Rain or Shine

When I was just a lad

I used to sleep outside.

I’d shut the door on my bedroom

Walk out to the backyard.

Sleep there all night long,

All year long,

After dad left

It was the only way I knew

To be closer

To that different better father.

Rain or shine

You still called me “mine.”

– Vagabond Prophet

Ruthless

Nothing as sharp

As a well timed word

Aimed at the spirit.

We’re almost there

Now tear the wound open wider,

Don’t forget to be ruthless.

I’ve got the salt ready

To slowly knead

Throughout your pain.

Tear it open

Let it all come pouring out,

Everything that’s you.

Leave it on the page,

Then and only then

Will you get some rest.

– Vagabond Prophet

Gravity

Gravity reversed

Taking everything

Away from me.

Reality accursed

Spinning shadows

In the daylight.

Day dreams perverse

Twisting innocence

Into cruelty.

I don’t want to know

What I’d be like

If you withdrew fully.

I already look in the mirror

And think there’s too much me,

Like gravity’s reversed

Taking everything away from me.

– Vagabond Prophet

Barbarous Threads

If I screamed at you

Saying I felt too quiet

Would you believe me?

If I whispered

“I feel too loud”

Would you think me true?

If I blunted every knife

So as to not be

Too discerning

Would you think me strange?

Your silence is too deafening

Just say something

To quiet me,

I don’t want to do all the talking.

Stay my hands,

And lace my thoughts

With your charm

I’ll endure the barbarous threads.

– Vagabond Prophet

Invisible


I think I need to be invisible

So I can watch you all day.

See what you’re like

When you don’t know I’m there.

See your hips slide past

The waistband of my pyjamas.

See your smile at first light,

Hear your joy at the first sound of music.

The brown of your skin

Brushing against sheets,

The smell of dreams

Still on your breath.

It was always you I loved

Just you alone,

Why can’t I be invisible

To see what I love?

– Vagabond Prophet