Carty Three

On the Spring tide, you look to the poor, huddled in line, it's cold for the season, sons and daughters, share the same reason, on the starboard side, a bitter truth’s sought, don't need an inquiry, to shiver in the lee, what's left at the port, sick of being, to worry about time, being caught, in some policy drive, what it teaches, to head for the door, like a guilty plea, every walk of life, ends with nought, some seek the light, others the law.

Emily Three

Can anyone bring serenity, to this creature in a bar, rescued from the sea, like someone in a frame, makes a different mark, something you can't name, the ones who've gone to Greece, like distant bells afar, send back childhood dreams, maybe a different age, you keep like a postcard but still, feel strange, nothing fills your need, you're a salty dog, sometimes you can scream, dancing in the waves, chasing sails around a spar, all the stuff that's wreckage, the things you only feel, all the stuff you're not, a waving sea anemone who needs a Da?

Emily Two

A cross for a pub, to where we drink wine, she gives me a shove, the deals behind Primark, to taste is no crime, let’s go of my arm, she looks up above, lost in her time, the year she got bust, hair like a jump start, she hasn't a dime, no one takes her part, we meet in a club, initially fine, who gives a fuck, never easy or calm, raised by great signs, she’s a wandering star, lays down lost looks, to everything wise, asks me to rub, the pain in her side.

Emily

She has some spark, her lovely face lights, quick off the mark, she hankers for love, most of her nights, doesn’t worry what's above, in a supermarket car park, they ask her why, she hangs around bars, says we all need a crust, a trolley suits her fine, she doesn’t drink doubles, never walks far, to gossip is a crime, each step's another car, works without gloves, unlike other times, Okay, when it's good, there's never a chart, to show us what's right, let’s wait for the dark, maybe it's time.

Carty Two

I stand by her grave, where praise be, I hope to be laid, my eyes like thunder, wine dark like the sea, it makes me shudder, from the blue Nave, stripped down like a tree, she’d nothing to give, here and there a cluster, a poplar breeze, it doesn't pass muster, my voice starts to break, it's late for the season, geese fly away, her face is the wonder, happy laughing clean, that I tore asunder, it's quiet at this place, my place of need, it fits her casket, left open for me.

Carty

Is it love of rain, a bird on the wire, that you rage against, shuffling in the gloom, waiting by the fire, no one flies for you, many come this way, they pester you for hire, ask and ask again, to do what you do, your eyes hide an ire, that’s forever blue, an offering to the grave, a burnt out tyre, is this what you give, always someone's due, their wretched desire, nothing else is true, the miracle they crave, not tongues of a liar, betrayed by brains, rests on a pyre.

Catherine Two

You who stamp the tar, do not bring good news, even in your car, a trip on your bones, carry messages from a few, love never eats alone, it doesn't cross the arc, but makes excuses, right from the off, who has a heart of stone, no one says they knew, the way things go, time has gone too far, lipstick, the jeans you use, no way is she a tart, splutter down the ‘phone, act like a distant nark, at this last fandango, she smokes a Lucky Star, smells summer’s sweet perfume, she's falling apart, I still hear her cough.