WORLD OF PLASTIC
plastic people with plastic hearts
acting their thermoplastic parts
born of plastic from plastic tubes
fed from protuberant plastic boobs
with plastic hopes and plastic dreams
in love with plastic zippered seams
cleaning up their plastic mess
and plasticising happiness.
With pink and squidgy love they stick
plastic slow or plastic quick
they t...
Saturday 31st December 2016 10:33 pm
THE TALE OF OLD SETH
This is the tale of Old Seth
an engineman on the Chesapeake
rode from Richmond to Ohio
and back two times a week
lately confined in a twilight home
in Wannesboro he dwelt
just keeping to himself most times
the card that destiny dealt.
The doctors reck'ned he'd lost his mind
just sat there looking out,
somedays his eyes would screw right up
other times he'...
Friday 30th December 2016 5:00 pm
PRE - NATAL AGREEMENT
To be highly recommended is
THE PRE - NATAL AGREEMENT
between this John Watkins
and that Jane Silkwood (for example)
in furtherance of a collaboration
of sperm and ovum to produce
intended progeny (the person)
and should such combination be
less than wholly satisfactory in its outcome
in terms of the desirability or productivity
in the fullness of time upon matur...
Wednesday 28th December 2016 4:25 pm
HOME CHRISTMAS EVE
The old familiar room relaxes
the slipper fits
the window lets your light out
to do its wandering
and pretence is unwrapped
and the spaceship sits
and this is home base
everything in place.
Saturday 24th December 2016 4:34 pm
VHS CUTBACKS
On spinning spools
like plastic jewels
the reign of VHS and Betamax
was brief in human terms,
a peeping tom affair
of soporific ads and afro hair
Miami cops with force and flair
longshots of a famous bridge
or the spread of porn to drawing room
girls with small red scarves
the studs with DIY props and
office backdrops
the wallowing sound of the Fender ...
Thursday 22nd December 2016 11:01 pm
THE OLD COTTAGE
here had been a garden once
now cats came to die invisibly
amongst the remnants of roses
the tumbled swathe of climbers
they lay in the dragging rave of weeds.
human needs had been here too
through the door now caved in
onto flagstones gashed by hobnails,
and a curtain still hung in a kind of grace
curseying at the nourishing light
life carried on by feel in...
Tuesday 20th December 2016 6:39 pm
AND IN THAT TIME
And in that time
all weapons were collected
and stockpiled into a mountain
and the mountain was worshipped
for no man would ever take up a weapon again.
And the sky was a womb
a rebirthing, the world uniting as one
awoken to love, and the sound was heard
of countless souls in harmony, and the mountain grew
and was worshipped
for on its flanks and peak
all...
Saturday 17th December 2016 10:54 pm
MUSICIAN'S CONUNDRUM
Whether 'twas nobler for a wandering minstrel
such as I to perform
The Birdie Song or Agadoo
to raise a living
or devote my life
to more cerebral forms of the art;
That is the question.
The answer to this is of course
academic.
Needs must
when earning the proverbial crust.
Friday 16th December 2016 10:32 pm
FULL ENGLISH BREXIT
Full English Brexit please
forget the baguette
bratwurst has never come first
for independence we constantly thirst
on a wave of euphoria
we resurrected Victoria
so full English breakfast for old time's sake
we never really liked being slaves.
still feel part of Europe? don't despair
though our chances are scuppered
and the cupboard is bare.
The rom...
Thursday 15th December 2016 10:19 pm
I WANT TO BE LIKE ELVIS
I want to be like Elvis
find solace in a song
project myself in lurid capes
a wig and shades
and deep blue suedes.
Now that vinyl's back in town
i'll bring the record player down
spin the discs, hear the King
do the stance and everything
I want to be like Elvis now
i've waited for the New Messiah
but he's dragging his heels or so it feels
...
Sunday 11th December 2016 6:55 pm
BIKERS
Sometimes they weave the open road but now
these urban contenders descend like pigeons
one first, then another
nussle up jostle for space
in marked off areas away from the rest
with impossible engines like dragon's teeth
hot from the chase, pulverising air
bonding against other worlds
they draw admiring glances
in their bloated suits
crustaceans of kevlar
stre...
Thursday 8th December 2016 10:21 pm
DESSERT
The desert sun looks up at me
with its perfect skin
like a child unsullied by thoughts
and sin
asking for nothing after the main course
of roast and crackling
bleached bones
wrenched accompaniments
all the trimmings.
I have nothing to add
as my spoon of delight
moon curves around the skin
sinking in
and a final soft puff of sweetness
and loss of ...
Tuesday 6th December 2016 10:33 pm
THE WORSHIPPERS
The worshippers queued every day
at the simple sign: "live this way."
No-one seemed to notice
that the sign had been turned around
and the majority were simply led astray.
One man, curious discovered the truth
and watched the simple sincere mistake
that all humans tend to make.
Monday 5th December 2016 1:09 pm
DO ME A FAVOUR
Do me a favour
take me while the feeling is fresh
close your eyes
don't think of flesh
just pretend the fire needs stoking
the poker's hot
you might think i'm joking
but we need to keep warm
us older folk
so close your eyes don't think of flesh
nobody's too perfect
to take a joke
Sunday 4th December 2016 2:08 pm
HIGH SPEC
they gently softly bob on baby oil
the high spec yachts
demanding attention
in their maritime fonts
dipping their rounded
baby's bottoms whose
daddies have baptized with wealth
Come aboard you filthy rich!
bring your wine toast the bitch
toast these tasteless new horizons
on chinoiserie and marble ma cherie
wear your raybans deckshoes
Rolex to the wind
a...
Friday 2nd December 2016 11:17 pm
SCHOOLBUDDY
I lost a school friend this week to cancer
found out by chance on Facebook
we shared close times
in a band together
travelled on bikes when summers were young
challenged each other in photography
found out by chance on Facebook
while casually trawling
to find something mildly enthralling.
The statement came up ungarnished
amongst the litany of rants
dogs doing...
Wednesday 30th November 2016 11:16 pm
TERMINAL FACILITATION part 2
Danvers paused, looked up at the sign
Induction Department
up the stairs
the backlit walls looking shyly back
with whispers of a call once dreaded
no doors save the one at the end
he saw
and the way the day imparted its secrets
to bring him here
like a mouse in a trap
surrounded by death
a senseless history drawing him in
and the door silently opened.
...
Tuesday 29th November 2016 8:40 pm
SHOWBIZ LEGEND
He had reached an age of suspended animation
half sunk into white leather sofa
monogrammed slippers in russet
resting on a quality kilim received as a present
from an admiring Arab in Mornington Crescent
These were trappings of suspended animation
wine table at his side
row of pills prolonging the suspension
fresh from the gym fit for the present
robed like a multi ...
Sunday 27th November 2016 11:21 pm
THE OLD KENT ROAD
The Old Kent Road
Roman Way
the Dover Road
running straight as a do or die
first step to success
on a monopoly board
coloured brown the dirty sod
at the end of town.
