Photo

this isn’t

…

a letter from
the attic of
your long, lost uncle

a song about
your country cousin’s
chicken casserole

another of those
alt-accounts
( beware the many bots )

the reason why
it’s blue above
& no, not grey today

a diatribe
uncontacted
& ranting in the wilds

dear reader of
each clattering
this isn’t haiku or

an ode to
a pygmy shrew
nor a carrion crow

oh,

even though
it may seem so
sometimes the cuckoo lies

…

( yet more author notes )

…

scribbled in the midlands
by a scroat in odd socks

lit by tealight
up before the farmers

read by smoky fishwives
praetorian gardeners

rabid traffic wardens
& seasick oceanographers

at least it’s not the sobbings
of your godmother’s sonnets

or the catatonic purrs
of your long lost uncle’s prose

may contain monkey
nuts & the other

best before last century
peaked in antiquity

i blame the belgians
the gypos & the methodists

sod this for a stare-off
with a freshly painted wall

( huff )

…

jugband greens

…

did the shoot really shoot
like a rascal blowing peas?

or is the shoot forced out
kicking like a drum

major marching on
as march is where the hare

boxes with their silhouette
maybe martians watch us all?

sound is bound in time
& from the thawing ground

goes another gasp
clasping at this foginess

wave with phantom hands
write us all a postcard

too soon like the moon
light reflects the sun’s smile

( ? )

…

rearrange strange

…

tin whistle then
the ghostly folk men
in bright white coats

scrawl this morrow
blue is the new black
unslept in sigh

why is beyond
once upon mute swans
middle eight ten

cold winter day
grey like lady jane
old shuck’s breakfast

beans in a can
the turin shroud wink?
clouds below groan

dick turpin’s neck
turns like warwick’s earl
facing the gaze

rearrange strange
faith in her water
warmer than flames

…

undercover, underpants

…

feather dusters, feathered friends
dead ends, divs & dividends
kiss the swan & scribble on
feather dusters, feathered friends

paper tigers, paper planes
stripy cats & flying brains
roaring forms on soaring sheets
paper tigers, paper planes

apple presses, apple carts
sticky digits, treacle tarts
haunted orchards, misted us
apple presses, apple carts

power showers, power naps
sunday snoring, thinking caps
‘morning all’ the curtain calls
power showers, power naps

undercover, underpants
second suns & dancing ants
clutter, clatter – down but up
undercover, underpants

kitchen dressers, kitchen sinks
cheeky like a statue’s winks
on the sly with you in lieu
kitchen dressers, kitchen sinks

…