Upstairing A Nightly Groan
upstairing a nightly groan
of slow doored creaks
roomed a floorboarded wisp
yet twelving an houred air
midded hands trickling past
and hearted heavy those
the trembling onsleepers
Monday 4th November 2024 10:16 am
A Dog And A Frog On A Spoon
a dog and a frog
who stood on a spoon
and went round the town
in their dressing gown
said the dog to the frog
oh lets spoon to the moon
so they jumped up and down
and the spoon left the ground
look look oh look at the moon
how truly exciting said the dog
spoon spoon we went on a spoon
would you believe it said the frog
to the moon to the moon
t...
Sunday 20th October 2024 7:17 am
A Fairly Scary Ghostly Host
a creak, an eek and eery melt
in darkness subtle shimmer felt
berroling, droom in shadow dealt
tip-tipping softly shooming out
a ghost that leaked and trickled through
the walls with leeg and gentle woo
a seep and freep from room to room
maroding gooey down stairways too
the air was still but full of groan
in silence, goosebump’s ready tone
weel in seel in f...
Saturday 19th October 2024 7:27 am
Old Woodbeard
argh
the wooden pirate
with a real leg
‘pon his left shoulder
not a parrot but a peg
argh
his ship inverted
sailed ‘neath the wave
and in his treasure chest
was a craggy cave
argh
he roared with rum
empty barrels were full
his flag was white
black bones and skull
argh
the flag though ripped
caught on his hook
but not for a hand
...Friday 18th October 2024 8:29 am
Darn Owl Not Barn Owl
I swallowed an owl
I didn’t mean too
it flew in when my mouth was open
as I stood admiring a flowery garden
its feathers tickled making me cough
and scoff
a lot
panic and shout
and a little while later
then the darn thing flew out!
Thursday 17th October 2024 7:26 am
The Crazy World Of The Fruit And Veg Folk
mr onion with his mad mad hair
miss pepper with her smoothen skin
mrs lemon looking so so fair
master cauliflower’s complexion
the long long nose of sir carrot
the red red face of dame tomato
the velvet touch of lady apricot
the rustic charm of lord potato
father pumpkin’s autumn face
grandma asparagus’ spring fingers
mother strawberry’s summer grace
gran...
Tuesday 15th October 2024 7:23 am
To Sea You See
I packed my worth on a dinner plate
and walked afar out to sea
you see
I reached an odd little island
shaped like a banana and pea
you see
I met a blue polka dot creature
with a hot pot of honey and tea
you see
I was poured a mug and we talked
such a charming and wise pigmy
you see
I realised the hour was late
better get back to home said ...
Monday 14th October 2024 2:51 pm
Ostrich Learning To Swim
an ostrich learning to swim in the sea
his neck like a stick floating vertically
swirling and rounding
and bobbing a wave
an invisible hand stirs a big cup of tea
Sunday 13th October 2024 9:45 am
Perfection
when I look at a bird
in a tree
the first thing
I notice is
its colours
are
within the lines
Saturday 12th October 2024 8:41 am
The Haunting Scary Broogle
bescare the Broogle stalking the stair
floiting hoiting loitering there
the Broogle the Broogle its howl of a scare
heeden oh heedon unsqueem beware
the Broogle the Broogle stalking the stair
befear the Broogle creepingly near
gooling hooling gathering here
the Broogle the Broogle emitting a fear
hissen oh hissen frooting the ear
the Broogle the Broogle creepingly n...
Friday 11th October 2024 8:54 am
Shrew In A Shoe
o shrew in a shoe
shoo shoo
but he wouldn’t go
chew through the shoe
shoo shoo
chewed from heel to toe
nurse a poor tum
shoo shoo
he belched and was ill
greedy old shrew
shoo shoo
you’ve eaten your fill
find a new home
shoo shoo
one you can’t chew
its pair you jump to
shoo shoo
o shrew in a shoe
Monday 7th October 2024 7:26 am
Old Bazzam - The Gallu-Gallu Ghost
begroan the ghoul who floots the floor
it sidles wodely rombles
and seen by some who vallacate
the hotel rooms it froodles
midnight is the time they say
the gallu-gallu grumbles
shrumbling in the corridors
and shrooning down the stairalls
intriguers flock from far and foyle
to witness Old Bazzam
and stay a night at their behowl
to see the ghoul then scram
...Sunday 6th October 2024 11:04 am
Something Oddly Familiar About This Nonsense
“Abe, easy Dee, effigy, eight chives, Jake, ale, Em,
any hope, peak you, arrest a ewe, feed other ewe”
ex-wife said
she certainly SPELT it out!
he then went on to reCOUNT
“When, too, furry forks, fave socks sieving, eat known tin”
and there was something oddly familiar about it all
when ex-husband and ...
