Poetry

mid-jan man

…

baroque in a frock
the devil’s chord calls

clammy jazz hands
on the brow & forehead

rafting on the rafters
mizzle in your underpants

milk ‘tache mishaps
gaps between each gasping

catching the drift
of a woodland in slumber

perhaps the bishop lied
& monday is our oyster

a postcard in the post
from the younger dryas

the morning was a hag
& darkness was her nostrils

the clouds still growl
if we try to feed them fudge

u-boats & u-bends
whitsun is distant

the tide is a highness
‘pon a giant’s throne

as us cabbages
pen in awkward rectitude

rectories rattled
’til the battle was a draw

we became the ivy
on a battered garden fence

gland ahoy & balls
the kettle still sings

…

for all the tarts in bakewell

…

for all the rice in china
& the teachers sniffing glue

for all the burp in pardon
& the sneeze in atishoo

for all the fish in finland
& the zebras in the zoo

for all the gnomes in gardens
& the domes in xanadu

for all the sage in derby
& the waves upon the sea

for all the haze in maybe
& the mist in mystery

for all the crook in coppers
& the madness of cuckoo

for all the tarts in bakewell
& for all their pastries too

…

( author notes )

for those that don’t know
bakewell is a town in the derbyshire dales
& a sweet tart – called a bakewell tart
comes from there too

plus sage derby is a cheese

but i’m not a fan of poets
explaining everything in their author notes
so let’s leave it there

…

stream on

…

there is over here

undisappearing

plucked like a pear

~

hares & mountaineers

down’s a distant town

let there be lime

~

lights & lemon-scented

afternoons in june

come december morrows

~

cracks in the past

paddle boats & mostly

scatter graph paper

~

tracing the future

if the moon’s a second sun

beaming like a tractor

~

or a forklift truck

fuck knows is a friend of mine

when the pen sings

~

stream on, stream on

walking where the water falls

in spirit form

~

we see galaxies

brighter than us gobshites

while the normies snore

…

the death of a morris dancer

…

the death of a morris dancer
well it happens a lot around beltane

& if you think haylage is the same as hay
that goes to show
how little you know

the death of a morris dancer
the bellend got carried away

one in four goatherds
marries a goblin
i’d rather not get involved

cloudy lemonade & a ploughman’s lunch
cloudy lemonade & a ploughman’s lunch
oh, ta very much
very much, very much, very much
but maybe when the cows come home
maybe when the cows come home

( oh )

cloudy lemonade & a ploughman’s lunch
cloudy lemonade & a ploughman’s lunch
oh, ta very much
very much, very much, very much
but maybe when the cows come home
maybe when the cows come home

when the cows come home
when the cows come home
when the cows come home

( etc. )

the death of a morris dancer
the death of a morris dancer
the death of a morris dancer
the death of a morris dancer

…

the western wind’s a friend

…

upon this avalon
the winsome hinges squeak
the tide is in between
the novels plot is penned

the green is parakeet
a village in a town
if music is the glue
a dipstick dividend

a penguin for your thoughts
a scatter cushion breeze
the whispering is loud
& sounding ’round the bend

a turnip for the books
the prickles on each pear
a crumbled apple pi
a typo on the mendd

a poem in the mud
a fork for all the spoons
the road’s an open page
the moon’s a blooming blend

the nosedive in your eyes
a door before each day
the eastern sun’s a nun
the western wind’s a friend

the greyness in the gold
the chirrup syrups so
a chattering of ink
beginning when things end

…