~

the arm’s afoot  (  soahk fo steet eht gniklim  )

…

streaming leeks & springing onions

dragons nap in beetle dungeons

bubbles, squeaks & pickled bunions

thunder rumbles under eaves


spitting creaks & twisted rivers

swarms of hornets, curtain twitchers

roman yeoman, village shitters

norman orphans, saxon reeves


bladder rasps & flapping adders

hopping otters, shropshire ladders

missing marbles, hanging daggers

hark - the yarns of weasel's weaves


trees & creepers, eager beavers

swirls of dervish, scraps of aethers

princes, paupers, sauls & peters

battered badgers - thick, as thieves


apple pips & blackened chapels

snots & sonnets - gasps of rabbles

judges slamming wooden gavels

winter wings as autumn leaves


missing parcels, posts & pillars

scraps of shrapnel, shards of mirrors

caterwauling clatterpillars

garden gnomes - with hoes & heaves


jack the ripper's jam & chutneys

mister whippy's magic monkeys

damocles's rubber duckies

reapers of the shim & sheave


squirming worms & cans of peaches

silver service, golden fleeces

purple patches, puzzle pieces

up the creases

of y' sleeves

...

~

two fat ladybirds  (  sdribydal taf owt  )

…

two fat ladybirds

twenty chocolate labradors

seven pence in shrapnel

five finger freebies

eighty gatekeepers

nine lords a leaping fjords

forty three accordions

sixty six sinnel cakes

the thirty third of maycember

four traffic wardens

twelve in the elfin wood

three spoons of sugar

sixty nine nunneries

one spring o' time

feeds the five thousand owls

plus the mutant moons of jupiter

( sixty three & counting )

- bingo

...

~

when cul-de-sacs attack ( for saint andrew & bonny scotch pancake land )

…

when cul-de-sacs attack

the paper quakes

the pens are lead


as pencils trench the desk

i don my mask

then mustard gas


as sunshine strikes the eye

beyond the blue

of blinds that rule


in kingdoms all at war

the gaps       between

the flaps of shat

...

~

the animal offensive  (  a  p o e m  &  t h e  t r u t h  t o o  )

…

wombat battleships

hare air carriers

snark armadas

hedgehog hovercraft


aardvark arsenals

goshawk fighter jets

frogmouth frogmen

brown owl tiger tanks


penguin paratroops

black swan bomber squads

spider snipers

bugbear legionnaires


merman mercenaries

catfish cavalry

panther panzers

ibex infantry


shark artillery

bat battalions

toucan troopers

red fox special-ops


marching marmosets

war, roar unicorns

on, treecreepers

fuck you, zookeepers

...

~

a pageant of penguins  (  a  dream & perhaps a poem too  )

…

a pageant of penguins

a chatter of chaffinch

an efit of peewits

a legion of egrets

a sparkling of starlings

a barrow of sparrow

a curfew of curlews

a bread bin of redwings

a custard of bustards

a finger of finches

a smidgeon of pigeons

a carrot of parrots

a weasel of eagles

a cupboard of buzzard

a goblin of robins

a murmur

of crows

...

~

syntax saddle wax  (  a  p o e t r y s  )

…

hopscotch otter socks

tosser lottery

prosody's a

podded pea


big gun bunion sun

onions in a dome

shining like a

chromosome


tut, tut cardigans

lather as a larch

cabbages are

on the march


pen then, morris men

togas when in rome

worm squirms in an

earthen tome


spew blew mutant moon

magnets on y' back

pave the wave - don't

smoke the crack


syntax saddle wax

fodder froth & foams

horses snorting

hippodromes


hi-fi libarary

skittles in a line

hare's the air

& sylphidine


bat flap babbleaxe

gargle garden gnome

pots in holes &

scrolling home

...