Saturday 5th October 2024 7:33 am
Lists
there's something intrinsically poetic about lists…
1.
bread (wholemeal)
twelve eggs
solar panels
occasional frogs
corporate lawyers
steam
2.
onions (red)
tomatoes (finely chopped)
garlic (four cloves)
fireman's ladder (aluminium)
disparity (secretly hidden)
mildness (abundant)
gluttony (almost definite)
mozzarella (abridged)
3.
clean sink
dirty sink
point un-necessar...
Friday 4th October 2024 7:18 am
The Bug Chronicles - A Field Guide To Creepy Crawlies
the spider
he, with cotton in his bottom
for the silken manufacture
dressing flies he likes to capture
in the evening wear for dinner
oh the spider, what a spinner
the wasp
he, with a pin for a sting
and the flailing arms he causes
people run like wild horses
from their summer barbecues
oh the wasp, such afternoons
the ant
he, having friends in the thousands
how the picnic blanke...
Thursday 3rd October 2024 6:56 am
The Ravenous Witch
the ravenous witch
famished with greed
tummied and toothed
in scoops could she eat
pickles and pockles
and piggy trough trays
gorging, gullooging
and munching for days
she went picking parcels
and morsels of stuff
jiggleberries, hockleberries
but never enough
apples and hopples
pebbles and pears
the horribliest fruit
even one covered in h...
Wednesday 2nd October 2024 7:02 am
I Walked Through A Tunnel
I walked through a tunnel
like a finger rubbing around
the inside of a wine glass
round and round
fround bround vround tround
round and round
through the tunnel as a funnel
speeding up
kround zround jround pround
I walked through a tunnel
down to the darkness
down and down
bown hown rown zown
down and down
round and round
dark and stark
I walked thro...
Tuesday 1st October 2024 7:12 am
Gulp! What Did You Swallow?
gulp!
ahurr ahurr ahurr
“I swallowed a cricketer”
he shouted with a cough
but, we asked, in a joking scoff
“do you not mean a cricket?”
then to our amazement
and in the very next minute
he regurgitated a bat!
which promptly flew back to its cave
and that, it seems, was that
Monday 30th September 2024 7:10 am
At At
there is a place at at at
it is by by by
which is near near near
not too far from from from
you can get there via via via
and to be honest it is nice to stay at at at
it’s up to you really
but if you do stay at at at
you might visit visit visit
from there go to to to
then, if time, see see see
not so scenic as as as
reminded me of of of
but again it’s up...
Sunday 29th September 2024 7:16 am
A Dinner’s Reprise
trifle made with custard
garden gloves and mustard
dinner listen answer me
do you want a pie and cup of tea
bake the shed ‘til ten past three
then eat it with a stormy sea
dinner can you hear me
don’t cry go home early
trifle made with custard
garden gloves and mustard
Saturday 28th September 2024 7:18 am
The Parrot Cooked A Dinner
the parrot cooked a dinner
the dinner he cooked was a carrot
when the swan burst into song
and the thrush told him to hush
the starling asked for more food
more food he asked for starving
when the owl then sang out loud
and the crow told him to go
so a meal of interruption
ruined this fine carrot luncheon
then all was quiet, nothing heard
u...
Friday 27th September 2024 7:12 am
The Donkey Set The Table
the donkey set the table
but the table set was wonky
when the crane brought the game
and the mice brought the dice
the horses cooked the food
and the food they cooked in courses
the deer brought the beer
and the koala brought the cola
so an evening full of fun
promised fun for all the evening
then the tiger turned up later
but unfortunately...
Thursday 26th September 2024 7:29 am
The Jingly Jib
you know he’s a Jib
the way you can tell
he jingles and jingles
like a jingly bell
but sometimes their jingle
mysteriously goes
then Jibs cry all day
and why, nobody knows
being a Jib
can often be tough
expected to jingle
and jingle with love
then on the days
where love is not felt
Jibs lose their jingle
and Jibs will then wilt
so...
