( ? )

the things we taste

~

the things we taste ( etsat ew sgniht eht )

…

rain on the tingles
of an outstretched tongue

sweet saharan sand
if she pisses from the south

gloopy spoons of custard
straight from the can

frozen pizza slices
– but i prefer the cooked ones

twisted tales of thule
& a hymn from hyperborea

spinning in the blizzards
of those polar vortices

mushy peas ‘n’ cheese
on a buttered, toasted crumpet

bluebottles buzzing
in our curried parsnip soup

fresh bull dung
from the paper’s latest headline

vindaflu ‘n’ chips
with a naan to kill y’ nan

tea, if we scribble
in the riddle of the morning

milk, six sugars
plus a tin o’ ginger nuts
…

banana skin shit

~

banana skin shit ( tihs niks ananab )

…

smoked, like a pope

or a gangland kipper

with green tea leaves

in a mother of a bifta

under silver skin of rizla

with a great imagination

or a magic carrot wand

once the swan is like a magpie

in the ides of june – or somesuch

with odd socks on

don’t forget your anorak

nicknacks, bric-a-brac

syntax saddle shat

beeswax beats

with a goblin, in the forest

of forever’s feathered foghorn

forming shape interface

with a sylphid spirit level

as the gasman gasps

& the mighty milkman sleeps

but the pheasant fez is onions

up a tuesday afternoon

off the tits of wednesday teatime

– that’s a fuckin’ trip

…

the things we touch

~

the things we touch ( hcuot ew sgniht eht )

…

sticky conker buds
in the doldrums of spring

keys in back pockets
chiming in time

pimples with a pinch
& nettles with a wince

rain upon skin
if the grey snakes in

clouds, if we climb
up a baked bean stalk

sound with a quake
as the bones vibrate

hands with a shake
coz the ‘rona’s overrated

toes with a creak
& chins with a stroke

butter fingered smoke
clutching ghost straws

hearts of lost souls
barge poles – with barge poles

sheet, if we ink
phantom tangents in fog

& cloth
when we leg it to the bog
…

lesser known news

~

lesser known news ( sen nwonk ressel )

…

z-list wannabe

stung by a bumblebee

     ex-soap star

     reborn in panto

pigeon shats

on ploughman’s lunch

      dowser drowns

      in a sudden cloudburst

water is wet

claims renegade philosopher

      cat flap flies

      one in four traffic jams

as per eggheads

are traffic marmalade

      wheat intolerant

      scarecrow sues

farmer giles

& the n.f.u

     man tripped over

      his own shoelaces

slightly bruised

but otherwise fine

      – so there

…

oh, those bloody poemz

~

oh, those bloody poemz ( zmeop ydoolb esoht ,ho )

…

catch a feather pen
when the breeze is blowing so
as remember’s embers glow
squid the nib & then

sputterings of dust
spanners, spins ‘n’ spatulas
colanders ‘n’ calendars
rummages ‘n’ rust

scatterings of ash
passengers on paper planes
wobbles on a cobbled lane
scratches of a rash

aches ‘n’ scrapes of scrotes
jottings in a tosser’s log
tangents in the phantom fog
shapes of nature’s notes

music is the glue
oddness is an odyssey
prosody’s a lottery
fuck it, that’ll do

piddles in a pad
sinking with the kitchenette
piffle on the internet
scribbles of the mad
…

inner-nutshell ( & out the other )

~

inner-nutshell ( & out the other ) ( ( rehto eht tuo & ) llehstun-renni )

…

swans upon an interim

summer hums a winter hymn

wither weaves a tapestry

sputters dust ‘n’  flams the flim

~

in the realm of mizzle men

misery’s a piffle pen

rasps a gasping raspberry

whelms the whim of fizzle then

~

when the wren is but a crow

rivers run a backwards flow

flutter by the banks & see

sunken suns, an afterglow

~

broken odes & mirror lands

finger food for phantom hands

screwing loosened shrews in me

kitchen sinks in sinking sands

~

in between the peaking trough

whispers in the breezes scoff

dangle from a branching tree

spins the snug of bugger off

~

flopping forth in flaccid rain

death is pecking on the brain

storming like a cup of tea

’til the scribbles strike again

…