Post Mortem.

Hand cups hand
that cups breast
legs within legs
chest against chest.

Breathing in
the inkwell of night
drawn together
flame ignite

burn to ashes
funeral pyre,
all that remains
carnal desire.


by Rae Pater.
(c)2001



Kura.
(in loving memory)

The shadow of you
echoes from corners.
Springs unbidden,
falls upon me.
Sidewise glance
the fold of your lips.
Silken tumble 
of soft brown skin,
lit with rose.
Mourn the loss
of babies unborn,
the empty place
where you would have been.
Tread softly
the pathways of memory.

by Rae Pater
(c)2001



The lost Art of Conversation.

Air kisses freeflow
on streams of talk.
Laughter
and champagne glasses
tinkle, tap dancing
through the hover
of smoke scarves.

Clusters move through the room,
like shoals of bright squid.
They change colour, direction,
with the flick of a Versace hemline.

Eyes flick, glimpse watches,
doors, monitor lizards
of arrival and departure.
Search for sharks,
new waves to catch.

Ensure only shallows
reflect in their eyes.

Nothing's forever,
nothing is deep,
speak empty words
into hollow ears
an echo
is the only sound.

by Rae Pater
(c)2002

Interchange.

Golden brothers
silver sister,
at dawn and dusk 
they meet and whisper.

Swiftly his strength 
she traps
brief the time 
they overlap.

Let the dark
engulf the sky
ignite the stars
and let them fly.

by Rae Pater.
(c)2001




Smiling Up My Sleeve

Look at you walking  there.
Pride in your Gucci loafers
smiling on a leather sunbed tan.

Satisfaction with Armani
captured in the crease of your trousers.

Swiss quartz action
exciting your wrist with its pulsing tingle.

Oh it makes me smile,
grin with contentment,
to see you walking there,
unaware,
of the trouser leg tucked into your sock.

by Rae Pater
(c)2002



Remove the Scales From My Eyes

scales fall, one by one

Learning to know you
has been a paper chase.

black to grey, blue, white

Cryptic clues
on random snatches of paper.

light drips slowly

today I notice
how much hair you leave in the brush

star shaped cracks

the sound of your coffee swallow
drowns the morning talk show

splinter the dark

after you brush your teeth
your breath still isn't fresh.

illuminating gloom

even in sleep you encroach,
sprawl diagonal

that final clue,
the one that slices bone.

a lipstick pink phone number
in your pocket.

by Rae Pater
(c)200