It is the road that hints of abroad
the road that stood the weight of the horde
of Romans on their foraging way
where Bricklayers Arms
terminus for railway goods
rubbed shoulders with
the...
Thursday 24th November 2016 10:47 pm
RETAIL RISE AND FALL
The decline of Woolworths was swift and sure
our local one went dark after Christmas
Santa took the goods away
with his airborne overview and sleigh.
The frontage remained like a broken tooth
patched with forthcoming paper events
the stainless steel doors locked and barred
its reputation feathered and tarred.
Then whispers went round of a new kid in town
an imp...
Wednesday 23rd November 2016 6:53 pm
JUDGE RINDER
The indefatigable Judge Rinder
has just jumped through a magic "winder"
he looks about and can't believe it
there's magic about
and he must weave it.
He represents his client base
in daytime TV's soft embrace
and now he sees his mirror image
in ballroom glitz's magic scrimmage
when the juries cast their vote
his casting down just another brief
all his mag...
Monday 21st November 2016 4:02 pm
DOGGING
In the world of dogging
there must be variations on a theme
corruption in a blind man's dream
and where the shot semen
casts its seed to the wind
that's where we'll find a semblance
of truths however unpalatable
where the seeds of sorrow
bring on another unforgiving tomorrow
Saturday 19th November 2016 11:03 pm
THE ARCADE
Voices in the dark
called me back
to visit the arcade
set in a neat
brick facade of shops
entrance flanked
by hairdressers and minicab office
no sign up
though it was a cafe
had been for years.
Stripped of pretension
no daylight entering in
though a copy of the Sun
gave life to the place
but no welcoming
smells of cooking
word had gone roun...
Thursday 17th November 2016 10:45 pm
NOW THE DUST HAS SETTLED AGAIN
They faced up to their commitments
stood up to the enemy
crouching to avoid the bullets
concealed themselves for now
heard the whistle.
The land was razed
histories pock marked
mud refined by blood
chins stroked in retrospect
assessments penned for the future.
politicians died natural deaths
and the soldiers came back
to where a home should have been.
...Wednesday 16th November 2016 2:36 pm
JUST ANOTHER DAY
football grounds are deserted
libraries tightly shut
half light subsists
sadness stuck in a rut
but McDonalds comes to the rescue
it's just another day.
Clinics for the borderline insane
are holding open days again
swollen rivers are all in a rush
seeking a reasonable explanation for nature
domestic walls are checked for flecks of blood
its just another day.
...Monday 14th November 2016 10:41 pm
TAKE ME DOWN
I'm weary of cynicism
so take me down
now to a cell to consider my thoughts
to work out the way the world really works
put me away
treat me bad
to save me punishing myself
and when i've found salvation
spread the word around
to save me from writing in excrement
on virgin walls
to everybody's detriment
an expression of reality
when the black mood cal...
Sunday 13th November 2016 9:27 pm
DUFF MUSICIAN
He was a pleasant enough fellow
proud of his top of the range guitar
fender copy
"keep music live" stuck on the case
de rigeur since music was a living
and amp squatting like a small dog
ready for action
tools in an arsenal of self - expression
a one - band man
arriving too early for decency
set up by the time the others arrived.
He came apparently by rec...
Saturday 12th November 2016 5:38 pm
THE COMMON COLD
The common cold is a common curse
that seldom leads to grave and hearse
or the attentions of a wayward nurse
and suitable ministrations
often passed on to foe or friend
before the symptoms start to mend
a casual greeting that will extend
its sphere of operations
the remedies come thick and fast
to pin this beauty to the mast
the choice of options c...
Friday 11th November 2016 8:20 pm
GET CARTER (Jack's Return Home)
Osborne said:
Get Carter and a sniper did just that
with a bullet in the back of his head
made sure that he was dead.
It didn't happen like that in the book
he was cut real bad and left to die
open ended like the wound unattended
in Scunthorpe by a brickworks
but that's often the way these plots can vary.
Now back to the film:
in Gateshead chiefly
where J...
Wednesday 9th November 2016 10:47 pm
JACK
Jack Walton was his name
Jack by name and Jack by nature
Jack the lad in fact
and a very naughty boy was he
around the time of fifty-three
beyond redemption in the classroom
defiant and damned right from the start
Jekyll and Hyde a friend of sorts
unsmashable by deeds and thoughts
I could have lost my sight one day
when a metal tube he threw my way
his fa...
Tuesday 8th November 2016 8:58 pm
RECUMBENT
He came at me with serious intent
out of the late sun
a whirling dervish
with vengeance
insect colours
like a yellowjacket with a sting
in his tail
tanklike I commanded the road
disturbing the arc of his progress
until, with his erect flag
and helmet pod
I heard the shout
looked down at his intensity
his rage and superiority
with frightened eyes.
Sunday 6th November 2016 10:14 pm
REMEMBER REMEMBER
Enjoy November the fifth's caprices
with mulled wine and jolly fleeces
sparklers and rockets are the eyes of the night
and a hungry bonfire gathering height
it's a shame Guido Fawkes was hung drawn and quartered
but whatever floats our boat I say
whatever flies our kite.
Saturday 5th November 2016 11:35 am
LONE WOLF
Lone Wolf
stirs his coffee
staring
to middle distance.
This new world of his
devoid of meaning
no line of resistance.
Stained by old habits
trained for movements
his mechanised character
spring compressed
Lone Wolf
with weary eyes
still sharp
used to hear the pin drop
now doors slamming
nerves fraying
uncertain dreams of prayin...
Thursday 3rd November 2016 11:09 pm
REFUGEE CAMPS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
They came in boats to Australia's shores
with dread and hope and trauma
an embarrassment to that settled land
then stripped of human dignity
the refugees were escorted away
to where the all embracing ocean
surrounded them with callous emotion
on hold but not have under canvas
the threads of a future to weave a home
and herded like Australian cattle
with...
Wednesday 2nd November 2016 10:18 pm
TERMINAL FACILITATION
Euthanasia was dropped from the repertoire
several years ago
terminal facilitation was now the phrase
officially used
death by decree a fight you had to lose.
Danvers stood with the stiffening letter
the womb of
the envelope folded back, his bowels
took the brunt
of the clinical shock, his thoughts
sharply up against
the stricture of faultless reason.
...
Tuesday 1st November 2016 11:28 pm
THEY'RE DIGGING THE ROAD UP AGAIN
They're digging the road up again
last time it was a water main
this time it's gas replacement
from minor road to minor basement
they're moleing through the grass and dew
the traffic mounts
temporary lights
temperatures rise
and particulates.
They're digging up the road again
strange vehicles stand back to back
men in red are visible for mile...