Wednesday 25th September 2024 7:23 am
The Hapless Toad
the hapless toad
who croaked a verse
and moved the trees around him
did sway the branches
sway the leaves
at the most profound of meaning
and too did cry
the birds above
at so beautiful a stanza
and soon to history
rose the toad
recited oft' thereafter
Tuesday 24th September 2024 7:42 am
oo's
noop
boo troon
frooing soon
noop
too woon
drooing hoon
noop
shoo shoo
oon
Monday 23rd September 2024 7:15 am
Uncle Ned, Fung And Poke
Dong was a song
that Fung the dog sung
Moke was a joke
that Poke the pig spoke
the Ked, a book that was read
is what Uncle Ned said
so Uncle Ned
his dog Fung
and his pig Poke
did Dong and did Moke
for the Ked that they wrote
Sunday 22nd September 2024 9:49 am
Hey Ho Does An Octopus Know
hey ho
does an octopus know
how to juggle with eight cups and saucers
and the fish watching him
while the elephants swim
then he juggles with a turtle and tortoise
then ho hey
does the octopus say
I can do this all day round in circles
but an ache in my arm
in my arm, in my arm
and so on through all eight tentacles
so hey ho
let the octopus go
...
Saturday 21st September 2024 9:29 am
Packedy-Pack I’m Packing
I went on holiday
so I thought I’d pack
I put in my head
I’d be needing that
I packed my arm
because where’s the harm
so too my toes
not forgetting my face
oh, my other arm too
went into the case
better take my legs and feet
they’re important indeed
I added my hips
and my ‘you know what’
well you never know
I might need it or not
...
Saturday 13th July 2024 10:14 am
The Gigglephant And Giraffalaugh
a gigglephant and giraffalaugh
in a junglement’s delight
did swing on a vine
most of the time
but today decided to fight
set to did they
but laugh did they
and tried with all their might
then merriness won over day
and they tickled until night
Saturday 6th July 2024 8:12 am
The Blatherwight
Hyyre n proave
pon sheed unjoad
in hoye ‘n hoyle-howls
befuddled word, o’blite absurd
he gurgled remott’d vowels
Lesp he ‘n shyy
for ryle deride
aggrinn aggurny byy
rillig speech, from creatured-eeb
flowed his otherworldly vibe
So jue a norn
to borrishly
this being spoke in tongue
but wopeth no apology
for such unbridled shrung
It siff ! ...
Thursday 27th June 2024 1:53 pm
Cat
stop throwing baseballs
for my neighbour's cat
his swing just isn't in it
and besides, I'm a little
worried for his fragility
he, being just porcelain
Wednesday 20th September 2023 8:02 am
Why Things Happen
The splash changed the course of the universe
as the fish startled in his round of the pond.
Why are you here? asked the fish.
I fell in, cried the rat, wearing water he donned.
Why did you fall in? again from the fish.
I just fell in, just fell in, that is all.
But why, you could have fallen several ways
but you fell in here so why into this pool?
I lost my balan...
Friday 1st January 2021 10:05 am
The Brothers Death
A brotherly jaunt through sinister mirth
behold the brothers Death:
gowned and guided, an ill century
the fourteenth, an alliance of crop, of plague
in ground-down death of torrential pains
in sores and blood under the rains
that drowned the land, starved the bellies
there echoed howls of ill exclaim
a wanting of a light to shine
is where the brothers thought that t...
Saturday 12th December 2020 1:53 pm
Heavenly
I had thought that in our retirement
when parts of us had been replaced with other parts
we would sit in some dingy heavenly backwater
in whatever light remained
and pull the wings off each other
Monday 7th December 2020 3:39 pm
Not Long Enough Be Death
under the lych-gate shall I pass
before the wait in holding hands
for the robed man of God to steer
me to my resting days
and shall I then be added to
the sanded brick of grotesque face
that stares across the standing stones
to look beyond the yew
and those who sidle in the rain
with shoulders loaded down with strife
will keep their head and eye to ground
...Saturday 5th December 2020 8:57 am
Asteroid
you remind me of someone
we died in each other’s arms once
when the asteroid hit
strange how it’s taken us this long
to run into each other again
Friday 4th December 2020 2:47 pm
Dear Jews Harp
he had an inkling
as to what the world was
as to what the universe was
which is why
his sitting on the porch step
playing a beloved jews harp
was so poignant
among the other spheres
and as if, through it,
they contributed dearly
to his rhythm
Wednesday 2nd December 2020 8:41 am
Songs Of Prometheus
there will be a baby crying
in the next room, but not yet
people are still standing around
my bed and I’m still on my last breaths
they won’t leave until I have gone
a brown leaf about to fall
I remember the white foam of waves
not rampaging bulls in Spanish streets
but subtle colourings of children’s books
gently paging in rippling tides by bare feet
sand on toe...
