Stephen McGuire

Making lists of lists, sorting memories. What a brilliant mess you left here. Unexpected twists and mysteries - the clues are unclear. Random photos mixed with postcards & old newspapers kept for something? Things you sort of fixed that then you used for nothing. There's a drawer that's full of prayers. Don't know whats and whens and wheres. Meanwhile underneath the stairs... well, where do we sta...

How was limbo? Not so cold? You dodged your sentence, now paroled. Say hello to a new face. So familiar - we've made space. Question is though, "Can this leopard change it's stripes?" New situation changes everything. You know we've seen you at your worst now go and show us at your best. You thought that you'd been cursed but now it looks like we're all blessed. Does the heart upon your sleeve mat...

I was frazzled, stressed, far from my best just a month or two ago. Got too intense, stopped making sense, spinning too fast as time dragged slow. Got messy, frayed, a bit dismayed, a long way from my prime. Could I implode from an overload? Maybe we'd find out this time. They'd all express, "That's life I guess." So I'd shrug and carry on. They sympathised and realised I had a lot of life going o...

Say what you're thinking or what you're doing or say what you're feeling. Say what's been happening or coming soon. What's on the way? A page a day. Beautiful cover, blank inside with space to discover. Space to remember or to decide or just take a ride. So tell me a tale. Tell me something. Hoist up your sail. Head for the never known. Take an adventure. Cut a new trail. Put pen on paper, make th...

Car pulls up in the rain rattled night. Taxi driver at the door. Better early that late I suppose. It matters less to want much more. Through the dark as the lights flash on past leaving too much too far gone. Blunt acts cut, thud and echo through time. Do kind ones fade before dawn? From reflection through projection to direction there's choices to make. Raise objection? Risk infection? Or just w...

I want to learn how to think again. Want to learn how to figure this all out. Want to grow and not shrink again - Learn to rise and now shrink again - Know when to push on and when pull out. I want to learn how to walk again - To be able to pass each mile with style. Want to learn how to talk again - How to beat writers block again - How to wake up each day and make you smile. Do you think I might...

I walk along the street trying not to step on any cracks. If I dodge around the puddles I should stay lucky, so relax! Skulking round next corner mibbe something I can't see. I don't know what it is, so I ignore it's plans for me. Chuck stones in the water. Why don't these ripples push away? And don't come back to haunt me this or any other day. Just make it easy. Make it easier for me. Will twist...

Groundhog premonition loops on non-stop repeat. I've paid for solo strumming and can't find the receipt. Opt-in prohibition - I've limited my range. Now I see what's coming, I think I better change. Trust my intuition, it says I'll get it right. Even with big questions, and no answers in sight. New clear ambition, but not convinced for what. I'm ope3n to suggestions, so tell me what you got. Here...

You said, "If you step up closer to the edge you'll get a better view. And I'll make sure you don't fall down..." I wish that that was true. Little things can say a lot. They add up one by one. Some big words don't amount to much when damage has been done. I've got no answer - time to phone a friend. I got no answer - feeling like a trend. I have my whisky glass half full again, but some things ne...

Wait, ah, don't go yet. No. Not so soon. Stay a bit longer. I'm here, like the moon. Something I thought of. Something quite deep. Something I found out in lost sleep. We, I never told you, still, I think you knew. All that you guessed at, yeah, mostly true. All that you wanted. All that youdread. All that you wondered but not said. And it's true, many times when we spoke, it got too much, laughed...

Hi. Not seen you in a long while. There's been so much gone on. It really cramped our style. Hi. It's good being back together. There's so much we've been through. So much to share it you. I don't know where to start and I'm not sure where your head's been at. We've been too long apart and that changes things - if we let it. Hi. Are we becoming strangers with nothing much to say? It feels a bit th...

No getting on. Not getting off. Not getting anywhere. No pull, no shove. Too calculated off the cuff. A little yeah. A little no. A little what d'you think, cos I don't know. Half need control, half let it flow. Half sit back down, half "Here we go!" So what d'you want me not to say? What d'you want me to dig out to pack away? "What are you on about?"

