple things.

A poor life this if, full of stats,
We have no time to sit for chats.

/blatant plagurism

On the bookshelf: W. H. Davies ~ Leisure

Bear Hug

Wrap
your warm arms
around me,
Hold
my tired head
next to you.

Keep
us close
tight together,
Hug
me now
don’t let go.

On the jukebox: Starrfadu ~ Let It Out

Sweet Dreams

Today, I have nothing to look forward to.

Except sleep. Sleep is good.

O weary night, O long and tedious night,
Abate thy hours, shine comforts from the east,
That I may back to Home by daylight,
From these that my poor company detest;
And sleep, that sometimes shuts up sorrow's eye,
Steal me a while from mine own company.

You know it's getting bad when a science student starts quoting Shakespeare...

On the jukebox: Mika ~ Relax, Take It Easy