instead

~

instead ( daestsni )

…

sun shined bright
in the riddle of the night

humpty dumpty fell
on a bed of pheasant feathers

effigies unfroze
& danced with garden gnomes

shooting stars sped
to the universe’s edge

cattle ate butchers
peasants ate cake

pandas had an orgy
pies ate georgy porgy

rivers ran backwards
flowing from the sea

roses sniffed noses
& the bus missed me
…

spin absentia

~

spin absentia ( aitnesba nips )

…

i ink of you & whisper
a phantom in the head
of mucus, snot ‘n’ sputum
& winter daze in bed

a doze upon the sofa
beneath a tartan rug
a candle in the darkness
the snugness of a bug

the bright beyond the funnel
a flutter in the night
a star afore the dawning
a viral sprite of light

the papers say you’ve vanished
but i believe in you
the cousin of corona
my cold old friend – the flu

perhaps you found shamballah?
or bought a house on mars?
a neighbour of lord lucan?
i wonder where you are

a roaming in the gloaming
upon the hills & flat
a sylph in evening’s aether
or else the tests are shat
( ? )
…

swan upmanship

~

swan upmanship ( pihsnampu naws )

…

this is not a story

i’m still dodging normies

holes in the soles

of my lockdown shoes

orthopaedic stylee

cancel me like wiley

shaking fists at phantoms

& tangents in clouds

’til the daze is gravy

& this lemon’s hazy

shower in the bath

breathe without a mask

plodding like a donkey

music in the wrong key

muses snoozing zeds

pencils in me lead

oh, the road is bendy

after twenty twenty

owls in me frog mouth

up north has gone south

earth is a loony

under the moony

scribbles in the bin

sing another songbook

…

~

( author notes / quotes )

” mad is bad. bad is good “

( j.g ballard, kingdom come )

…

beat drop

~

beat drop ( pord taeb )

…

oh, my broken timelord hearts
syncopate within the dark

of a great sink hole
in the riddle of the kitchen

that appeared overnight
like a hogshead on the doormat

from a little village weasel
jealous of my quill

yet the earth is still an egg
& the morning breeze is blearing

there’s a snare within this air
& a sound around the bushes

yes, there’s a rhythm in the styx
of these bean greenswards

so the music muddles through
with a wonky song for you
…

chicken shit poem

~

chicken shit poem ( meop tihs nekcihc )

…

little rubber hen
rule the roost & jump the queue
peck the scattered corn

so the order falls
crow as if a waking cock
rising of a morn

like a feathered nob
choking as the bishops bash
catching not the pox

baring braver teeth
dare to be a rarer bird
fending off a fox

see who gives a cluck
by the side of speeding lanes
playing games with trucks

giz an egg – or two
strut the headless dance of death
– if you have the guts
…

another april fool poem

~

another april fool poem ( meop loof lirpa rehtona )

…

sound a hornet’s nest
strolling england’s pheasant gland
spring is on a quest

rolling up the hills
dice defying gravity
jumping jacks & jills

as the spanners fly
we, the flowered flap with cats
hyacinth & i

lamb a lion’s mouth
leap the frogs in spawning bogs
plod the north ‘n’ south

odder than y’socks
see the dogs in dancing clogs
piffle’s picking locks

puddle up the creak
cabbage in the muddle’s mash
as the bubble’s squeak

ants in pantaloons
prance upon the spillage green
& the blossom croons

sing ’til kumquat may
gibbon ribbons ’round a pole
ape the grey away
…