Coat hangers queue like question marks 

waiting for answers -

asking why they have no shoulders to cry on, 

no clothes to rely on.

"Perhaps," they might say, " our owners have

left us on the dead rail;

but why O why did they go away?"

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School photos, a ritual,

cherished likenesses of ones' self,

thumbnail prints placed on a shelf

or mantelpiece with pride;

matter of obligation for parents

a record of proud growth. 

Cameras with their elephant memories

blinked portentously,

nothing personal.

We were rounded up by disreputable fellows

with a taste for pin-ups,

stage-sets, black cloths,

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I'm worried about the presents this year,

I used to give money, but now it's clear

that the giving of objects seems more sincere,

so i'm worried about the presents this year.

I'll have to find out from Roger or Paul

whether Tanya is allergic to perfume at all;

if so, then those slippers with animal heads

i'll get with coupons, they look rather cool. 

I'm worried a...

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and the celesta, glockenspiel,

tubular bells, sleigh bells,

mark trees, tambourine,

all manner of instruments

stepped out of their covers,

their cases,

and a strange thing happened. 

Spirit hands began to move

over and under and around them,

and sounds of Christmas

were heard throughout the land. 

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the book of Turner's paintings I held

in awe like a whisper

the agony of such scapes

where a brush once had laced

together a purpose and a vision

for a moment blinded me

to the shop, tucked in 

as I was, away from the splashes

of celeb chefs, the cacophony 

of tumbling Christmas mock Blytons

Ladybird books that would fly

to post turkey glutted hands for humour

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me, me, look at me!

cries a cold lonely star,

my heat is wasted

my heart grows old

      we see you, we see you!

      cries the man behind glass

      we see you by an ancient light

      your curious tenure by day and by night

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heads on spikes on london bridge

heads on mounts in castle halls

severed from humans and animals both

heads held high for all to see

for grim respect and symmetry

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What we often remember

my brother and I is that

on intense summer nights

steam engines struggled

on a slow incline with the parcels special

when we lay as though tethered to the ride

wishing we had meccano sets

not to be;

turning over schoolboy fantasies

that burned under the sheets

curtained against a dying sun. 

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No air no air

we have no fresh air

it's what Mr Khan says

in his role as the mayor

aware aware

of polluting the air

take a stand on the issue

Mr Khan if you dare

do we care do we care

if the air is so rare

and the lungs of the capital

cannot repair

Mr Khan O Mr Khan

were you born in a barn?

will you join us in a prayer

for a breath of fre...

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a low sun teased me out

from a pool of shadow

searching for signs of new life

even as the soil plotted against it

overhead a plane like a silver pen

wrote a lazy trail

scattering high hopes

dead leaves in disorderly fashion

a classroom of empty heads

awaited my rough comb

and a crisp goodbye. 

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Here comes Mary like fairy dust

gentle queen of cake and crust

proving dough and proving to us

that baking is something that we can trust. 

Her wings fold down, hair a-shimmer

the hot fairy rings begin to glimmer

all good things she doth impart

from the jam-packed cake to the humble tart

her perfection is part of a riddle

hey diddle diddle, cut down the middle

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Behind castle walls decisions are made

muesli or toast and marmalade?

where battlements rise to recumbent skies

the chef is planning a big surprise

outside the entrance there is a sign

in the Belvedere room the tasting of wine

where once the hordes were kept at bay

views are enjoyed of a distant bay

festivals bring back the hordes

with beer and burger...

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RUN RUN WITH THE HOUNDS

'TIL THE PISTON FIST IN YOUR CHEST HAS BURST

THEN YOU WILL SHARE

THE FLIGHT AND DEATH OF THE RUNNING HARE

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The GOD  APP is very comforting

for those who seek to find

covering topics for the otherwise blind

opening your eyes to the wonder of LIFE

as it tries to keep up with discoveries

such as this new app

simply download online

from the CHAPELSTORE

select your harmonic colour

(favourite) for screen compatability

and empathy maximisation

GOD will speak with you...

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Take signs for town centre

two parallel lanes off the ring road

up the ramp for car park -

bollards, newly resurfaced - drive slowly.

Window down, ticket spat out

at last a space, tight squeeze.

Mental note - green A3

joined the celestial starburst throng

sought out visual plan 

on store locator to find the shop

low blood sugar kicking in

Costa like an open wound.

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Don't fall in love with visions

don't believe in dreams

they belong to the super rich

those who have the means. 

Weave their magic carpets

with resources and with thread

spend your lives in servitude

raise a tipple at Christmas

console yourselves with those worse off

one day we'll all be dead

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At St. Andrew's parish church

thoughts rise up at once sublime

and bow with cursory respect

where ghosts and guides of old confessors

share the soil with dead professors

who always seem to have the answers

while disconcerting questions hang

and looking up at moving clouds

follow the finger of St. Andrew's church

in accusation of earthly souls

who regularly f...

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IS THIS THE PARADISE WE WERE PROMISED

they shouted

like headless chickens with beards

in a slaughterhouse exposed

while demons came from every corner

with mirrors reflecting the sun

blinding them with night

and the Gods of Hate so pleased with them

for bringing the innocent

to the funeral feast 

and never an end in sight. 

