…
the town crier’s dry mouth
the ferryman’s friend’s angina
the matron’s b.o
the cattle drover’s nosejob
the drayman’s blocked passage
the abbot’s v.d
& the milking maid’s athletes foot
( altogether now )
…
Poetry
you never ate the world
…
you never ate the world
you barely ate a clod
sod all really, deary
but oh – you bloody moan
woe is me with bells on
cripes – end this tripe & write
a song beyond cliché
we all know feathers are light
& repetition can help
& repetition can help
but can be a distraction
but can be a distraction
so come on ducky, don’t suck
yesterday’s sour milkshake
your carton’s empty now
soon all your friends will purr
please see beyond your arse cheeks
et cetera beckons
…
( we never talk about )
…
the ice cream van man’s meltdown
the town crier’s tonsillitis
the french lieutenant’s wombat
the history student’s past
the pantomime cow’s trapped gas
the belly dancer’s ulcer
the night the contortionist snapped
how train spotters let off steam
the broken english teacher’s toe
the spanish onion dicer’s tears
the candlemaker’s waxen ears
…
the whistlings
…
greensleeves each morning
parrot the african greys
back at the milkman
…
a note at the back
…
a poem for the sleeping earth
another paper plane to crash
in morning light, the shooting stars
become a silent poltergeist
the garden sings in jangled keys
the compost heap releases gas
alas & bless the second ess
in s.o.s – then d.i.y
yes, bolt each hole – your hermitage
awaits – escape the winter’s gape
( please process when available )
…
number ‘neath the arches
…
twenty nine letters
in the anglo-saxon alphabet
twelve buttercups in each
square foot of the garden lawn
thirty four chapters
to read in treasure island
thirty six black keys on
a standard grand piano
five white stars
on the flag of christmas island
seven magpies
in an untold secret
a billion rovers
in the doggo phonebook
ten green bottles
in no one’s favourite song
& fifteen lines of sigh
in the baker’s latest sonnet
…
( author notes )
i hate all sonnets
i find them annoying
& pointless
f.t.r, so y’know
…
things you augur know
…
smile if the rhyme flies
laughing there, the gasping air
five silver magpies
…
empty bottles?
…
foggy glasses?
mysteries see
holey sweaters?
fall into me
hazy morning?
mutant evening
poltergeist smile?
soon be leaving
prosy clatter?
read aloud verse
happy campers?
give ’em cloudbursts
sweaty yetis?
blame the mothmen
empty bottles?
fill us up then
…
lines upon retracing your steps
…
annoyingly oblique
like the two-a-penny prose
in poetry review
& other such squirms
the winter wind won’t sing
her lips are sealed frozen
the calendar cannot
recite in rhyming cantons
the cobwebs of tomorrow
i long to gaze & gawp
like a curtain twitching darren
at the form of each future
the line work & notation
the back, the sack & crack
to choose a brighter upgrade
& not more bland ahoy
as the wank in your angst
is the ants in your pants
yet the kitchen sink
the custard creams, the third crusade
the golden age of steam
the councils & the demes
the cotton clouds – if sung aloud
& we’re all backwards now
…
nopevember
…
no hornets or bees
no kittens with fleas
no blossoming blooms
just spawning mushrooms
no badgers on heat
no blisters on feet
no lawnmowers blare
& rattle this air
no hedge trimmers sing
& make the ears ring
no nettles sting legs
as autumn’s the dregs
no flowers of note
to sniff as we float
upon a blue day
in absence of grey
no pollen to woe
the sinuses so
as butterflies fly
in yonder bright sky
no sun on our backs
no sweat in our cracks
nopevember is here
& we’re in its clear
…
resarf poetry 