Circe's Antidote
Circe’s Antidote
you crawl from the damp earth
where we buried you last year
your gnarled fingers scraping
away from the soil
reaching for the skies
who tip their tears upon your
outstretched pleading aspirations
dying ice crystals melt around
your roots chilling your heart
turning your petals to snow
you dance a lazy swaying waltz
urged on by an insistent breeze
blanching the green...
Wednesday 25th December 2013 6:37 pm
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
the snow fell
so hard and fast
that we thought
the earth had
turned white
overnight
and when
we stepped
into the flurry
the lining
of our noses
crackled
with the
sudden chill
and our fingers
screamed
to make it stop
to give them back
their warm blood
inside
the smell
of cinnamon
and spice
caught
on a draft
pulled from
the open door
for a second
the co...
Tuesday 17th December 2013 6:52 pm
Iconoclast
Iconoclast
In my youth
I stood exalted
above the heads
of all before me.
Their eyes uplifted
in rapturous praise.
Resplendent in my new
and colourful garb.
The light exploding
from my pores
and casting
rainbow shadows.
In my middle age
I was feared.
Turned into
a gaudy icon
to illuminate
cold, grey, battles
of the soul.
The true love
of my creation
shrouded
in a steely
...
Sunday 8th December 2013 1:16 pm
Moving On
Moving On
staring through the window
at that dark and dismal place
where shadows danced and jittered
and a stranger had my face
I was shocked, but not surprised, to find
my future hopes would never last
if I stayed gazing in the mirror
and obsessing with the past
Thursday 28th November 2013 8:36 pm
Desolation Alley
Desolation Alley
a weak light rises over the chimneys
the grass is the colour of piss
smog prises its fingers into bronchial lungs
a dog with three legs barrels down the street
curtains stained with inquisitive glances
stare out at the paperboy on a rusty bike
a cat crawls under a red Cortina parked on bricks
November exhales a grey breath on the windows
inside
...Sunday 24th November 2013 7:46 pm
GLAM!!!!!!!!
GLAM!!!!!
a bald old man
in glitter suits
gets vertigo
on platform boots
his cigar smoke
hangs in the air
whilst outraged fathers
simply stare
and comment on
the raging poof
who hangs precariously
from the roof
or unnoticed
passes by
in the background
on the sly
his black mascara
and red nails
his pouting preening
never fails
to s...
Tuesday 19th November 2013 7:51 pm
Bucks Row
Bucks Row
gaslight lamps
cast pools of sickly yellow
and the cobble stones
glisten with evening rain
a smell of burnt stew
drifts in with the stirring
of fog and smoke
that wraps your legs
in cobwebs and candyfloss
a street sellers distant call
proclaiming hot chestnuts
while a dog pisses
against a bollard of black iron
blood spills from an alleyway
...Saturday 16th November 2013 7:15 pm
M.I.A
M.I.A
the empty bus that used to bring you home
the empty armchair
the empty bed.
the empty tears
discovering
the empty perfume bottle
that they could fill
the empty dreams
the empty vows
the empty promises
to empty children
empty politicians
with their empty lies
of empty threats
from WOMD
just empty rooms
empty orders to...
Monday 11th November 2013 6:57 pm
Trial & Tribulation
Trial And Tribulation.
Blackness all around,
the depths of infinity.
They told me not to look.
A sixteen year old girl
told not to do something.
So I looked………
The slow twilight
as the sun began
to be devoured.
The ghostly stillness
of the cosmos
descending upon
Mother Earth, until,
it seemed,
the whole world
held...
Sunday 3rd November 2013 8:15 pm
All Hallows Eve
All Hallows Eve
Gnarled tree roots claw from the ground
scratching over disturbed graves.
Pumpkins grin their toothless snarl,
fleshy tongues of seed and fibre.
The spectral drift of chilling mist
that prods and pokes at exposed flesh.
Somewhere a creature of the night
mewls in whimpering ecstasy
Dank leaves of autumn line the paths
as little ...
Sunday 27th October 2013 8:24 pm
Night Scented Stock
Night Scented Stock
tick
unfamiliar room
in a strange bed
full of creaks
eyes heavy lidded
from restless sleep
shadows dance
in corners
at the edge
of your peering.
silence hisses
as the house groans
branches prise
at the window frame
scratching out
their insistent cravings
in regular tattoos
heartbeat racing
...
