…
a nswers arrived on postcards
apples fell on you
l etters never sent still came
line dancers went full circle
t he garden centre flourished
toadstools croaked
h illtop views subdued us all
harold burnt the hot cross buns
o pen sandwiches saved the day
offa renamed his p.c ditch
u kelelists struck a chord
unicyclists graduated
g olden pheasants shone
gnomes scratched noses
h ippos fled the mud bath
hellcats went to heaven
…
…
your sunken afternoon
came far too sodding soon
if you’re a neutron star
then i’m a minor moon
your blissful sun kissed beach
has crabs & sinking sand
or so to sausage speak
your blossom zen is bland
i’d rather ride atop
a wooden rocking chair
than wander in the blank
of your phantastic there
where khaos only knells
a distant, milksop bell
but nature flaps ‘n’ kens
that all too feathered well
the haunted laughter in
the restless woods & that
the dawdles of the loons
the spoons, the stupid twats
is freer than the ice
the frozen plod in thy
the formless, yawning storm
behind your prudent eye
as panting pantomime’s
a field, a frog, a horse
another sort of muse
another obtuse force
…
…
i identify
as a magpie
i identify
as a cheese & pickle sandwich
i identify
as the battle of trafalgar
i identify
as a can of rice pudding
i identify
as a muggy sunday evening
i identify
as an iron age hillfort
i identify
as a monkey puzzle tree
i identify
yes – me, me, me
…
…
let there be ball lightning
phantasmic plasma
with a psyche of its own
– perhaps a cosmic fart?
or toads inside stones
croaking not croaked it
a showering of frogs
a light drizzle of newts
a cryptid in each
lake or quite large puddle
a double decker bus found
within a martian crater
a poundland discovered
underneath a megalith
from neolithic though
& so you scramble eggheads
dodos re-emerging in
sleepless suburbia
the puzzling is this
blizzards in mid-july
& still no solid reason why
so keep ’em all guessing
…
…
demeara sugar ( woulda-coulda )
( everything was ) butter ( dream )
half a pound ( not fifty p )
( know thy ) self raising flour
( live electrical ) currants
raisin ( expectations )
glazed ( not eyes but ) cherries
apricot ( toe ) jam
( there’s no such thing as
original ) cinnamon
( & other ) mixed ( up ) spice
( is there life on ) marzipan
( ? )
…
…
the occasional tables
were mostly chairs that day
the sun dried tomatoes
were eaten overnight
the winter wren sang
of a southern hemisphere
the peanut butter warned us
‘may contain nuts’
mister holmes was constipated
all the green bananas
breathed with their gills
& feathered quills flew
with the dusters in a circle
over puzzled heads
when the scarecrows frightened
themselves in the mirror
…
…
purr like a milker
moo like a moggy
breathe with intent
breath is a weapon
stretch & hold
think of englandia
try not to wobble
like a trifle in an earthquake
shake the extremities
bend your knees
touch those twinkle toes
with sausage fingers
lunge like a crescent
pose like a cobra
get that back back
where it needs to bumble
rearrange them wrongs
bee to buzz
down on the floor
baggy trouser that, y’ twat
& let this skeleton
sleep like a pebble
undo the doom
pause & then repeat
…
…
several pebbles
one or two twigs
maybe a cobweb
eleven specks of dust
ten pence in change
hardly any water
is all we want, darling
not much beyond that
give or take a humbug or
sugar cube, please
…
…
on the other side
of the hill that
r o l l s
like a granary bap
or a wholemeal
b l o o m e r
is another valley’s green
a new dream
t i c k e t
the odd smallholding
gritstone
b r i c k e d
but mostly more fields
& the drystone
w a l l s
the scattered woodland copses
where pheasants strut their
s t u f f
as the ewes baa back
at the oak tree’s
b a r k
& starlit badgers wonder what
life is like for us
b u m p k i n s
…
…
however
eccles cakes
however
clarinets
however
afternoon sun
however
the younger dryas
however
drystone walling
however
after eights
however
tudor neck frills
however
the phone kept buzzing
however
the aral sea
however
drayton manor park
however
the garden gate
– however, however, however
…
resarf poetry 