Sunday 30th October 2016 1:33 pm
THE CAVE
The cave resonates with space
light bleeds in from a low sun
unseen from the interior
a blue disc is softly rising
claiming the coruscating horizon
on the even floor of the cave
freshness prevails
Williams - Fortesque is crouching
a meal is prepared
smoke spirals in slow tresses
caressing the high roof.
He hums an often traversed tune
learnt on Earth
...Friday 28th October 2016 9:48 pm
COMPUTER REPAIR SHOP
Where the comatose computers rest
on shelves, awaiting their rigorous test
their screens and towers are dust slumbering,
one blinks as if on watch
feeding tubes connected again
to the great bloodbank of internet
always on hand replenishing.
The one who knows their tricks
bad habits, faults
forgives them one and all
with remarkable good humour
thriving on ...
Thursday 27th October 2016 1:32 pm
JU JITSU
Once when but a callow youth
from the library forsooth
I borrowed a book on the art of ju jitsu
with crude and basic plans of action
of assailants and defenders'
over reaction..
With these moves inside my head
to school I went with wary tread
until a boy quite lumpy and large
set upon my fuselage
stampeding, bull- like as I cowered
sweating and snorting
...Friday 21st October 2016 11:22 pm
RECIPE FOR POLITICS !
Take a pinch of truth
add a good mix of bullshit
and fake sincerity
topped with passion for taste
shake vigorously
filter through the media
to make it palatable
spread onto a convenient newspaper
or roll out on the internet
and serve the public well.
Sunday 16th October 2016 4:40 pm
BEREAVED
My heart told my head she must still be here
here in the house where her life had shaped me.
Yes she would never pass this way again
but my heart told my head that these
markers of a life, the reclining chair
radio, the familiar curtains,
piano I cut my future on
these transient things must be passed on
to the world outside.
My heart would burst though it must ...
Friday 14th October 2016 10:37 pm
I KILLED THE MONSTER
"I killed the monster!"
the hero said
but sad to say it wasn't real
it was just inside his head.
Then he smiled insanely
while the people clapped and sang
not knowing why death
should be so joyous
or why the rafters rang.
But any death is better than none
though it's just inside our heads
and better to claim a victory
than die upon our beds.
Thursday 13th October 2016 7:09 pm
SPRING - HEELED JACK
Come back come back
Spring - heeled Jack
scare these lurid jokers.
Set about their masks and robes
with flames and red hot pokers.
With your arsenal of cloak and dagger
with derringdo and a gentleman's swagger
with Pistorius springs
and vampire wings
rescue us from these painted fools
expose their hocus pocus.
Tuesday 11th October 2016 3:03 pm
WATERWISH
Sex in a rowing boat
is something i've never tried,
even though
a couple of oars
are generally supplied.
Monday 10th October 2016 4:48 pm
MORSE CODE
All night long on short wave radio
the operator's hand tapped morse code
like a woodpecker's beak
oblique, sustained with poise and nerve
call sign first then a launch
of identity into chaos
threading out skeining across
the curve of the earth.
Persistent, insistent
and after coffees brewed
the curling unattended cigarette grounded,
a sign of recognition ...
Saturday 8th October 2016 9:30 pm
PHOTOGRAPH
The past re - threaded in a picture frame
sepia trail leading back to where
a vague sense of time in distress
pinned me there, seeping in
through the emulsion from the wall behind,
behind the present
to where hands now dust unclaimed
waited to draw me through,
throught the mortar of the past,
father as a son, grandfather as father,
grand aunt as little girl at t...
Monday 3rd October 2016 2:00 pm
RESERVOIRS
They don't ask much from us
these broad reservoirs
geometrically serving their purpose
but without fairy fringes of willow
nuzzling eddies, sun dappled secrets
they give as good as they get.
Purified,sanitized water supplied
and replenished,
great bowls of solace for the thirsty masses
and they have their curious visitors
most in amazement, reverence even
...Saturday 1st October 2016 8:04 pm
ANOTHER DAY IN SOFAWORLD
A seeming half acre of rest spreads out
in Sofaworld, balm to the footsore,
a polite jungle of shapes, making the passage
of berthing time complacent where listless couples
check labels, passing between the Ambassador Suite
and the Grosvenor Sublime.
At the end of a day
Coffee tables nudge in
and footstools like crouching bears
beef out the designated squares.
W...
Wednesday 28th September 2016 9:03 pm
BELOW THE GROUND
Below the ground a sound is stirring
dead people's thoughts re - occurring
they wonder why their lives were ended
with so much left unattended
and why they had to give up the ghost
ending up as rot or toast
but life goes on, so hush you souls
dwelling deep with worms and moles
the answer lies inside the soil
the results of endless earthly toil.
Tuesday 27th September 2016 3:06 pm
CULTURE SHOCKS
Sandcastles
see how they flood with tears
moated
tides of man
hopes, fears
the same the world over
but there is so much sand in this bright land
and grit,
determination to split
and exploit a divided nation.
So let's play with bombs
instead of spades
look down like children,
let's be Gods!
Rip up the sand from our castles
in the air,
b...
Monday 26th September 2016 4:28 pm
NEW GLASSES
With new glasses my world has aged
faces stunning like old brickwork
staring back at my amazement
with new glasses my world swims up close
like a mad eye, nothing can be missed
clouds become personal, pavements etched
and I can see young minds making much of little
in the blend of the new and the old
threatening reproach beyond the glass.
Then finally fold...
Saturday 24th September 2016 8:15 pm
TWO LIVES
I knew that she was there
in the flat
above the nondescript shop
that door at the side,
twenty nine
knew she was in there
and that she pressed down the bed
a chair
touched handles
make - up
a mirror looking back
I knew these things
and that when she was quite ready
would be through that door
to the left or right
heel turning
smoothing her d...
Thursday 22nd September 2016 4:58 pm
CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN
Climb every mountain
sink another trench
piss in a fountain
bed another wench
shout from the rooftops
how life could be much better
write an acrostic
piss off an agnostic
cover your favourite wall with rants
crap in someone else's pants
impress a bunch of sycophants
move to the south to sunny Hants.
Never block the motivation
while the middle classes swoon
...Wednesday 21st September 2016 12:08 pm
JESUS WEPT
Jesus wept for the likes of you
who take the message and spread it thin
'til all that remains is a hollow gourd
the holy grail in place of the Lord
but spread the word and watch your back
in case the spirit conceals a crack
devotion is a sticky web
and the edge is sharp on the holy sword.
Tuesday 20th September 2016 2:30 pm
VINYL FRONTIER
Like the rings of saturn
where no man has gone before
the music of the spheres
presses by gravity on vinyl space
and while jupiter aligns with mars
we sit with fingers arched and
The static finger writes
antennae of the big spaces and vibrations
and a new child is reborn
as the big planets go round
and follow the sound.
A celestial majesty remains
...
Monday 19th September 2016 11:40 pm
THE STORM
During the night the storm erupted
and the thunderous applause of the rain
welcomed it and the dance
keeping us hostage
under the cabin roof
my subterranean sleep disrupted.