Wednesday 23rd October 2013 7:41 pm
In The Arms Of Morpheus
In The Arms Of Morpheus
drifting over
dew cast lawns
bare footed and silent
the silken threads
of spiders webs
lacing toes with frost
melting footprints
cross the path
lead gently to
a flowing river
where dreams
pop to the surface
in silver bubbles
before being lost
In the flowing eddies
the trees
gather close
e...
Friday 18th October 2013 8:25 pm
Full Contact
Full Contact
A mighty engine with a human heart,
steam billows from the rolling muscled mass
until the beast unlocks and breaks apart.
Its body parts move swift across the grass.
Two behemoths colliding head to head,
their age old frames rough hewn from tempered steel,
the scars of battle dripping ruby red
yet, win or lose, the wounds will never heal.
T...
Monday 14th October 2013 7:18 pm
the cuckoo waltz
the cuckoo waltz
two men
dancing around
each other
their movement
smooth and fluid
Instinctively
knowing
where the others
feet, hands, eyes,
words, gestures,
will land
one will lead
then the other
a steady
interchange
juxtaposition
of fool, clown,
idiot, hero
a knowing look
a fleeting glance
of shame
...
Thursday 10th October 2013 5:11 pm
Graffiti
Graffiti
the brooding
malcontent
with paper cut
heart
stares at a wall
of graffiti
and thinks
I could do that
so he picks up
a spray can
unleashes
his feelings
in dribbling
white letters
fifteen feet high
his blood
becomes molten
his rage is
a torrent
of years
without voice
a scream
to be heard
...
Monday 7th October 2013 11:14 pm
Winterfylleth (October)
Winterfylleth (October)
We die! We die!
scream the old men
of the trees,
as their grip slips
from skeletal fingers
holding them aloft.
They fall to earth
in a blaze of golden glory,
coming to rest
at the feet of
great oaks, sycamores,
birch and elms.
Rustling in their cardigans
of orange and amber
like dry skin
in...
Friday 4th October 2013 11:53 am
Thirty Plus Years In An Open Necked Shirt
Thirty Plus Years In An Open Necked Shirt.
On seeing John Cooper Clarke @ Wakefield Theatre Royal (29/9/13)
Johnny Clarke, Johnny Clarke
a walking bag of bones
staggers out onto the stage
like Keith Richards from the Stones
rapid, machine gun delivery
sprays audience with Salford tones
jitters, jives, ducks and dives
whilst wrestling with the micr...
Tuesday 1st October 2013 4:59 pm
On Sandal's Field Of Ghosts
On Sandal’s Field Of Ghosts.
Mist hangs over fields -
ahead, the castle looms where
died the Duke Of York.
At the willows three
a chill permeates the air
and touches nerve ends.
Here fell the Yorkist
hope – body mutilated
and dragged through the mud.
Decapitated.
His head sent on to York to
top a traitors spike.
I...
Saturday 28th September 2013 12:21 am
dust
dust
dust settles
dead skin
I trace my finger
through you
wishing you
were here
not gone
in a cloud
of dust
not spread
across my
furniture
like winterfall
and so
I don’t clean
I sit and stare
at the places
you have been
the places
where you
touched me
kissed me
before the rage
and arguments
...
Monday 23rd September 2013 11:17 pm
Cycle Of The Scarecrow
expanded version of the blog I posted a few days ago - this time covering all four seasons.
Cycle Of The Scarecrow
A Scarecrow Dreams Of Living
A scarecrow in autumnal sheen
thinks of all that he has been.
His age old frame begins to lean
as bitter winds blow in, so keen.
He longs for days of evergreen,
so buys back time, wipes the slate c...
Wednesday 18th September 2013 6:32 pm
A Scarecrow Dreams Of Leaving
A Scarecrow Dreams Of Leaving
A scarecrow in the wax moonlight
is snowed upon one winters night
and as the crystals, soft, alight
he dreams perhaps some day he might
take footsteps off into the bright
ice world. His skeletal delight
some hours later, fat and white
with snow-flesh - waiting for coal sight.
Friday 13th September 2013 5:23 pm
Damocles
Damocles
the striking serpent
in my left
hisses and spits
Assssssad
the rabid wolf
in my right
froths and foams
for freedom
and either of these
sly predators
could have delivered
the fatal bite
that caused parents
and children
to weep blister
burn and die
a black man
with skin of grey
and eyes bloodshot
...
Monday 9th September 2013 4:13 pm
stroke
stroke
no words
blood ricocheting
in all directions
going places
where blood should
smoothly flow
not rush headlong
apologies
made by sign
for dragging me
seventy miles
to see
your broken body
no words
thinking
is this it?
is this all there is?
will I live
the rest of my life
motherless?
no wor...
