ALMOST A LOVE POEM

MEA CULPA

Tonight I'm going home to dream of the whale
when we knew love as big as the ocean
I'll taste the salty tang of the tides
remembering your kisses, deep and rolling

Tonight I'll dream of where the sea meets the sand
the touch of your fingers floating over my skin
sweat drowning our eyes from the labours of lust
till submerged we sink into the depth of contrition

© Bette O’Callaghan

ALWAYS LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING

JUST LIKE THAT

Tommy Cooper is my hero
I never quite got his humour
or his hat, but
he was charming for all that
Tommy, as a star, ascended
in my sky
when I saw a tape of his last
show, there
he was in the middle of a joke
fumbling through one of his inept
magic tricks, when he
fell down upon the stage
the exquisite cleverness of his stillness
captured me, whilst
the audience was laughing, thinking
the dive was the punch line

Good on ya Tommy
what a way to go


© Bette O’Callaghan

LIFE IMITATES ART

LIFE IMITATES ART

When I was 59 I took Dorian Gray as my lover
it happened without my knowledge
I awoke one morning and he was in my bed
he’d stowed his valises under my eyes
heavy bags with no ticket for redemption
scaled the Everest of my cheekbones
where he puffed up plump pillows for his feet
donned his spelunker gear to excavate
the deep hollows of my cheeks
draped his weighty blanket around my jaw
and tenderly tugged to achieve perfect sag and droop
then laid tracks across my forehead
a contingency for a fast getaway

Dorian Gray loved me because...
I was as pretty as his picture

© Bette O’Callaghan