David Jeffery: ‘Adagio for strings’ and ‘No harbour’

Adagio for strings

Last night
I dreamed the clouds spoke French
Last night I dreamed
The world flew on with no recompense
Last night
I dreamed the light fantastic filled the air
Last night I dreamed
A million cups let loose on all despair
Last night
I dreamed a sonic blister caused no pain
Last night I dreamed
A coloured scar flicked over yet again
Last night
I dreamed the never wrong was never wrong
Last night I saw
A window closed, a sky in song

Last night
I dreamed a fashion victim’s world avenged
Last night I dreamed
An open sewer smelled of peppermint
Last night
I dreamed a sudden visit came to pass
Last night I dreamed
A roadside vestibule made of glass
Last night
I dreamed it all begin to make some sense
Last night I dreamed
A switchblade knife and someone’s voice intense
Last night
I dreamed a landscape covered in dead flowers
Last night I saw
I’d been awake the past ten hours

David Jeffery

No harbour

There’s no sky in this tumour
No desert in this heartbreak
The cry of a seagull, beaten
To the punch
By an awkward compromise
And fetish for small favours
Nothing to be proud of

There’s no lace in this curette
No distance in this romance
A needle dipped in semaphore and
Draped over the coals
To burst into redemption

There’s no harbour in this cold palace
No termites in these drawn clouds
The grasp of a feeble handshake
Torn to shreds
On the back of a well-cut suit
And a painted-on conviction

David Jeffery