I saw the cat today in the lane

its back towards me

but aware that I was there.

A hedge absorbed it

the lane alone again

and another feline plan unthwarted.

The puddles saw the plan pass on by

pass away

and the dance again of soft pads

foraging whiskers

leaving me behind

blundering on my upright way.

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looking down

then looking up

      at stained glass skies

      penitence  humility  breaching the distance

sodomy airbrushed out

the fucking forgiven

       neutered dreams on a cushion of bliss

      because of all this

and underneath the spirit screams with mere respect.

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Christmas has gone like a flatulent fart

      silent night is just a mattress

the hosannas that rang no longer ring true

      three ships sailed over the bright horizon

while the sales are flexing and long overdue.

Family groups have dispersed once again

      the elders tucked safely away

an alcoholic haze drifts by

      on the back of the special day.

Poin...

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Alan no longer exists,

has disappeared

gone up the reverse spiral

off the ladder of no more rungs

his respects paid

seeded in pockets of low resistance.

       In case you didn't know him too well

       there is the skip outside his house

       sodden with the forced tears

       of a sort of purgatory

       awaiting pulp and peace

but help yourself be...

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NO MORE

DEEP COAL

FROM A DEEP HOLE

NO DEED POLL

DECISIONS TAKEN

AT A HIGHER LEVEL

CHEFS OF ENTERPRISE

CUTTING BACK

NO SURPRISE

KNEW IT WAS COMING

WORKERS THUMBING

A LIFT TO OBLIVION

BLACK GOLD

DISPLAYED IN A CASE

SO THAT AT COAL'S DISGRACE

THE YOUNG CAN STARE

DEEP DESPAIR

WILL ANYONE CARE?

BURY THE WELSH IN MEMORIES

THE YORKSHIREMEN TOO

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At the end of another day

the Antarctic fields tell no story

the researchers move slowly

conserving heat in the blistering cold

with their late flaring mirages of haloed breath

as the air peels away.

      The ice maiden has wandered

      far from her glassy hide

      leaving an impression behind

      where a freezing moon scythe

      divides the ti...

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I stare out at the gathering mist

as on the radio tubular bells are peeling,

an insistent beat of persistent encouragement.

children's voices stripped of guile

Christmas will soon be here .

      A red carpet unfolds

      while the lurching crowds obey

      a ritual newer than recorded time.

Pin spots reveal the message

in the caves of temptation.

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What's done for free

risks anonymity

we live in hope

     of money for old rope

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In the mirror he checks his wig

the sideburns dark glasses

with the silver sides

checks the white suit

it's all in place

his heart lies heavy in Grace

land.

Though Elvis lies in a mausoleum

this English equivalent

works hard to survive -

 daily he works with carpets and flooring and

refreshes his throat with gargling fluid

to keep those dreams of the King a...

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dirty and dark

hard to breathe

confused about time

feeling my way

suddenly a light        the mother lode      revealed at last      crystals of truth      I clawed them

My own discovery

the truth blinding

age behind me

the light stayed on.

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Here comes religion - again

with its huge pillow for your bed

creature comforts.

To go with it you may include

      television, sofa, slippers, car

      etcetera  etcetera. 

      For the ladies a kitchen that's blessed

      in the latest hue

 creature comforts

and a hint of sky to cover you by.

For the race

      a human embrace when it's over

      (gl...

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"This was the family dining room,"

      the lady stands in simple tweeds

      her feet astride the dark oak floor

reflecting history with all its deeds

sombre still with shadowed time

      the tumbling drapes discreetly back

      and panelling fading into black.

An open doorway suddenly reveals

an ancient visitor visibly thrilled

      whose wife peruses the outline ...

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I wrote this poem

whilst having a crap.

I sprayed the air

the task complete.

Not sure which was the greater pleasure

probably in equal measure

I look forward to a wise assessment

of my small but insignificant investment.

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I parked the volvo at two am

cut the engine on the old 760

the November night closed in.

Outside, the air at Borley was fresh

a light wind stirred by the blunted church

only hedges and drives, bungalows

where the rectory had been

and the still extant lodge. 

The Victorian pile razed by fire  before the war

i'd read the stories

of a ghostly nun, mysterious li...

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Father Christmas flies high,  so high

where the air is thin

and the children believe

as they have been told.

Father Christmas drops his men down

presents on tiny wings so fragile.

to keep them safe

      they can't believe in bombs

      and bullets as they tear down

      simple dreams.

though good men may come

with promises wrapped up

Fathe...

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he held on to his views as tightly

      as a bullet in a breach

hammered them home

      in the compression of a moment

his opinions unleashed

      with deadly aim and

nought but a duel

      could suppress them.

