Paloma

My time goes by unspoken, afraid of family especially Da, our farm closed and broken, it doesn't take much memory, chime or beat of bell jar, to awaken lost pity, which hand will you hold, inside the smoky station bar, sunrise leaves me cold, you steal away like a refugee, chase some foreign star, I deal with infidelity, the days scatter and unfold, no one seems to care, or hear my silent roar, the crime is seen as comedy, they say to me tu voir, let it go take it easy, we never travel far.

Paula

Does my hardness mock, white faced curl your lips, the sheets we rocked, then hung out to dry, crowded bars, wine to sip, like geese they flap and cry, startled by the river song, a sound of ships, Nana used to pummel, cigarette papers you roll dry, smoky pictures that skip, across a crowded sky, my Ma boiling socks, making bath house trips, while you sit there blocked, are you happy with me, will we live in sin, do they make me lie, eyes adrift.

Patricia

I walk without fear, down lilac evening, mother's words hush dear, wondering what I know, or who I've seen, never bring one to this door, that photographer so clear, who Dada used to tease, the image comes with tears, he's in California now, they lived along our street, their house bought, Protestant souls, he went to buy our father beer, Sunday suit, collar at ease, who said don’t come near, large hands, still calloused, they made him feel uneasy, it wasn’t me he troubled, I loved the magazines.

Ola

Like a wreath of flowers, disguises a family ruin, lace covers your arms, you glide past me, do rocks and palomas, dance to your beat, treat you like a dower, swung you by your hubris, other animals cower, do you shout and heave, brighten with alarm, at the presence of defeat, a lover here and now, make you feel cooler, dance light or never, rage about your feet, an absence of charm, the sky full of showers, a rain washed calm.

Octavia

Will she drop me now, make me drink more drink, sit and wonder how, if i should wait near, glean what she's thinking, if her intentions are bare, her eyes a vibrant brown, they dance at my blink, this Summer long, the heat off her appears, to drain the sun’s sinking, what she demands disappear, like an artic ship's bow, that groans like a clinker, to the frozen horizon, don't need eyes of a deer, nor even a shrink, to tell me what’s clear, love is an ice rink.

Ophelia

She says a dawn novena, and worries about her feet, dancing who will see her, love is a trapeze door, unknowing what secrets to keep, it glides the floor, every tune floats bigger, the dust shuffles her conceit, wood yards and blonde singers, rise along the shore, but when dawn turns green she prays alone, wondering if heaven’s trigger, will replace a depth of need, no bet is ever even, perhaps with a communion order, even a retreat, she’ll know the score, stuff to make her dream.

Oona

Living here's no paradise, it’s always in the news, people aren’t very nice, might as well be jail, pavement’s are like glue, love’s a broken grate, all I want's a better life, show what I can do, need a little respite, my songs are well regaled, the arias too, pity I don’t escape, this cesspit full of lies, little pieces made of you, don't ask me why, what has been created, boils away like stew, know I’m not an easy play, home’s for me no searchlight, when it beams on truth, this time of early night, sheds no pretty hue.