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...

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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'...

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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...

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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.

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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 ...

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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...

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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...

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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.

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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...

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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

 ...

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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...

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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 ...

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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.

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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

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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...

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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...

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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.

...

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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 ...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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

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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...

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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.

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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.

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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.

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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...

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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

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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 ...

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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

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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.

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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 ...

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"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.

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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.

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Sex in a rowing boat

is something i've never tried,

even though

a couple of oars

are generally supplied.

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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 ...

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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...

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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

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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...

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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

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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.

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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

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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 ...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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

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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 ...

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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...

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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...

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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

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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.

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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.  

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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,

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"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.

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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...

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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 ...

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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.

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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 ,...

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Selection    detection     projection

these are the bullet's aims

designed for subjection

singly or in a spray

like flowers

let us pray

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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.
 

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incisive    divisive    decisive

live by the knife

the power of the blade

then consider

cut flowers forever laid.

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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

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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...

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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.

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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."

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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.

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my soft - boiled egg was ruined

this morning

just as a new day of hope

was dawning

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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...

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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,

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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 ...

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metal hearts beating

the mantra repeating

automotive reliance

the dark side of science

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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

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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.

...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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in or out

out or in

let the referendum choir sing

blessed or cursed

well rehearsed

ad nauseum

that never endum sting

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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.

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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

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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 ...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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

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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...

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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

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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...

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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...

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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.

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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...

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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.

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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 ...

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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...

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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...

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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...

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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?

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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...

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"WELL FUCK ME"

SAID THE SNAIL

"FOR SOMEONE WITH A VOICE

I HAVE VERY LITTLE CHOICE"

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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

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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.

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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...

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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?

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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...

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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

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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.

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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

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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...

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MY LADY DOTH FLUSH WITH

MY GOBBETS OF PRAISE

AND I AM IN A HEATED HAZE

AND WITH HER ARCHING CURIOUS SMILE

IN TRUTH SHE OFTEN DOTH ASTOUND,

AND O THAT I COULD GIVE HER ONE

WHERE THE SUN BEING SHY

CAN NEVER SHINE

EVERY TIME SHE DOTH COME AROUND

EVERY TIME SHE DOTH COME AROUND

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HAIKU

SUDOKU

KARAOKE

TOYOTA

NISSAN

THE GLISTEN OF MIMOSA

SHADOWS OF FORMOSA

THE PERFECT MASK

PLEASE DON'T ASK

BURMA RAILWAY

GLORY OF THE EMPEROR

DREAMS OF THE SAMURAI

HAIKU

SUDOKU

KARAOKE

INSCRUTABLE

JUNGLE PENETRATION

IT'S UP TO YOU

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turning back the sheet of sky

the wind is opening its westward eye

searching for a place to live

proving its worth,

the rhythm is rising

riding high.

Fondling the naked trees

this uncontrollable wraith will tease

the curmudgeonly old and make them shiver

and scuttle away,

to be overtaken

with a moan and a cry.

A squirrel turns its wary head

on a tho...

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YOU'VE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD

a certain prime minister once said

with a knowing look on his dour long face

and a nod of his imperial head.

NOW WE'VE ALL GOT THE LONG FACE

and things aren't quite so good

but irony is wasted on the filthy rich

who know that for most of us

LIFE'S A BITCH

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she moves with mystic grace

eyes like recumbent moons

beneath a veil

dreaming of suns

      and the anger of men

      in thrall of Allah

yet dreams cannot be tethered

the howls of strange creatures

bespeak it

where fists of force legitimize

and the earth is the sand

of righteousness in a Holy land

even as the chosen seek it.

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I fear to look down

through the boghole

into the engine room

and to see

instead of hot activity

an excavated spoil heap

      hollowed out

by repetition where the sun

cannot reach.

The deeper it goes the darker

and the well of inspiration

like a dried up beach

where only scavengers will go

with their tiny patter of effort

repulsive and rejec...

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god is a dog spelt backwards

and I am easily led

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Bring back the ghosts of comedians

gone over now with their harmless jokes.

Line them up on their ghostly stages

in clubs succumbed to the wrecker's ball

with not even a plaque as memorial.

Line them up and show them the workers

whose lives were blighted now reunited,

with factory fare and Doddy hair,

let the laughter ring again.

Not the anal  observations

w...

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The handguns took such little space

at the military fair in their glass topped case.