I met with him on the bleak moor

      and with luck and aim

blew out his brains

      scattering his thoughts and views

and the world was a bet...

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I felt it could happen at any time

that I would know when

then on the cliff looking out to sea I knew it

the drop enough

enough of a drop

to deal the blow

on the undertow

and though

      the waves were flecked and bright

     the time had come

     for everlasting night.

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In the final scene a man waits

in the reception area of a hotel,

a spectator in a moving montage

seated alone,

in a cosy juxtaposition of service and flow.

No one notices him and his watching:

      the discreet frontage of the lifts

      and their smoothly quiet ascents and descents

      to reveal the occupants

      stepping from their padded confines

      some b...

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What would we do if the poems ran out

our energy supplies cut off?

How would we explain that away

without the words and what they convey?

Like the blind we'd have to evolve

with only the touchrod of insight to solve

those infinite days and their challenging ways

to stumble over imponderable matters

and stare at statues

or bleakly at sunsets

devoid ...

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In red jackets they had assembled

instruments to hand, smiling.

My eye took them in

close enough to touch,

the living

and some I knew had passed over

Long hours we had spent together

glued into years

in pursuit of music,

I made them what I remembered,

reached round the back of memory

propped them up again smiling

and the dream was good.

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November struggles to help itself up

but ignored by the cataract sky

with its rotting damask

drowns slowly like a rat

downtrodden

sodden

while the days cry out for sleep

cast their leaden verdict

bedding down on pillows

of hedge    bank    ruts

ifs and buts.

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for simple pleasures of conquest

we played marbles, for marbles

with marbles  again and again

and bagged them

safe and drawstring tight

a natural balance of loss and gain.

Like glass eyes they spun in our palm sockets

leapt and sparkled

in gutters or playgrounds

from three finger cradles

whirling swirling in small tracks

clickety clacks

macho skirmishes

the m...

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Small assassinations are drilling

making their points felt

deep into the bedrock

      as mountains of trust give way

      sink beneath other leviathans

hopes dashed

fevers tempered by death

while the black hooded wait their turn.

Small assassinations take their toll

take comfort from power

feed on and off it from back rooms

      an enemy must be found

  ...

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when margaret met ronald

a dream came true

a meeting of minds

an acting coups.

a child was born

to feed on dreams

a credit rush for me and you.

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In Shepherd's Bush W.12

we tenderly kissed

I with suspension of disbelief

him with deep and tragic relief.

      He said that straights were highly prized

my gorge was rising

but nothing else.

I felt no fear nor any desire

like an actor whose skill is ever for hire.

With his wig back on he looked much better

bra in place,  rouged up face

transvestite...

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Lord Nelson and me

on a summer's ride

in the crook of his arm

through the countryside

I stood while he huffed

and stood while he puffed

in his green shiny coat

he shovelled the miles

and hot he ran with his iron will

and we rode like the Lord

and we're riding still.

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The clothes hang in their wardrobe

asleep in drawers

shoes sit to attention

all ready for the needs of a day

      seasonal assortments.

      Their owners pass away

next of kin left with what's next to skin

they're leaving home.

Wardrobe empties

drawers a blank

      shoes with their black holes of respect

and for what the next world forsakes

the ...

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Check your fluid levels

as they flow into your brain,

      emotion's filter needs a clean

      to make it very plain.

Words like SHIT and PISS and FUCK

describing the body's functions

      turn up like uninvited guests

      with their slippery injunctions.

So service with a smile please

reach down to flush them out

      use vitriol to clear the air

      in ca...

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he smoked roll - ups

drank copious amounts

watched girls of a certain age

      his mind afire with hopeless dreams

      he played tricks with words on a page

      had a healthy disrespect

for sanctimonious smiles

cursed his way through every day

lived life upon the tiles.

      When he finally passed away

      he left a wretched smell and

      a song of sadnes...

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rockabye lullaby

Southern Electric

in the dark

the sanctioning spark

Waterloo sunset

left behind

briefly forgotten

the daily grind

no man's land

of fretul speed

lives suspended

 commercial creed

rockabye lullaby

unholy ghost

dead man's handle

 the milepost.

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I could have been in a trench

looking up at tanks passing

their underbellies squatting

so it was the day the clouds came

tumbling fusing in great clumps of air

boisterous blustering

towards a thin horizon

      with a hatred of the light.

I pleaded with them,     finally

they promised not to come back

      that night.

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Just like Lord Byron I sit tonight

pen in hand by candlelight

I walked abroad, the wind was high

galloping trees disturbed my eye.

Beetling roofs betrayed the light

that flickered in windows in dwindling sight

when of a sudden the power went down

a breath of God blown all around.

Within the blackness a chasm yawned

beneath my darkened feet it formed

 my...