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In the Wheatsheaf recently refitted

tiny ceiling lights shone down

in celebration of the empty space

we two sat in the window seats

leather bound with guinness and scotch

in the afternoon of the day

where histories of the hop were planted

coaches and horses passed away

we two sat and talked and spun

in truth a sharing of thoughts as one.

The ceiling lights b...

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A miner walked from Wheal Kitty

to Trevellas at the end of a day

and the path he took was atop the cliff

for that was his easiest way.

The moon rode high oe'r the breakers

as the path did twist and turn

and the Gods of the deep were lurking there

with nothing new to learn.

Fourteen hours at fifty fathoms

had taken the breath from him

and the night was quiet ...

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The kids have left home

you're both alone

the phone is horribly silent

garden centres with their cosy diversions

still seem a lifetime away

you stare at the garden

it seems somehow sad

with its reminders of seasons passing

selfies stuck in too recent times

stare back your stomach turns

mum is concerned

recently busier to pass some futile time

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The kids have left home

you're both alone

the phone is horribly silent.

Garden centres with their cosy diversions

still seem a lifetime away. 

You stare at the garden

it seems somehow sad

with its reminders of seasons passing. 

Selfies stuck in too recent time

stare back, your stomach turns

Mum is concerned

recently busier to pass some futile ti...

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sent for by the headmaster

in trepidation I ventured forth

through unfamiliar blunted corridors

then finally to face the man

in tweed jacket, piercing glasses

smooth hair. 

his back was turned busy at a cupboard

I knew he kept his cane in there

instinct told me, amongst other

savage collectibles

known only to top men in charge.

then a brief acknowledgment

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What will she do when her looks have gone

when the mirror resents her advances?

What will she say as her dreams fade away

of the handsome knights

no longer down on bended knee

to offer more than they could fulfil

what will she do then?

What will she do when weeds grow through

familiar paths of love's sweet past

reaching out for bounties lost

and the handsome knig...

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Those of us of a certain age

will remember the penny amusement machines

as they caught the blowsy light off the sea

with their feet on bare boards

on piers from Worthing to Caister and how

we raked through pockets weighed down by copper

with gambling intentions that felt good and proper

early adrenaline supercharged

preparing to use our Britannia discs

taking what s...

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posing like an undertaker

Larkin gazes into his lens

with a distant look

past the obvious

a self - timed study

in black and white

        a selfie

(he would have hated that word,

too sweet, narcissistic

for such a considered moment).

and we see the puritan look

curiously drawn to death's impediment

side - lit through lace

and sense that poetry lurks...

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Once I saw a vampire on a lead

a muzzle around its face

quite harmless it seemed

with its red rimmed eyes

and a sense of time and place.

I smiled at its keeper, he smiled back

no words were necessary

the vampire used telepathy

but I didn't find it scary 

I knew what it wanted, it knew that I knew

and the sun was low in the sky

so I raised my crucifix just...

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those mayfair hotels heavy with servitude

exacted a heavy price

as I toiled to create a dance paradise,

youth and energy on my side

a roller coaster ride.

Where their rubbish piled up

the alleys were too dark

to give away secrets, 

so I fled the confessional through 

the church doors of the salty night,

followed the thames for home

galleon black reflecting lon...

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Autumn makes plans that never work out

then collapses in tears as her leaves break down

but sympathy saves her with mournful reason

nostalgia for light in the dying season.

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Mrs Drogue late of The Limes

has had an accident today

she would have pressed the buzzer

but felt a little confused,

she thought her son who passed away last year

would be coming to visit today. 

It's when the body makes its own decisions

one carer told me

that's when these things happen. 

We go back a long way

Mrs Drogue and me

she was never easy, an awk...

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relish your dark woundings

prime your pellets

check your powders

for soon comes the hunters' moon

polish your stock

let your barrel breathe oil

make slick your cloths

preparations

practise footfalls of stealth

bayings of night creatures

the crack of flight

all this must abide

and you must hide your dreams for now

while fen and forest

sweat a...

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ray winstone's lying in the sun

ben kingsley comes to stay

an acting lesson and no mistake

ray is trying to keep his cool

ben is having his say.

"no no no you can't say no

you piece of fuckin' shit,

i'm 'aving fuckin' none of it"

says kingsley (looking fit)

"I can't " says ray, "i'm off the job"

ben says teddy wants him

more swearing etcetera

ray is fl...

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Disappointment comes riding into town

on the back of others' success

streaked with self pity.

Get over it say the old timers

who ride up front

jaws set tight against 

the bitter winds of defeat

before they take that step up

through swing doors

into a pure chance saloon. 

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The long shadow of Blenheim has cast

a longer shadow of victories past

of men who led against the stream

to tackle tyrants and crush their dream.

Come you to Blenheim now to see

these walls and arches of destiny

come with your denim and pocket guides

to see where fragile peace abides

and ask the ghosts how they made their play

that finds you alive in Blenheim t...