Would that I could have lifted the glass

caressed their cold hard reptile face,

but tracing the ruthless route they had travelled

how many lives had come unravelled?

and yet my desire was unabated

as separated from fact or fiction

as is gravity from weight and friction

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The ocean has ascended into clouds

unable to fall until a signal comes.

It has taken the light as its hostage

serious plans are afoot.

The landscape is on its back

the convulsion of a blistered snake,

then firecrackers play

within the watery furnace, the landscape

is long and restless, mottled

with dark dread.

The wanderer with his aching limbs

toils and ...

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Through the airlock we went

us three with sheet music, poetry

bosom close,

with music more ancient than modern

rendered lightly ,

male and female singers

with me on piano accompaniment.

Sitting perfectly upright our mentor

bright chirrup of a lady critic,

hours spent in refining this

tumulus of talent.

Between songs the silence was a shock

an unne...

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Arthur was a drummer, an agent too

but his beat was not his claim to fame

enthusiasm was the name of his game.

Uneasy, hasty, jocular

his drumming was like a wrecking ball.

We met while slaving

over a table top stripper

dancing on broken glass,

a rare communion of unlike minds.

Arthur got people together

moved them around, chivvying

a forever project

t...

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Once I knew a big brave man

brought low by a swarm of conscience

like the spread of ants,

ants with a purpose as a single force

to find and consume a soul.

Though netted by its mass

still he stood though hollowed -

transparent with grief

holding to the tenets of his belief

would not give way

until finally those ants gave up their spoil

those heartless den...

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type 2 diabetes

despite the entreaties

is linked to super size

a trend quite alarming

with factory farming

supplying the food and its rise.

with burgeoning outlets

within easy reach

it doesn't seem much

of a way to teach

but with worship in churches

in serial decline

this feelgood factor

is the message to preach.

diabetes is the price we pay

...

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snobs, like ghouls feed

off scraps of status

hovering, networking

ashamed of inadequate pasts,

retreading paths of imagined glory,

looking through rose - tinted specs

trying to see reflections of themselves

 in fungal mirrors or

on projecting shelves.

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I found the paperwork guilty by due process

the evidence:  mistrust based on experience

and cynicism for the system.

In the dock, misplaced dreams

      holiday offers

      expired vouchers

     charity pleas

     unmissable opportunities

      mobility literature

      bank statements

      terms and conditional conditions,

      manuals for d...

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shock travels, sometimes quick

other times slow

the log splitter's axe

the forceful blow

or the ravage of tooth and claw

lightning striking a shivering moor.

These moments destroy their trace

in harmony with a quick embrace;

but when a look seems wild and torn as

the slow garrotte of heart and soul

follows the taking of life in vain

then there's damnation unde...

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the moon

is restless

tonight

grinning down

through its socket like a sickle

over the cold dunes,

its optic nerve steady against the galaxy.

Deep in

the shadows

of causes

a man

on his haunches

tests the curve of his blade.

Eyes are everywhere,

socket safe for this only time.

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Sabbuteo in a Blackpool hotel

had its down side in the killing of time

each goal choking off the play

more money required.

Like a peaceful protest a duo of trumpet and piano

we spilled out into the lounge,

 behind lace and sheet glass

the west was won by the sea and rain.

We mopped up boredom

the carpet followed us skirted and hoovered

right up to a stage.

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If the baleful sky had a curious eye

his would seem a small movement,

an ache of progress only

but from the ground up the universe expands

He has been impervious to rain

but stitching begins to fail at this exposure

at this height and the rain is his escort

though he is unaware of ingress.

Other bodies of water trill in minor caves turning

inside out with  thei...

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Mary McKay, O Mary McKay

with your fighter ace who lost an eye

and a fist of metal in Atlantic sky

flying low and flying high

you made the devil seethe and sigh.

The ocean a cauldron

a ne'er do well

with its sweating mountains

and foaming swell,

Mary McKay, O Mary McKay

why did you have to go and die?

You turned your sights from east to west,

a flight ...

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The figure in his cloak of light

is transforming the heart of a new believer

behind him a penumbra of shadow

of screaming souls.

      The new man is forever tagged

       he is now aware of Heaven

and its open door

and turns his back on the doubting past

those human traits reformed at last.

He is in love with love itself

cannot now find his original self

for ...

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Mother Nature has arrived, the flower seller

taking up her usual pitch.

She lifts the hem of her big flouncy dress

smiling as her bulbs shallow rooted

have burst out

and we are entranced.  Her mouth opens:

      "These are my beauties, always for hire

       little darlings, hearts' desire."