Friday 6th September 2013 7:29 pm
First Contact
First Contact
an Inca warrior
with arms outsretched
has his prayers answered
as the shadow
of a great bird of prey
straddles the Nazca plains.
primitive intelligence
cannot comprehend
the nature of the beast
and it is hailed
as deity
by the natives.
they breed
exchange fluid
intermi...
Friday 23rd August 2013 8:38 pm
Overdose (Of Love)
Overdose (Of Love)
I’ve taken an overdose,
pumped into my veins
the fever of love,
now I’m going insane.
It’s deadening sense
and destroying my brain –
what the hell do I care?
but I can’t stand the pain.
You…..
take my breath away
Love…..
is there no other way?
The dragon of darkness
tells you to stay,
as morning bre...
Thursday 22nd August 2013 8:14 pm
She Wears Pink
She Wears Pink
she wears pink
to brighten his day
and the November sun
shines off the black
of the bonnet
of the car
that they share
down Elm Street
into Dealey Plaza
into the bright
Dallas daylight
with their backs
to the red brick
book depository
he waves to
children nuns
preachers cowboys
cons and killers
until...
Tuesday 20th August 2013 7:05 pm
Golgotha
Golgotha
Under a northern sky,
the colour of slate,
the bones of our fathers
crunch underfoot
as we climb the hill
to reach the cross
of judgement
at the summit.
Know your place
child of mill worker,
miner, steel worker,
know your place -
for you are not
of our class,
you have no education
at our schools
and univer...
Friday 16th August 2013 10:47 pm
totem
totem
maple wood smoke
drifts across the pine
and firs curling
into Inuit ghosts
that pace stealthily
from tree to tree
towering totems carved with bird
wolf bear and snakehead
calling to the old gods
that we were here
we lived and died in these
ancient forests
silver river slit...
Monday 12th August 2013 8:12 pm
To Love In Vein
To Love In Vein.
Sebastian
was dark and broody,
Celestine
was pale and moody
(Celestine’s real name
was Judy).
Sebastian
dressed all in black,
(by the way
his name was Jack)
he thought he was
good in the sack.
Judy
thought ‘Oh, what the heck’,
Jack
thought ‘what a lovely neck’,
so hard to keep
their lust i...
Sunday 11th August 2013 1:29 pm
Sci-Fi So Good
Sci-Fi So Good
I look up to the spickly skies and wonder whether creatures
are idly looking down on me with glubulitious features.
For if the truth is out there (and I have no cause to doubt),
is it green or mangerine and does it blodge about?
Does it wear snickly nylon suits that sprackle when it walks
and will it chuggle like a baby every time it talks?
...
Tuesday 6th August 2013 5:07 pm
medicated
medicated
in a corner of the room
daylight pools its last ripples
and she stands alone
afraid to step onto the shadow
that creeps towards her
afraid of the sly shuffle sound
that drags itself across the floor
or the mewling voice
that whispers its fears
and fantasies
so that when she blinks
the orange light
has dimmed
and the room sh...
Saturday 3rd August 2013 1:16 pm
Daniel In The Hyena's Den
Daniel In The Hyena’s Den
his limbs break like sticks
and these protectors
these vermin
hurt him
he has no more dreams
only the lonely nights
locked in the room
where pain will come
with demon eyes.
others
see a thin child
nothing more
but much less
in soul
they justify
their negligence
by quoting
numbers
pr...
Thursday 1st August 2013 10:55 am
Alien Feelings
Alien Feelings
Shattered, splinters of midnight
caressing and glancing off skin.
White, frozen beams of moonlight
that spotlight two strangers dancing.
Electric blue, cutting through mist
as a small, fair hand is held near –
then a blinding flash as two lovers kiss
and a slow, gentle, ebbing of fear.
Eyes drawing near, then cutting like lasers
...
Sunday 28th July 2013 8:23 pm
The Ballad Of Billy Nomates
The Ballad Of Billy Nomates
You were bigger than a bus,
with a face as red as Martian dust
and a neck that started somewhere in your crown.
I was small and insecure,
as I approached the guarded door,
knowing that you were about to put me down.
You were giving me that look
that said you couldn’t give a fuck
for my need to get beyond the ticket box.
