Pure Invention

After the last flood, you promised

No more Arks;

Exploring lost countries

And finding out why;

Defying the past

In planes that fly backwards.

No more basking with sharks

On a submarine sundeck;

Or plumbing new depths

With trips to Atlantis.

If you can’t change the world,

Don’t try.

Do a crossword instead.

People who lead

Dull lives

Still make it to the grave.

Reinventing fire might sound bright,

But it could make things worse.

Most dreams,

Like postcards from strangers you ought to know,

Remain on the mantelpiece.

Mutations

If you flew through the ceiling,

The world wouldn’t stop;

You could haunt me at leisure

Or we could just chat.

You could tell me about graveyards,

How ghosts really feel;

How useless a heart is

With just time to heal.

We could pull apart logic

And exorcise fate,

Unravel life’s mysteries,

Make light of love’s ways.

If you turned blue and vanished,

It'd be just like old days.