Michael Gerard Collins is a passionate poet with an impressive number of spoken word recordings under his belt, and is an avid participant at Newcastle & Hunter Valley poetry events. These two poems (April 2020) are from Michael's latest CD - THE HUM - a collaboration between the poet, sound engineer Trevor Burndred, & various female performers. Evocative & at times melancholic, his work ranges from romantic to global politics.
CONTENTS:
May 2020
FOR THE FRIENDS (Instagram video post)
April 2020
WINTER DAYS
I NEVER OWNED A DOG
_____________________________
WINTER DAYS
These are winter days
Days without friends
Who may have helped
Relieve the melancholy
That assails
Torments and assaults...
These are winter days
Days of reflection
In which all too fragile images
Dissolve like glass that shatters
Into a thousand pieces
With no warning at all...
These are winter days
Days that recall the night's dreaming
Fear-filled... Too vivid... Too real
That ends in a scream
A heart-stopping panic attack
You take your pulse...
Just to make sure...
Cry anyway
______________________________
I NEVER OWNED A DOG
I never owned a dog - it is true -
That did not wish to be owned
Never kissed a woman in the dark
Who did not desire to be shown
I never enjoyed so very much
Sitting home all by myself
Never did like waiting for someone's hope for call
Simply no good for my health
I never raised a hand in anger
That did not get lowered straight away
Never made a mistake in the distant past
That I have not regretted most every day
I never turned away a stranger -
I have been a stranger in my time
Never thought but to offer kindness
All along down the line
I never walked in the shoes of another
Without showing due respect
Never looked twice at my reflection
Without seeing some defect
I never laughed so loud I could not hear
The cries of every other damned/lost soul
I never fought for a cause without believing
In the truth of the final goal
No... I never owned a dog - it is true -
That I did not love to the very end
And... no... I never kissed a woman in the dark
Who did not remain a lifelong friend