Ellen Shaw

In the desert sand lifts
And swirls
A violent storm
Forming my name
...

What do I know?
I am but a mixed race child
They say I must be confused
Mustn't know who
...

The letters on the doormat glowed
blue in the darkness
and were cold under soft soled bare feet
I became a dragon in the hallway
...

You broke my heart
the moment I saw tyres
flying over your sharp
soft sand dunes.
...

Flown away
and made this no ordinary day
a family in pieces
with no way to make sense of this.
...

If you are going to leave me
Leave.
Completely.
Don't stay one kiss
...

Today I knocked on water
to see if she would let me in
hoping she would send the weeds up to shake my hand
and wrap my wrists
...

Star studded dark blue sky
A place to get lost
Or a place to stand out.
Winter's wind dancing by
...

Satin and ribbons
Come loose, unwind
Tongue unknots
Can't stop.
...

Wind swirls
Footsteps disappear
Walk across the desert
Full to the brim
...

A hot coal burning red
sits neatly on your fleshy tongue
Kiss me
with all of your anger
...

With the sand beneath my feet
I stand
Set free

Blue skies painted red
...

If I caught you
At just the right moment
You'd be ready and waiting for me
If I could catch you
...

Footsteps fall
along the path laid out
Eyes glaze over and spirit dulled.
Walk.
...

Halo sits on your head
angel hair atop
you glow
words spill out jumbled and rushing
...

lay me down
at the foot of a tree
on cold cold earth
lay me
...

Walk on
and don't look back
break free
...

Swimming, drowning, gasping, grasping
wanting, falling into
black pools of anger, rage and hurt
push me further
...

Not who you want
Not who you see
Not how you think
I ought to be
...

In six seconds
you had said all you wanted
to say,
in one breath
...