When the power went down
the night became a sightless eye
but the sound was of a sky in torment
and we were afloat, unblinking then
in the coracle of a disturbed dream
buffeted as in ...
Saturday 17th September 2016 8:10 pm
SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
A strange thing is a weekend
like a bookend
for the end of the week
and the start of another
and somehow special
like a book unread
looked forward to
yet soon forgotten
in favour of the demands
for something that may happen
on the next
and though the text may be the same
as sure as sure we must give it a name.
We can only be gratefu...
Saturday 10th September 2016 9:40 pm
SHUT DOWN
At first Foxley felt a sense of unease
then rumours started
gossip mainly
the clever ones stoking up discontent
a feeling of doom pending
life's delicate balance changing.
Strange knowing looks
breathed intimations,
then other early signs
whole departments closing down
added pressure
diversionary tactics
bypassing overstretched functions.
Notices we...
Thursday 8th September 2016 10:11 pm
THE ALL - AMERICAN
Howard was an all - American
hands big enough to crush opinion,
retired now from being an actuary,
a sun around whom a penumbra of ladies
revolved while their husbands receded
in the heat of him.
He stumped up an adulation
for the Rolling Stones and
the follies of brexit.
His voice was Job on the hilltop
persuasive and unassailable.
Not quite ready for th...
Wednesday 7th September 2016 8:37 pm
LOOK UP TO THE HEAVENS
Look up to the heavens
no life is there and yet
the wonderment
of God's fundament
comes down like rain
the more you stare.
Switch on your phone for confirmation
that life is in your hands
mysteries explained
that wondrous information to share,
for nothing ventured, nothing gained
that has not somehow come to earth
and so the young ones learn to stare
...Tuesday 6th September 2016 5:55 pm
THINGS TO DO
An assassin makes lists to clear his head:
check the beretta
feed the red setter.
Us lesser mortals make lists
to make us feel better:
contributing to life's emerging needs:
answer the council letter
paint the bathroom
pull out the weeds,
milk the cat
feed the budgie
shake the mat.
Write a poem
replace a bulb.
The list gets longer
as you add ...
Sunday 4th September 2016 3:53 pm
THE NEW MESSIAH
The new Messiah is available for hire
his rates are remarkably low by the hour
his motivations to save whole nations
are contrary to the general flow
we jadedly have come to know.
His opening sentence will advise repentance
in order to bring us together
and he wears no suits of impeccable cloth
and never appears in full body leather. .
He wants to look humble...
Friday 2nd September 2016 8:41 pm
THE MAN IN THE WHITE COAT
In the supermarket at the science fiction end
all is well, yet all my uneasy dreams come true again.
I am in need of bottles, sprays, tubes, preparations,
a pharmacist in crisp white coat is half concealed
and I drift to the holiday rotunda, for things
I never know that I might need on the hostile trip
to block out exposure to pain on some God - forsaken plain
baby f...
Thursday 1st September 2016 10:14 pm
YOU GRANNIES
You grannies
you old wise ones,
not always saying enough
or maybe too much
with benefit of hindsight
and desperate for someone else's future.
You've seen the comings and goings
old wounds opened up
fresh ones with dawns and sunsets
and you don't always want to say
what you feel knowing
that young ones cannot kneel
yet one day when distances are blurred
...Wednesday 31st August 2016 9:25 pm
DON'T ASK
Don't ask for peace
don't ask for reason
expect what is coming
and in the horror of the truth
the sun will keep rising
and the moon will weep
at empty promises
that no-one can keep.
Sunday 28th August 2016 8:59 pm
I'M IN LOVE WITH MATT BAKER
I'm in love with Matt Baker
he's a mover and shaker,
and impeccably human and warm
he takes on challenges
with rickshaw and ropes
and he always seems on form.
Although he's so young and I am so old
he's also mature and incredibly bold
masochistic enthusiastic
on him i'm definitely sold.
I have a strong sense
that we might mend a fence
in the Dales wit...
Saturday 27th August 2016 10:11 pm
RECYCLING IDEAS
I'm dedicating my entire anthology
to a local recycling centre
for casual perusal
with no risk of refusal.
Their recycling pathology
is ultlmately discreet,
no painful analysis
no creative paralysis,
and nature itself may benefit
from the material mentioned
compacted in the greedy grateful
unfeeling ground
or in the incinerating sky
that's afte...
Wednesday 24th August 2016 6:28 pm
1977
When Donna Summer was Queen of the disco scene
the drought of seventy -five was just a memory,
and in that torrid summer I burst with lust
northbound to Scarborough
home of Max Jaffa who reigned in the dancers
to sweet cascades
revived from fish suppers and the esplanades.
My right foot down the motorway
for temptation's fresh embrace
with Debbie, dancer at the Floral Ha...
Tuesday 23rd August 2016 9:22 pm
POEM OF THE DAY
Hi everybody!
this is Poem of the Day
but in the thrill of the chase
for an elevated place
my ego and sense of humour got in the way.
That's why today
i've nothing new to say.
Monday 22nd August 2016 10:30 am
VENTURING IN
Venturing in to a soul with love
is no mean thing and not to be taken lightly.
Within that ground lie answers
to questions too painful to raise
but entering in can help
at a risk known only to the brave.
Once outside again
there is no place to hide
but what's revealed
will often end the pain.
Saturday 20th August 2016 9:10 pm
O RIVER THAMES
O River Thames, maiden born pure
then, like the life around you polluted
now once more sparkling without your trade
chastened by those who would buy
your favours in high rise form
pressed close guarded, jealous of others
who would press their claims
on your genuflection and breathe
your grey reflection.
You shamelessly ignore those men
with Rolex watches who,
...Friday 19th August 2016 7:48 pm
INNOCENT CASUALTIES OF RELIGIOUS WAR
"Suffer the little children to come unto me."
(who will protect them?)
O death where is thy sting,
O grave where is thy victory?
(More fine words as we fail them.)
Watch this space as more fall foul
of needless death's embrace.
Thursday 18th August 2016 11:23 pm
OUT OF THE MIST
Out of the mist the Scotsman came
with kilt and claymore and eyes aflame
straight into the Cloggy Mire
and there by God he did expire.
Never a tear was shed for him
who was so strong in life and limb
nor will his company ever be missed
by maidenkind so seldom kissed
and only the moor could ever claim
the Scotsman on the day he came
with murderous mind and a...
Wednesday 17th August 2016 11:01 pm
WHICH HAND?
Which of my hands do I like best?
a ticklish one for sure,
they both inspire confidence
can open the average door
according of course to which way it faces
that much is obvious,
but other uses have more subtle context
to which I am obviously not oblivious.
The right one shakes another's hand
a sense of pleasure or duty,
the left one may touch a handy waist
to ...
