Leaving Town: Chasing Dreams That Run Away like Cats down Alleys after Midnight

By Mark DK Berry

A collection of poems written between 1989 and 1990. These poems were mostly written while I was living in Oxford in my early twenties. A very small number of them were done in 1990, just as I moved to London.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark DK Berry
• Release date: Feb 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005360689

Mark DK Berry

Mark DK Berry's written works include fiction, non-fiction, poetry books, and audiobooks. He also writes and produces music. For further information visit www.MarkDKBerry.com

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MARK BERRY

LEAVING

TOWN

Chasing dreams that run away

like cats down alleys

after midnight

To the poets, underdogs, and invisibles of our world

Introduction

These poems were mostly written in 1989 while living in Oxford. A very small number of them were done in 1990, just as I moved to London. I had been through a difficult couple of years, but life was starting to look up again. I was on the dole, waiting to become a rock star. London seemed like the right choice, and I was done trying to make Oxford work out for me.

- Mark

Let them fall

I want to be there.

Where the glitter blinds your eyes,

where the madness is contagious,

where you dance the dance of lies.

We’ll take it easy,

while the workers run so hard.

Spin the wheel and tempt my fate,

to deal me the best card.

As pipers play the tune

on all of us with baited breath.

Waiting for the day,

when payment will be made.

And I can't take it with me,

but god, I can decide

to climb above the beggar,

me and him both die.

So with my blind eye turned away,

I follow to the call.

Deal me, hit me dealer!

Let the cards just fall.

Open your guns

You can stay or you can run.

You can wither away, or face the guns.

Angels flying with you,

with you all the way,

if you fall down now, you’re broken,

risks have to be made.

Small towns, smaller people,

you'll never be taken in,

so take them out with the speed of a sword,

are you pauper, or are you king?

I've seen it spread like wildfire,

I've seen it die like flame.

They say pride is all we have,

the stories stay the same.

From the floor of the street

you've got nothing to lose.

Break out of this uniform,

break out of these blues.

Power down the freeway,

your journey has begun.

You can cower in the corner,

or you can open up your guns.

As dark becomes light

All that is here now must pass.

All that can feel must feel pain.

All who are alone must walk

through loneliness to gain.

All that is pure must soon become tainted.

All that is pressured must soon become marked.

Even the stone that waits in eternity

will change beneath times gentle strain,

as light becomes dark.

Totality

What is beckoning to become placed?

What is not too little, but not too much?

What is the piece that fits in my heart

to heal the yearning, to complete the touch?

It was never you, my sweet tasting wife.

It was never enough, though your fire was light.

It was never the time I filled with such pleasure.

It was never the view I filled with such sights.

Where is the hour that holds my shadow?

Where is the power that fills my body?

Where is the memory that I hold captive?

Where is the piece of my totality?

The Devil came to town

Even music is a myth of the imagination.

Chasing down this road that seemed so true, once upon a time.

That crossroads, way back down the line, that set me off a-running.

And yes - as I light another cigarette - I can safely say, the devil came to town.

And what did he leave me - as I take another drink - other than this frown?

Nothing son, that's what he gave to me.

A power in my heart he lit, that I could burn freely.

And now, Romeo, your heart has bled to stone.

And sometimes I can hear him cry - oh mother, take me home!

But Romeo, oh Romeo, your task is never done,

and never will it be, not now the devil's been to town.

Even words are a myth of the imagination.

Chasing down this road that seemed to once harbour communication.

That crossroads, way back down this line, that set me off a-gunning.

And yes, I light another cigarette, another drink I down.

Another day I toil here since the devil came to town,

to give me all