I've drawn on poetry over the years So that I might provide another voice in lyric writing And another perspective than my own And one of the poets I've been drawn to has been, the Irish poet; W.B. Yeats In the ballot of the fox hunter, Yates imagines and focuses in On the special connection humans can have with another species In this case, a king's hounds, with whom he would have gone hunting in his day One blind hound lies apart On the sun-smitten grass He holds commune with his heart The moments pass and pass The blind hound with a mournful tail He lifts his wintry head The servants bear the body in The hounds wail for the dead A huntsman Rody, blow the horn Make the hills reply The huntsman loosens on the morn A gay and mournful cry As someone who's had pets throughout my life And aspire to be a veterinarian I can certainly attest to this special connection One can have with other creatures And how intuitive they can be

Kick the sheets off the night And fuck it 'til its legs shake If we can't make it, alright We can make a tiny earthquake And her sound love's sweet Send lover's tongues by night In this black kingdom of touch We hate our life Blow a kiss to the night And leave it on its way now All the fun has taken flight And soon we'll have to face the day now As Heaven falls, the Earth is spun To pull us further from our Sun The war unwon, the deed is done We're just victims of gravity The final song fades out And shadow fills the room And we lie awake, grieving effigies On our pocket-sprung tomb Deepen in decision And deepen in tristesse Loving takes its sleep With just one last cold caress

Sit by me silently and brush my beard. No mess to mop up from the bed today. Will we sit next door and watch the soaps? We've nothing to do and we've nothing to say. Oh, when you go... Recently, we've been somewhat volatile, and last night it starts with that joan osbourne song. I hate it anyway, but you made it worse. I know why you laughed and you should know you were wrong. Oh, when you go... Bird number one taught me I shouldn't trust, that's why I find unfounded doubts abound. But number two proved that with none, we've nothing. And now I'm only happy when you're not around. Oh, when you go...

She lives and laughs until she cries But love-heart shades hide ember eyes In sunlit selfies, teeth and tan A garish drink, a well-toned man But when the sun has turned its back And shadow sharpens its attack Her muscle memory kicks in To lacerate her paper skin She reads the words that fathers, husbands, sons and brothers said But there's no knowing what is going on inside another head She is a ghost, she's an echo And they can't help if they don't know But the day is coming Soon she'll be bare and unknown On a walk in the park in the dark all alone Her key's in her bag, her earbuds full blast To drown out the birds, disposition downcast And she'll call it bliss They said beware of strangers, but now that's all we are Rolling real-time autofiction, reveries with avatars I'm what I think you think I am The same voice sings a different song A hundred billion neurons making it up as they go along I don't know what you know, I know what I believe I know what I can give But I don't know what you receive The knives are sharpened, pistols drawn The boys warm up and flex their brawn Soon hearts are broken, points are scored It's just some banter when they're bored They've always been there, they're not new But now they've got a good venue Let's hope the day is coming When you'll be bare and unknown On a walk in the park in the dark all alone Your key's in your bag, your earbuds full blast To drown out the birds, disposition downcast And you will call it bliss Cowards under camouflage Lobbing hate-bombs, hurling jeers Faceless brutes and bigots Revealing all their boyhood fears Hostility, fragility Rejected, vengeful tattletales We built another world But history and hate prevail