Tuesday 16th August 2016 6:59 pm
GRAVE MATTERS
Funny thing how fame creates
wonderful graves for the departed
most of my dead relatives
ended up in the shadow of Heathrow
humble souls
fame like the aircraft passing them by
while drinks were prepared in the sky
below the ground nothing much changes
except what God rearranges.
Friday 12th August 2016 10:12 pm
PAIN IN THE ARSE PEOPLE
Pain in the arse people
always have enough time
to make your life a misery
living close by.
They know by instinct
honed to perfection
that you're fair game
it's natural selection
and if you're foolish enough to complain
they'll simply go on raising their game
to put the screws on
your peace of mind
with barking dogs,
monstrous music,
the ent...
Thursday 11th August 2016 10:05 pm
RAIN TRANCE
The rain spoke in a thousand voices
insistent to be heard
black rivulets beckoned
the room dark behind
I heard my name
muttered in the motion
in the crystal trance
as through the window I went
and met myself in advance
outside my skin
the rain beat patterns
all was moist
the living beat as one with the dance.
Never shall I know again
the dry...
Wednesday 10th August 2016 10:56 pm
MAKE LOVE TO THE AIR
Make love to the air you breathe
make music
and in the playing
and with the listening
the air will talk back to you
and you will breathe anew.
Tuesday 9th August 2016 11:42 am
FAMILY SPLIT
An intelligent family man with children
scorned by his father
disallowed disavowed
communication severed
just a dream in their new growing heads
curious for the true nature of love.
His father my brother
a loner, cursing out loud.
We keep in touch, ignoring the cracks
misery paved over by passing feet
on a vaguely familiar street.
I try to bridge a gap ,...
Sunday 7th August 2016 1:27 pm
THE BULLET'S AIMS
Selection detection projection
these are the bullet's aims
designed for subjection
singly or in a spray
like flowers
let us pray
Friday 5th August 2016 11:02 pm
DO NOT BE FOOLED
Do not be fooled by a mind that is clever
the mind is a circle
and we may meet en route
but as likely as not
we'll be like travellers
around the edge
whirling round in a space
that can only confound.
Tuesday 2nd August 2016 10:28 pm
LIVE BY THE KNIFE
incisive divisive decisive
live by the knife
the power of the blade
then consider
cut flowers forever laid.
Friday 29th July 2016 2:41 pm
GETTING A GRIP
One day of a lonely life
my thoughts became entwined
it did not take a great amount
of will to settle my mind.
Resorting to the grip 'n drip
to muster up the mustard
I savoured some photos of impossible beauty
a sense of something impossibly fruity.
Though with the degradation of age
and its fruitless dreams of heritage
my thoughts debased by nubile youth
...Thursday 28th July 2016 10:48 pm
AN EVENING WITH FRANK ZAPPA
Zappa dominates the stage
like an emissary from hell
on a throne of rage.
The Mothers of Invention
With long hair, distortions
their swords freed from the scabbards of intention.
the band of threatening proportions.
Spit running from tortured tubes
of burning brass and reeds
frets melting under finger ferrets
stretched skins writhing
reputations maintained
and t...
Tuesday 26th July 2016 8:55 pm
MARILYN
Marilyn's blowjobs were legendary
sadness and gladness combined
little girl sold on to men of America
who helped destroy her peace of mind.
She knew just how to make it work
to make the strong men cry
didn't know how innocence tragically spun
can make the big girls die
how could she trust what springs from lust
before the world could say goodbye.
Monday 25th July 2016 4:42 pm
BRAM STOKER'S GHOST
Bram Stoker's ghost is queueing
at the turnstile of the National Trust.
He's hoping for a viewing
of the abbey ruins at Whitby
the church and the plunging steps
where Lucy Westenra descended
entranced, danced to Dracula's tune
"Was Dracula real" he asks himself
as he looks far out to sea,
"or another facet, a commercial asset
of tragic history."
Sunday 24th July 2016 8:52 pm
1970 (for Greg Freeman)
At the crossroads of Blackhorse Lane
and Forest Road, past the ferry Inn
a long long walk to Spurs
undertaken with relish
along the railway wall that ran
across the marshes
trolleybus poles still in place
saturdays still smelled of fish,
chips in bags, the debris
like a paperchase.
The crittall - eyed walls
of Raelbrook shirts backed up
the multiple bus sto...
Saturday 23rd July 2016 10:32 pm
LATE EULOGY
I love the way your blouse
reveals its parted lips
that kiss so lightly
with breathless hush
what lingers in the furtive mind
of someone sacrificing much
in love's sweet game
to torment's flush
and should you smile
with parted lips
insanity would take me
a hostage now
as earthly blind temptation reigns
to ever dream
of flesh unleashed
to die serene...
Thursday 21st July 2016 8:21 pm
THE RICH KNOW HOW TO
The rich know how to shit
through the eye of a needle,
a matter of willpower
concentration
big loans for research
from big mates at good rates
hysterical really.
They consort with Gods
pass through front doors
while others wait round the back
just using the loos
with everything to lose
hysterical really
how clearly the definition becomes
when you...
Wednesday 20th July 2016 9:11 pm
FAMILY MATTERS
My my how they've grown
those little ones with new and
weighty lives of their own
pecks on the cheek on arrival and departure
at our height, though we feel
the diminution of age.
Grandchildren
already driving, commanding troops
with phones, and it seems that
we are at the top and bottom
of all this splendour, emerging
from a sublime challenge, waiting for ne...
Tuesday 19th July 2016 3:33 pm
THE GREEDY GOD
The greedy God is a needy God
offering paradise to those
who would make a body count
in a violent misshape of fate
for needy Gods need sacrifice
to justify their cause.
What God creates he takes away
while man creates his laws.
Sunday 17th July 2016 10:19 pm
SOUTHERN RANT
my soft - boiled egg was ruined
this morning
just as a new day of hope
was dawning
Saturday 16th July 2016 2:31 pm
THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP
In the Old Curiosity Shop I dwelt
with Kit and Nell and Daniel Quilp
all trapped inside the story lines
and a skein of judgments in bygone times.
Half dozing in the murky heat
my body tired under the sheet
I was much disturbed to see
a character leaving its destiny
by walking out onto the page
or so it seemed in its tiny flourish
the plot suspended, too dens...
Thursday 14th July 2016 8:27 pm
BLEACHED BIRTH
I was born in a toothpaste tube
squeezed from all sides
suctioned out
an afterbirth of talent pooled
which wrapped around me
as it cooled.
Watch me now as I squint and squirm
this wriggly squiggly restless worm.
Wednesday 13th July 2016 10:43 pm
YOURS WAS THE FACE
Yours was the face, the last
piece of a jigsaw
a gap filled, to quell
a nagging disquiet
that reigned my spirit in
but I knew you would come
to fill that gap
so that blood could flow with a joy.
And in the strange recognition
there was no need of words
thoughts already sensed
a dream recommenced.
Call me a fool if you must
but in that face I tr...