...Wednesday 24th July 2013 7:18 pm
Taking Root
Taking Root (20th July 2013)
looking like a sapling
with a pure heart of oak
the white rose entwined
around three lions
taking Root
before the stumps
strong willow blade
flashing in the summer sun
bending
but not broken
before the green and gold
deflecting
slashing
blocking
hammering
not since the days
of Sir Geoffrey and
...Sunday 21st July 2013 7:23 pm
Natural Selection
Natural Selection
Outbound
I look at them
they look at me
through glassy eyes
that never see
we’ve shared this carriage
many years
never sharing
hopes or fears
I swiftly pass
the guarded gate
and check my watch
in case I’m late
despite producing
dog-eared ticket
the blank faced guardsman
doesn’t click it
I side ...
Friday 19th July 2013 7:34 pm
Sticks
Sticks
The girl with the clothes hanger limbs
and hard, emaciated, haunting face
trips languidly down alabaster slopes
dressed in chiffon and gossamer threads.
A lightning pure flashflashflash bleaches features
already the shade of phantoms and
the dark socket depths of haunted eyes
are ablaze with a shimmer of flash bulbs.
Angular shoulder blades...
Friday 12th July 2013 11:36 pm
The Westgate Run
The Westgate Run.
Upon the Merrie Cities oldest street
when twilight creeps across the Yorkshire sky,
traditionally friends and strangers meet
and let the velvet darkness pass them by.
In pictures from a dim and distant past,
as gaslight spilled from heavy shadowed doors,
to neon tinted bars of Friday last
the sound of liquid laughter gently pours.
...
Tuesday 9th July 2013 10:45 pm
The Jesus Gene
The Jesus Gene
In a Papal palace
a piece no bigger than a postage stamp
is missing
from the pranksters shroud.
Christopher waits on tables
at the local Pizza Hut
and changes water for wine
upon request.
His mother is a virgin,
in all but hymen,
and keeps a photo of a pipette
upon the mantelpiece.
She tells Christopher
it was an...
Wednesday 3rd July 2013 8:09 pm
Northern Lights (54th)
Northern Lights (54th)
The Northern Lights are ablaze tonight
And, oh, I’m feeling down.
You never could just treat me right,
You always played around.
This fallen angel’s lost his wings
And come, at last, to ground –
While all the while my world turns
And those Northern Lights go round.
The heavens glow with neon arcs
The skyline blazes brigh...
Thursday 27th June 2013 4:01 pm
The Project
The Project.
First:
Woke up to darkness
from a restless sleep.
A dream of colour,
light and steady beat.
Alone with my thoughts,
drifting on the void
until the idea
was fully employed.
Second:
Still dark, much later,
getting what I need.
Some paint, certainly,
plaster, wood and seed.
Starlight and fire,
ice and molten r...
Monday 24th June 2013 11:07 pm
Before She Came (The Girl From Kansas)
Before She Came (The Girl From Kansas)
before she came
I stood here
for what seemed
like eons
with a blood red sun
setting behind me
my head full
of nothing more
than sawdust
straw
and dreams
a hole in my chest
where beetles
scuttled
happy
come rain or shine
my only fear
that crows might see
through me
be brav...
Saturday 22nd June 2013 2:02 pm
Animals
Thanks to Patricia & Stefan for getting me thinking about this topic again.......
Animals
this lion was sat there
being a lion
when a man
who beat his wife and kids
shot him
through the head
and used his fur
for a rug
this alligator was sat there
being an alligator
when a man
who raped a child
thrust a spear
int...
Monday 10th June 2013 11:44 am
Domestosterone
Domestosterone
I’m tougher than a brave marine,
in hard-worn battle gear,
all decked out in camouflage.
There’s nothing that I fear.
You may have taken all my mates,
but they were old and weak,
you’ve never met a foe like me -
I’m tough as fucking teak.
I laugh at all your vain attempts
to seek out and destroy,
for when I’m in my element
...
Tuesday 4th June 2013 3:32 pm
Needle Tracks
Needle Tracks
my dealer’s gone away
no more searching the streets
for a new hit
my needle blunted
gathers dust
and my addiction wanes
but there are times
where the craving gnaws
at my insides
where the itching
and scratching
for ethenyl
screams at my psyche
until I have that fix
my turntable spins
a lonely revolution
...
Saturday 1st June 2013 10:46 am
The Sparkle
The Sparkle
The Sparkle,
silver starlight in your eyes,
a soft touch
before we say goodbye.
It’s over too fast,
I hope this feeling will last
until the morning
The Sparkle
of teardrops on your cheek.
All my tears,
the happiness I seek
was over so fast,
I hope this pain won’t last
until the morning
The Sparkle,
our...
