I Know She Knows

She came to me on spoor of mist

a thousand years ago,

And settled in my eyelash,

my vision’s guard at ebb and flow.

And Phoenix-like she raised

my dormant spirit from the deep,

Made me live and love and laugh,

prayed the Lord, “my soul to keep”.

Why this miracle happened

is beyond me, yet it grows,

My total consolation is, that

I know,

       She knows.

A nod; a touch of skin on skin,

Bloodless blushes run and play,

My mind, a playground for her smile,

Her face is just an inch away.

And sometimes still I pinch myself

and wonder is this all in dreams?

A fairy story come to life,

Is anything ever as it seems?

I have no answer, I don’t need one,

The uncertainty of pleasure flows,

Why would I need an answer?

When I’m sure,

I know,

       She knows.

Her smile a blessing, hair a hymn,

Eyes of mischief, Smokey glow,

Trademark; fruit of oyster pure,

Iridescent innocence on show.

Her limbs have private longitude

Imagine just one kiss!

Little did Levi Strauss foresee

One day he’d cover this.

I marvel at this caring woman

I don’t care if it shows

I don’t know how to tell her things,

But still,

I know,

       She knows. 

Cowboy boots on cowgirl feet

Slight swagger as she moves,

Slow deceptive, gets there fast,

Soft shapes and perfect grooves.

Imagine the unthinkable,

That fair lady might be won,

It will take at least ten lifetimes

Its time that I begun.

If I don’t fly, I’ll get soft landing,

Will always have, that stored in human heart,

No matter what force might decree

That we should be apart.

No query, no answer, is needed,  

No question shall I ever pose,

One glance will tell me all, for

She knows

I know,

       She knows. 

From the Prodigal to Patience many moons ago.

How do you fall in love?

I slipped down a cliff in Kilkee

And skint my shins in the fall,

I fell in a well on Jackson’s farm

And came to no harm at all.

Once I fumbled, then tumbled and flew

from the shingles, a goodly distance above,

I know how I made all these blunders,

But how did I fall in love?

At seven years young I tasted the host

Eyes clamped, tongue stretched like a sheet,

At twelve years of age I fell off my bike

Incisors in bits on the street,

At fifteen I dragged on my very first fag

A drug I was innocent of,

It’s well I recall these simple events

But when did I fall in love?

The Sisters of Mercy were teachers, the best,

That’s why we enrolled in that school,

And I never played soccer, an auld sissy’s game,

Gaelic or nothing; the rule.

We Massed it on Sunday to satisfy mother

With topcoat and wool scarf and glove,

A reason for every gesture and act,

But why did I fall in love?

In Athlone of the Shannon and soldiers

I slept for the first time away,

In Galway I got my first glimpse of the sea

In Roscommon I earned my first pay.

In Ballinasloe they removed my appendix,

An act I was unaware of,

In Limerick I first got a hell of a beatin’

But where did I fall in love?

Now falling from grace can be a disgrace,

As is freezing on stage in a farce,

And falling behind on your mortgage

Is a serious pain in the arse.

To fall out of favour is hardly to savour

When it comes to push or to shove,

Still nothing compares with the terror

Or truth or nightmare of falling in love.

I Wonder?

What lies beyond

the edge of this place

Nothing or everything,

Paper or lace?

Why are men born,

Why do we live,

Is it to take,

Is it to give?

After this penance

Purgatory more,

Heaven or Hell

or just as before?

Why all the sorrow

punishment, pain,

Then to return

to ashes again.

Consider creation

of everything new,

Just to destroy,

Terminate and subdue.

Had I the answer

To mystery deep

I’d visit the edge;

Perhaps in my sleep.

With Thanks to my wonderful son for his sketch.