Christmas

A frozen dawn crackles into view

Cottoned concrete, new and flawless

Lays ready for the impression;

For the session to begin.

Footprints puncture the pristine powder

As the march of families reveal familiar paths

Soon enough, they gather around sparkling trees

Propped on their knees, thankful for the company

And grateful for those that can join them

This Christmas day.

Spiced apples dance in the soupy air

Fair smells of roasting foods entertains the senses

As the sharing commences amidst happy chatter

The clatter replaced by the rustling

Of silvery sheets, sparkling

Against the crackling firelight

A wonderful sight, adorned with smiles

As the paper shreds in chaotic joy

And piles up in quiet corners

Into marbled alloys

The merriment drifts across sleepy towns

As crystals, sparkled with champagne beads

Greet to the sounds of laughter and cheer

A feast of no equal is polished

The sequel of which will repeat for days

Whilst the haze of the wine

After much time turns words

Into the most mirthful of mischief.

Witness the wonder of this time spent together

In company of those that we love

And remembering those that are no longer with us

That were lost in the year soon to pass

But we’re thankful for the time we still have to share

Under the remembrance air of the past
To wish all that I love a magical day

And a very merry Christmas.

Copyright © 2011 by Simon Austin

Under the Shadow of Grief

Weight of the earth in thick rock and sorrow

Wish for release from regretful tomorrow

Burden the past as it blisters the brain

Force back the torment and choke on the pain

Weeks roll in seconds through forgotten time

Meaningless chatter within purposeless rhyme

Drifting in masses but walking with ghosts

Swimming the oceans but drowning at coasts

Clouded in judgements whilst clear in denials

Begging for inches then giving up miles

Facing blank walls when staring through spaces

Insincere pity from false smiling faces

Absence of feeling and sick of existence

Happiness muted through tortured persistence

Eyes full of rivers with hearts full of frost

And a world full of strangers in a paradise lost

Copyright © 2011 by Simon Austin 

Winter

Mist of midnight frost on shards of glass,

Peppered snow at rest on rigid grass,

Wind is still but whispers sleeted breaths,

Threatened creatures sleep in frosted deaths.

Frozen branches drop their tears for art,

As fashioned moonbeams split the world apart.

Air is thick with fog, heavy and blue,

Ground of steel is crowned with icy dew,

Crystal flakes descend at leisure’s pace,

Dusting whispered powder about face.

Hazy lights are bled of upper zones,

Noise distorts to ghostly baritones.

Man-made stars blink hard in absence heat,

Natural flows buckle in jagged pleat,
Roaring coals crack hard amongst the pyre,

Roasted bricks irradiate the fire.

Plated sheets of black coat corners new,

Splitting asphalt rocks at once in two.

Purple lights loom high above; surreal,

Endless twilight bleeds the ethereal,

Objects brought to life solidify,

Underneath an obsidian sky.

Sunlight glances, cuts the brume to splinter,

As life accepts the thick blanket of winter.

Copyright © 2011 by Simon Austin 

The Titan

Too late, Titan lost

Touch the diamonds of the north

Fill her chest

Soak her lungs

See her drown to the ripening

Of stars

Body and soul deep in the water

Gliding softly at first

But the strength of the sea

Takes her slowly

Then quickly

As the mirror of night

Drags the willing

To die

And a sky

Full of sapphires

Gazes down on those left without hope

Hear them choke

On the crystals

Of god

The bed welcomes

She

Whilst above, hopelessly

Those that struggle to breathe

Do so slowly

Mournfully

The queen of the waves

Regretfully saves 
None

And bows her head

In acceptance

Regret at once

That a man

Who is full of the strength

To have all

Sent the irons of earth to the oceans

With but ignorance in tow

See the spirit of death

Rub his hands

Without passion

And pull in those lost

In a most desperate

Fashion.

Copyright © 2011 by Simon Austin