White flowers, yellow flowers,

family likenesses various, gregarious,

and who...

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matiness and evenings slightly out to sea

on Cromer pier (parking is discouraged)

you may walk to try the salt sea air

and perch slightly out at sea

where the air is free and watch

a show for all the family

on Cromer pier  (heckling is discouraged)

the lovelies dance like dragonflies

in a celebration of gauze.

The council has installed LED

necessitating a sl...

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The Angel of Death was dancing

in a veil of gossamer grey,

close by her side the Grim Reaper pressed

as night faded into day.

He grinned through his hood

as a gentleman should

while her wings caught the light of the moon,

and as dawn descended

the coupling ended

while the nightmare floated away.

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The crowds formed in restless eddies

their auras vivid,

colours looking for a rainbow

looking for something to believe in

but mainly someone

who absolves fear with forgiveness

redemption.

"Show us, show us!"  came the cry

a death wish and a resurrection

without knowing in the least why

but the clouds pressed down

no rainbow in sight

so the blind l...

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Right now a car boot sale is forming

as the sun rises the fields are storming

the dedicated put their pride on hold

and wait in the muddy depths of cold.

The chirpy will thrive,  will naturally survive

with fistful of dollars and turned up collars.

      Dealers first ,with their gimlet eyes

      grubbing out the elusive prize,

      knowing the pressure of the moment's ri...

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You can't stroke a spider

they're just not made that way -

skittish, easily deterred by foolish intentions

the hysterics of sudden movement, then

they scuttle into black abysses

peering into the dark

pressed almost flat like paper clips

ready to spring,

and their killing sprees belie their shyness.

But in gardens

always the royal highness in a web

on thro...

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There'll never be nothing to worry about

always a cause celebre,

I have a list of what's never quite right

to visit on waking in the dead of night,

nothing minor (or so it seems)

a twinge of pain, the stuff of bad dreams.

I avoid the surgical expanation

preferring to savour the manifestation

which recurs in the brain

again and again

with variations on a theme

...

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When Sir Cliff reached the acting heights

as Heathcliff to his fans' delights

the Yorkshire press ignored the illusion

knowing the Christians' heir apparent

was simply beefing up the transparent,

and though Emily spun within her grave

Sir Cliff,  knowing how to behave,

likewise the reviewers forgave,

creating still more confusion.

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to the ward they came, singly

came to visit me

on a breath of promise

with their smoke - ring mouths.

The curtains drawn back then closed

behind them singly to visit me

with their searching, with their urchin temptations

their magnificent violations.

Saints and sinners equally welcome,

each unique in the daring dance of desire.

My mind feasted on display

a cornucop...

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As if in a picture frame, he is mounted .

The cyclist must explore

by movement, defining limits

to become the picture within

as an image imagined

sensed by a sort of freedom.

The oils must be built up

smearing his face

and every moving part

in fortune's light.

He becomes trapped

in the world that must hang

forever where the

valleys meet the hills,

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false modesty follows me about

like a gun dog blinded and deafened by doubt

eating scraps at a sumptuous feast

of no real use to man or beast.

It feels like to be or not to be

my lesser shadow dogging me,

as I secretly sift through hidden gems

that my own worst critic often condemns

the accursed gun dog is always to hand

with its back towards the promised land.

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The express delivery  of  sexual fluids

(an action thought sublime

by the ancient druids),

worshipped for the giving of life

and responsible for the seeds of strife.

Is this what the fuss is all about

as we squirm and mount

twist and shout?

It does seem somewhat like a dream

to build up such a head of steam

when on the plateau we reach for sleep

after tha...

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I need to be Welsh here

my englishness feels strange

and a kind of mystic guilt of it

hangs heavy, grounded like the rain

washing down from gutters

sleek on slate, self imposed.

I am not of,

not from, and

don't belong and yet

with respect I watch the hunched groups

sharing news, events, what matters

in a finely sifted context

somehow looking in.

I c...

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all went smoothly as our spacecraft made touchdown

the night was bleeding

distant hills etched in mystery

Gregory went first

then Maitland

and I watched them lumbering

heard the thin pleading note of voices

through the helmet

"wow, just like I thought it would be!"

"Sure is, same thought as mine!"

Mars unblinked, its channels escaping.

