NOTEBOOK ON MY KNEE

i write OLD
five times
in the notebook
on my knee

& then TIME
seven times
with this pen
that the nibs
gone all feathery

& next is war
& i write that like a whisper
like this would make
all the tanks & planes
turn into whispers too

& last BOLLOX
eight times
one for each season of the year

AS I WAS OPEN TO ADVICE & IDEAS

i was reading the posts
from a poetry account
& one said

'dont make yourself the hero of your poems'

& i laughed so loud
all the birds took flight
from off the telegraph wires

then the police came for me
but i hid
& fought them after dark

BLUE HOUR, THREE MINI POPS

we have to dig deep
then dig some more

under the nose of dawn

& the stulm of the day

to endure indelible 

in the blue hours ennui

~

the detectives comb
the old asylum land

concrete edifice ratland now

& a bereft mothers clique 

holds council in the ruins

~

& a radiograb - 

minnie the moocher
playing high up in my skull

call & response 

three orange whips

& all

BAD NEWS ANTIDOTE, SMALL TOWN FLUFF #2

written as antidote 

to the doom faff & paff

coming up the tv pipes 

i present bland events
i call Small Town Fluff

~

the new speed bumps

have a 20 mph speed limit now

its painted in white 

on the road in front of them

it seems maybe they could have used 

the same amount of asphalt 

to plug up the craters there

so its not like driving on the moon

a new hair stylists up the road

has six months in my book

& everyone is sure its another front

run by a gangsters duck lipped wife

the postman is due today

with my 'essential medicine'

i always get a kick out of that

if only he knew !

next doors car been gone a few days

but the window is open

which always indicates he is in

& we lost interest when the car returns

& thump thump thump thump

goes the pile driver at the port

for another berth & more containers

thump thump thump thump 

also i wonder

how the hedgehogs are doing

note to self

must put out the trail cam 

CIPHER

when
asked
how i used to see myself
before the fuckery unfolded

i said - as a cipher

but not because 

i see myself as a cipher
but because 

i see myself
as someone who says cipher
when asked 

how they see themselves

by their exasperated
state therapist