Dark

In the darkness no one can see
I can hide away in perfect safety
None that will be able to find me

In the deeps it's lovely and cold
No need for warmth from cuddle or hold
I can stay and hide until I'm old

Some people complain about the dark
Say that it will break their heart
I say, it's just a start

Live in the dark for a while
Learn to exist without smile
You'll find it's not so vile

After all, eternal night isn't bad
Just a place where you're free to be sad
When you're feeling down and bad

Cheer Up Emu Kid

Cheer up Emu Kid!
Life ain't that bad
Look at the world around you
Don't be so sad!

Cheer up Emu Kid!
Things are going to be great
The world out there is ready for you
So why stay here and wait?

But, but, but, cries Emu Kid
My world is full of pain
No one understands me
I'm stuck here in my brain!

I want to fly, cries Emu Kid
I want to see the world
But these useless stumps of wings
Can't even be unfurled

They can't flap and I can't fly
Useless waste of space
Just let me hide away again
I don't want to see your face

Cheer up Emu Kid!
It's not that bad
Your wings don't work, sure
But don't be sad

See those legs?
Strong and swift
With nice sharp talons
Give those a lift!

You've got class, you've got style
You've got so much to give
Cheer up and run, Emu Kid!
Get out there and live

Don't tell me buts, Emu Kid
I don't want to hear you but
So go on, run, fast as hell!
Go and have a strut!

Rain

The rain falls
A blessed relief
Each drop life
Each splash welcome

The rain falls
Soothing sounds
Send to sleep
Dream of water

The rain falls
Fill the ground
Run into streams
Replenish the earth

The rain falls
Short time only
Passing in night
Leaving joy behind

Empty Chalice

An empty chalice
An empty mind
Both waiting to be filled
Once full waiting to be emptied
With what shall you fill your mind?
A rich drink of love?
Warm and thick
Filling to the brim
Slowly drunk only to fill again
The cold strength of intellect?
Fulfilling yet empty
Cold and harsh on the tongue
Leaving rim of frost
The poison of malice?
Steaming and vile
Filled with bile
Of events best forgotten
Whichever you choose
Fill it well and drink
Lest it simply collects dust
Empty

My Heart

Come, demon, into my heart
Come now, demon, I pray
You are welcome here, come stay
There, now we have made a start

You are welcome here, demon
Welcome to live and play
I'm sure you will want to stay
You shall see, before too long

You're not the first, oh no
Not the first by far
They come, they try so hard
Then they always go

So please stay, demon dear
Stay just a little while
Show me that toothy smile
There's a place for you right here

I cleared out my heart for you
I left it spick and span
You staying is part of the plan
I want you, demon, I do

After all, there's nothing left for me
I scrubbed it all away
No emotions now can sway
I need you, don't you see?

Why do you run, demon
Why do you go away?
Why can't you just stay?
For a little while, even?

Another one lost to me
I guess I should expect it
If I had a heart it would feel hurt
I feel nothing now, you see

So time to keep on searching
At least I'm not still hurting

The Shadow Watches

He runs
Ungainly limbs flying through the air
Dust raised by every pounding footstep
Sweat streaming down naked skin
Leaving small smooth craters in the dirt
The sun beats down
The shadow watches and does nothing

He climbs
Scarce noticing the feel of bark
Small splinters working into torn flesh
Insects fall or are crushed
Striving to get lighter, faster
The sun beats down
The shadow watches and does nothing

He stalks
Care taken with each step
Silent and sure
Arrow on string ready to fly
To bring down his prey
The moon shines brightly
The shadow watches and does nothing

He sails
Salt spray covering skin
Callouses torn, healed, torn again
At mercy of the great winds
Monsters sleeping deep
The sun beats down
The shadow watches and does nothing

He dies
Alone and facing death with no fear
By choice lying strong
Ready and willing
Waiting
The sun beats down
The shadow watches, reaches out in gentle embrace
Covers him in care and memory
The sun beats down no more

The Moon Shines

The moon shines down
Casting silver shadows
In the shadows form shapes
Faces twisting and turning
The dark of the moon glows
The faces turn, revealing
A hidden face
A strong face
A cloud passes and all is hidden

The moon shines down
A noble queen on her throne
Chained beast leashed at her feet
The dark of the moon glows
A noble queen lies chained
Bound in silver links
Twisted wires of gold
The beast stands guard
Silently watching
A cloud passes and all is hidden

The moon shines down
The cup fills slowly with blood
As life drains away
A gift taken but not stolen
Yet not willingly given
The cup is raised to the heavens
The dark of the moon glows in return
Bringing life and heat
Leaving the cold of death
A cloud passes and all is hidden