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To gain access to the Cafe Royal

      one- time haunt of the literati

      with its vanished scent of foppishness,

      lingering in the mind like a sweet curse on

      stairway plush, on mock rococo settees,

      serpentine ormulu pier tables 

      and other salon favourites

us musicians were required to battle with food waste

in the adjoining alley goods lifts,

p...

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The stained glass window in its high shoulder of stone

is playing with fire

lead meanders through its transparent field

and reveals a message

born in a pact of hot tears,

pews are dappled

angels whose wings stick out flat

reflect the sun in an experiment

that God had begun

but time and heat have conspired, and

now air hisses through gaps,

the message...

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This cohort of Poseidon crosses the wastes

storming horizons on spume and spray

cruising, schmoozing

herding its cargo like a cowboy of the plains

whipping up wind on waves

of self - indulgence

in the wild west and east of effulgence,

the cargo refreshed by all that's unnatural

while the clouds and the seas

seem fit to please.

This monstrous celebrant, multi-tier...

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A dream within a salty dream

turning on its axis

the vessel ploughing far below the waterline

suppressing its life and conserving it.

In turmoil we sought out the highest place

hope and air thinning

and the dream was real

as real as the depths

and when we knew the end must come

and fate could wait no longer

the scene changed,

a world opened,

      a la...

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you are flying

head bursting with height

somewhere under the sun

      in flames of light.

The desert sands

belong to another time for now.

Once more somewhere up ahead

another way of life, blind

is bursting with its own mind

and clouds will guide you in

with the sea behind.

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Banjo man, banjo man

lift my spirit if you can

the creek runs dry

the sun burns down

I see the ghost of an empty town.

      Banjo man, banjo man

      my love has gone to the promised land

      my tears run dry

      i'm kinda down

      so play a sad tune

      the best in town.

Banjo man, banjo man,

sing a song of the promised land,

even the roc...

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Checker Berry was his name

from a family of boxers,

and crime was his game.

We met in a boozer in Drury Lane

in my break from the show.

He touted tickets for west end theatres

ducking and diving hereabouts

he often got his collar felt

'cause he was a face.

Still had his contacts, his pitch and place

staunch and true to the east end code

would lend at...

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all day long the supermarket shoal swelled

subsided

nosed their snouts into lucrative gaps

breathing through blow holes

glistening in their silky coats.

Oblivious of those who dominate them

they glide on their tides

anticipate, perpetrate

managing their own limits, spaces.

Of many colours

they seem to know and share community

and their place as,

seeing in t...

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The car must have lost control

sleep overtaking the driver perhaps.

I came across the debris field

through an unblinking coma at seventy

at three in the morning

       Saw the barrier peeled away

       the black oil trails

       sleek entrails of car body parts

       steam from recent heat

       blistered asphalt

no visible sign of shell or body..  

A...

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We went east on the Thames

black tunnel of night

into the mysterious pools of night

on the Silver Barracuda

played the songs of Ry Cooder and George Benson

then the dancing took over,

YMCA thundered through the salty hull

as yuppies, ad-men

celebrated their new found culture

they paid the pipers,

we played the tunes.

The roof opened, underbellies of bridg...

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a barometer falls

as the saying goes

well, I dropped a thermometer

"balls!" I said as the mercury spread

running into tiny pools

shining mischievously from the tufts

where it taunted me while I rolled up my cuffs

in readiness to capture the spill,

no thrill as I endeavoured to scoop

and the pools became multipools

and looped the loop.

Resorting to the internet

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A thought form leaves the restless brain

with its tiny chord into the void,

a bubble fit to bursting flies

while sensed by the love one's seeking eyes

and waiting by the chosen gate

the loved one then takes up the thought,

responds with favours deeply felt

with senses taut, deftly dealt.

A smile seals the fate of it,

the tiny chords of thoughts entwine

and p...

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outside the well - appointed house

screened by laurel, ivy clad

in its curving crescent discretion assured

a van pulled up like a culture shock

furniture unloaded, dogs through the door

with a lady in tow taking stock

and an antiques dealer, circling and jibing,

calculations, machinations like gamblers

at a cock fight, bending probing checking comparing.

F...

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it was that particular sound and sensation

a metronomic regularity of a train passing over

the rail joints

that bespake the rhythmic tale of the greed of speed

connecting the body to the soul

the soul of railway travel.

      If that had been all

      all that I remember

no steam tumbling

spent fluff of force in motion

no shriek of whistles

from mouths of monsters...

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from a furnace of fire

my body jettisoned

white hot spume

pranking cinders

kinder kind.

