Poetry and Lyrics
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About this ebook
Covering over 40 years of poetry and song writing this final volume of Smith's work includes over 65 poems,120 song lyrics and over 60 illustrations. From the thoughts of a fighter pilot to the disdain of pretentious poetry readings, through quiet evening light, Simon Mark Smith's poems and lyrics are both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant. Take a look inside and see for yourself. Simon Mark Smith is an author, singer-songwriter, painter, and digital artist. He has been involved in the music business for over 30 years and has released critically acclaimed music albums, as well as having his poetry published in various magazines and commissions from corporate bodies such as Microsoft.
Simon Mark Smith
Simon Mark Smith is a singer-songwriter, painter, digital artist, photographer, writer, teacher, and karate-ka.
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Poetry and Lyrics - Simon Mark Smith
1
WE WILL MEET ON BRIDGES
Sunrise Across the River
We will meet on bridges
Across the Thames
At 5 am
In smoky bars
You’ll capture my heart
And at dawn
Let it go again
You inspire my children
In laughter
Take my thoughts
And turn them into others
Lay gifts at the root
Of my journeys
Trickle miracles
Through my fingers
Bring words
Of peace
To troubles
Read poetry
In the darkness
Sing silence
Within me
Give to
Receive me
Your love
To teach
Me
Let
Me
Be
24 th November 2002
2
MEET ME - TAKE TWO
Brighton Pier
And action
I open the door
You smile at the camera
The stars that guide you
Guide me too
Fast forward
We climb the stairs
Rewind
Your fingers kiss
Pause
A moment there
Slow-Mo replay
In my arms you rise
I fall
Quiet!
From crying laughter
Play Animation sequence
Our naked love Is born
Lip-Sync
My mouth fills with your taste
My heart is full of night
Fade to white
Your sleepy breathing
Offers me a fall
Make-up!
Then a height
Jenny, is the set ready?
Across the sea
The boat lights shine
The stars that guide them
Guide me too
Zoom, then blur
To the touch of your lips on mine
Can’t wait for the rushes
Roll credits
My darling
For your love I thank you
Jenny! For God’s sake love
Meet me in the water
Come with me upon our bed
Dissolve
Even if the evening wind
Catches our last breath
Lower lights, please
I want to sleep
Beneath your weight
Under the same roof
Is there something
You can’t see
Strobe transitions
Are dreams your truth
End titles commence
What if what you do
Kills the love
Of those who love you
Close up
I look into the sorrow
Of your gaze
Flash fade
In ecstatic fear
You close your eyes
Freeze frame
Jen!
Meet me on the pier
Or in the water
Where it meets the sky
Fade to grey
Meet me
In the shadows of our love
Silence please
We’re almost finished
And greet me in the kisses
Of goodbye
And cut
18 th March 2007
3
POEM FOR A TEXT-TO-SPEECH SYNTHESISER
Plastic Words
There is something about
The austere reverential trudge
Of a poet reading a poem
That moves me
To a murderous compulsion
Unintended I expect
Rhyming with everything
I regret
Written with the greatest respect
26 th October 2014
4
POEM COMMISSIONED BY MICROSOFT 2002
Connected
Connected
To a timeless place
A world where I am me
A dream where I walk
At my own pace
And see what I can be
25 th November 2002
Someone from Microsoft called me on Wednesday 24th November 2002 and asked if I could prepare a poem for the following Monday. I came up with about 25 ideas during that time. The poem above is the one they chose.
5
I STEP LEFT
Your sword
Rushes air
Upon my face
Slow motion
Moments
Drawn
Quietly
It is not death
That strikes fear
Through me
But your wish
To bring agony
Your eyes search
For weakness
Mine sense
Your yearning
I sway my right side
Away from you
Your imbalance
An opportunity
You start to fall
Your face sleeps
You dream
Of surrendering
Your hands grip
Ever harder
We do not plan
To die
The moment
Slides
Within
28th May 2003
6
THE BIRTH
Mother and Child
The cold air stroked my face
Someone joined the gathering
The warm, damp breath of cattle
Hushed shuffling and mutterings
Upon the straw bed
That was mine
That I had laid fresh this day
Water trickled
Like a miracle
November 2002
7
FAITH AND ALLEGATION
Desert Lands
I am on the side
Of the angels
And the helicopter’s
Flying high
I’m with you
In the lightness
Of the sky
Just look at that
Isn’t it something
Just look at me
Ain’t I somebody
Well, we’re flying
With the angels
Making fun
Of their guiding lights
I am with you
In this blue
Your left side’s
Still in view
Can you hear them
Singing
Or is it the blades
Just spinning
I am chasing angels
Through cerulean skies
Tonight
But it’s a difficult differentiation
Of faith and allegation
And the angels
Ain’t God willing
To sit for interrogation
28 th July 1990
8
A MIRACLE COMES TO LAND
A pinpoint of light across the sky
Like a miracle comes to land
On the outstretched palm
Of your empty hand
The city smells rise
Haunting associations
And though I love the smell
Of wood more
I would miss this man-made
Permeation
It is not the excitement
But the scent of life
What tree laughs so openly?
