[Poem] Dirty Debutant

Pure white adorns unblemished skin
Dreams are nurtured by young hands
Tended in a garden with iron gates

Constant and insistent beats destroy defences
Fantasies become shockingly tangible
Screams are muffled by raucous cries

Contemplation seems insignificant
Innocence fades into experience for the
Ageing debutant in the tattered white dress

[Poem] Painful Laughter

It took a lot to stop her laughing
Oh, the twinkle in her eyes
The crackle of her aged wit
The humour of her memory

I laughed out loud
At the stories she would tell
But now all that’s left of pleasure is the pain

She was beautiful every day
Until it hurt her to laugh
But I’d look into her old eyes
And see the embers of her mirth

I have her eyes
The windows to her young smile
But now all that’s left of laughter is the tears