Love turned up in sweat and toil

from flaming suction

in pools of glittering gold

      Fire baby born of desire

      since then the trail grows cold.

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cotswold stone villages mellow yellow

self - possessed economically blessed

carefully placed in the threading lanes

and under grand plazas of tumbling clouds.

How shall we think of you?

greedy for praise and we must give it, in tearooms

      where cultivated couples crouch on wheelbacks

      the light segregated through lattice windows

      and all is well with cake.

...

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The sound of the coach a lament

to time lately spent

on the motorway's

north - south spine .

We the listless musicians,

nocturnally drained bound for home

on the immeasurable strip.

      Light began to bleed through windows.

Yorkshire's dancers slumbered on

while into the estuaries of waiting homes

we ebbed and flowed

simply observing

the musicia...

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In the Pizza Express in Trinity Road i sat

with my wife and a mutual friend

and watched the traffic never end,

reality crept in through every pore

of a world boxed in by four by four

      as we ate unremarkable food.

I sought distraction from stupefaction

from the endless creep of dissatisfaction

and the eye of a waitress, a gulf of hope

her future my past,  a visu...

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I had to break her horny back

the old victorian lady

 as her twists and turns in tortuous wood

pissed but upright in dotage stood

facing a crippled future.

I took her, hammered and levered

 her fine entrails.

 She sagged, gave way

diagnosis revealed

      a lady's problem, dried out with time

      mortise and tenons locked in dry embrace

      yet still maintainin...

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if I was offered a choice between a Ferrari

and everlasting life

that would need some careful consideration

      and while i'm thinking it out (hypothetically)

i'll take out my very own genie's lamp

(always a comfort in times of stress)

      rub it vigorously

      wait for results.

I mean, this comes with no strings

no after effects

and no need to change

th...

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I look up through the ice

as if to paradise

      to see the moving shape entranced

      in the opening of a skater's waltz

     and the welcome dance of death.

The ice gives way

I feel the shock

      the break of day

      the deadlock of plunge

      of heart's distress.

And then I see the gash

from above

   how dark it is,

   how weak the sun

   how t...

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and God asked for volunteers

they went willingly

having had no previous knowledge

ultimately

it makes no difference

when the call comes

but to what

and for what -

was any of the waiting

really necessary at all?

yet the suffering and the pleasure

have given us cause

and when the lights go out

that may give us pause....

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just what we need          a headless corpse walking

our kind of man              we need people like him

to spread the message              corporate ideals done deals

we have him where we want him          the headless corpse walking.

Put him on a plane          to meet our clients

savvy switched in types          name tags

bifold minds          lavish kitchen diners

wi...

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you come on stage right

the British Isles behind you

that slightly awkward moment

when you have the monster in your reach

that blunders and thunders

regurgitating its old repertoire

new wine in old bottles

spitting, crackling piss and wind.

and your smile calms the whole affair down

I notice no changes   no grave predictions

no warnings as I watch your tiny ...

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chicken in a basket

racist jokes

      gogo dancers

      macho blokes

long haired musos

(robinson crusoes)

      smoking pot

      and drinking ouzos

flowered shirts

platform heels

      saturday nights

      jellied eels

watching the telly

with arthur and terry

      revving up the old cortina

      scrubbing it out

with toilet cleaner

sony this...

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gothic perpendicular

in every fine particular

      the sentry salutes death by prevention

an architectural statement of fine intention

crowd pleaser

sentinel standing

      praying mantis

      ready to strike

while the real invasion

creeps unseen

      keeping well clear

      of our Gracious Queen

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a ragbag sheepdog paced the yard

      scavenging tor things to do

now that time had blurred his eye

      and blunted his gait

his hinges arthritic, this farmer's mate.

I began the work i'd come to perform

      pausing first to stare him out

with a pat and a cluck, then I saw the ball.

      Like him it survived, well versed    in

the bounce and the scuttling acro...

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THERE WAS  A GIRL I NEVER MET ONCE

IT WASN'T TO BE

EVIDENTLY

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I went walking on that day

past straggling tombs

hawthorn gripped

where limestone and  marble

shot dull glances as

time had furrowed these streaking brows

      and steadfast pets stood proud but chipped

      to sense those long lost hearts

      and memory of owners gone ahead

      where ramblers walk among the dead.

Remote mausoleums, museums

of t...

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When we are troubled

we seek refuge in beauty

sanctuary in our sense of wonder

      she serves us well

      asks nothing from us

      except awareness

as against our demands

she plays her gracious card.