Skin

https://soundcloud.com/mahray/skin

Paint a smile on your face
Cover the cracks in your skin
Don't let them see within
To the harsh reality

Eggshell thin
This facade of hope
Pretending you can cope
With the pain

Slide a stone
Over the metal
Check the fettle
Nice and sharp

Feel the cool
On your skin
As the blade slides in
Gently

Leave a line
Of raising red
Let it shed
Dripping slowly

Dig a little deeper
Make it last
As in the past
Showing careful scars

Carve a smile on your face
Slide deep through your skin
Show what is within

My Shining One

I used to write songs in a minor key
Coz that was how the world looked to me
But then I met you and my world got bright
Now my songs are all fluffy and light
I just want to thank you, for changing my world
And showing me colours, in shades and in swirls
For taking all my dark days and making them so, so happy and light

Thank-you baby, thank-you
For making my world bright
Thank-you baby, thank-you
You make my burdens light
Thank-you baby, thank-you
For everything you've done
Thank-you baby, thank-you
My shining one

Minor Key

Each time I sing
I find myself in minor key
Not truly by choice
But this is how the world seems to me

When I draw the world
Always shades of blue
It is what I see
I show the world true

When I tell the truth
People turn away
I see it happen
Day after endless day

And so I try to hide
I try to lie
To paint the world
With bright blue sky

So they ar ehappy
And think I am too
When it's all a sham
They have no clue

So I hide away
From a world full of pain

Unicorns

Unicorns - Ancient Horned Menace or Sexual Metaphor?
Walk into any bar on any campus in the world, and you'll find a bunch of hooligans pretending to be students. Often drunk, loud, obnoxious, and generally not good company at all. However, if you by chance find yourself in the postgraduate and staff bar, then a completely different sight will greet your weary eyes. Make your way past the security, bluff your way into the bar and pull up a stool. What will you find? Very serious, very learned people with just one topic on their minds.

Unicorns.

That's right, unicorns are a topic that is close to any professional academic's heart. Once they've relaxed a bit in a safe environment, it is a topic that is constantly raised. There are two broad sides to the debate. Unicorns were an ancient species that was hunted to extinction because of their horn (similarly to Rhinos in present times), or that the unicorn is a metaphor for bisexuality and 'sexual perfection'. Let's consider both of these theories before coming to any conclusions.

Unicorns as an ancient species
The first theory commonly held is that unicorns were an existing species, that were hunted to extinction because of the apparent healing properties of their horns. When we think of a unicorn, we often picture the pure white horse with a horn thrusting out of the centre of its head. However, the first reports of unicorns are of a much more terrifying beast.

In ancient Roman texts the unicorn was describe as a terrible beast, fully prepared to use its formidable weapon both in defence and offence. This was not the gentle horse, but instead a creature with fangs, hooves, and a goat-like head. By any means, the unicorn as described by the Romans was a frightful sight, a beast that used its long horn as a weapon against much larger animals. While there are no confirmed reports of the diet of a unicorn, it can be assumed that it was a carnivore based on the nature of its horn as well as the simple requirements to maintain functioning of its body. To put it simply, an ancient unicorn would not be able to survive on plants. It needed to eat meat. Lots of meat.

Of course, like many predators in ancient (and modern) times, the virility of the unicorn became famous. Carcases would be found through ancient European forests, with clear signs of stab marks. Trees were slashed at great heights, as unicorns marked their territory. The occasional unicorn corpse was discovered, torn to shreds in ritual contest. Unicorns, clearly, were an animal to be reckoned with. Such strong virility must be concentrated in some part of the animal. Obviously the most virile part of any unicorn was their long and spiralling horn. Once this meme started to spread, unicorn horn became an extremely valuable commodity, due to the perceived benefits of ground unicorn horn, and scarcity. Put simply, rich people would pay a great deal of money for unicorn horn, which was extremely hard to get. Many hunters gambled their lives to hunt unicorns, and lost.

However, any predator the size of a unicorn must control a large territory to maintain their feeding pattern. This puts a small upper limit on the number of unicorns that could exist in any one area at a time. Before agriculture, there were large stretches of forest across most of Europe, so the unicorn population was high. Once forests were cleared for farming, the population shrank under habitat pressures. Hunting of unicorns for their horns, although dangerous, was profitable enough that it did not take long for unicorns to become mostly extinct as a species. The only survivors would be those in inaccessible places, or individuals who were particularly aggressive and strong.

This theory has some evidence to support it. Ancient writings show a reasonably consistent account of unicorns, the variations in depiction can be attributed to adaptations to a particular environment and the difficulty of describing such a beast. There are clear parallels that can be drawn between trade in unicorn horn and Rhino horn.

