Poem

thoughts on hedgehogs

~

thoughts on hedgehogs ( sgohegdeh no sthguoth )

…

they wage no scraps or wars

like mutant human-pigs

or weasel-woodland boars

with sworded tusks that kill

they eat no chips or swill

or hog the crusts ‘n’ grubs

they feed on sleepless slugs

on nibbles, bits ‘n’ bugs

they snore all yawning morn

& cattled afternoon

to shine a light & rise

just like the blooming moon

then wander on upon

the leas & garden lawns

or cross a misted road

if testing mister death

they cannot roar a bark

or howl at passing owls

or change the shifting shapes

of spinning space & time

they cannot fucking fly

within the air nor sky

their spikes are quills – ’tis true

but they do

live in hedges

…

bags

~

bags ( sgab )

…

loaded leather satchels

yawning hordes of homework

pencils, pens ‘n’ paper

hate mail from a penfriend

camera in y’rucksack

jollop in y’nutsack

none for the master

& all for the dame

mushy peas ‘n’ custard

plastic handles snapping

sore stigmata palms

supermarket wankers

beans & swinging wristlets

suitors in a suitcase

parcels from the postman

momentary briefcases

bloody muddy wellies

zephyrous & amun

ladies of the night nurse

books, books, books

poop scooped dog shite

spillage from a long life

rubbish for the bin gods

sacks of gold & coalite

under tired eyes

…

titbits & pieces

~

titbits & pieces ( seceip & stibtit )

…

shooting star fishwives

kingfisher swishes

vicars whipping spinsters

gingerbread bin crumbs

do you do voodoo?

a pixie in the garden

skipping over leaves like

cracks on the pavement

seventeen, benzine

butterflies in autumn

once upon a cobweb

when the sun was younger

& the moon was frisky

dancing with the jigsaws

spinning between daydreams

’til the first of snowdrop

fifty six milkmen

pickles on a cheese breeze

bonfire whiffs

embers in november

mayflies in april

butter fingers spreading

catching a feather

– grow your own toenails

…

the scourge of thirteen strikes again

~

the scourge of thirteen strikes again ( niaga sekirts neetriht fo egruocs eht )

…

these walls are tracing paper

feet away from telephone drones

the terraces are restless

a ghostly echo chamber

the bane again is raining

& pissing in my riddle pot

as prosody is lost

a thorn within my sideways

& dawn is crawling closer

so slam another cupboard door

& scrawl upon a messy desk

when pencils become swords

the dismal dung of minions

with sisyphaen tongues

pondlife since the old man died

sleepless nights & weasel shite

…

in the greenwich meantime

~

in the greenwich meantime ( emitnaem hciwneerg eht ni )

…

comatose toes

blossom on sabbatical

absent like scarecrows

or goosegrass rashes

bees buzz zees

as the trees bare all

like the shite biography

of a zed-list tosser

summer’s buggered off

wandered like the hands

of a driving instructor

or a bishop on remand

suns become moons

come the slide of afternoon

joggers with headlamps

blinding my staggers

…

turnips for the books

~

turnips for the books ( skoob eht rof spinrut )

…

~

pickled cabbage day

splatter saturday

sun is pissing grey

apple afternoons

~

bob beneath the shroud

cauliflower cloud

squiggles ink aloud

mizzle shrivels prunes

~

swans upon the once

hymns within the bonce

dance as sonnets ponce

ants in pantaloons

~

fragments of a gist

not a shopping list

carrots in the mist

brambles & bassoons

~

tangles in the sludge

spud a sunken trudge

nutter fingers fudge

sinking sanded dunes

~

wurzels, worms ‘n’ hooks

comas, crows ‘n’ rooks

turnips for the books

suitors, soup ‘n’ spoons

~

all the swirled’s a stage

gurn another page

rage against the beige

scree the scrawl of loons

~

smeg the smog of dearth

kicking clods of turf

dream of peas on earth

egging mutant moons

…

yet more racist things they should cancel forever

~

yet more racist things they should cancel forever ( reverof lecnac dluohs yeht sgniht tsicar erom tey )

…

drystone walling

sunday teatime

non-gender-neutral bagpipes

matchboxes, magpies

barnard’s star

cardigans, ptarmigans

starfish, carnations

clay pigeon shooting

mister kipling’s cherry bakewells

tuesday afternoons

the severn bore, semaphore

lychees, lichtenstein

non-non-binary binary code

toblerones, moonbeams

mid-morning pancake day

& most pot noodles

( brrr )

…