DOWNSIZE HUB

none of its new
but 
theres an arena escalation
in
the
construction dips
of
the
downsize afternoons
sun stained 
cracked plastic
hub 

from craftingup.com

MEMORIES AS FRIENDS

i am tethered
like
a
beer garden goat
eating the overgrow
round the bbq pit

tethered
to
the
newspaper corner shops
and 
the
force ten
razzle
embassy
mr v
memories there

and the memories there
are my late night friends
that give me the blank eye
in the cold grey dawn 

friends
like 
ptsd is friends
with
the
alzheimer dusk

bffs 
with 
misty nostalgia mistakes
greasing
our
distressed
goodbye

from myutilitygenius.co.uk

DULL SENTIENCE IN A BLISTER PACK

the
d i s t a n c e
i
feel
sometimes
streetside

is hermetic

i am walking on the moon

~

i am the physical manifestation
of
a
wired jetlag 
attempt to relax
in a new city 
back corridor
hotel bathtub
where the window 
looks out at 
four square feet of
sunless dead brick
and where 
down two miles 
of carpet tunnel  
is
the 
front desks lobby bustle minefield 
and 
tourist tout postcard parade

and past that
down
important steps

is
an
8pm union square xmas

from italianleathergloves.com

THE SKY OVER THE STREETS UNDER THE SKY

POME POP PICS

KRAKEN MARE

whats a f-a-c-e ?
whats m-o-r-n-i-n-g ?

really what are they ?

i have become untethered . . .

whats a me i think ?
whats thought i me ?

thought

t - h - o - u - g - h - t

t h o o 
        o 
         o 
          u 
           r 
           t

and so on

you
know
the
drill

i strap in
for a numb ride

waving to myself
from
down
the 
rabbit hole

a legend in my own mind
but 
a shadow in the gold mine

heading to the titanic methane lakes
to drown there in the kraken mare 

from paulbishopboooks.com

LIKE A STONED BUTTERFLY

he 
left
his judgement & neuroses 
his paranoia & cirrhosis 
in a gladstone bag
with 
his phone & credit rating
in 
the only working 
train station locker
east 
of
constantinople 

and hes laughing now
laughing like
his hearts beating

and hes announcing love now
in awful latin 
all alone
to the ragged mountains
broken glass peaks

he was worn dull 
with rushed tai chi
and hr penetration

but now hes reaching for now
far from the
information
capitals

hes immersed in the composition
hes immersed in the oils
hes part of the technique
hes brush strokes & whirls
hes blown on the plastic winds

hes as naked & nothing as nature now 
and now hes letting now go again

flitting fickle & deathless

like
a
stoned butterfly

pic from serendipity-crafts.com

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING

the
thrust
of
the
girth of earth
on
the
back gardens rough lawn

is unignorable

is wet green 

is
u n b e l i e v a b l e

i am poised there
on the nose
of
our
great round rocket

legs braced and bent
like a figurehead
in the storm prow

tip of the spear
i
am
the
tip of the spear 

and
the 
bathroom bin
cotton ball
clouds 

they run run run
like theyre late

or
gone
stark
mad
with it all

from pittwateronlinenews.com

BEFORE DAWN AND AFTER DUSK

its
good
before dawn

pills
coffee

vapour fills the room

and
music
and 
music
and

w r i t i n g

even if its only this
even if its never read

~

and
long
before
noon
i
fall
down

down
the
bricked up fenestration
of the longest day

hours last like 
chinese dynasties

down
into
the
plastic jesus
of
my
groinal chi

~

till after dusk
we batten the hatches down
we build a barricade of order
and
we
all
nest
together
like footnotes

and summon unconsciousness

please

the emotionmachine.com

WHEN DID THE FUTURE HAPPEN

THREE POTATOES

once upon a grey parade morning
i
left 
the
house
and
muddled out into the sportswear wake

i bought three loose potatoes
from
a
machine
where a person used to be

it asked too many questions
and
made
me
feel
inferior
to be organic and alive

but
it didnt file its nails
or
take notice
of
the
verbal abuse  

and
i 
'paid' 
the 
machine
with
an uncertain slap of celluloid
that
could
have
been
anyones

wondering when the future happened ?



