As I listen to the
symphony of sounds,
all the insects clicking
with the comfortable
passing of time,
all the birds singing
blissfully between their
heartbeat and mine,
the clouds don’t care
about the sun or moon,
they move across my
eyes like tired soldiers,
I see them all dressed in
white, I hear their widows
weeping through the
gentle breeze making
the leaves peacefully
quiver, I continue to
believe in the good
of mankind, I tell myself
all the answers hide
in the delicate corners
of a quiet room …
Clay.M

I was in a bar outside
the gates of Pompeii,
it was already morning
and as the curtains began
to close on the moon and
the stars were turning off
their lights, she lit a cigarette
and as the smoke swirled
in the sound of mysterious
jazz I thought of Vesuvius
looking over us like some
viscous god. And between
the reflection of midnight
drunkards and broken hearts,
I didn’t know if it was the way
she held her glass or the way
she put it to her lips that made
me think she knew something
about love that I did not. She
looked at me and said something
in Italian then she looked away
crossed her legs and lit another
cigarette, I guess she said
where are you going?
I whispered Palermo …
Clay.M

I want to grow old
and die in the sun,
I want to walk through
a lush vineyard with
plump ripe fruit,
I want to lie beside a
river listening to small
birds doing small bird
things, I want to watch
marshmallow clouds
pass beneath a happy
blue sky. Don’t lay me
down on some
unsympathetic bed,
where my mind will
become stagnant, where
fond memories will fade
into the obscenities of
old age. Wrap me up in
the arms of my love,
send us way out into the
splendid sea, let the salty
air caress our skin, let the
waves wash over our
crippled bodies, let us
remember when we were
wide eyed and beautiful
so - innocent
so - young …
Clay.M

There is a silence before the war
a fragile anticipation

throwing flowers into the sea
I watch them drift into
the setting of the sun

now dripping in winter shadows
I have fallen into a wind swept field

I found love in your sad eyes
then watched as it flew away
like a sea bird in a storm

now I see you in the distance
like a soft piano memory

in the stillness of simple things
midnight taps at my window
all past wars are now
hiding in heartbreak

now as the light grows dim
there is a soft touch of peacefulness
a dark chord on a blue guitar

I can not sleep
it is not over …
Clay.M

Here it is
those blue nights
in cheap rooms
the cry of cats
in dark alleys
the growl of drunks
on ***** streets
the symphony of sirens
the solitude that sinks
into your skin like
stubborn smoke
I dream of Barcelona
the lonesome traveler
and his gypsy scarf
I know that the ghosts
in every old city still
breathe loneliness ...
Clay.M