~

a shropshire ladder  (  a . e  i n  t h e  h o u s e  –  m a n  )

…

hen i was swan & bendy

i burred an iceman splay

" div sounds & nouns & spinneys

but knot your harp array;

sieve pearls - wah hey - & uzis

but sweep your pansy tree "

but i was swan & bendy,

snow juice to squawk to me


hen i was swan & bendy

i whirlwind whey again

" the tart is trout & wooden

was weather gibbon in vane;

'tis maid with thighs-a-sentry

& scold for breathless boo "

& i am shrew & bendy

& crow, 'tis spew, 'tis spew

...

~

a snake & still a sheep  (  a  p o e m z z z  )

…

i'm a snake & still a sheep

bumbles in the mumble's bread

eyes-a-slur & cream in creak

rundles in the rumble's stead


i'm a mare & of the brae

gazing in the bite of night

battle's bats & sing's the jay

babble on & song's the tights


i'm the cleft & churn a chain

slack's the slaw as gore's the grouse

portals paw & prat's the brain

'til once war - i'll haunt this mouse

...

~

for poetry’s cake  (  a  p o e m  ,  n a t u r a l l y  )

…

i gravel the sand & vale the vee

i shawl up the shore & squawk the bee

as beacons then dirge & birds then thigh

in birch of that nurse that gurns the key


i fodder the east & sod the north

i session the priest & flask the hordes

as leopards pull wool & bulls then rye

the plankest of pines that sink the forth


i bastard the bands & crow the snow

i easel the breeze & reel the toe

as guilders brick balls & squall it fries

& pluck-all tit mauls so on eye glow


i muffle the south & vest the west

i trouser the flap & shat the x

as catheters dust & cackles pie

for poetry's cake - oh, swan i crest

...

~

porridge forage  (  a  p o e m  &  a  m e s s  )

…

mumbles, tangles - bramble jam the jar

jungles, dangles, bumblebee & tree

rambles, scrambles - apple crab the spar

trundles, rundles, glimmer-shim & lea


meadows, echoes - riverbank the brook

bellows, hedgerows, raptor-map & scanned

flutter, frescoes - tenter hook the crook

nutter, yellows, rubber ducks & bands


heather, blether - weather green the root

crooked, hooded, wooded track & trail

golden, y'olden - ever-gleams the shoot

feather, footed, moorland, tor & veil


latches, scratches - pasture patch the scrap

herbal, verbal, curdle crow & notes

petals, nettles - circles turn the flap

hatches, hurdles, burble blow & oats

...

~

pursed lips  (  a  p o e m  )

…

of needles we hymn & pins in sing

as bellends then ring & cats flap wings

as milling maids silk

& kitchens milk

the sows of the ears - cows hear - us ping

...