Empty brief

Yellow envelopes have multiplied
In chaos 'cross my desk
Renewal packs and thank you notes
Give the wicked little rest

In the plethora of yellow
I have yet to find
A letter welcoming me
For the very first time

Should you have a copy
of an AA welcome note
Please send it my way post haste
before I miss the boat

The Ode to the Black Sheep

You harbinger of evolutionary advance
You renegade against the stagnant status quo
Oh, Ovian herald whose blackened countenance
Dares where others will not go
What courage is born within your noble breast
To take the road less travelled by
And put those less certain to the test
As one who never walks if he can fly?
What different drum that guides your errant path?
What beat unique that drives the beating of your heart?

Burning Man

He burnt to death they said
No tears of grief they shed
But anger boiled up strong and true
Amongst his loyal and trusted crew
Four daughters and wife
He left behind in this life
And those who should stand by them now
Have abandoned the premise of their vow
He deserved it, they whispered desk to desk
No-one deserves a death so grotesque
No-one should die screaming in pain
No-one should die their life in vain
He was a good man and like us all
He suffered one dreadful fatal flaw
And in one final ill-thought deadly deed
He died in a blinding flash of speed
But those who lived to tell the tale
Fall like vultures on every small detail
Those who drive after too much too drink
Who have looked death in the eye and given him a wink
They are riding on stallions eleven hands tall
A haughty spirit comes before a fall

Atlas

This oppressive weight crushes down on me
Atlas stood his ground unyielding
My muscles scream at breaking point
Choke on the tears that stream into a pool at my feet
And a rainbow rises in the air filled with promises it can’t keep

The men on the chain gang sing as they raise their arms
And batter the very earth with their melodies
A taste of freedom on the open road
The shackles an iron reality unrelinquishing
They cut into the softest skin and draw the reddest blood
Leaving sticky footprints on the tarmac drying in the sun

I see the pity in their eyes as they shake their heads as I pass
They wonder how I came to have a starring role in this farce