Landmarks by Night, Liverpool

I always stepped off the bus 

By the bombed-out church 

When the sky was navy blue

And falling into streetlight stars 

On lamp-posts.

Bold Street lit up

The red brick outline,

The blown-out windows,

My hollowed-out heart.

The trees inside were 

Shadow black,

But the friendliest ghosts -

They marked the start 

Of the unknown night

Steps and cobblestones

Towards something.

For the first time in my life, 

I felt free 

Not to choose -

I wandered off where there was music,

The silent walls behind me.

C. LJ Ireton 2023

Glimpses of Sun on a Teacup

It is all for

Days like these -

Typing while the tea

Seeps and cools on the side, 

Crows with anxiety  

Raise cat eyes at the open window

Triangle breeze -

Enough of the world 

For now.

Everytime the clouds tease

A divine moment,

White fur rolls towards the 

Square of Sun.

There is no obligation

To 'be' any type of person -

Even yourself,

Scattered on the floor

Somewhere with your clothes -

You can pick up the bits you choose

Tomorrow,

Use the same cup

If you want. 

C. LJ Ireton 2023

Rainbow sometimes

 

I do not want to see a rainbow sometimes - 

I want one, always, in my hands;

To carry mystery-coloured flame through 

The smokey street of tired people.

Some will say: ‘I want that’.

Others will find it ‘distracting’.

Those who favour grey will complain that it’s not

‘Appropriate’.

And while they argue,

I will stroke the original ghosts

Of colour,

Untouched by fumes or opinion

And keep walking.

C. LJ 2023

The first Springtime Swim

I stretch out Winter under the water

Muscles yawning into light blue -

Blinking away black skies,

Stillness 

And who I was on land.

C. LJ 2023 

Seeding

I sink my skin into the soil

Place a beginning

Under a black, damp blanket.

I am an instrument

Of the making magic -

The Sun says so.

I touch more places,

But some only see dirt -

Ask me to clean it up.

I can not understand resistance 

To scattered bits of beauty.

I have faced it all my life.

What kind of soul 

Would not want 

This earth

Filled with flowers? 

LJ Ireton 

C. 2023