contemporary poetry

cryptic crossword clue ‘ku – 2

~

cryptic crossword clue ‘ku – 2  (  2 – uk’ eulc drowssorc citpyrc  )

…

 

basket weavers sneeze

belgian country bumpkin burps

bees in aberdeen

 

scratch the magic chin

otter wins the lottery

catching clarinets

 

chequered chestnut mare

alchemy in aberdare

saxon saxophones

 

stub another toe

telepathic telephones

redden herring bones

 

she of teasel trees

ptarmigans in cardigans

is this custard dust?

 

spinsters hissing hymns

spaniel garbles garden hose

antlers on postcards

 

…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

erehwesle neeb

~

erehwelse neeb  (  been elsewhere  )

…

 

scratching hatched breath

chasing summer’s tailspins

 

brushing black dogs

gently in the jitties

 

smoking codewords

roving over clover

 

spins between a sleep

scrawling rubber walrus

 

so the crowbar flaps

spartans, sparks ‘n’ spanners

 

if the rivers swell

nut another shell in

 

yonder’s woodland nymphs

shatting in the bracken

 

lark with martian folk

flummox flaxen saxons

 

morning is a milkman

& we are all his lovechildren

 

evening is an ombudsman

tossing off a goblin

 

blow the gas of clouds

hymn aloud with whispers

 

gasp a galaxy

– sandwiches f’ tea

 

…

 

 

( author nodes )

this poem is dedicated to

the dozy, old bullshitter

that i had a bit of a barny with

in the queue of wilkos this morning

coz he said i was standing too close to him

when there was at least four metres between us

& anyways

this corona nonsense is about controlling people – not viruses

so i told him he should have gone to specsavers

& stood me ground

( frightened, little robots )

…

sgnihton teews repsihw

~

sgnihton teews repsihw  ( whisper sweet nothings )

…

 

 

( chocolate flamethrowers )

 

( fanny adam’s caramel )

 

( bugger all cake )

 

( spiders on marzipan )

 

( marsh melo penfriends )

 

( ice cream on the fucking sun )

 

( chilli sauce vortex )

 

( apple crumble to dust )

 

( honey-coated mr. – & mrs. nobody )

 

…

cryptic crossword clue ‘ku

~

cryptic crossword clue ‘ku  ( uk’ eulc drowssorc citpyrc  )

…

 

son shines shoelaces

soothsayer kicks trampoline

like an iron plum

 

moses blows bugle

a blizzard on your elbow?

flemish penfriend melts

 

bishops on a bus

venusian spy dyes pubes green

treefrog kisses thee

 

pheasant heading north

evaporating waitress

stoat wrote ransom note

…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

spinning in july

~

spinning in july ( yluj ni gninnips )

…

 

 

sweating in cagoules

june’s the stuff of ghouls

calendars & spools

flutter butterfly

 

spreading like the pox

headless chickens box

poets picking locks

lows within the high

 

scatters on the graphs

as a badger laughs

over clovered paths

swirls the dervish sky

 

twisting with the tales

daze within the dales

grasses fade to bales

buddleia & i

 

kiss the tips of tors

as the blither roars

scratch the backs of doors

spinning in july

 

blending with the breeze

brambles grazing knees

scale the changing keys

as the bend is nigh

 

( gasp )

 

…

spillage fayre

~

spillage fayre  ( eryaf egallips )

…

 

in the village of the spillage
& the little gland of weasels

 

where the air is a snare
& there’s death in their stare

 

in the kingdom of the karens
with their whispering projections

 

in the bites of their tongue
with a bouquet of dung

 

sings a pickled cabbage poet
in the scrawling of the morning

 

in the shapes of the daze
with a piffle pigeon pen

 

for a bend indeed
is a cowpat on the back

 

but the leas beam green
as the turds scrawl down
…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

( author nodes )

 

so eat my weird & go fuck yourselves

…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

do ducks quack?

~

do ducks quack?  ( ?kcauq skcud od  )

…

 

do ducks quack
or is that laughter?

 

larking mallards
sprites ‘n’ eiders

 

scrapes ‘n’ scoters
yes, they echo

 

so the sound goes
bouncing round so
like a ball
in rubber hallways
as the swans bob
& the moorhens
never cluck
yet peck in order
but the jigsaw
shrews are loosened
is it christmas?
where’s atlantis?
why do poodles
rhyme with noodles?
is it raining
frogs on saturn?
come on ducks
& share the joke
…

i am not a bot

~

i am not a bot  (  tob a ton ma i  )

…

 

i am not a bot
eighty eight & apricots
triple seven six
six catnap
sixty pigeon ghost
( insert purple prozac )
seven fifty three
forty four turnips
parsnip marston moor
salad cream salamis
fifty tripled trots
three under shrine
fiver ampersand
godspeed, triple dot the dot
g.c.h.q – too
i am not a bot
…

 

 

 

( author notes )

i often wonder if i am the only non-bot online
& everyone else is just code

~

probably,
it is the fuckin’ internet after all

p.s

when i wrote salamis
i meant the naval battle
in 480 b.c
between the greeks & the persians
not the sausage
so pronounced differently
– cheers

…

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