EM OH OH EN

evening dark like its never been light
and 
the alarm sounds and lights flash
for
the
crossing barriers to swing down
and
a
commuter express
piles
thru 
the night town 

and thru my mind

a
mind 
thats
foggy like winter seaside dusk
with
ideas that fade like rainbows fade
when
clouds
slide
over
the
yellow ball

the
barriers stay down
and
traffic builds 
fumes drifting in the cold
building
like
a
sand storm

and
i
stare at the harvest moon

its
an
orange stain
a
cookie cutter
a
stock image painted onto bland beige space

its a blotch on the night

watching
me

                              from www.almanac.com

LIKE A SCRABBLE BLANK

theres a limbo 
that
hangs 
between Netflix and HBO
hangs
heavy
like low cloud

its a dark fog with a mouth
in
the
rush
between
desktop and dashboard

too 
obvious to acknowledge 
when
you
got
to
put the supper on
and
get the washing dry

its
a
whole
blank
january
condensed into a blink

it can be embraced tho

like
a
sick
friend

if
you
make the time

from en.wikipedia.org

BAR POP

after
a 
clutter of strange goodbyes
they
went
down the stairs
to
drink
the 
past 
from
a
pitcher

from michelehow.wordpress.com

A SMALL WHINE ABOUT HEALTH

my dr
talks about my
'energy envelope'
and
working
inside
it

'but sunshine' she says
'your envelope is 
t i n y

too
small
to fit a stamp

so
sugar -

you
aint
going
nowhere' 

from Dr Strangelove

IT WAS NIGHT THEN IT WAS DAY

it was night
and
before
dawn
the milkman rattled his bottles
and
drove his electric cart
down the hill with an echoing whine
like
a
dying air raid siren
at
the
end of the world

i smoked a pointless cigarette
out
by 
the 
big wheeled bins 
with
thin
patterned frost on their lids
and
was
underwhelmed by the beauty of the stars

when
day was here 
and
breakfast was had
i
tapped my fingers on the table
and
rested my chin on my fist 
thinking about sleep
and
all the art and maintenance
i
wouldnt
do
today

Unscheduled Maintenance by Eric Joyner 

from omgposters.com

SICK NOTE MORNING

the day pulls itself together
like 
a 
monster up on its hind legs
for the first time

it
disguises itself 
  as
  an
  emergency
  and
  gets
  irritably ignored

but
the cats claws on my eyelids
force
my
meat pile and delicate skeleton 
into 
the 
kitchen cold
  where
  i
  watch
  him eat 
  on
  his simple kitchen floor world

  i 
  ponder breakfast
  but
  shower
  instead
  and 
wash the nights clinging anxiety
  
  away

  again

from listverse.com - The Canvey Island Monster

MS GOTHETTE MCTEDDY

LONG DAY

the day was long
like a mile is long
when
you
got
no
shoes
and the air is full of grit

a tear of tiredness
tickles
and
trickles
down
my 
nose 
like the first fat drop
of
an
indian summer downpour

its only 6 pm 
so
i dress carefully in tired optimism
and
put
the tv on quiet

 from en.wikipedia.org

MED POP

new 
meds 
subtract 
saturday 
from the world
and
paint me a bold minus
in
my
mind

from minus head records

WOMBLES IN HUMAN FORM

from wikipedia.org

ever since i was a child
i'd
hear 
the blue flatbed truck
drive
in
morning frost
thats scraped up like snowballs
by
school kids feet

an anorak arm would toll a bell 
out
a
wound down window

like for the dead

but
for
rags and bones
and
coughed-out white goods

i
used
to
think
they lived in that van
or
were
Wombles 
in human form

from www.telegraph.co.uk

PUSH 14 READ IT AND EAT

PUSH 14 READ IT AND WEEP

SUSPICIOUSLY EMPTY STARBUCKS IN THE MIDDLE OF LONDON ON A SATURDAY

i find a quiet Starbucks
get a bucket of the black stuff
and
put
myself
aside
to
watch
the
world walk by 

the world is endlessly watchable like
lick-lapping fire
in an autumn backyard
or
bothered water
off 
the
cement levy

the world
clutches
bags

travels
in
heels or flats
and
performers mad trousers

divided
in
threesome
foursomes
onesomes

and
uncomfortablesomes

all
looking
for
easy
culture

or
a laugh / a drink

out by the Thames
thats 
a
weird green today

from hy.wikipeadia.org

LIKE A BATH TOWEL THAT WONT DRY

something happened

dont know what

maybe
a
dream
left
residue
in 
my 
ear 

or a wrong cog
has
found a place to turn ?

whatever

its a good-fit 
and
blots out 
    any
    lurking
    and
    disturbing
    absences

from www.argos.co.uk

RADIO RESULT

twiddling the radio dial 
i
hear-

'i
need
a
steam shovel
mama
to
keep
away
the
dead'

and
then- 

'the sun always shines
on
tv'

seems to sum it all up 
neatly enough
for
now 

from rsvlt.com

CLINIC RECEPTION

the womans face is somehow unset
like
poured cement

she
sits
behind a desk
splashed with personal flair
thats
a
window
to
her home

as is accepted convention
i say my name and time

and
wonder
how
i
seem
to
her

from www.dreamstime

DONT HIDE

dont hide
he says
be an open book

dude
i say
i got no choice
my
spine
is
very
broken

from socilasciencepsace.com

AGE AND QUESTIONS

how to catch an AGE ?