Wednesday 29th May 2013 11:26 am
A Step Towards Summer
A Step Towards Summer
I look into the mirror’s depthless space,
at what is standing in the shadows cast
by light dimming swift with each day amassed
and passing by me, at a startling pace.
I sprint to catch the future in a chase
that takes me on a journey to the past
and makes me wish each moment used will last
until the day they put me in my case.
...
Sunday 26th May 2013 1:22 pm
I Wish I Had A Harley
I Wish I Had A Harley
I wish I had a Harley,
all black and silver chrome,
I’d park it in the drive
outside my modest little home.
I don’t want it to ride,
I just want it in my drive
as a symbol to the world
that I’m still very much alive.
You see I’ve reached that tender age
where a ponytail seems a good idea,
a tattoo would be cool
or six s...
Thursday 23rd May 2013 7:05 pm
In The Belly Of The Whale
In The Belly Of The Whale.
In a silent chamber
a disc of shining gold
has crossed the void
for thirty five years or more,
a blink in its ultimate journey
to exit the solar system
and span the galaxy.
This Voyager –
spinning, spiralling, swooping
in a cold, dark, vacuum.
Waiting to sing
for unknown creatures
at the other side of the...
Monday 20th May 2013 7:46 pm
Noticed
Noticed
I lived my life, most often, like a ghost,
ethereal, drifting from room to room,
a chill chasing me from pillar to post.
Rippling across the senses of those whom,
in solitude, sought meaning in their life
before they passed beyond it to the tomb.
I was not noticed by them, or my wife
who gladly let me rest in silent shade
whilst stab...
Sunday 19th May 2013 12:25 pm
Deadly Nightshade
Deadly Nightshade
touching you
gently
kissing your neck
feeling
your heartbeat
synchronise
with mine
the grey clouds
on a Tuesday
in September
spill
their leaden
tears
twilight
seeps
between
heavy
curtains
slowly
ebbing
into
darkness
time
slows to
a strum
s...
Thursday 16th May 2013 10:50 am
That Which Autumn Leaves
That Which Autumn Leaves
The clowns were funny in the ring,
as they joked and tumbled and fell -
but in the camp, after the show,
they made our young lives hell.
Still in their masks of garish paint
and drunk on Vodka shots,
they cut and bruised and beat us,
hatching cruel, twisted plots.
I never saw the demons
lurking safe behind the masks
...
Tuesday 14th May 2013 11:50 am
Eyrie Avenue
Eyrie Avenue
After the chicks had flown the nest
she sat in stony silence –
rocking back and forth in an upright chair.
The hair on her head pulled tight into a cowl
that accentuated her horny skull.
A sharp, beak nose and dull, see all eyes
that fluttered from pillar to post –
Until –
The ball came over the wall –
Then –
Fingers cur...
Sunday 12th May 2013 6:31 pm
Shy Ann
Shy Ann
Pale faced and nondescript
until you don the warpaint,
Dances with Wolves.
Wary of the white man
speaking with forked tongue.
Brave intentions,
you lead the war party
to the Big Horn.
Young Guns –
Beware
The Squaw
on the warpath.
Rattlesnake smile.
Hidden behind
the tribal colours.
A stri...
Friday 10th May 2013 10:21 am
Lair Of The Snow Spider
Lair Of The Snow Spider
there are domains so deep
that no one will tread
so dark that they are blind
in these dank places
the air is still and
sound is soft and mute
into this darkness
snow falls
settling in the nooks
and crannies
dusting the branches
with its ice grasp
can you hear it
the soft sly scuttle
of a many l...
Tuesday 7th May 2013 10:43 pm
The Cause Celebre
The Cause Celebre.
I felt it was fait accompli
that I would make a faux pas.
There would be something I didn’t see
and I would become her bête noire.
But I thought - Oh well – c’est la vie,
I had missed that je ne sais quoi
‘You never talk French to me!”
- her barbed coup de grace.
Sunday 5th May 2013 12:03 pm
Azrael
Azrael
In hushed and reverent tones
we watched the daylight fade
until it winked out
in a final spark of twilight.
Heads bowed
we felt them slip away
all their bright energy
dissipating in the growing gloom.
Tears then
corroding and eating
at our souls
until there were
no more
saline teeth
chewing at
our memories.
...
Friday 3rd May 2013 10:27 am
Marks In The Sand
Marks In The Sand
Sitting in his ivory tower,
built on the sweat,
blood and bones
of those who helped him
build it – then, when they
had served their purpose,
sacrificed on the
gleaming altar of greed.