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In the gypsy lavender scented tent

she gazes into a crystal ball

at a gypsy table with beaded cover

like a stage set of a gypsy's lament

Gazes intently with head like an alien

into the squatting orb of the ball

knowing everything and nothing at all

her mind plays tricks

the glass is dark

where ocean meets the sky, 

future bleeding with a tremulous sigh

he...

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 in the garden

spiders' webs brush my face

I thought they were tears of regret

for passing summer gone dry

but perhaps they were tickling fingers

stroking a conservative sky

whispering of a short future for spiders

and another long goodbye. 

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Long limbed viaduct

strides with its giant tread

feet dressed with frills of trees

that brush its brickwork

as the train bears down

as those who ride look down

at the wriggling stream. 

Now no-one is looking down

no-one rides

the brickwork no longer strides

the frills of trees have taken over

where feet pressed down

no more strides of no long limbs

where...

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"Take a look around, I won't pester you"

said the carpet salesman, so we looked at 

the pillars of skyward carpet rolled,

onlookers in a forest of compressed comfort. 

We changed our mind as to colour

saw a pattern we liked,

took a seat

made a deal

agreed on Friday for delivery

all cut and dried.

His radio played Telstar

first ever british number one in A...

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I scraped some music off the walls

it slithered down in waterfalls

tasting sweet upon my tongue

fragmented songs as yet unsung

bursting out was heavy rock

that scattered all delicious dreams

my ears were caves where settling in

were Diana Ross and the Supremes.

Memories are made of this

such private moments of plasterwork

when the decorators come in

they'...

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the English played away on judgement day

over Europe's darkening skies

vengeful fleets of planes

made music of fear. 

Blitzkrieg tit for tat to subdue old Dresden

masterminded by Bomber Harris

the laying down of a gentle blanket

a technique perfected

with excretions of terror and blast

incendiaries and bombs

destroying that treasured city at last

of refug...

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in the father redcap on camberwell green

a fight broke out

the worst i've seen

blood and beer all up the walls

all the fault of billy bloxsome

now the pub has changed its name

it's called the nollywood club (for nigerians)

fair do's.  I've never tried to knock one out

all those boozers have changed or gone

familiar faces on the streets an age away.

More came...

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reaching into a chest cavity

he wrenched out the beating heart

drums crescendoed in the flaming night

faces crowded in with tribal eyes

falling back in a profane festive dance

strange lights swung high arcing down

in a careening conglomeration

waves of gore became a river to cross

an unspecified far bank

sensed but unseen

forbidden, unclean. 

      A wind...

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"Luftwaffe Luftwaffe where have you been?"

to London they say to cause a scene

a firestorm of devastation

a lesson of war to bow the nation.

Now as I look through a magnifier

at the 30's map the view distorts

under the glass bulging swaying as my vision shifts

north jerking west hither and thither

 ink runs with the camouflage of streets

now history is silent, ...

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My body resting considers the lure

of an unexplored corner.

Who knows what lurks there

what smile - the love of your life

yet to be, or simply a concrete wall

lost to time and space, leading

nowhere

but i'll never know either way

i'm tired so. 

I have scooped up enough for a lifetime maybe

so instead I muse

on the devil may care happenstance

passing by,

...

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In the venus fly trap

my thoughts are digested

legs folding in mortise constraint

isn't nature wonderful

if my destiny is only to give

that alone is worth

the perfect life I used to live, 

to participate in such rare beauty

to be absorbed subsumed

into this witches' brew

sweet is the alchemy that God designed

a hideous death for the privileged few.

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On this lazy stretch of field

horses graze in quiet repose,

the sun casts no shadow save

to define their necks and flanks.

Soon machinery will arrive

to squash the earth for houses

bring death to grass and buttercup.

There is no sleep as the dream moves on

soon these horses will be gone. 

Those who shall dwell upon this land

will covet that image of hor...

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The power line supports two pigeons

buttressed against a sly wind

                for a good hour they hunch together

                nature sparing them a need to move

I approve of them together

find them a good pairing.

                 They can get up to mischief I know

                  with their white napalm on cars

                  irritating the hell...

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The wind has been playful all day

along the castellations of the coastline

ducking down behind signs

aquaplaning through valleys

puffing deckchairs inside out

brushing the pelts of heather and vetch

forcing his attentions

fancying his chances

troubling those in age's advances

and like all young souls has worn himself out

hands deep in air pockets

cre...

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DONE THAT

GOT THE T SHIRT

BEEN THERE

NAME IT I'LL SHAME IT

NEED TO KNOW BASIS

I'LL SHOW YOU HOW

I'M HERE TO DO THAT

IF I WASN'T 

YOU WOOTEN 'AVE FOUND ME

SO PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE

PEOPLE LIKE ME ALWAYS KNOW BEST

THAT'S HOW THE WORLD WORKS

NO FRILLS

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Young Alfie and Jack right on track

with Scalextric all over the lounge

coloured paper crudely discarded

"Granddad granddad look i've won!"

said Alfie turning his body

around on his knees

scudding the pile of the carpet.

Granddad gazed down from his silent Shop Rider powerchair

like the keeper of the gate all knowing all suffering

leaping the gap of years to fi...

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