What man stands so sturdily?
I look at you
Hear words
And convey them
Back to you
Mathematics plus
Improbability
Equals
Laughter
Tonight,
I am saturated
By a feeling of well being
The day has moved well for me
I will stop writing
And you will kiss me
As we lie in bed
And talk gently
And this day taken
For now
Has moved kindly
Around me
But these marks upon the page
Will never be so beautiful
As when in semi-darkness
They become unreadable
12 th April 1991
9
OLD GROUND
To sit and watch the sun
The wind draws lines
Upon the land
To walk and feel you
Close inside
To take away the pain
And sleep soundly
To live life happily
To walk over old ground
Mother puts her head around
The door
And says goodnight
1985
10
THE REVOLUTIONARY
The picture pans
Across the sea
To the place
You held my breath
In your clenched fist
The revolutionary
The tears you cried
Found their way to me
Like crocodiles
Reptiles tied up
Set free
February 1990
11
WHERE THE BIRDS FLEW DOWN
Where the birds flew down
I stood kicking dust
In the shadowed light
Of evening
Two men emptied their pipes
On the veranda
They looked up
Kicking their ashes
Between cracks
In the wood
8 th August 1990
12
THE FEAR
On the landing
I look down the stairs
Tell the incubi to
Turn and go back down
The storm brings death to the front
Takes me back to fear
Where I talked to the heads
On sticks
Walked down roads
On sticks
Kissed the baby
In the arms of a mother
Kissed the maybe
In the arms of a lover
An old man I know
Walks his dog
Looks up
And watches his life go by
In an old wheelbarrow
Have I kissed you lately?
Have I kissed you lately?
Fear is the gift of thieves
Was it a kiss I stole
The door opens
A man walks in
Takes his hat off
And sits looking down
He positions it
Between his knees
Cries
Then handcuffs me
1990
13
THE INSTINCT HINT OF LOVE
Can we collude
Or will we collide
Will we unite
Will we harmonise
With one accord
And hand in glove
Consenting accompaniments
There’ll be a vote of no confidence
For our government of love
The consensus of opinion
And the adequacy
Of a well-written word
Scratched on the back
Of a gloveless hand
Blood comes to the surface
But doesn’t erupt
It’s the tendency
Of the tender-hearted
The vulnerability
Of the submissive martyrs
And the potentiality
Of the deathless departed
Death is in our inability
To communicate
The depths of our learning
Meaning turns to dust
With the mourning light
The irony of dawning
The deadline
Of our learning
I am left alone listening
To the oblivious logic of intuition
(The adequacy of an inner notion)
The instinct hint
The paradox riddle
Of lucid foresight
The false reading
Of mystification
The confusion
Of the simple truths
The sophistry
Of the ignor-ant-ing
I visit the institute of intuition
Illuminated by past life souls
Guided by the shadows of light
30 th July 1990
14
POEM ABOUT DISABILITY - 1989
After a hundred films
On the doings of the disabled
I am bored
Their purpose of education
Swamped by their entertaining
Tears of joy
Not another film
On being bloody marvellous
Either that
Or a grubby black and white advert
Cerebral-palsy thoughts
Close the door
After the collection
And a thousand emotions
Holding apart
Pressures from out
From in
And the door
Held fast in place
Sympathy preceding
Lunch time jokes in the pub
Amazement preceding
Prejudice at the job Interview
We meet
Me in the way
Of your easy day
You look to me
Your shock
Still startles me
We talk
And I know my words
Fall into the background
As every move I make
Disturbs you
But time will eventually
Encompass me
Into your normality
And then
Maybe friendship
I am one in a range
Of a million abnormalities
You come to me
For an easy answer to
How should I be with them?
But there is none
Even the word ‘disabled’
With its worthless meaning
And in-valid categorisations
Of very different people
Causes pain
And all these bloody
Marvellous films
What change did they make
You’d still treat me the same
If I came for your daughter’s love
How would you feel
I am here to let you see
This discomfort
Between us
Revealing
The hidden war
But my first battle
Is to make you want
To understand
So, I show you the pain
But still
You can’t help
But see the funny side
As you degrade me knowingly
Or in ignorance
And tell me
I’ve a chip on my shoulder
But it’s my humanity that leads me
To anger
So, I can’t stop wanting
To disturb you
From a complacency
You’re so ready to excuse
I have realised the impasse
We face
You
Close the door
And choose an easy life
So, we ease the pain
With humour
And simplicity
1989
15
GO NO FURTHER
This is some sacred book
Written in half light
Out of town
Where all-out war was written
In the early months of pregnancy
I never felt safe stepping out of bed
And in bed I looked
Out of sight
She said, "Look between my legs.
What do you see?"
I saw red
A red hole that smelt strange
I don’t like that,
I said
And got back into bed
Go on touch me again,
she said
Come here and touch me again.
I’ll hide the blame
But that’s the kind of anger
That will leave one standing naked
In crowds of non-attentive strangers
What joy in cruelty
And pain in love