High ambition in this
glass and steel Babylon,
where His armies
were to take over the world.
Britannia slain but defiant
drops ...
Wednesday 1st May 2013 11:19 am
Drunk (Spinning Wheel Blues)
Drunk (Spinning Wheel Blues)
Two o’clock
and feeling so high.
Walking on walls
and touching the floor.
Spinning wheel blues
in the back of your mind.
Knowing you can’t take
anymore.
Churning stomach
in time with each spin
as the room turns over
and throws you aside.
You clutch to the bed
as though you would fall
and – somew...
Sunday 28th April 2013 6:51 pm
Skool Daze
SKOOL DAZE
At our school we wore red ties and big, blue, woolly sweaters.
Groaning, frowning, learning all those numbers, saints and letters.
The nuns were big and ruthless and they loved to swish the cane.
The summer skies were always blue, it never seemed to rain.
I had a cat sewn in my bag - I couldn’t read my name -
till some wise wit made fun of it – I n...
Friday 26th April 2013 7:16 pm
Pure O
Pure O
Light On
Light Off
Light On
Light Off
Go to the door
Oven
Switched off
Oven
Switched off
Go back to the door
Go out
Turn key
Turn away
Go back
To lock the door
Sit down
In car
Get out
To check
Locked door
Four pens
In line
Adjacent
Squared off
Did I Lock The D...
Wednesday 24th April 2013 12:59 pm
The Ghost Of Summer
The Ghost Of Summer
A leaded cloak that settled on the bay,
forewarned us of the chaos yet to rise
from deep within the boiling soup of grey.
The thunderheads that blocked our sunny day
and scattered tears of winter from their eyes –
made all the basting bathers go away.
The crystal spume of effervescent spray
that settled on us, causing such su...
Monday 22nd April 2013 6:54 pm
warRANT
warRANT
the ack-ack-ack
of sobbing children
a tear
for every bullet
the roll of pressure
heal to toe
erasing limbs
flies swarming on open wounds
picking at the scabs
of wounded families
the searing pain
of widows and orphans
scorched flesh
hurt is local currency
guns from foreign currency
a...
Friday 19th April 2013 1:05 pm
Class Action
Class Action
A golden apple hangs aloft,
corrupt flesh - rotten to the core
and when it falls, it lays a while
until the vermin come to gnaw.
A bloody tide, ebbs and flows
against Britannia’s exposed shore
while God’s still lapping his sinners up
In distant, godless, fucking war.
A Tory with a mouth of lies
feeds the rich and damns the poor -
...Tuesday 16th April 2013 1:49 pm
Waiting For Miss Write
Waiting For Miss Write.
“I like you”, I said,
without the need for thumbs pointing to the sky.
She smiled, a beautiful smile.
Her face unlike a circle with U lips.
We parted on a kiss
that had nothing to do with sex or X.
Promising that we’d talk again
later in the week.
The phone box on the corner
wasn’t mobile - so I was.
I walked ...
Monday 15th April 2013 3:27 pm
Old Tyke Blues
Old Tyke Blues
I woke up this morning -
found my leg was dead.
Slipped as I got up
and banged my head,
fingers to temple
came away red,
trail on the carpet
where I had bled.
Went down for breakfast -
the milk had gone sour,
turned on the toaster -
a distinct lack of power.
Go back upstairs,
stand under the shower -
water is...
Wednesday 10th April 2013 9:10 pm
Fields Of Carbon & Blood (1984)
Fields Of Carbon And Blood (1984)
You praised as they died in their dugouts
for a cause proclaimed honest and true.
No mention of cowards or traitors -
a justified war to see through.
Now you mock the bravest of fighters
who live to bring coal from the earth.
Not bully-boyed in to your armies -
but pushed down the pits after birth.
They ask for no...
Monday 8th April 2013 6:54 pm
Jigsaw
Jigsaw
They say you cannot live without me,
yet I am happy lying here alone –
adrift on an ocean of Axminster.
You didn’t miss me until you were finished
and by then it was far too late.
I was just one of your many pretty pieces,
inconsequential to the scheme of things,
until I was the only thing you needed.
By then I was safely hidden away,
f...
Friday 5th April 2013 10:09 am
The Clown
The Clown
This make-up’s dried upon my face,
gone cracked with age and wear.
I can’t remove this absurd mask.
You’ll never know how much I care.
The girl with pretty eyes will smile,
the clown, so sad, will sigh.
