STORM COMING

DIDEROT REDUX

only when the last monarch
is 

  Strangled

by
the
guts
of
the last priest

only when the last mogul
is 

  Drowned

in
the
blood
of
the last politician

can 
we 
be 
free 
from 

  Everyday Assassination

then we -
the prole soldiers
the prostitutes
the cash-cows
     &
the cleaners

  can 
    decay 
      like anything else
        but
          safely
          in 
          love
          and 
          peace

from www.mypokecard.com

SCHOOL MORNING - A MEMORY POP

a bag of nerves
struggling with my dry cereal
every 
school
morning

in winter i was given bread
to
take
out
to
feed
the
birds

i savoured that short walk 
down the garden path
to the bird table

the creases in the cement
the knots in the wood

it
was
a
small escape
some baby zen

an oasis of morning purpose 

in
the
mad whirl
of
unexpressible days

MUSIC POPS

1.

old 
record
spins spins spins
on
the 
player

i watch it
with a cup of tea

and a smile

needle goes up and down
in
the
round landscape of cliffs

a 
calming 
meditation 
in 
movement


2.

the 
45
is
a
wax photo of motor city hearts 
      
a 
blueprint blacktop
of
tar and gravel

an 
inevitable powerful chug
like 
a 
killer laying waiting
or
a
coup in the night rain

that
rings 
true
bells
with 
my 
dna
my
heartpump
and 
my A13 diversions 

from www.45cat.com

ONLY PEOPLE

BREAK FREE

MORE GARDEN, B&W

IN SUNSHINE LATE PM

GOODBYE WORLD? ITS BEEN REAL

TOWN DOWN

NO ONE TOLD YOU NOT TO LISTEN

NEXT DOORS DRILLING

ROSES

B & W BUNGALOW PICS

TROUBLE SOIL

when 
i
was
young
there
were
small
kingdoms of trouble soil

left-over 
un-zoned
torn scraps
of
concrete and dirt

where 
poor unkillable kids 
on 
hand-me-down bikes
climbed 
and
claimed
in
mud and the rain

and
in
a
riot
of
pretty weed blooms

from www.pistonheads.com

TRILOGY POPTARDS

1.

say well done
and
pat me on the head like a puppy
thirsty for the loving cup

cos
when our meat fails
our chance is gone

if
it
was
there
at
all


2.

happiness
is
a good feed / sunshine

sadness
has
depth / longevity / romance

and where they meet
is
the
peace 
inside

elusive and rewarding - even before phones


3.

dont call me old
dont say next stop 50
dont say middle aged
     or 
     make me tick the 35 - 45 box

dont say
        ooooh he dont like hearing that
     or
        ooooh touched a nerve did we

just say
        that
            i am alive
        and
            thats good
        and    
            well done
            
            You Are Doing OK 
            
            today

from vesselsministry.com

NEWS POPS

1.

everyday
the 
world 
is
another newspaper 
          
        older ? 
        newer ?
        or 
        more tired ?
             

2.


dear news
so theres
no headlines
of artistic triumph
of heroic compassion
of breakthrus in unity
                 universal education
                 civil responsibility 

        again ?

dear news
so theres
no side bars
on mindfulness
on the futility of fear
on the triumphs of new tech
                   beyond apple 

        again ?

whats that news ?

you think i live in
an 
absurdist liberal fantasy
in
a real world of hooting chimps ?

well touche news

but 
why 
not 
print that then ?

        for 
        a 
        change

3.

maybe
if
we
didnt watch the news

   but
   counted the days instead
   by 
   our 
   growing finger nails
   and
   the sliding sun
   
   would 
   the 
dangerous theatre
still
perform 
at
all ?

wells theatre, norfolk, virginia

BARKING IN THE STREET

1. ISMUTH

in 
the 
empty distance of sky

planes punch 
angel shapes
thru the cloud

ripped ragged 
crucifix shapes

that
dissolve into ismuths 

when
i
blink


2. TRAFFIC COP

thought-pops appear
with chrome and fins

in
the dust and tumble weeds
    traffic and white-noise

    of
  my
spaghetti junction mind

i kiss them
i keep them 
pull them over
on the hard shoulder

   sighing
   
   thanking feck
   
   that
   i 
   made 
   something today

3. DIVERSIFY !

it is not all gold out there

there is third-place bronze -

restored campers
or 
alien beasts
with 
coca-cola lines

but 
is it not all gold 

all the hatchbacks
are 
generic -
tax-pods repeating approved lines

and
i want ALL gold
       ALL the time on
       ALL the streets

       dazzle me blind
       with
       an
       imagination riot

       to help me dream

from www.dailymail.co.uk

NIGHT POPS

1.

theres an agreement
at
night

that we all stretch out somewhere

for hours

and 
let
our minds go somewhere crazy

into 
some 
mad 
soup


2.

awake at night 
i feel like i am cheating

and
worry
i
might
see something

i am not meant to

and 
have 
no 
mad dream-soup to blame

MAD DUSK

SMALL FLOWERS 2

10.15 AM

after
a
week
in
our cocoon balloon 
our unkillable bubble
of
in-jokes
and
safety
it
becomes monday again
and
she has to work

and it is eternally awfully 10.15 AM

later
the afternoon arrives
late and strung out on carbs

and
then
the 
day
falls
     slowly
           down
toward
reunion
and
rest

UNCHANGED GHOSTS

in
my
day-dream half-sleep
old 
friends
knock on the door

same 501s

same DMs
same everything

small talk
comes easy
&
it 
feels 
like truth 
in
my
heartbox

BEAT THEM UP GUTLESS

i 
scribble all these words
on
the backs of scrips
and
coffee shop receipts 
and
theyre not poems
but 
i want them to be

so
i beat them and i bully them
i bash them and i shove them around
and
i
get 
something soul-less
something mechanical
something like a to-do list
for
anxious robots 
on 
a 
philosophy jag

im blaming the scribble words
when
its 
me 
whos gutless in the sandpit
playing god with my own turds

i start again
with
the force of heart and faith in the hub
and
i wash my mind in coffee
and
freezing iced water
and
instead of lunch
i
stand naked outside
on 
natures green patio
waiting
for 
heavy industrial rain

from iainhall.wordpress.com

CHILDHOOD POP

there
was
swimming
and
buttered crumpets
and
dr who
in
the
warm breath
when 
school was done

from www2.tv-ark.org.uk

CONSUMERISM POP

an underpaid boy 
in cheap polyester
builds
an overpriced sandwich
wrapped in shiny paper
and
a hungover girl
at the cash register
says
its cheaper
if you add water
in
a plastic bottle
that will last forever
and
you cant finish the sandwich
and chuck it in the litter
but
despite distant famine 
from disrupted weather
you
feel for a little while
a small slice happier

from dailymail.co.uk