BABY SERVANT OF DARKNESS

born in 1973
its
like
i
clocked-in that day
and started
doing my time in the universal mind

or mine . . .

like 
it 
was 
some kind of job - chipping ideas and bullshit
off the scarred coal face 
that
represents
time / maybe / maybe not . . .

maybe it represented opportunity !

and
i
couldnt
swing
the pick hard enough
to
get 
me
a
big
boulder of future . . .

i had a toy pick but a madmans sweat
and
i
shovelled
any
slivers of rock ( time / opportunity )
into dog eared notebooks
all
in
a mad dog rush
like
a
hoarder / like i knew i might need them
later
on

like a christmas club account

dunno when clock out is
but
its like
i'm
having
a
long
slacker
lunch right now - counting my eggs
and
digging on my own time

i used to
nurture 
the 
darkness in the mine / in lifes hole 
like it was a boss / a bosses arse !
like
i
had
Stockholm syndrome

i was a baby servant of darkness

and things have changed after lunch
now i've eaten
i'm digesting / thinking slowly
like
i
caught 
a
new illness just as my rabies cleared up
and
its
like
now i'm off sick - not just a slacker lunch
and
theres
a
peace in the fog / the hospital fog

its like i'm in hospital . . .

fog
came
in
with
the
all the birds that came home to roost
landing
on my shoulders
and
not
minding
their claws at all
and
the
food
here ( my new thoughts maybe . . . ) - 
the steamed hospital dinners
give me
the same benevolent flushes
i 
used 
to 
scorn like an evil drunk clown
back
when
i
was
a
baby servant
of
darkness

from activistpost.com

THE FORDS PRAYER

writing's the Haven 

when we're hollowed by the game

and publishing will come

online

and

in

Dagenham

burnt are our daily heads

with endless arse and near-misses 
and bollocking those 
that near-miss against us

give us some sins !
that we might live in reality
and write poems 
to deliver us from people

for

ours

is the Dagenham

anti-Corrie
anti-Tory
forever

and
ever 

- women !

from asianoffbeat.com

YOURE PLAYING YESTERDAYS TAPE GUYS

thats what the guy 
in the movie 
says to the radio

YOURE PLAYING YESTERDAYS TAPE GUYS

hes wrong 
hes living the same day 
over and over
till he mends
his
ways

YOURE PLAYING YESTERDAYS TAPE GUYS

he is redeemed
and gets
the young woman 
with the curls
and shiny eyes

i think this
at work sometimes
at 7 AM clock-in

YOURE PLAYING YESTERDAYS TAPE GUYS

or when the radio is on
or the news
or when i see the
the papers
laid out on 
the scare shelf

YOURE PLAYING YESTERDAYS TAPE GUYS

yesterdays tape is safe
no surprises
the people and 
the love and
the war
are the same

but sometimes
with google glass 
with nano-bots
with drones 
with ebola
with mars missions 
with targeted ads
i
think

YOURE PLAYING TOMORROWS TAPE GUYS

from thisisauthentic.com

THE SOFT MACHINES INFINITE DINNER

gin or whisky
beer or wine

fresh air and kale
green tea 
and 
100 
cigarettes

twiglet sandwiches
or
lard cake

its
all
from
the
same
buffet

bad fuel
or
good fuel
we
wrap
ourselves
around 
it
like
sausage
skins

we all only got what our gut has got
allergies
leaks
and
earthquake
rumble-gurgles
as
it
all
turns
to
shit inside

from flickriver.com

THANK YOU FAILED EDUCATION

well, writing -
calling
or
curse
work 
or
play ...

popularity or longevity
is 
no 
accurate 
bell weather 
of 
quality - its communication
and
we all do that all day
i
blame
schools
or
we'd
be
swamped
in
brilliant writers

or maybe
i thank schools
for
giving
my
efforts
space

from mycrazytown.com

IF THE WORDS DONT DANCE

sometimes 
the 
words
dont
dance

and 
they 
dont 
dance 
when 
they 
wont
dance

change 
the 
music 

from randomberlinchick.tumbler.com

NAMES

your parents pick a word they like
or
argue less about
and
shout
it
at
you
forever

from september-rose.co.uk

TOYTOWN

it was way before dawn crept round the curtains
when i
sat up
and tapped on the news icon

all awful

is our world such a breakfast bowl of filth ?

the girl laying beside me 
has a face of baby buddha calm
and
the
cat
on my pillow is purr-snorting 
from a different plane

like toy town in here

oh
you
dark
fuckers
out there - why do you play so bad ?

