You unmasked me
With your honesty and affection
At seventeen, I knew loneliness
Until you unmasked me
Showed me the world made new by you
You unmasked me
I no longer needed to hide away
Lost in my own family
You gave me your life, our life
We have made a new family
Unmasked
Copyright © 2017 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Each siesta, my gecko came
Skittering across the mottled ceiling
Dancing over paint flakes
Lengthening his neck to peer down
At me
He would not leave his hiding hole
Until I laid me down to rest
In the Sicilian noonday heat
Then two sparkling gleaming eyes
Held vigil
Halfway between stick and snake
Sandy spiky little friend
Padded feet gripping to defy gravity
My curious Gecko watched over me
Literally
Once his powers failed him
And he plopped down onto my chest
I woke to see him face to face
And find in those eyes
Understanding
Copyright © 2017 Kim Whysall-Hammond
We wade though the bright grass
Tired, footsore, happy
Hearing a bird calling by the reeds
Notes curling amongst themselves,
Spinning through the warm air
Distantly, traffic busies itself,
Here, tranquility reigns,
After a full night dancing,
We walk.
Copyright © 2016 Kim Whysall-Hammond
(written after a Ball at Wolfson College, Oxford, hence the photo)
Re-blogged from 2016
I have loved you for so long
That the moon has moved measurably in its orbit
Islands have grown, jungles fallen
Empires have been toppled
I loved you as a youth
And now at the apogee of your prime
I love you still
Copyright © 2017 Kim Whysall-Hammond
…and all of this is true…..
………the Moon has retreated 132 cm from the Earth since we first kissed………
Duvet deep, traitor mind fishing worries
What if, why, random fears and wretchedness
Ghosts of the day parade
Surf past on a sickening tide, clasp at my heart
Until your warm arms exorcise
Copyright © 2017 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Giddy
Giddy with the love of you
While giddy with concussion
Unsettles any equilibrium
That I can grasp
Meantime, you are lost
Believing yourself superfluous
Whilst indispensable to us each
Copyright © 2017 Kim Whysall-Hammond
A mother to her son
When I look at you, I need to look further up
Each time I come home from work you seem to have changed
My eyes devour you
I hug and hold you to discover your changing frame
Copyright © 2015 Kim Whysall-Hammond
…re-blogged from 2015….and yes, hes even taller now and still growing. These days I have to tiptoe to kiss his cheek.
Like coral
Like coral grips the rock,
I hold fast to you
Like the ocean embraces the Earth,
I embrace you
Like meat loves salt,
I love you
Copyright © 2017 Kim Whysall-Hammond
I refute your logic
I refute your logic
We will pass through it
As if it doesn’t exist
Lying here grasping each other
Waiting and holding
Until further disturbed
Copyright © 2017 Kim Whysall-Hammond
The teenage years
All bets are off in the teenage years
You still share your child’s hopes and fears
But they are a child no more –Can you hear that slammed door?
It’s a bumpy ride–Sometimes Jekyll, sometimes Hyde
You love them to bits, you can’t stand them any more
And there again is that slamming door
You glimpse a young woman, you glimpse a young man –Try to catch them if you can
Sometimes it seems they’re a toddler again –Needing to share some of the pain
Do you remember when this was you?
Now you know what your parents went through……
Copyright © 2015 Kim Whysall-Hammond
Re-blogged from 2015….