Another chance has passed away.
Another star lights the sky.
You see the clown and laugh at him,
I turn away and cry,
‘cos...
Tuesday 2nd April 2013 10:10 am
In The Frame
In The Frame
We met in an antique shop,
while you were sifting through
dusty memories
and tarnished gilt.
I was new and bright -
just what you needed in your life
at that time of regrets
and heartaches.
So we went home together
and you placed me on a pedestal.
The centre of a universe
that orbited your soul.
I put my arms
aroun...
Friday 29th March 2013 10:45 am
Forget Me Not
Forget Me Not
“Be grateful for the light”,
my mum would say.
I remember that
as if it were only yesterday.
“Because, without it
the dark will never go away
and what’s hidden in it
will be inclined to stay”.
I had a son -
but I forget his name.
Yesterday,
someone like him came
to visit me -
but he was not the same,
because m...
Monday 25th March 2013 4:41 pm
Encounter (This Motorway's Mine)
Encounter (This Motorway’s Mine).
A black crow struts down the central reservation,
pecking at the remnants of undefined road-kill.
The white dotted line stretches out forever –
reminds me of the perforated slip on a tax form –
something that’s required but causes great effort
to tear along regardless, and sod the consequence.
A lemon-curd sandwich, parke...
Thursday 21st March 2013 11:02 am
The Hoodoos
The Hoodoos
Under Sulphur Mountain’s
sedimentary gaze,
the great Bow River
slithers like a serpent,
its milky green waters
spitting and striking
at the soft banks -
a venomous erosion
amid the cascades
foaming tumult.
The mighty Cree
etched totem poles
the size of these great
spruce and fir,
back-lit by the waning
Wolf Moon.
...Sunday 17th March 2013 8:01 pm
From Virginia
From Virginia
He sat and watched them
draw from pipes of bone and clay,
eyes closed in peaceful
meditation. Cast in clouds
of bittersweet transcendence.
I sat and watched him
turn into a hollow man,
wrapped in shrouds of grey.
His constant, shuddering, barks
cough your epitaph, Raleigh.
Wednesday 13th March 2013 10:24 am
The Trade Name
The Trade Name.
When the green fairy
kisses my lips
with sweet anise,
I take the grand wormwood path
just for jolly, wouldn’t you?
Cachous,
to mask her breath
of juniper.
A road
to mothers ruin.
The gas-lit fog
cloaks the backstreet
opiate dens,
where wretched
addicts lie.
Pastry faced women,
lifting ski...
Monday 11th March 2013 2:37 pm
Copernicus’ Commentariolus
Copernicus’ Commentariolus
The sun will never rise again,
although its early morning stain
still paints the heavens with a hue
of orange, red and purple. Few
will listen to my sad refrain.
I studied long, no doubts remain.
Though saying so risks Papal chain
for claiming this heresy true.
The sun will never rise again.
Look to the skies a...
Thursday 7th March 2013 11:49 am
Black Widow
BLACK WIDOW
The air is chilled,
the night has eyes
that watch the lovers
in the shadows.
Uncertainty
in sinful eyes,
that hold the fear
where no-one goes.
A prowling man-trap,
scented breath,
arrogance
to hold her own
in crowded rooms
that smell of death,
when you're singled out
and on your own.
Black Widow comes
...
Monday 4th March 2013 5:14 pm
A Step Towards Winter
A STEP TOWARDS WINTER.
I look into the mirror’s depthless space
and note the wrinkles that, somehow have grown
into something I wish I didn’t own.
The knife of age has cut into my face.
The greys within my hair have moved apace
from where the bird of youth had lightly flown
to make a nest of life that it could own.
I wish it hadn’t sprinted in that race.
...
Friday 1st March 2013 3:08 pm
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
His dog craps in my garden
to the sound of metal rock.
His kids creep round my greenhouse
scrawling balls and giant cock.
His wife is bruised and beaten
all around the fucking clock.
His preferred weapon of choice
is to hurt and maim and shock.
Home from church on a Sunday,
he has a bonfire burning -
pitchforking rubber tyres
and dead meat that ...
Monday 25th February 2013 1:51 pm
Soothsayer
SOOTHSAYER
Upon the Tiber’s sacred banks,
the black grape waters idly lap
like wine within a swirling cup,
the sleek and bloodied entrails spill
between my stiff and shaking hands
to roll and coil on sun baked dust.
I see a crown of laurels there,
all seeped in false and guilty tears,
and at its heart a bitter hate,
its innards twisted like this lamb.