GLOSSY PUPPIES

years slide by / sneak by / come and go
they whisper hello and goodbye 
they mumble half words 
like 
ghosts and phantoms 

its about numbers / always numbers / important amounts 
but
the meanings are mashed up
like
plasticine balls
till
all
the
vivid colours
become 
one dirty beige shade
and
veined
with carpet fluff

the months / the days / the diminishing cycle
is
just puppies on a spiral calendar
glossy / happy / dull distractions
hanging
by 
the 
fridge and scribbled on - attempts to decode 
the 
moments
and
important amounts

from funnycutestuff.com

STORM IS LIKE STUFF

storm goes 
PAH !
and 
CR-CR-CRUNCH !
like the famous black Asiatic bear 

lightning flashes great blue bed sheets in appalled silence 
and
rain comes - fat drops like mad upstream salmon
swimming in the urgent bladder 
of
a
full animal hose

thunder goes 
MEGA PAH !  
like
beasts bellies empty - sweet meat buffet is late
and
we
cringe like dogs by the window - its 3 AM and we're swearing
with
each
POW and KA BLAAAM - roars from the zoo of the world
angry and careless and reckless
in
the 
wild sky

small mammals lay low to the ground like spies
clutching secret briefcases for comfort
hiding
under
wooden hems and imaginary sheltering wings

lightning flashes 
DAY DAY DAY ! like time has burst into bits 
like the blinking eyes of leviathan
and 
everything is lit negative and naked and unnatural
but 
REAL
and we wonder aloud how much primitive people
must 
have
shat
at the noise from the animals in the sky

from www.philidelphiazoo.org

WERD ARMY - LOCKED AND LOADED

disclaimer: 

gun - not real, 

soldier - not real, 

magazines - ALL TOO REAL 

NAKED WASTELAND BLOOMS

the garden is noisy with birds 
softly rattling their news
and
the metal thrash of mile high short haul planes
heading into city airport
is
only
a
drone hum
down here

i
sit here for dead-blank timeless hours
still as a burnt-out car
gently buffeted / cleaned / awoken
by
the
noisy quiet 

( my naked wasteland is full of blooms today )

a
chewing roar throttles in - a circular saw grinding roof timber
is
reduced to a soothing balm
by
my
armour
of
hedge and trees

maybe i'll sit here till i die

my
last
cigarette
rolling smoke
up round the brim of my hat
up
up
to
the
vapour trails
pointing to city airport

battle of the bulge vapour trails from library.umkc.edu

DRS

another day
another dr

another whitecoat of hope

who
has
nothing
for
me

just another parrot in a smock

hurrah

POETS LETTERS

all 
the 
good 
old 
school 
poets
wrote letters

i read about it in forwards
and
saw big hardbacks 
of 
collected 
correspondences

from 
mexico and salt marsh 
from
forbidden territories and the tree house
they
knew
each 
others
appetites - shared their missions
ideas 
tempers
beds
and
lives - filing eyes-only reports from private wastelands
and
barking
moods 
from 
their 
beards

the electric age 
has made correspondence easier
but
reduced
our souls 
to 
shouting soundbites

so to good poets out there - apologies
for
my
scant sharing
of ideas
mission
and
temper
but
my
mission
is
a small one and cloudy
and
my
empathy strained

WHAT S A POEM ?

i am full of doubt
unsure
and
lost

is this the start of a poem 
and
has it a point
to be revealed ?

i have a book by harold norse
the cover is marked
the mark is shaped like a lightning bolt
it looks like it comes from his nostril
flashing out onto his stern moustache

are there poems in here ?
it says there are poems in here

theres one that seems to be
an innovative
description of ejaculating in nature

thats a poem !

my efforts seem small town today
maybe i need a wider brush
more garden sitting
and
less
tv

i garden sit
no tv

now i know what a poem is !

a resistance of formality
an untamed yelling thought
caught
fresh
in
its
creation 

before habit diffuses it 
into another bland pigeon hole

before its pinned down and spayed
by domestication
history
peers
or
wine

harold in the 1950s from haroldnorse.com

REANIMATOR 2

i died
and when i was dead
a
mad
scientist
brought me back
with bad electrics that got in the bathroom plumbing
and
all the
lights dimmed
like
a
half time surge

he got my balls where my eyes should be
and
left half my mind in a silver dish
and
my stomach was tangled
up
in
tight disgusting knots

im a half thing . . .

like the cock from Reanimator 2

im
the
cock
at the end of Reanimator 2 !