Unicorns as a metaphor for sexual perfection 
Given the supposed existence of unicorns in ancient Europe, and their predatory nature, it is somewhat surprising to see them portrayed as white-coated, innocent, and pure beings who will only approach a virgin. However, when considering the unicorn as a metaphor for sexual perfection, then these attributes make a great deal of sense.

In this context, sexual perfection is a description of a state of bisexuality where one is comfortable with the sexuality of both their masculine and feminine sides. It does not necessarily imply that one must join in same-sex relationships, but is more the essence of comfort with one's own sexuality and a balanced mind.

The parallels between a unicorn and sexual perfection are clear. The unicorn exists in a state of perfection itself, demonstrated by its purity and pristine white coat. The gentle prancing motion is an indication of a true acceptance of the unicorn's femininity. The horn, in this depiction much cleaner and shorter, is a phallic symbol representing the masculine side of the unicorn. The juxtaposition of masculinity and femininity would normally create conflict, however the unicorn shows us a clear path to what sexual perfection should be.
There is also the often-repeated myth of requiring a virgin to capture a unicorn. The big, masculine hunters are so full of virility that they cannot approach or tempt the unicorn, so they will call on the services of the local 'pure' virgin, traditionally a young maiden. The unicorn is so touched by this purity that it will approach calmly, allowing the hunters to capture it.

This represents the imbalance in the hunters (always male in these stories). They have strong masculine traits, as is appropriate for that time, but refuse to accept any traits of femininity that exist inside themselves. This lack of acceptance means that they cannot achieve sexual perfection, and are thus rejected by the unicorn. The virgin represents the complete opposite of sexual perfection, a lack of sexual identity. While the unicorn is attracted to the virgin, it is with the aim of turning their lack of sexual identity into sexual perfection. This is not a process of corrupting the virgin, but of allowing them to explore their own sexuality and progress to the perfection.

It is clear that the hunters, while strongly masculine, will inevitably fail in their self-imposed task of taming the unicorn, because they are unwilling to accept their femininity. Should one of the hunters reach sexual perfection, then the unicorn would join with them happily.

Putting it together 
While each theory does a good job of describing the facts, they are both incomplete by themselves. After all, unicorns as a metaphor for sexual perfection would not exist if there was not the concept of a unicorn in the first instance. Conversely, if unicorns were simply an ancient beast hunted to extinction, then there would not be the depictions of unicorns as the white and noble creatures.

Instead, the most likely explanation is the simplest. Unicorns did roam through ancient European forests until they were hunted to extinction, their horns taken, with corpses left to rot on forest floors. Descriptions were passed through the centuries, until they became adapted as a metaphor for sexual perfection, an otherwise difficult concept.

Violet

The lone violet stnads
Alone in the field
Untouched
Surrounded by trampled green
Grass and flowers pressed into the mud
Tinged red with blood

Yet the violet stands
Petals turned towards the sun
Mute testimony to life itself
Life that will continue
In the midst of chaos
Flourish and grow

The violet stands proud
Alone no more
A sea of colour
Proudly shining in the sun
Gently moving in the wind
Alive

Trust Me

Trust me, he said
Taking her hand
Dragging her down the lane

Trust me, he said
Pulling her hard
Towards the sound of the train

Quickly, he cried
As they ran along
Scuffing along uneven stones

Quickly, he cried
Running onto the road
Past the high and mighty homes

Wait, she gasped
Trying to slow
Uncertainty dogging her steps

Wait, she gasped
Pulling his hand
Feeling bewildered, perplexed

I don't know, she wailed
Wondering, where
Where would they both end up

I don't know, she wailed
Frightened, unsure
This journey so very abrupt

Trust me, he said
As they boarded the train
Whistle blowing loud and clear

Trust me, he said
Holding her hands
The world awaits us my dear

Sleep

Sleep
That elusive state
When body at last can rest
Yet mind still churns
Driving constantly towards fear
Anguish

Why, why must sleep be so hard
Why must the terrors arise
With frightful regularity
Disturbing that gentle state
Of sleep

To sleep, to dream
To suffer loss and pain
Over and again the mind is torn
Wrenched from rest to wakefulness
Tearing apart over shards of terror
As once again the subconscious is opened
The monsters unleashed

What then is the choice
To suffer and live in fear
Heart torn with mind
Into pieces
Or to avoid
Alertness lost
Mind fogged with poison of fatigue
Body falling
Failing

So sleep
Risk the night
Hope for rest
But know it will not come
Without a cost