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in its allotted platform the train sits,

waits.

I stare out through hermetic glass.

The preparations are completed.

The guard looks to the front

past the long flanks of the thoroughbred

      steps back, the age - old green flag

      simply waved, and the peremptory

whistle blown.

Imperceptibly the train breathes in and moves.

Like a babe in arms I am ...

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I'M WAITING

JUST WAITING

FOR URINATION

THE TIME IS RIGHT

THE URGE IS RIGHT

BUT THE TRAIN IS

AS IT WERE

HELD UP

OUTSIDE THE STATION

YOUNG MEN EITHER SIDE OF ME

CONTINUE ON THEIR MERRY WAY

WHILE THIS OLD FELLA

WAITS FOR THE OFF

MANAGING JUST A NERVOUS COUGH

IMAGINING TREES AND COWS

PORCELAIN EXTRUSIONS

FOSTERING OLD YOUTHFUL IL...

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See the river ever flowing

fix your eye upon a spot

all is rush, confusion,

your brain the absorber

of water life.

Now hear the jazz

      the victories of tumbling

      jostling circles of light

      thoughts on fire

      desire

      without end.

Music's life, it's joy

water and blood the same

swapping stories of continents

subdued, all ther...

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Dear Queen, i'm ten years old

and I like you a lot,

and also Dear Queen

my mum is forty, she's a fan

and my dad likes Prince Phillip.

      My brother thinks like me

      and likes all the royal family.

      Dear Queen my cousin is twelve

      and he's also a fan

      and my sister likes Prince Harry.

Prince Willam and Kate are gorgeous

and quite natu...

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if your life must be preserved

simply as a remnant of past glory

functioning as a recycler of food

and memory

if you possess no means of escape

from those who may love or hate you

or worst of all be indifferent,

or stare as if you were a shadow

without apparent form,

if you can be this and still keep hope

for love of a greater dream

past the stumbling blo...

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The Warren House Inn stands with heels in the rock

winds a - weeping round its roofs

or capes of mist creeping round its solitary back

Its doors always shut for the heat shut in

with regard for the fire never quenched

and above

the boards as you look up

to where the tinners often wenched

the stench of labour on them

strange lights would play on the rotten mires

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that courting couple in their convolution

sweet illusion and self delusion

go hand in hand

down a scented aisle

in a marriage of sweet infusion

such that only the initiate

can render clear their true intention

so

when the muse is strong

kiss and make up

you twins

to avert the twists

and turns

of confusion

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BERTIE BASSETT HAS BEEN REBORN

IN A WORLD OF LICORICE

AND I'M QUITE FORLORN

FOR THIS SWEET MAN IS EVEN SWEETER

WITH A VIRAL AFFLICTION

ON HIS DELECTATION

HIS COMPONENT PARTS

WERE ONCE A DELIGHT

ROUNDS AND SQUARES

AN ANSWER TO MY PRAYERS

I TRUST TO MY TASTE

BUT BERTIE'S DEBASED

THEY'VE FILLED HIM

FULL OF GLUCOSE SYRUP

FRUCTOSE WHY BUT THERE IT IS

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in the winter of 62/63

Ramsbottom Bickerdyke and co

went up to the icy wastes

upon Bleath Gill

like crows to the pecking

to set the locomotives free

from their cotton white beds

jammed right in

those belly fires burnt right out

all in a dream of compacted snow

Ramsbottom Bickerdyke and co.

Yorkshiremen under leathery sky

hacked away with blistering bre...

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some bright spark

gazed up one night

at the burgeoning stars

ignoring the planets of

venus and mars

      His thoughts went further afield

      that night

      never one to limit himself

      he schemed and dreamed

      that his future was bright

with a sweep of his hand

he conceived a plan

audacious and simple

and stunningly grand

      a thousand or ...

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She knows his wants his dearest dreams

but she may not be quite all she seems

as nestles he into her seat

and turns the key to generate heat

the pulsing pistons tight in thrall

his life is here       the car is all.

      A mile away a local whore

      is entering her four by four

      as she nestles behind the wheel

      who knows how good that makes he...

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At certain times in a lady's head

comes the thought of the marital bed

in particular its surface cover

with little concern for the resident lover.

The heavy blankets have long marched off

to Eastern Europe and the terminal cough

instead an invader has smugly arrived

the ubiquitous DUVET, from misery derived.

Soon in place on its king size bed

(its password is T...

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