Tuesday 12th July 2016 9:59 pm
SUNDAY POEM
I love the idea of religion
but not like you love
the pipes that carry waste
away under your house
unseen unfelt but useful.
I'm not inclined to the major decision
i'm ok with the loftier vision,
but everything about religion:
the bland respect
God expects
the laying of hands
the muting of liberated glands,
teacakes and tea
the tedium of service
the endles...
Sunday 10th July 2016 2:29 pm
THE GREEN GREEN GRASS AT DORTMUND
I awake and look around me
at the old grey walls that surround me
and I think that I am dreaming
the sun has not been kind of late
to the green green grass at Dortmund
there's a guard and there's a group of soldiers
the grass is brown at the army base
Queen Elizabeth the queen mother
is coming to inspect the place
and the pots of paint are coming out
to paint the brow...
Saturday 9th July 2016 8:37 pm
THE MAN WHO COLLECTED WHISTLES
He did not for one moment
intend them to be useful
but simply to hang in rows
each one a history of mouth to mouth
the whistles.
Nor come to blows,
orderly, curious, contentious even
the whistles
mute, obedient,
like guns unfired
no longer expedient of intention
to rally the masses
subdue the lads and lasses
for conformity of action,
...Friday 8th July 2016 9:50 pm
FUNERAL SERVICE FOR A FART
The lifespan of a fart
is but brief
and must needs express itself but once
with a sense of relief
being vapour it has no visible presence
and godlike contains in volume
a sense of its essence.
A social stigma it carries, no doubt
and in audible terms
the rules of decorum it must flout
whilst seeking an outlet
it must drift about,
so beware the impulse ...
Thursday 7th July 2016 7:35 pm
HAIKU
metal hearts beating
the mantra repeating
automotive reliance
the dark side of science
Wednesday 6th July 2016 9:18 pm
THE GIRL WHO DID JIGSAW PUZZLES
At Clanricarde Gardens on a stuffy summer's night
I dropped a waitress at her flat
on a considered whim though undermotivated,
and she asked me in.
Through the marooned shell of a hall
and up the stair, no carpet
to soften the tread or tame
the lighted glare.
It was never designed to be a conquest,
she was dumpy and plain
and all the music wrung out of me
...Tuesday 5th July 2016 8:43 pm
MADE TO MEASURE, MADE FOR PLEASURE
The sublime fit she made of her mouth
was a classic of design
all moods contained within
that moistening cavern
whose inner movements
spiralled into spasms
like the coils of a rope tightening
and rainbow dreams flashed
pulsated as tresses, caresses
flowed along the engorging
nape of her neck
into a final death of release
and her eyes like beacons
se...
Saturday 2nd July 2016 10:33 pm
TRAPPED IN TIME
There were the days, so many
when you took the brunt
of someone else's gouging tongue
the lash that gave no thought of sting,
or worse, measured it in the ring.
Resentments, insults showered out
the slipshod scoring of endless points
that demeaned your efforts,
wracked your joints,
jealous taunts that reached far back,
so far back that it seems
that history was mou...
Friday 1st July 2016 8:56 pm
CAMBRIAN RAILWAY
Outdoors we stumbled through ragged spaces
through castaway inaccessible lonely places
as if, just as if
Wales the museum had opened its doors
to reveal its Cambrian railway
stripped of purpose
a fallacy, a castaway fantasy
a graveyard of distance like
the thoughts of dead dogs
unleashed to our gaze.
A platform attended by bush and stump
fell for the rapacious...
Thursday 30th June 2016 2:46 pm
PRISON WALL
The slab of bricks rose
giddy with freedom and
to scale it
a desperate triumph called.
Light floated in through holes
knocked out too distant for purchase
by sadists in control
inviting misadventure
and few could ignore the prison wall.
Fair game in love and war
a practical experiment in active sport
Many had tried only to fall
to taint the ground.
...
Wednesday 29th June 2016 3:51 pm
A TRAIL OF SNAILS
Of my garden I dreamed at sleep's behest
while in a nocturnal world in dreams possessed
rain and sun had served their marital ends
as to seemly beauty the maiden flower portends.
A wealth of snails ascended and infested
those comely maidenheads now much ingested
they took their fill imposing labial flesh
hart hats acock to gorge and thus enmesh
which left tho...
Tuesday 28th June 2016 7:39 pm
THE HAUNTING
The afternoon took its time
as the yews and the planes drew back
to guard the velvet borders
and guide a rivulet of dimming light
to tame the creeping life that dwelt therein
before the advent of spreading night.
Through that door as oft before
my silent presence went alone
and by the lantern's prickling gaze
adjusted to the whispering hall
and now the sylvan win...
Saturday 25th June 2016 9:22 pm
WHEELTAPPER ON THE SNCF 1962
Just past sunset at Romilly sur Seine
a wheeltapper came to check our train
I watched him, hunched
while the evening rang
as he merged with the shadows far below.
with the tiny chimes
his hammer rang true
in the gathering time the darkness grew
'til beneath me I heard his breath
and slid the window tight across
against the night as the cold crept in
and the s...
Thursday 23rd June 2016 10:20 pm
MANTRA
in or out
out or in
let the referendum choir sing
blessed or cursed
well rehearsed
ad nauseum
that never endum sting
Thursday 23rd June 2016 10:38 am
SURROGATE MOTHER
The baby buggy was pushed up to a table
there the woman supported a knitted doll
sat with empty feeding bottle to hand
patiently waiting
for the bottle to never drain
attendant on immaterial needs
the imagined spillage carefully wiped away.
Other dolls waited patiently
a family, a brood
of wool and glassy eyes
waiting in a woolly world
with never the wit to re...
Wednesday 22nd June 2016 8:58 pm
CLASS DISTINCTION
Breakfast at Tiffany's
then lunch at a lorry stop
on the A5
carefree cocktails
where the lorries back up
keeping dreams alive.
coffee in a favourite cup.
Light conversation
where the urns are steaming
a vision of anxious motorways
a cravat and gold cuff links gleaming
a convolution
to the class solution
you know how it is,
it's just been one of t...
Sunday 19th June 2016 1:19 pm
A CAUTIONARY TALE
I dreamt I was in a time machine
locked in a flow of time in between
the present and the floating past.
A dial showed the passing years;
an error occurred in nineteen forty
a warning light flashed red at faulty.
The scene had changed,
the world rearranged.
Devastation on English streets
smells of cordite in the air
air raid sirens, ambulance bells
fireman's ho...
Friday 17th June 2016 9:20 pm
MA SHARIA AMOUR
The man from Allah
checks his weapons
sanctioned by state law
and fires at will
ma sharia amour.
The white parachutes of love
sink to earth now red
mushroom cloud rising
with the spirits of the dead
and an apartment for sale
is newly free, commanding
wonderful views of paradise
in perpetuity.
