Featured art by Cam Rackam
Listen to Lovely Bones by Richard Charles Stevens (Love Is The Message Suite)
Listen to Love Is The Message by Nookie
naked to the bones
my skin disowned
i stand here weightless
having walked the road less travelled by
no longer quite so faithless
know well my mortal failings
of the liberty prevailing
while not getting any younger
life has not derailed my hunger
with a wealth of wide eyed wonder
i am ageless
naked to the bones
my skin disowned
i stand here weightless
i was shapeless on commencement
wracked with guilt and apprehension
felt i fell some way from warranting a mention
my existence was uncertain
this appeared the final curtain
and recovery beyond my comprehension
had the other me persisted
then i would have been black listed
there was light though it was distant
had i blinked i would have missed it
kissed goodbye the childhood dreams
deemed as surplus to the theme
for they seemed to serve no purpose in my ominous predicament
the walls were closing in
felt exposed
guilty as sin
even though i knew i was entirely innocent
sure i made a few mistakes
yet would far sooner give than take
therefore my moral claim appeared legitimate
i was honest to a fault
had that great honour in my favour
would partake in leaps of faith in kind
decline to sign disclaimer
my behaviour may have been a touch erratic at the time
although it sure beat staying static while i wait around to die
on the borderline of tragic and emphatic in decline
every silence was dramatic
mindless violence fractured sight
inclined towards a bright side i felt callously denied
in the baptistry of fire
i learned the burn of great desire
and thus my sacrifice was actually well timed
i was heard amidst the whispers
i was seen through waking eyes
i could smell my charred flesh blister
still i tasted grape divine
five senses were identified
a lifetime was indemnified
i let out a tremendous sigh
and cried
naked to the bones
my skin disowned
i stood there weightless
having walked the road less travelled by
no longer frail or faithless
knew well my mortal failings
of the liberty prevailing
while not getting any younger
life intensified my hunger
with a wealth of wide eyed wonder
i felt ageless
for the first time in my life
the skies were changeless
naked to the bones
my skin disowned
i stood there weightless
for the first time in my life
the skies were changeless
given how i still remain
and this is now
then yesterday
i’d say i’ll say the same tomorrow
that i’ll say today again
each naked flame we burn
we learn
each straight line that we swerve
we curve
each nerve struck
with pluck and verve
deserves returns and thus confirms
the feelings we conceal revealed can shield us from the wieldless steel that splinters
and in bitter winters
quilt us
…
naked to the bones
my skin disowned
i stand here weightless
with a wealth of wide eyed wonder
i am ageless
i am changeless
i am naked to the bones
i am sacred in my oath
should life pinch
then i may flinch
but shall embrace each pain and grow
show my tasteful spread of feathers
in the name of famed endeavour
should i die before i wake
take flight and stay alive forever
…
Richard Charles Stevens
Keeper of The Crimson Quill

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