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Forget about Gods

in their various forms of madness

or alternatively the single God

in his uniqueness.

Instead

respect the big cats

pumas tigers lions and their kind.

      look into those eyes

      place your respect and fear

      pay your dues

know that true life lurks there

in blood

instinct

raw sex

kindredship

love of a kind

      and finally a...

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Take Big Ben     as it stands

rebuild it in the desert sands

see if time makes any sense

with its monstrous grandeur

under ancient stars

by the way, what's the time on Mars?

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the great heave of recent war

lay back swallowed by the cold channel floor

beach out of bounds

with its lullabies of mines and barbed wire

marram grass saluted a past

like a bereavement

as we climbed from the train at Harwich

en route by Bedford coach to a week of levity

the boiler of the locomotive hissed in the rain

platform alight with puddles

e...

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Full set of golf clubs for sale I saw

with trolley thrown in

on a garage door.

Apply within it said( well really )

can't give 'em away  though sometimes nearly!

They crop up in the charity shops

as regular as when clockwork stops

Nobody wants yesterday's flash

on wheels

you need the new version

not a used and sullied perversion

like golf shoes with rather...

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Golf - the mystery of holes in the ground

smoothed to within an inch of its life

soft dreams

tiny ball hard hit

      that's about it

oh! I nearly forgot

the nineteenth hole

      scene of many a deal

done with sweaty hands

and in oak - lined rooms

where men can be men

 old sorties are relived

oh! and I nearly forgot

the fees,  a fine

for not sta...

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We arrived early by coach

instruments were ferreted into shabby backstage rooms

yesterday's polystyrene cups unwashed

lay near their current newspaper

gutted somewhere near page three

another ballroom another town

      Brighouse

      the jewel in the crown

abdicating from the future

locked in a blistered past.

      our presence with music was part of ...

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Woke up this morning      another day dawning

but I know deep down      there's trouble in town

moving real slow               my turn to go

I shuffle those dice            take your advice

I know you monopoly men       know when to say when

i'm in jail next                     totally vexed

can't pass go                     too damn slow

my notes are bleeding       kids need ...

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The man who shines your shoes

brushes your coat polishes your ego

      he knows his place

      in the human race.

As you go to your urgent meetings

      remember those hearts of darkness

     in the shadowlands

there may be an answer there

not on your agenda no doubt

      waiting with sad patience

      to be drawn out.

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In a funny sort of way I came to like him

      and then

in that funny sort of way

      I came to like others too who

I didn't much like before

      as if my liking was a fondness

for initial dislike itself

      an attachment to overcome

and once won a constant challenge

      equalled

then I seemed to rise up

      not caring so much whether

people suit...

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look at me in my shiny car!

      ever so near

      ever so far

nothing can stop this love affair

my hands are gripping

my feet are flexing

      the dashboard grinning

      my thoughts have fled

I am easily pleasantly

easily led.

When I'm not in my shiny car

      it waits, it awaits

      hushed and cold

for my powerful body

to bring it to li...

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The celebrations were just

      a thin skin over a wound

deep in the pysche

      death

crisply crackled on sullied ground

      desolation a breath away

shoulders hunched against

      the monolithic memory

buildings shored up.

      Dogs beseeching

cats disappearing around corners

      devoid of direction

Shops cobbled together trade

      holding up a ra...

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so Vinny comes into the club one time

I say what's new

he says it's good

a deal going down

on the other side of town

you really ought to

hear this.

I says you gotta tell me more

Vinny's calling the guy at the bar

comes over with scotches and rye

a celebration to match the mood

he draws a plan

on a serviette

a liquor store supplying

we don't know how m...

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Let's fuck up the planet

while we've still got time.

   We'll charge to stare in the abyss

    people would pay their dime.

So let's fuck up the planet

how long is anybody's guess,

    so let's big up the problem

    and never quite confess.

Poverty can go to the back of the queue

along with love and such things

    so let's fuck up the planet

    there might ...

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One forty five Acacia Drive

      had a gate with a rising sun

            with a spring in its hinge for everyone

 Metroland expressive.

Returning to its original slot

      with little delay as like as not

            protecting its inward Camelot

Metroland impressive.

One forty five Acacia Drive

      was bombed in nineteen forty five

          ...

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The minute the fog laid its eyes on me

I knew I was lost

with its cold creeping seduction

and whispered breath

            all guidance confused

and only the suspended tops

            of what was grounded

could I see

confounded in a season of mystery.

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I love my brother

I love my sister

I love my mummy

I love my daddy

I love my dog

and I love my cat.

I love my granny and granddad

but they've gone on ahead

that's what mummy and daddy reckon

so I have to love them even more

'cause granny and granddad are dead.

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