up

the insatiable pull of the sky
      an anti-gravity
crying out to me
inter-mittently

fall
     into
           me
               softly
or at great speeds
fall somehow, whether lost or completely free,
jumping, tumbling, screaming,
fall into me

toes bouncing before long
to take off
pile as many hearts into this basket as I can
fill up high to our eyelids in helium,
we fly away while

the world
shrinks
underneath us

heart y o u

paw paw shine from a distance
hair coiffed
just a hint of deoderant
or cologne
high-collar, thick heel, long coat,
fitted

companion leans in for a cheeky whisper,
he throws an appreciative smile
down a delicate neckline

subtle blush
dropped bottom lip
mind in last night's midnight
rendez - vous

their little secret

cory wrote andrew a note;
               '  ever notice
how the neckhole of a lifevest
resembles the saving grace inside my chest?
              i heart you andrew x'

WORKSHOP ALERT!

Hello lovely ones,

I am very excited to announce the first workshop in a series for SpokenWord/Performance Poetry at a wonderful space on Broadway called Work Shop. Check out the invite here, get involved and find your inner voice! http://www.work-shop.com.au/course/spoken-word-with-jessie-ray-from-art-party/

you inspire me

you inspire me like there's a wire tugging all the magnets in my chest / like the best parts of me are suddenly freed up and stick feverishly / to your heartstrings / you add fuel to my fire before letting the sky take her embers / remembering it cannot burn you if you keep the staff turning / remembering that we learn each time the fire dies, of the power of starlight /

you inspire me pulling up corners of the carpet of drudgery / til the floorboards underneath are gleaming / til we tapdance on the wood leaving little dents / kicking legs in the air / dense shadows the only indication that we have been here / we are still here / together / bent out of shape and more beautiful for it

you are the fireflies bringing stars to our gardens / sure they fly in lazy circles but small suns shine out of their arses / and sure they only live for two days, but those two days are filled to the brim with crazed flying, sparkling bodies and and the belief that they will remain, somehow, stay somehow, long after the somedays are over

you inspire me like the last peg in the basket / holding me up to the wind to mask the dampness / I'll amplify my vision through your glasses and never will we let the bastards get us down / for you, frowns exist only as upside down kisses and you dance a little jig just to prove you've kept your silliness / fill me up with a spark for a second, love / power in me the shine I give on / even lightbulbs need a power source sometimes

you inspire me like the birth of an idea growing wings / like the light in a childs eyes when they learn of possibilities / there's a whole world of wonder you claim as your own / grown from a seed you buried carefully in the middle of your imagination / there is no nobler a pursuit than creation

when i fell over into a bucket and drowned / you tipped it over gently sharing the water around and said, hey, listen, buckets are for putting fires out / or collecting drought water, not for drowning in / there is no sin in sadness little ray but you'll choke if you swallow it all yourself

i've not spoken to you about this yet  / true I'm not even sure if you get it / if you fully understand the impact you've had on me, friend / you are the truest definition of godsend

Bodhi Designs - a gift

The beautiful Fleassy Malay from Bodhi Designs surprised me with this little gift today - what a gorgeous sentiment and a cool way to show some of my poetry. I love it!! What do you think?

Tall Poppies

in a land of tall poppies
       the rains flood our riverbanks with shame

a girl who could not embody her name
thinking it crazy her parents should call her
                                                                      Bella
she tells no one what she sees in the mirror

a young fella racing around the house
like a madman
         reprimanded for his enthusiasm
gorwing up
resenting his children

of families who sweep all the hard talks
         under the carpet
then wonder why they can't walk
                                                    straight

we have a global epidemic of shame

you know when you hate yourself but
can't say a thing?
                             thats shame
or when you're suffering, thinking your friends
only want your happy face
                             thats shame
or when some unimaginable trauma
has hit you in the face
and you continue to blame yourself
                             thats shame

let me tell you something friends,
at 4am on the night of a woman's 60th
she tripped down the stairs,            knocked herself on the head
broke her arm in two places
                                  and went back to bed                bleeding
                                   in shame
thinking her family would frame her a drunk
or out    of    control       character

what black hearts have we if our mothers cannot
share hurts                  for fear of their offsprings
judgement

i met a thirteen year old girl so ashamed of her gender
in a world of men
that she                preferred to stay in bed
rather than dress on up for them

an old man who'd lived his whole life
                            pretending he loved women
collecting wrinkles
like linen
shameful his heart lay
                            among men instead

my own sister-in-law lets others believe
she is from Paraguay, Belize or Brazil,
                   not Lebanon
for which she receives ridicule
for which she receives suspicion
                   when she should be met with veneration for
                   her humanitarian aide in the orphanages

in a land of tall poppies
                   we are quick to let them die
teach them to reach up to the sky
before showing it as an illusion / a lie

there was a man on the street kneeling under glares
and raindrops
                   a sign held as he looked for the light in our eyes
don't judge me said the sign

what has humankind become?
         when we condemn our brothers to their coming undone
         when we bully our sisters and hurt them for our own amusement
         when we hush the children, angry at their freedom of expression
         when we let our neighbours hate the very bodies that they walk in
the force of shame escapes no one
for long enough

but we will remain steadfast in our masks of confidence
until we're not pretending         anymore

i want to even the score / here / tonight
let it be known
that
you are perfect

as you are

family

and through it all
i stand starstruck
                 there is
                 much too much to say
and only 26 letters in
the way we communicate

you have held my
hate for you
tenderly, willing back to life
the breath of a dying lung
mending that broken-winged heart
little bird

at my worst you gave me
compassion
un
conditional
love
at the very moment
i
gave
up
on
you

maybe thats the point of
b r e a k / throughs
                 broken / f a m i l y

like a bone
it mends
eventually
scar tissue still
pulsing
remembering the
c. r. a. c. k.

how fickle my young heart
what shame do i harbour
for its passions

drown in a puddle
i told myself
make that puddle of sweat and
tears
but you the rainbow
came glistening
you the sunshine, dried my feet
the reflection on the pavement
distant
memory

and suddenly
we were laughing so hard
my sides ached
we came back
eventually

my disbelief
r e i g n i n g
could we love
eachother
that much/?
could it be..