Friday 23rd October 2020 8:36 am
Realms
he wasn't moving, he hadn't moved for some time
his comrade froze beside the lifeless body, this was
a time he had put beyond his reach, like glass that
separated worlds, different airs swirled their dinners
of nutrients inside and out, realms, stroking both
sides of a window cutting in half what once lay bare,
upon springs upon autumns, a grease of steps to a
smuggler's lair, to a baron's ...
Monday 20th July 2020 10:26 am
Wicca
I was given the earth
not to keep but to sow and to share
such a beautiful mine like a beautiful yours
no wrath from some mouth
no pursed scorn from some upturned lip
just elements
truest in soil under our fingernails
just elements
of the most perfect rose
Thursday 9th July 2020 11:32 am
Shockwaves
a baby cries in the dark as
somehow the gunshots are not
rocking it to sleep
despite repetition, constancy
an allure no monster accounts for
the devastation of tears
the building cries
amongst its rubble
twisted steel, shattered hills
edging away from war cities
a baby cries at the sirens
blending to cacophony
the baby yearns to hold a bomb
Tuesday 7th July 2020 10:54 am
Let’s Escape Tonight
let’s escape tonight
leave this drum behind
without packing
without our phones
just take our scars
and sculptured bones
we notched upon each other
Friday 3rd July 2020 11:22 am
If The Flames
If the flames
do not turn your bones into ash
your bones will rot
deep in the ground
but only for Them
for You’ll come around
and as They’re carving into stone
You may walk again
through countless fields
and endless roads
They will remember you
for only a blink
of the Universe’s Eye
but the fields and roads
shall know You
for all Eternity
I...
Wednesday 1st July 2020 10:49 am
Seductress
I was fine in my bubble
just some Moses in my own parting
and yes, you ruined my thoughts
and spun me in antonyms
I always wondered
why I prayed for apocalypse before sleep
and waking up, still whatever,
whatever, was always
outside
whispering planets secretly in my ear
you left me jungles and deserts,
you handed me worlds I never knew
what to do with
...Tuesday 30th June 2020 11:23 am
She Took My Hand
look at my hands, they’re not
the hands of a fisherman
they’re not the hands of a carpenter
look at my hands and tell me
how many miles do you feel
across deserts and plains, they’re not
the plains of a hunter
they’re not the deserts of a fleer
for days and nights of wandering, no,
look at my hands, they’re the
hands of a poet, they’re the
hands of an observer
a...
Thursday 25th June 2020 10:40 am
Artemis
ABORT ABORT
but Donaldson was already drifting
further and further away from us
the thickness of his suit decreasing
as his courageous kindness
floated on within his demise
and all I could do was stare panic stricken
through the small window’s cruelness
as the white speck of my friend
became more and more surrounded
by the blackness of space
far removed from everyt...
Sunday 21st June 2020 8:39 am
Showgirl
this death will be the life of me
patches in the sky
we used to call them clouds
before the bombs went off
and canopied us in a toxic shell;
the artist swapped his brush
for a brick
and threw it in tantrum
from a distance
at some cheesy idyllic canvas
and despite our decaying teeth falling out
with clumps of hair and skin
you slipped out of your negligee
a li...
Friday 19th June 2020 8:33 am
Man On A Train
there’s a man
on a train
with his head
in his hands
I’m three seats behind
a man
on the train
with my head
in my hands
Thursday 18th June 2020 8:35 am
Anecdote
a lady of swollen years
sat knitting with glorious colours
she said her name was
saint something or other
I didn’t quite catch it
must have been the gum she was chewing
her lipstick was smeared
anyway I asked what she was making
she said stain glass windows
for the cathedral being built behind her
I wasn’t going to believe her
but I couldn’t help it
she rolled ...
Tuesday 16th June 2020 3:19 pm
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