philwords

[philwords]

Door keeps swinging open, and shut Catching my fingers Keeping me out Warm hue illuminating for small moments Closing back to darkness

[philwords]

Auckland, 2020

[philwords]

Thinking of you Out of nowhere

And I

Remember the times Folded inside each other Ah-oh

Looking at you Was driven by the colour Of your

Quiet eyes As they chose to focus On mine for a while

But the tired It got you Wah-oh-oh I know it’s hollow but you Don’t need to hide

Lying with bees Above you And I

Know what it’s like To feel dark inside

Lying with you Was driven by the colour Of your

Quiet eyes As they chose to focus On mine for a while

And the sun Will follow Wah-oh-oh I know it’s hollow But you don’t need to hide

🎤

[philwords]

Oh Bottle to go Drinking alone Saturday in Los Feliz And I’m Setting things out Letting you know That I want to see you

It’s been a while since you went away We broke it up now we’ve gotta pay You don’t want it It’s been a year

I will turn my head and go

Bottle to go Drinking alone Saturday in Berlin And I’m Setting things out Letting you know That I can’t see you

I’ve been myself since I went away It wasn’t easy but I’ve been ok I don’t want it It’s been years

I’ll return that name and go

I’ll carry on And go and go

🎤

[philwords]

[philwords]

As the plane picks up its gait and starts to race

You might forget things you're supposed to remember You might remember things you hope to forget

You might not look out the window  - but if you do - You might catch twilight

You might see the desert, red hot beneath you Or mosques filling with pilgrims, called to prayer

You might see New York reach her hands up Or smog hang stagnant, obscuring LA

When flying in the hours of darkness

You might feel the world close in around you You might feel it open up

You might be cold. You might be tired. You might grieve in the toilets. You might feel nothing. You might be hungry, and want a drink

You might be terrified - or rushed by courage

The guy next to you might sigh, or ruin it for you You might hear a child cry. You might hear a child CRY

It might be the end of something, or the start I guess it's always both

When flying in the hours of darkness

You might look up, and wish you could go higher You might feel like fire, or cold stone

You might know nothing about where you're going You might know too much

Whatever the case

At least in those hours you’re far from anything You’re in-between and on your way

[philwords]

Hunting

The indices of trauma As though by locating its root precisely It could be solved

Lunar colonies Cheese-cutter dreams Tom and the grapefruit moon

[philwords]

Thoughts circle, Looking for a place to land A face that looks like home

Eyes up, walk forward

Not every broken moment needs to be fixed

🎧

[philwords]

All those faces And not one of them yours

You can win every battle But still lose the war

🎧

[philwords]

Grief your candle I lay my anchor down Truth a menace You make a villain out of me

🎧

[philwords]

Sometimes things just rip or scratch or tear Are broken or stolen or lost

And you wonder why you clung

[philwords]

The radio was on The kids were screaming

Potholes and picket fences

Buoyed by alternate hopes She walked into the night

🎧

[philwords]

Milton Keynes, 2018

[philwords]

The dark figure turns as a black crow descends, Pohutakawa brush in beak And whispers

Are you read to call me home?

And the long white cloud Stretches her fingers towards me Over oceans and space and time

To pick me up And place me down

Gentle powhiri Celtic call

Manx appointment:

Whichever way you throw her she will stand

🎨

[philwords]

Lingering lullabies

Tangled in the scent Of a late night and a slow start

Harmony beats poetry But a good edit checkmates both

Avatars mask accents Spoken word now obsolete

Scan the shelves Tick the box

And make a toast to your own health

🎨

[philwords]

Rose tint glint Prism shift

This light is less demanding

Head for the lighthouse No more the storm

Heed the siren’s call of friendship

Love stains But you can always change your shirt

🎨

[philwords]

You wrap your words around me Slowly they undo me Like fire they run right through me And I relinquish to you

You say love is out to get you And you are ready for her arrow As though you always knew me As though I’m ready for it too

I’m terrified of speaking In case how you love is fleeting Don’t want to jeopardise the feeling If it’s short-lived but true

You wrap your words around me Slowly you undo me Fire runs right through me And I relinquish to you

🎤