PANIC! PANIC! and dread.

Just back from  travelling up and down England visiting family. I wrote this at the start of the week....

Packing

I hate packing.
It should be,
If not relaxing,
At least quite exciting,
The preliminary activity
To going away.

But instead
My head
Fills with panic
And dread.

Which shoes,
I muse,
And what coat?
Have I got
Enough socks?
The right tops?

Will I be too hot
Or too cold?
Should I take new things
Or old?
How many pairs
Of trousers will I wear?

And I stare,
Near despair,
At my suitcase,
Knowing that I'll choose
The wrong things

And that it won't
Really matter, anyway.

20/2/11.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's one I wrote last year and have been saving...

Romance

I picture romance

As an invisible

(But shimmering) cord

That encircles, protects

And connects me 

To some other

(Vague) figure,

Arming me

Against mundane daily anxieties

(Mostly monetary, or social, or both),

Empowering me

To smile suddenly

And say,

'What do I care, anyway?'

As I secretly tug,

To check

It's still there.

1/11/2010.

Melon!

Just devoured half a cantaloupe in about 2 minutes flat.

92% water

Don't look for integrity

In a melon;

They're tricky.

Slice them, dice them,

Scoop them out with a spoon.

Chop them into neat long strips

To hang dripping

From grinning

Faces.

Dissolve yourself

In brightly coloured chunks;

All emptinesses.

You shouldn't eat the seeds,

Apparently

(And, having bitten

Too ardently,

I can also say,

Don't eat the skin.)

5/2/11.