Wednesday 15th June 2016 7:39 pm
LIFE BY RAIL
Lines drawn
to infinity
time that
travellers can
always share
how here and there
get together and
how in passing
life proceeds
from when
to where
Tuesday 14th June 2016 10:21 pm
THE PALACE BALLROOM CHATTERIS(currently for sale leasehold)
The Palace Ballroom Chatteris,
star of the fens
accessible by pilgrim's journey
with cloak and dagger
petrol
at the county's end.
The eyes of the dashboard
watched me like moons
in a distracted dream,
either side ditches
dragging the reeds,
fatal attraction to the unwary.
The ghosts of families,
celery, beetroots
with their carpets of damp miasma
clung ...
Monday 13th June 2016 11:37 am
THE MIMIC
When you have an itch
and scratch it
you feel better
with me it's certain voices
a bubble bursts in my skull
and says now you're mine to keep.
I swill it around, adopt the throat
ears, muscles fine tuned
and out it pops
a veritable cornucopia of character
if it works,
and practice fleshes out the disembodiment,
Pages remain in an album
old actors ripe wi...
Sunday 12th June 2016 7:56 pm
A FRIEND IS WAITING
The hallway was littered
pizza curry menus a smoorgasbord
a smell as of cats
the stairlift absent
perched atop the incline
and at the top finally
Bernard was upright in his chair
as per usual, but absent
wrung out of life
one hand caressing the carpet.
A sergeant first on the scene
had distractedly pressed the mouse
on the cavernous desk
life went o...
Friday 10th June 2016 10:22 pm
INDUSTRIAL WASTELAND
Cresting the rise I came upon brickworks
gashes of red powdered spent force
cascades of guts pushed back
to a stubbled hill
beyond that a dip, a bowl
grey, mottled probably for water
diversion and catchment
scoured piebald with weeds
where once water had poured in
reflections of sky now blinded.
I stood on the lipless rim
marvelled at the quiet desolation
p...
Thursday 9th June 2016 11:15 pm
THE PAINT KETTLE
The paint kettle streaked for a hundred years
had been passed down to me
down the male line the last of three
generations
of joy hope grief tears streaked
oil based and water based
a rainbow of life's moments
running down,
solidified like time past.
Another door to paint
the old old story, but where will it end?
When will the paint run out, life drying up
...Wednesday 8th June 2016 7:30 pm
THE WAY IT'S GONNA BE
When i'm done with being young
i'm gonna be the next king.
That's the way it's gonna be
are you with me?
I'll be famous obviously
and appreciate society and everything.
I wouldn't let the country down to be honest,
or let people rub me up the wrong way,
i'd make sure my family
would have somewhere to stay.
All my mates would be doing well
'cause they nev...
Tuesday 7th June 2016 10:36 pm
AT WATFORD GAP
At Watford Gap
caged in the pound
my autolove lies a - bleeding
the impact took her in the side
unable to offer a thrilling ride
languishing in unholy ground
still she weeps oil
for lover's meeting
Tuesday 7th June 2016 2:29 pm
SACRIFICIAL WINE
Men with feasting eyes
look up to fill the cup
look down to hopeless strangers
look to seeding thighs while
tucked up in their beds
in dreams of sweat and horror
as light stays low
through window traps
and bloated thoughts entwine
the flesh like celandine
despoiled by salty hands
foraging with desperate lust
the fragile petals of simple trust
a...
Saturday 4th June 2016 9:25 pm
SOUTHERN COMFORT
Southern comfort was there on tap
and while her husband was at work
we shared the usual prevarication,
the evening and the feelings
began to stir, an open invitation.
In the tiny upstairs room
her walls began to open up
a honeydew, a silky cup.
My tongue was like a questing snail,
out of its shell
a horny tale.
The main course followed
Southern comfort...
Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:27 am
IMAGINE
I knew his love for Lennon
was desperate from the start
his head hung low
nowhere to go
sleeve upon his heart.
He hugged his beer too close
his hair hung down like wires.
"Just imagine John at the piano,
imagine if all the people...."
and not to be uplifted
by proxy someone gifted
I felt a word of comfort grow
then slowly made as if to go.
Wednesday 1st June 2016 8:18 pm
SHE TOOK THE BLAME OF ME
She took the blame of me
and made it her own
twisted all our words into knots
that they might strangle hope and trust
with that serpent mind, outside of inside
that dragged around all the beauty
in a cloth sack
pulling us back, and I
fought it but she bit my tongue out
strangled me with it
so that all the sadness would float away
to an island of dreams,
and I ma...
Tuesday 31st May 2016 8:57 pm
PUNCH AND JUDY MAN
Punch and Judy man
lives with the sound of the sea
trapped in a box like Jack
his audience looking on.
He dreams of the Caribbean
but sees only darkness today
and the children are drifting with Iphones
it's the parents who want to play.
Monday 30th May 2016 10:28 pm
BLOWSY SUMMER
The blowsy summer rises and falls
like a kingdom while the river flows
at a pace listless like a lingering kiss
while the willows bend low -
hands are raised in case of flies
while autumn holds back its russet plan.
Still the river goeth where it can
and summer dips its lady's arm
to touch its molten silver charm.
Sunday 29th May 2016 9:36 pm
SWEET FUCK ALL
I'd love to write a poem
at least to make a start,
but I havn't had a tragedy
nor yet a broken heart.
Politics is much too rough
and flowers much too common.
I need a topic to muse upon
to get the readers enthusing on,
some great mythical event
might prove to be from heaven sent
or a seaside view with developments due
or would that be too solemn?
Natur...
Saturday 28th May 2016 8:35 pm
THE CHASE
there's a new kid on the block
A NEW SHOW IN TOWN
even as we speak
THERE'S SOMETHING GOING DOWN
and you need to be around
I TELL YOU FOR NOTHING
you need to listen up
WHO'S DATING WHO
what's trending where
AND IF YOU'RE IN DOUBT
i'll spell it out for you.
'CAUSE I'M THE DADDY OF ALL THAT'S NEW
that's how it is
AND I'LL BRING IT TO YOU
i don't need no cryst...
Friday 27th May 2016 10:43 pm
HOSPITAL WAITING AREA
The man opposite my gaze
framed the wall with his stony face
under
How to recognize a stroke
how cancer affects us
first signs of memory loss
violence towards staff - paperwork.
All corporate stuff, advertising
opening up the game,
good clean living stuff, helpful to a fault,
inviting curiosity where there was none
only fear of the future.
Urology said ...
Thursday 26th May 2016 10:53 pm
FEAR OF FLYING
going from one terminal to
another terminal like a zip of current
the electricity is in the air
and it feels terminal like the death of me
a suspension of disbelief
and can this be real?
The sky is a pocket of trust
a slipstream, a dream
as I watch the backs of heads
thinking forward motion or not at all
and the outside is looking in
through bulging eyes...
Wednesday 25th May 2016 10:34 pm
ANSWERS ON THE WIND
When we were together, my mother and me
that day
when we were together and saw the poplars
and listened to their whispering
and knew our breath was real
on that day, our questions unasked
The wind knew the answers
all the questions too, weary with
the swaying and the knowing
but I was young
my mother too had stood tall then
and in our stillness came the s...
