*note all 5 poems below were previously published in the following magazine/websites “ditto” published by Pif Magazine USA “closure” published by Honest Ulsterman Northern Ireland / Culture Cult India “café of then” published by The Blue Nib Ireland “self-preservation” published by E Ratio USA “thankful” published by Verse of Silence India / highly commended for The Robyn Mathison Poetry Prize Australia* ditto crawling gentle on splintered wood shards of trickle a smudge reminder of my still alive continuing did a muffled dream breathe isolated or was combination itinerant scribe nature presenting elementary grasp nobody knew i played with dangerous why discard compensation ongoing endure dependent relies on silent it was murky rain on broken past that spelt me your eyes meant truth only a fox smiles of not eat fresh kill they must realize decades of try to slap me down bred pointless achieved their angst and my freedom i’m no real poet of anything actual an assembly devised in lockdown became art form notorious slap would the cluster believe joyful comes from non-adherence be normal essential queer chime takes final bow ditto answers all when constructing sliding chapters in pandemic scale decades taught me heaven belief closure we pondered final cold parting debated repeat inevitable flee two bodies stifled year sly passion nil fact else glue seal tight stay avoidance trick of never be closure rational discuss lost in bull-shit whine ritual words drown keep damp clinging next sex muddle bed fake home so i pulled at pin grip tight near always pricked hope inflate squirm slippery in need goodbye whisper pack tremble escaping pleaded no call scream baby come back stopped slept empty alone beach hiding cried as kid lost new toy in snatch grieved be missing us body kiss struggle hope tear brittle gone lope sliding waste began roam swept coast bird-screech singing forest cloud trail growth calm give murmer ocean flounder icy blue dreaming sand warming pillow fall white stretch no end inlet granite time old grow always trees reach sway weather element life mantra name silent supreme inner ancient horizon arrive red-orange new cycle returned to corpse house once empty grip lover smelling lust-chaos tales more never will ghost-me wet screaming memory ghost-you life drift lame kind nothing now all breathe in true wanting back me be only calm alive here alone fleshing stable silence time beauty return wallow sacred nil regret you naught never will me be café of then there’s a café tucked into a city nook where i’d regularly be three decades ago when i’m back this way i always stop by take my old table spot float back to life of then i’d skulk here to hook up late at night drop in heading home in wide eyed dawn speeding crazy crashing low nowhere to go needing somewhere be boy dream soaring hard morning pain confused by not real escape bad trick danger a mate from that epoch appears i nip in and order bitter blacks bump into an italian with now dyed hair who i knew from more than here shakes hard my hand recalls with worn grin us in a dim city room with new-found trade on the game together a few times one year i chuckle wry at street-wandering ways he sniggers sly at what’s still not forgot as years slide on and ways of vanished youth drift into psychedelic space i give thanks to run-away eons and after dark lads who faded out through fate and choice or kept going on like me and some riding faded spontaneous memories jolted along by almost old age struggling against blatant facts of a dwindling now hidden stories of bygone reality steering the remembered route back to this café of then self-preservation silence knows conceal of stifled queer self-young kept tight vigilant under wrap in never give my all careful instilled damage residing in thrown chains dragged along by experience regardless as they dish put down cards to remove shadow of privately safe so i floated away to hidden no name bliss destination for sweet acceptance relief from lectured draining calm to soft vision harmless shell of no expectation burden without abuse process adding toil to how and why path obvious returns in who cares elation of run fast escape and fuck their taught lessons since born glimpse told instilled frozen dread of alone when human complexity was not spun by doctrine heterosexual churching values or biding by rules of no choice made to cry sorry twice for me is not on offer to them of unnatural changing plan rhyming inner agenda through persuaded knot in mindful by internal direction ordained psychology taught analysis education in social norm drives convention in exist try work living and expected interaction delivers cold tedium to view unfolding destroyed into obscured by adherence but self-preservation designed by realization life known without measured layer expectation drowning internal truth offers combination of one-ness that is fact of all-together teaching avoidance of dictated pushed enquiry conveying be of circling still point in time universal honesty delivers win thankful breathing in real ice sea-froth lap naked feet pinking ramble be one follow winter grit beach twist trail gum trees hike wild step pacing screech birds flock-massing silent move gain coffee two more shadow tall morning city eyes blue-grey playful near switch click device bag travel packing in wheels joining ramble park scrub moon welcome lone slowing slumber pink-red shiraz sip blue flute chill crystal dark shadow dance once was i can as them your you-voice sweet choir my fade tune sing missing gaze look in dreaming rise float waning heaven ocean submerge womb heal water still body blood-drip set sunning sky envelope calm words written think verse take given by honest universal be living celebration now with smiling out thankful Wolfpack Contributor: Stephen House 3 poems from Stephen House Bio: Stephen House has won many awards and nominations as a poet, playwright, and actor. He has been commissioned many times, and had 20 plays, and several word and image exhibitions and short films produced. He has received international literature residencies from The Australia Council for the Arts to Canada and Ireland, and an Asia-link India residency. His chapbook “real and unreal” was published by ICOE Press Australia.His new book will be released soon. He is published often and performs his acclaimed monologues widely. Stephen House | Australian Plays Transform (apt.org.au)
Fevers of the Mind 