HARMONY PLUG AND PLAY

i left thinking machine or person ?

i left thinking
we should grow
our own potatoes

but
everyones laying
astroturf now

round
their
harmony 
plug & play 
hot tubs



I AM PERSON TOO

once upon a back indoors and safe
i
saved
my
misanthropy 
for
the sealed sunset
and
i
said
bravely and aloud

i would rather person 
than machine
because i am person too

and
i
could
have
leant them a book about the modern world
refuse a bag
and tell them they are their own god

or
just
leave
a
smile
for
them
in
their watery abattoir eyes
dull with breeding
and sublet hope

or ask them
if they knew
when the future happened ?

from concreteplayground.com

ORCHID AND FRIEND

LONG SHADOWS BEFORE LUNCH

SORRY ABOUT THAT

in the time 
before i was born
ringo starr 
wrote two songs

and
i
apologise
unreservedly
for
his
misplaced
nautical 
whimsy

pic from whosdatedwho.com

ps

hey richard
send lennon back when you move on yes ?
soon is it ?

LIKE FARTS

pressure builds
like stormhead

then releases
like avalanche

like life does
like farts do

like the week does
into weekend

like death is

cos death
is breathing out

if
its
anything

pic from homeadditionsremodelling.com

WATCHMEN HAIKU

comic book
top knots

owning the power-cut streets

no thought
for the moon

pic from watchmen.wikia.com

HARDLY BOXFRESH

new year then
its hardly 
boxfresh 

the postman brings
folded fragments 
of the future

potted
pamphlets
from the past

~

new year then

so soon
its like an old sock

same old card game
same old hand 

come on spring come on
your distance disturbs

afternoon patio
birdsong in the sun

~

and that 
last night
of a
gone year
used
to be
nostalgia 
unbearable

used 
to be 
fletch on 
bbc2 
00.10 jan 1st

dregs of drugs
take till dawn

~

and the 
night time bath 
i draw 
these n/y/e days

could be the same water 

as lemmys
last jd ice

pic from ebay.co.uk

THE ADVENTURES OF A FORD CALLED DAGENHAM

wires
they got crossed

likes they say

indoor fog
falls down
the day

you knows the kind

like cotton wools
clogging the
hippocampus

tell me something eye donts know

my names ford dagenham
ims a writer
and dawns is behind me

eye gets the call
uptown they says
yous not black are you ? they says
yous irish ? they says

yeah whys not eye says
ims phil fucking lynott
whys not ?

now this its code
they knows the rest of the code ?

silence
fuck ems
they donts know the code

wees been compromised

tell me something eye donts know

my name is ford dagenham
ims a writer
eye took the call

eye looks at my hand
it holds a mobile
lines open

naked phone eye thinks
naked phone eye writes it down
underlines it - a title

you wants the gig ? they says
now thats
thats aints how the code goes

fuck ems
exclusive ? eye says playing them along
exclusive they says

eye calls a cab on the landline 
ground phone eye thinks
my pen
well it hovers unsure

my names ford dagenham
ims a writer
fuck all ems

eye gets my piece
eye makes my peace
ha
as ifs

anyway eye gots a title
before lunch too
and ims dry
so very dry
but us ?
wees are compromised
for sure
and theres fuckers
fuckers uptown

now the code
well they were meant to asks
if eyes a dog next

then eye says 
eye got a telegram from the 19th c
you missed your funeral id says
id says the 19th c wants its bastards back

thats the code
it has to be complex long
it has to be outs of time
theres a lots at stake
in this essential work

and us ?
wees all shades
wees all species
wees dont do wetherspoons
and well 
wees compromised

tell me something eye donts know

my names ford dagenham
ims a writer
and eye says it
so eye knows
so eye donts forget

ims compromised
buts its not my first rodeo

and its a fine day to die
not sayings who tho am eye ?

just sayings you know
just sayings

and well eye gots a title
before lunch too and the rest
wells the rest
its on the streets of course

cabs horn outside

eye picks up my keys
eye checks my pockets
eye picks up my naked phone

in the hallway
eye can hears clear the music
from The Magnificent Seven
inside the waters pipes

my name is ford dagenham
ims a writer
phone
phone
naked phone

off eye goes
eye knows it a trap

but what aints ?

tell me something eye donts know

pic from vanityfair.com