contemporary poetry

o c t o b e r i s h

…

o h, this ghoul spool
once upon the turning
c obweb sandwiches
constipated poets
t oadstool legs
toffee apple tosspots
o peratic winds wail
open-source sorcery
b at soup cans
baked bean gasses
e very badger’s rabid
elfin woodland beckons
r oses wither so
re this eventide
i t’s fast falling
in between summers
s ing like a nightingale
sip stormy tea
h ope is a swan
hocus-pocus on

…

seven sings

…

~

” 99% of smokers still die “

( mark e. smith )

…

thy orthopaedic shoes
see you in loopholes

spin another sixpence
if the morning’s lost her hymn

six bullfinches
plus a wooden wood pigeon

october’s maypole
aspic wobbles

gay between the gorse
on the heathland’s scatters

if november eggs us on
so the curate is a swan

or a rabid badger
dancing like a twat

…

( author notes )

that’s a dummy / plastic horse
in that winch

they were hanging
from an outstretched fire engine
at a country show

so no actual horses were harmed
in the making of this poem

…

sticky twigs

…

shave both elbows

buy more sea salt

text sir bedivere

email kek

re-invent the coal shed

cat not fed

out-weird the curate

a week next saturday

dye arse beard

wet paint

dog loose in garden

dinner’s in the oven

put bins out

milked both goats

gone fishing forever

( as seen on post-it notes )

…

shout out to the deaf

…

hashtag stags
& haberdasheries

big up the microbes
that grow up your nose

desmond in a tutu
from swan lake university

ray d. ographer
the pygmy shrew massive

nice one the moon
& mister kipling’s tart

@ the heart of england
looking for a beach

shout out to the deaf
they might just hear you whisper

the tartan paint is peeling
on your chocolate teapot

…

atilla the honey monster

…

atilla, atilla

the dreaded honey monster

with his honey monster hordes

swept through these lands

from sweet wheaten steppes

in the distant east

bringing e-numbers & death

& hyperactive yoofs

so old king quaker fled

& took his oats with him

in the age of sugar puffs

until the forces of

the rice krispies triumvirate

of snap, crackle & pop

of the kellogs dynasty

fed in from the west

so on this very spot

a bloody great battle

was fought with spoons – not swords

in this very bowl

until the cow mooed

then the milkman drowned them all

back in breakfast times

…

october’s list

…

conkers, conkers, conkers

carpal tunnel vision

a mute town crier

half a jar of bovril

cobweb sandwiches

ging gang goolie ghouls

( undead scouts )

rain clouds wazzing down

life on iapetus

titus oates’s porridge

the madness of fog

& pumpkin flavoured coffees

( why, why, why… ? )

a unicorn’s shoe

a two pence piece

nefertiti’s neckline

a branch of fallen hawthorn

( as a makeshift broom )

your own unique barcode

doctor pepper’s stethoscope

mister kipling’s chinstrap

parsnips et cetera

…

autumnism

…

of course the nights draw in
but the lights get brighter
as joggers with headlamps
huffing like tupped ewes
startle us blind

leaves on the lawn
form a sort of jigsaw
on ungreening grass
still one oak leaf short
of a puzzled face emoji

while the ghosts are ghosting
& fireworks shell
offensive like the somme
& muppets sweep backyards
in uneven piles

change & effing cliché
are the only constants
count the clouds & see
one, two, triple three
– summer does not compute

so a khaos protocol
anorak not jacket
wellys not training
tweaking when the squirrel folk
gather them acorns

…