RELIGIOUS DREAM

keifer boatman
resuscitation chief at the hospital
and
long haired ale enthusiast
pushes
his
pony tail 
out the way - hes returning gideon bibles
to
a
warehouse i used to work in

ITS OVER he says

WHATS OVER KEIFER ? i say RELIGION ? joking of course

YES ! he cries RELIGION IS OVER, NO ONE NEEDS THESE ANYMORE !

then 
some one starts calling me over and over
and 
my the phone starts ringing and doesnt stop
and 
a woman drives in 
with a complicated and urgent delivery from Poland

but they can all wait

religion
is
over

from pleatedjeans.com

REST

rest - so temporary

15 mins

10 hours

count the time laid out in front

delicious

and
unwrap it like
its
a
gift

try to melt into it 
try not watch it

either way
it
goes

goes like rain goes
or
the
sun behind
clouds

from ayay.co.uk

DAN THE BEETLE

i first saw dan walking a parabola across the office floor.  there was fluff trapped on his back leg and i stepped on the fluff.  he struggled but came lose. he continued his parabola.

later im having black and hot and bitter coffee in an NCB mug, wondering if war would help my creativity.  i see dan walking a different parabloa.  corner to corner - a long epic trek.  again he has fluff on a back leg.  i step on it and he struggles like hes skating on ice.  the fluff comes away again.  he continues.

dave works here too.  hes new.  hes ok.  he belches all day tho.  from the moment he comes in the door hes belching.  low wet belches.  subterranean and disgusting.  actually hes not ok.  he eats his sandwiches with his mouth open and sounds like half a zoo.  his conversation is uninspired, hes a dull regular joe.  i mention dan.

WHO THE FUCKS DAN ?

i tell him that whats i named the beetle who carries fluff.

OH YEAH I SEEN HIM, STROLLING ABOUT WITH BITS OF FLUFF.

i dont tell anyone else.  this is a hospital and everyone has an irrational idea that all beetles are cockroaches and should be immediately incinerated under the supervision of Infection Control.  
they also say DONT STEP ON A COCKROACH, YOUR SHOES WILL BE COVERED IN COCKROACH EGGS AND YOULL SPREAD THEM ROUND THE WHOLE 
PLACE ! 

i see him again a week later.  hes got no fluff.  i was wondering about street photography and if i could build a hide in the mall.  hes walking tight circles by the bin.

later that day hes not moving.

DAVE, DID YOU SQUASH DAN ?

NO, HES OK.

we look closer.  hes not ok.  i go to find a something small like a matchbox and some tissue and when i come back dans squashed into a dirty brown smear.  stuff like caramel or snot in a four inch trail.

DAVE, YOU SQUASHED HIM.

OH YEAH he laughs BOUND TO HAPPEN

i scrape him up with size 15 scalpel and wipe him into the bin.  as an after thought i get some fluff from inside the big printer.  theres always fluff inside the big printer.  i lay the fluff over him.  theres only shredded documents in the bin and it looks kind of ok to me.

THERE YOU GO DAN i say RIP FELLA.

GARDEN

stretched out on a garden chair

beautiful

theres flowers

beautiful

its real
i like it

nature talks quiet and mostly nods
and
a
million
small
animals
offer no judgement

stretch out here in the late PM
book on my lap
i'm tied in a towel from an
Epsom salt bath

low sun
shows up
all the old spiders webs
waving and sagging across
the
60 year old orange brick
of
the
house

i hear her inside
and know she'll come to the back step soon
smiling
and
pretty

so i sit with the nodding nature and the animals - mostly quiet
sipping
luke-warm 
coffee
waiting
for pretty

and
a
smile

ME/CFS ANALOGY

everyones had a mobile they used for years

the battery aint what it used to be

dont last long

and needs constant recharging

you carry the charger everywhere

sticking it in the socket at work or in Pret

cant depend on it lasting

goes dead often

plug it in the wall again

wait for it to start up again- its sluggish

eventually you see the network providers emblem

and one pale yellow battery bar

once it starts up you know you wont have much power for long

so you quickly send a text or two

anxiously watching to check theyre sent

no chance of facetime

or web surfing

no checking your email let alone streaming media

cant even play Brickbreaker anymore

you know you might miss any texts back

because the ringer and the alerts

are pitifully quiet these days

and you wouldnt make 30 seconds with an actual call

you tried keeping the brightness wound right down too

and taking the back off

pulling the battery out

warming it up

leaving it in vinegar

all sorts of shit on internet forums

but it always dies before it ever loads a page

maybe in the past you topped up the charge too often

never let it run right down to nothing 

like youre supposed to

maybe its had a rough run

bouncing about without a case in the bottom of backpacks

or in pockets with keys and heavy change

theres all the times it was left in the sun

at festivals and barbecues

you hastily wiped beer splashes away with a tshirt sleeve

and you remember all the times it ran red hot

after 30 min calls

you remember the first day you took it off charge in the morning

and

it

was

dead

and knowing then you couldnt depend on it 

outside the house 

or in it

anymore

you admit you need a new phone

but

youre stuck with a Nokia 2110 

with twenty years of use

in

an

iphone5s

world

from wikipedia