Friday 20th May 2016 11:33 pm
THE RIVER FLEET
From Hampstead Heath the Flete doth run
a tributary at Gospel Oak then seeks to join it
and doth entwine at Camden Town and so combine,
a matrimonial columbine at Pancras Church.
At Battle Bridge it come besmirched by pestilence
from the west at Woburn Place a stream comes in,
near Charterhouse another rill through city fields
doth merge and so a veritable rush begins.
...
Thursday 19th May 2016 10:36 pm
I HEAR THE RAIN
I hear the rain
the symphony
the concert
and the audience of green
each drop a crotchet harmonized
rushed on by quavers
and the faces of delight
riding each crescendo
then diminuendo
perspiring with relief
and in simple belief of the sun
raising his baton
for the rain to stop
each and every raindrop.
Wednesday 18th May 2016 11:45 am
THE DARK KNIGHT AND THE WIDOW
the dark knight
parasite
master of mysterious ways
spins his webs of fantasy
to catch the unwary
in need of a life
beaten back by drudgery and strife.
He spins his website of glorious reds
and blacks enmeshed with golden threads
his shop of horrors suitably stocked
with ghastly images
on cards and memos,
dreadful diaries
names like seth on mugs of death.
...Sunday 15th May 2016 11:07 pm
Mr BRAITHWAITE and Mr. KHAN
looking down at the twisted streets of slate
that ride the open sky
where doors are closed in privacy
avoiding nature's bracing eye
in the yorkshire terrier's spiritual home,
where corner shops survive:
a tiny figure is seen to wind
with solemn step descends to find
a well trod way since but a boy.
Mr Braithwaite as he is known
insisting on the formal tone
...Friday 13th May 2016 9:44 pm
TO A FRIEND
sometimes I miss you
as the earth would miss the moon
if it drifted away and said
it's ok i'll be back soon.
Knowing as I do that
bonds are hard to break,
and freedom is a heady wine
at times like these
when thoughts entwine
its almost more than I can take.
Thursday 12th May 2016 9:24 pm
MIDNIGHT IN MAYFAIR
That night in claridges there was magic in the air
the queen mother, the queen mother, the queen mother was there,
a band reflected mahogany and brass
in the glittering walls that were faced in glass.
Nostalgia was served with the unctuous strains
of cole porter, berlin, for the starters and mains.
Nothing had changed in the waltz of kings
and none of the tunes were my fa...
Wednesday 11th May 2016 11:59 am
FOSSILIZATION
once there was an ocean of slaves
sinking slowly beneath the waves
the ship of progress sailed on,
cities built , profits made
foundations of reputations laid
without so much as a backward glance
abolitionists rising up
helped fill the compensation cup,
now who looks back down the path they walk
at the faces like fossils in the chalk?
Tuesday 10th May 2016 1:20 pm
HOW LOW CAN YOU GET?
weak ankles took me to a clinic
in the nineteen fifties.
Mum worrying enough for us both
low chairs for kids
alice in wonderland
long stinking corridors
the grim reaper in white coat
sun shining through crittall windows
brave new world.
I couldn't speak for fear
they surrounded me like interrogators
that was the nineteen fifties
sixty years later
an oste...
Sunday 8th May 2016 9:24 pm
SNAIL INTELLIGENCE
"WELL FUCK ME"
SAID THE SNAIL
"FOR SOMEONE WITH A VOICE
I HAVE VERY LITTLE CHOICE"
Sunday 8th May 2016 10:27 am
ENDANGERED SPECIES
forgotten aristocrats trudge through long grass, reedbeds
in tweeds and barbours
chins set firm, eyes peeled
cradling the sporting guns
poker straight from the arm.
Ordure and sweat press close, a scent
of death doggedly pursues them
lingering in crevices, buckling down
into the wet scape of an undeniable timeshift.
The Jacobean house, implacable, backs them up
...Saturday 7th May 2016 8:34 pm
THERE ARE NO RIGHTS OR WRONGS
there are no rights or wrongs
only disagreements and the singing
of mournful songs
love lifts up the hopeless debtor
the hymns ring out
to make us feel better,
but the black one is waiting
to bring us down,
disguises and compromises
are the best thing in town.
Friday 6th May 2016 8:02 pm
SUPERMARKET CHECKUP
shoppers enter the grinning mouth
plunder the rows of stacked teeth
reaching in for plaque,
the dentist's pin spots pinging
leaving no possibility of dark rest
instead
needs, desires constantly
put to the test,
the mouth and the teeth
grotesquely brightly expressed
and the trolleys like probing implements
applied doing the marble glide.
At the end of the da...
Thursday 5th May 2016 9:23 pm
O C D
obsessive
compulsive
disorder
known as O C D
is a contradiction in terms
wouldn't you agree?
for how could it possibly be
that an uncontrollable tendency
for orderliness
of mind and deed
be defined
be defined
as disorderly?
Tuesday 3rd May 2016 4:39 pm
A TRIBUTE FROM SIR TERRY WOGAN
well here we are at last
with a tribute to the lately past
and me looking down on people
which I never would have done for sure
and wondering
"is this what life was for
reaching this ineffable place
and dreading to meet old familiar faces
that I tried to avoid like the plague
while there on earth
and pretending to be terribly vague?"
but here comes Ronnie Corb...
Monday 2nd May 2016 4:53 pm
I WOULD HAVE WAITED
I would have waited there
there under the scalloped canopy
where the firebuckets nestled
where a shadowed door waited too
with its brass handle loose with too much use
there I would have waited too
so that the day could progress
at a pace that suited the sun
in its lazy arc
before the day turned dark,
and the flower bed sprang
and the dusty broom loitered
...
Wednesday 27th April 2016 9:32 pm
PARK BENCH
park bench
with a view
some that sit there
don't see it, mind
with their heads hung low
and a can is left
to prove the point
that their story we'll never know.
Tuesday 26th April 2016 9:45 pm
A VALE OF TEARS
with their paisley ties
and come to bed eyes
and me at seventeen
and the west end world
the bond street world
they made me realize
there was more to life
than a man and a wife
and the usual legitimate stirrings
a shady scene of primp and preen
and unnatural occurrings.
Now with the passing of so many years
no one refers to men as queers
...
Monday 25th April 2016 1:03 pm
A FIGHT FOR LIFE OR DEATH (the spider and the wasp)
Vespula vulgaris drifted in, backing up to the window
just above the grindstone and the pillar drill
soon abreast of a pontoon of web,
buffeting where the light leached in.
Tegenaria domestica meanwhile waiting, rose
pullulating from the lacy depths
formidable on its mainspring of legs.
A joust ensued, the wasp with wings
snagged in the gossamer
the spider legs reac...
Saturday 23rd April 2016 10:41 pm
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