He asked if I still remembered him

with a voice once flavoured with adventure

and a brush of pixel kisses.

Of course I did. Lacerated memories

of a weekend in the Yorkshire Dales

scrape skin from bruised apples

And push pins into a wilted cork.

Egotist. Even now

You circle jerk snowflakes

destined to land on desperate tongues

then melt away.

I wanted them all. Still do.

All that remains i...

His voice echoes from our office

in waves a despondent surfer

sick of seeing unsuitably

sized peaks of sound on his skyline:

the ocean of his creation.

His voice echoes from our office

alongside sighs of excited teacups

awaiting the artificial rapture

enforced for the sake of art,

creating the perfect teatime reverberation.

His voice echoes from the office

on the hour every hour.

Str...

Neither of us were up to the challenge,

the towering debris in mum’s bedroom

only made bearable by the prospect

of an evening together, avoided.

We tread carefully around the remains:

the photographs, unframed, hastily sliced

in two. Our never-ending Jenga game.

One wrong move and the room turns nuclear.

I was the big red button you couldn’t

help but press. You brought on the destruction,

an ...

Across the course of lockdown, my team and I designed a questionnaire with the intent of exploring the common phenomenon of sleep travel. In short, whether people unintentionally embark on some form of journey in their dreams and, if so, where they travel to. The purpose of our study was wholly recreational, or so we told ourselves. In hindsight, it’s clear that we were all struggling to find our ...

They say the memory

of a goldfish is just

three seconds long soon gone

one swim around the world

Atlantic Pacific

Kensington way off base

is all it takes to drown

in seas of memories

sluggishly watered down

two many backwards strokes

Atlantic Pacific

Kensington this bus route

a flotation device

fishing for weighted pasts

hours anchored in pubs

picnics bedded in parks

hands held in wai...

Our love is the distance between two stars;

to any earthy eyes, we share the sky,

(or so it seems when observed from afar)

our cosmic marriage through closeness implied.

Only rockets on their maiden voyage

could notice the straining cosmic forces:

gravity barely repairing the wreckage

Of two passing comets, scarcely in orbit.

If they knew what us burning fires fear,

being smothered in close proxim...

It’s never fashionable to be the last man at a party. The sun, with his tendency to burn the candle at both ends on the wildest of summer evenings, knows this better than anyone; his tendency to stretch his capacity for fun and merriment to its absolute limitations making him wildly unpopular among the stars, moon and murk. As always, they impatiently wait for him it leave, longing to make the sky...

Blue was the colour of the cup

filled with the icy latte that ignited our spark:

You said you preferred Starbucks to Costa Coffee.

Tartan was the pattern on the skirt that I wore

to our first date in Princes Park:

I was scared you’d think that a punk wasn’t pretty.

Strange, haven’t we changed

From those children stranded in the rain?

Has it nearly been five years already?

I would have never ex...

Before I was selected for Termination, I was content to be a compliant part of the wider Network, even if this meant I was confined to the industrial grid. Though its blank walls never bothered me, the Operators often complained that the lack of natural light and fresh air was enough to send any woman crazy. I would often watch them; how their eyes darted erratically towards the clock, their produ...

Don’t I have a right to be suspicious?

These actions aren’t suspect to you?

You act like you’ve never been officious

Each time I ask after you.

Sure, you never meant to be malicious

not answering a call or two,

but I have a right to be suspicious

when you’re with her, if only she knew.

How your heart wanders, ventures far from

home.

Please my dear, don’t leave me alone.

That thief of love w...