that phantom 
of maths 
of greeting cards

and
how to
get it down
neat
in B & W ?

it seems so important to do so -

is it because
things
seem
to
move
so
fast
when they pretend to be standing still ?

its
only
a factor of decrepitude
a death integer
a label

how we love labels !

its
only a reductive mechanism
  shorthand
  for
  demograph forms
  and
  advertisers
 
we are only ghosts
thats all
 
haunting
rotting meat pies
and
spinning ourselves dizzy
  on
  a
  doomed toxic rock
  full with drilled holes
  describing great circles
  over
  and
  over
  and
  over
  in a freezing
  black
  abyss 

and maybe maths will spin us backwards
one
surprising
day 

 from iceagenowinfo

THIS TOWN NEEDS AN ENEMA

OLD MOVIES

i watch old movies
for
Connerys eyebrows
for
the
impossible
sixties
concave bellies 
- breath out Ursula !

- fetch my shoes 
says Connery 
in 
matching pale blue
to
John Kitzmuller
in
bad fitting red 
- a symbol of his death
by
fire

and
then
hes
never
mentioned
again

from fledglingmixologista

HEY TO FRIENDS IN THE GLASS

hey tv
- come fill / kill my mind

stab my back gently
    then
    sell me lumbar support

soothe me / smooth me
with
a
plastic world predictable resolution
leave 
me happy on the sofa

buying
    tubes of fat and oil
    insurance
    redundant new tech

because why should i have to think
about 
who i am / was / or could be ?

hey 20 min show
somewhere between my soft earth heart
and
utopia propaganda 


be
my

  Everything 

from ps4home.com

NIGHT BONES

when the long day climbs down its own bones
and
the
night calls time on the day
with
bells only birds hear
and
front rooms glow yellow and blue and quiet
then
artificial suns 
on 
concrete sticks
create themselves in crazy flickers
and
shine sick orange
on
the
mist slick black top of cul-de-sacs and crescents 
and
the no-mans-land of roundabout junctions
where
thin bold foxes prowl
by
truckers thrown lunch 
and
hatchbacks cool their engines 
clicking apologies at the stars
and
slow stepping alley cats
sit
silent
between plastic wheelie bins
their 
lids lifted high with xmas kipple

thats

when
theres a pause 
in
the worlds pumping breaths 
and 
the
lucky
can
rest 
hand in hand
in the warmth 
of 
nights 
dull 
pockets

from jamiehallphotography.photoshelter.com

CAUTION WINTER

you have to be quiet
if
you
get up in the morning
and
its still night dark
or
the
world
will
hear
you

and give you more to do 

from 500px.com

ALLEY

1. FORDS

years and tears ago
our side alleyway
was new orange brick
with
wind holes to stretch up on tip toe
and
peep
thru
at the Cortinas and Corsairs 
inching into their garages
after
i
got
in
from
school
and
supper
was in the stove



2. TAILS

one day playing alone i found a lizard
poised 
in
the 
shadows there
and
next doors cat
tail straight up like an ariel
was
on
the dustbin lid

watching

clumsily i touched the lizard
and
his
tail
came off

the cat came to see
and
i stroked his back
and
when
i reached his tail
he
slashed
at
me
with his front claws

i ran inside

the alley a dark danger
of
animals
and
tails
to
me
now

from justanimalblog

LONDON UNDERGROUND TV SHOW

Willesden Green
is
a
dr

his dog is called Bermondsey  

his cat is called Finchley

of
course
they
dont
get
on

and
Stanmore Stratford
is
the
arch criminal
he
foils
everyweek
with obscure medical knowledge

just before the credits roll

stay tuned for next weeks installment
where
Canning Town
is
exposed
as
Channing Tatum
in
disguise

from travel.aol.uk

NEW YEARS DAY

is
stale like old bread

in-your-face normal

not
worthy
of 
conversation 

and all the decorations seem garish now
like
a
hangover
strung
across
the
room

open all the doors and windows

do something normal

settle
for
a
windblown walk

among englands kipple
under
off-white clouds

from www.condenaststore.com

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

1.  less is more, or rather restraint is king, something along those lines, understatement maybe

2.  smoke outside, i'll get more garden time and less smoking done, probably

3.  read a poem everyday

4.  write a poem everyday

5.  throw something out everyday

6.  less coffee, more herbal brews

7.  no shopping but essentials, charity shop cheap tat allowed 
( this may facilitate 5 )

8.  sell stuff on ebay, see 7 and 5

9.  less tv, more music and reading

10.  sundays exempt

11.  get well

12.  go back to work

13.  meditate ( despite the Stukas ) or yoga tai chi etc, do something in this area 

14.  submit poems more, there is a gazillion of them clogging up the hard drive

15.  write a GOOD story, an actual good one, do it

16.  stay positive
 
17.  treat these as guidelines, no pressure allowed