contemporary poetry

gnomevember

~

gnomevember ( rebmevemong )

…

shave in early august
& wait three months

’til a beard appears
like your jesus in al-qaeda

shrink like a doctor
by at least five feet

wear a pointy hat
toil the autumn soil

shapes within the air
shifting like a cryptid

bulbs beneath the bleak
guard the sleeping garden

speak an elfin tongue
with a pygmy-pixie accent

smoke a giant pipe
toking like a pope

ruddy up your face
with rosy red blusher

spot the falling leaves
see the decomposure

fish beside the pond
’til the water freezes over

dance until december
have a happy gnomevember

…

ghost list

~

ghost list ( tsil tsohg )

…

the ghoul schoolmistress

the phantom philatelist

the basket weaving wraith

dancing forms & shapes

a silent poltergeist

with wicked body odour

the mist within your shadow

the ever floating torso

of a cauliflower farmer

ripped apart by foxes

in nineteen ninety five

midas – my goldfish

who drowned last march

a screeching barn owl’s skull

shuck, the black lab

dracula – of course

if non-corporeal

headless horseman

( plus horse )

…

blurb song

~

blurb song ( gnos brulb )

…

roadworks ahead

red means go

      grow your own poems

      in a bum notebook

may contain nutter

keep two metres

      like a good little gimp

      use by last tuesday

sew facing south

with a pebble in your mouth

      this way uppercut

      crossed parry fingers

shake like a sheikh

on a bumpy camel ride

      defrost thoroughly

      & dance like a pixie

singing in the spring

in e-flat minor

      gargle in the garden

      as the crowbar flies

soak both ends

in lukewarm thistle milk

      every other sunday

      is a monday in disguise

…

monks ‘n’ monkey me

~

monks ‘n’ monkey me ( em yeknom ‘n’ skom )

…

silence is alive
shiver in this shibboleth
in between the breaths of death
like the i in we

weaving in the mist
downing tins of bouncing beans
singing songs of headless queens
smoking sesame

dancing with the ants
pantomimes in pantaloons
as a rabid badger croons
pissing up a tree

so beneath the moon
see the beams of lucifer
tickle uncle jupiter
morning is a key

’til the sun’s a star
when the lark’s a garden gnome
if the wind’s a metronome
seek the green of lea

hens as pecking pens
marching as a tiger barks
pencil sharpeners, sharks ‘n’ snarks
monks ‘n’ monkey me

catch a catkin’s nap
ink to timbuktu or france
prancing with a spastic stance
scribble on & see

…

( alternative names for winter )

~

( alternative names for winter ) ( retniw rof senam evitanretla )

…

moss greening season

lichen’s lantern light

catkin naptime

snow’s intermission

the mistletoe months

frost’s interregnum

hot chocolate’s calling

the doldrum’s rectum

spring’s bleak prequel

haunted autumn’s sequel

the bleak mid-wither

summer’s evil twin

…

barking stuff

~

barking stuff ( ffuts gnikrab )

…

barking in a wood
the bark of a postage stamp
but the bark stops here

bark where i belong
eyes in the bark of my head
all the way bark home

& barking the trend
feel like a million barks
scratching my bark side

bark against the wall
it’s water off a duck’s bark
the bark of beyond

we’re in the bark yard
like johann sebastian
yeah, bark to square one

bark in the saddle
with a monkey on your bark
barking both horses

…

erm squirms …

~

erm squirms …

…

quizzical the quibbles jog
wander in the spawning fog

wonder under distant suns
like a cheetah with the runs

splatter natters in a pan
haring as the tortoise ran

where the air is paper thin
time is like an onion skin

pickled if the piper’s pied
skeletal yet bona fide

horse within the walls of troy
normalzz calls & bland ahoy

like a song beyond a swan
plod the shores of avalon

roundabouts is back again
dancing in the acid rain

badgers cadge another tab
if the jibbered blither’s jab

running from the daemon prick
clucking ’til the chickens click

mountain ash or rowan tree?
is a river poetry?

catch the bus but miss the boat
answers on a post-it-note

…

jesus christ’s shopping list

~

…

vaseline

hot cross buns

bicycle clips

fruit ‘n’ fibre

almond milk

christmas cake

wedding rings

water skis

underwear

frankincense

shell suit

shake ‘n’ vac

smelly myrrh

the golden bough

trouser press

rubber johnnies

sugar cubes

blue beam me

easter eggs

sandal polish

perrier

( / champagne )

gardening gloves

& a tardis

…