Beula

When did I start crying, was it going back to Ireland, or when my son asked why, Nana loved the horses, you who poured sand, over that turfed cours, on the ferry, kids playing, silver light across the strand, I lay at anchor becalmed, you the daddy retort, we’ve run aground, are we together any more, to say Ma was a slave, a house always crammed, a martyr to his venerable grace, all those holy orders, he asks if there’s a plan, in dust and troubled bother, but doesn’t give a damn.

Abi

What I should never do, stuff I swore, gallop down fields of blue, dance again to the moon, pray to broken laws, wave a witches broom, my partner swoons, asks what I’m saying this for, only fools live out of tune, runaway doomed, take holy orders, drain winter into June, rage at every heirloom, define a life by whores, she’ll leave me here to stew, a fool to give me room, say I’ll pay a heavy score, my almond eyes brand new, love is raw.

Zara

Can you love me, do you think you dare, the way I used to be, look at me, I breathe, is it my grey hair, that makes you dream, Paris on glossy evenings, would you care, Pastis and nights spent free, with someone's being, clink yellow glasses with her, still fresh at fifty three, blowing like steam, your eyes flared, would you let out a scream, all those might have beens, is that fair, for a life of ease you my blonde flaneur?

Yemi

The turn of stupid days, scour my great unease, a river quietly embraced, the streets and diners, bring a sense of need, solace if you find her, it’s not a real home anyway, down these yellow streets, think where else to gaze, debt is timeless, beneath cool leaves, blue drinks drunk by minors, Our Lady holds her sway, in these cold light seasons, love always stays, the law tends to blindness, the water still seeps, waves of the crimeless, my sister's broken cities

Yemi

The turn of stupid days, scour my great unease, a river quietly embraced, the streets and diners, bring a sense of need, solace if you find her, it’s not a real home anyway, down these yellow streets, think where else to gaze, debt is timeless, beneath cool leaves, blue drinks drunk by minors, Our Lady holds her sway, in these cold light seasons, love always stays, the law tends to blindness, the water still needs, waves of the crimeless, my sister broken cities.

Xavier

In a spartan cafe', redeemed by our needs, don’t make me trade, a blonde bright lit home, for an invisible enemy, where shadows climb walls, in the falling rain, we reel at the infirmary, an echo of empty cradles, a doctor's sad tone, more than we can ever be, love worn and gone, on hospital alleyways, the absence of a heartbeat, like a dismal train, pray at St Peter’s dome, loss brings no certainty, just whistles forlorn, over the sea.

Wilhelmina

You whisper love, on throwaway 'phones, your ravaged face a moon, luminous as a sign, above the credit stores, you search for reasons why, an arc of pearling doves, a lifetime learning to moan, fly to those who give, in these dark cold nights, fresh linen and Cologne, makes you feel all right, you wear a hooded look, like saints conceals their bones, always swear by the book, what light shines above, or in dust remains prone, life is ever tough, your star is not alone.