If you lead the way, I'll follow. Might get waylaid sometimes. Might be us side-by-side. Might drag behind. Might lose my stride. But wait for me. I'll get there. I'll find my way somehow. It helps to know you're there, if out of sight. Helps keep me right. See, I was always searching. Was there something there to find? Like you? I was always waiting. Thought i might be left behind. Make do. Not t...

I tried my best, or at least I meant to. Other things got in the way. Did something change. I hadn't noticed. Now I'm not sure that we're ok. I fell asleep. I'm only human. Is that excuse, or explanation? It's probably not for me to say. But I I tried my best - or at least I meant to. Other things got in the way.

Autopilot by Stephen McGuire

Shoosh. You Keep me awake. There's no one else listening. Stop raising the stakes. Shoosh. You make no sense. You feed my frustration and get round my defence. No. No evading, no escaping. I can't shake you off. Can't make a break or getaway. Shoosh. You know me too well. Stop pushing my buttons. Stop ringing my bell. Shoosh. You make things worse. You're weaving confusion. Your words are a curse....

Remember those long nights in Barcelona? It felt like we were melting in the heat. You drank sangria - I had Corona as the football fans all partied in the street. Freezing in a rain soaked Scottish summer - again and again and yet again. Driving through the mountains in the lightning with thunder louder than the Jesus and Mary Chain. On an on down through the glen and back again. Let's go again....

I don't know why it started to happen. I don't know why it's ended this way. True King of the Jumble stood uncrowned. Kicking through the rubble all around. Watched the folly crumble to the ground. Nothing left to say. No more moves to play. I don't know why it had to unravel. I don't know why it started to fail. Tried to trace my footprints in the dust. Tried to find a way I could adjust. Tried t...

Like old jigsaw pieces in a box rattle but could make a picture, the convictions in my heart go to battle and some bits get lost. I can't blame nobody else. It's programmed in my cells, and so the pressure swells. Bits and bobs gather dust sat in the cupboard - might come in handy. Like so many of my bold ideas - scuppered, left on the shelf. I visit them at night. The darkness makes them bright,...

Storm clouds are coming. Rainbows fade. Skies turn battle grey. Promise me something? You won't turn away? Hear my heart drumming. Hesitate - should I ring the bell? Something or nothing? Only time will tell. There are days when I know the answer. There are days when I don't. Sometimes I share my doubts - share my worries. Sometimes I shut them out. They keep knocking. Storm clouds are coming. Buc...

So you've pulled me up for double-speak. Well it's a charge I can't deny. My words ambiguous and lines oblique, but that's quite different from a lie. Yeah it's true, it was all clear when I woke. Now the view is veiled in smoke. It's up to you to figure what you think. Let it stew, Make a link. This cryptic riddle is a two-edged blade. I wave it for my self-defence. Enigmatic worlds can still per...

Late night, trapped in the headlights. So bright, glare hurts my eyes. Headlines: I missed all my deadlines. Road shines under wet skies. Long way behind me, a long way ahead. But far as I can see is a long long line of red. Brake lights followed by break lights. Red lights that all say "No". Actions trigger reactions then retractions but still no go. Turn up the radio, I'm nodding along to old sc...

Deep in the darkness I can feel it scratching underneath the floor. Shameless, persistent, the unwelcome keeps on bumping at the door. Dropped my guard. It crawled in through the night. Now getting bolder stepping out into the light. I didn't try hard to keep it in its shell. Truth is I know I'm captivated by its spell. Back in the shadow of the corner sat impatient for its chance. Taps on the win...

One way that they all go but I don't like to follow in the flock. One way includes a fight but that's ok if I'm right. I'll just talk. One way ticks a few taboos. One way takes in many views. I need a magic compass. One way looks faster but a high risk of disaster. Should I go? One way looks safer but a high price tag to pay for and it's slow. One way into the unknown. One way closed that chance h...

Out through the streets past houses new to our town in place of the old church they pulled down. In through the bluebell woods - there's none there today - where ghosts live and watch you on your way. The rumble of a train far away, that sound of people going somewhere. Up onto the bridge and then pause.... Then off past where people sit and watch swimmers swim. In sun or in rain they still wade i...