Brian Taylor Poems

There is no excuse for wearing
a collar that nips the skin,
not much excuse for sharing
the carriage they squeeze you in,
...

The season slides
to wind and showers
and sharp hot sun
(for rare half-hours)
...

This springtide was not something
to excite the senses
but an overflowing of the heart.
Pure joy.
...

Caves, like palaces,
hotels, churches
(and shoes) ,
outlive their tenants.
...

Though the weekend people
leave it all behind,
when they sit down quietly
it’s all there in their mind.
...

Pain is in proportion to livingness.
The more alive you are,
the more it hurts
to live.
...

“You are both a wolf
and a lamb.
If you do not stay awake
the wolf will devour
...

NOW
runs like a crack
through the universe.
Through it
...

Meanwhile I have been:

cutting back brambles
where they clutch at the passing skin;
...

Here the lunatics are free.
They walk the streets confined
within their minds,
and peer out through the blinds
...