The noblest Rom...
Thursday 21st February 2013 10:24 am
Beneath The Watch Tower
Beneath The Watch Tower
I watch the man who sits below the oak,
his features twisted by the scars of time,
a body wrapped inside a velvet cloak
of moss, that wasn’t there back in his prime.
He played amid the gnawing granite teeth
that sprung from grassy gums of evergreen
and knew nothing of those who lay beneath,
but only those who, with him, danced ...
Monday 18th February 2013 11:53 pm
Hostile Street
keen to make use of all the wonderful features on this site. so am attempting to load an audio recording i did a few years ago as part of a performance piece of poems put to music. if it works ok i may post a few more further down the line. influenced by john cooper clark, roger mcgough and patrik fitzgerald - maybe leans a little too much towards the music to be a 'real' poem (?)
Ian
...
Monday 11th February 2013 7:09 pm
Gathering Winter Fuel
Gathering Winter Fuel
Return to me and bring your loving flame,
despite your sparks my kindling rarely smokes.
Without you life will never be the same..
Between us lies a frozen lake of blame,
through which only a twig of passion pokes.
Return to me and bring your loving flame.
Unless we mend our ways the fates will claim
the pyre where our prid...
Sunday 10th February 2013 12:15 pm
Angel of Mons
Angel of Mons
Perhaps it was the heartbeat of the guns
Thump-thumping in a cacophonic rage,
or the secret, sly, scurry of the rats
that banished sleep those first nights at the front.
For when I marched, the sky became a wall,
the moonlight through the dust made me believe
I saw some great cathedral in the gloom,
with windows of stained glass cast from the stars.
...
Friday 8th February 2013 11:18 am
Composed At Braunau (April 20th 1889)
Composed At Braunau (April 20th 1889)
Earth has not anything to show more fair,
all bloodied here beneath the twisted cross,
than this, my child, my angel of Braunau.
I take him in my arms and simply stare
upon this changeling left within my care.
His birth, today, is surely heaven’s loss
and touches all my greys with rainbow gloss.
The world lies sleeping,...
Wednesday 6th February 2013 8:36 pm
Club
CLUB
Whiteness
The scream of children
and the smell of cologne.
Red dress
flutters in the cool air
across silken thighs.
The flash flash flash
of Paparazzi
zooming in.
Eyes locked
on the Celebrity.
The Swish Club.
Whiteness.
The screams of infants
and the smell of fear.
Red mist
drifting on the chilled air
across the twitching bodie...
Monday 4th February 2013 8:25 pm
The Collector (Roget's Soliloquy)
The Collector (Roget’s Soliloquy)
In my book……..
Words – so simple in their sound
they fall like snowflakes on a lake
and interlock their unique form
until the water gives way to their power,
becoming something bigger,
something cold and hard and beautiful.
Or a flame, just a spark at first
until the kindling catches and the embers
jump from t...
Friday 1st February 2013 11:10 pm
Snowblind
SNOWBLIND
Like a pristine field of snow
you glare back at me and I know
that even with the greatest will
I’ll never get the words to spill
upon your virgin gown.
I want to smudge the ashes of my dreams
upon your frigid, frozen streams
that when the summer sun’s aglow
lap gently with a lazy flow
caressing inspiration from my brow.
My ...
Monday 28th January 2013 11:32 pm
Vermin
VERMIN
A broken body, matted red,
tossed in the air by wailing hounds.
The quick, brown fox is spinning, dead,
amid the banshee bugle sounds.
The inane braying still abounds
when port is drunk and fables spill,
about the right of man to kill
an animal who, turning back,
stood proud and noble on the hill
and faced the crimson vermin pack.
Friday 25th January 2013 1:22 pm
Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil
Odin’s Horse.
Noblest of trees.
where Gods assembled daily at their courts.
Nine worlds sat around you.
Your branches stretched towards the heavens –
home of wyrm, eagle and stags.
Your roots in three directions -
to spring and wells.
Creator of the valley dew.
at the onset of Ragnarok
you shivered and giants walked the earth.
...
Monday 21st January 2013 3:29 pm
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night
Pining with your sisters
in every other garden.
Laying used and violated
next to the shed.
Tinsel traces
like expensive jewellery
draped from your
denuded, coat-hanger, limbs.
Ribs of dry twigs
poke from your green dress.
Ripped and torn
by seasons greetings.
Where once your heart
beat fast and true
...
Sunday 6th January 2013 11:35 pm
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