Sunday 31 December 2023

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS ETC PT 2



healthy better choices

scroll UP

colours

make preparations

be still

with limited supply
  decrease demand

free then deploy
  nanbots

be me more

water . . .
  a deity ?

smile in the mist






NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS ETC PT 1




not all films will be shitty

sleep properly
  like a person

become iron man

global justice

paint roses

neighbourhood patrols

do as the cat does

increase citizens arrest record

build a sofa









Friday 15 December 2023

FOOTNOTES TO YOUR SHOW




relight
the fire
in the core
of the creating cherub

& laugh
laugh !
at the simplest things

reality be damned
&
news headlines 
only footnotes
to your show








Thursday 14 December 2023

LASHINGS OF MAD MAD SAUCE




if defeat
feels snug
bulk up 
on anger pie
three times 
every day

its investment grit
in the oyster bank
that dividends
a stretchy belt
& lashings of
mad mad sauce








Monday 11 December 2023

REANIMATE THE CHEESE




sitting down

trying to have

a brilliant idea

with the old bread

of my mind

~

all i manage 

is to lightly toast 

the poor sandwich 

to fake freshness

& reanimate the cheese








Friday 8 December 2023

THEN CARLOS RAN




one shot 
& the tokarev 
jammed up after

& that one bullet 
bounced off
the philtrum
of the man 
in the bath

bounced !

& then carlos ran
from a bathroom
into history








Thursday 7 December 2023

INDECENT EXPOSURE




todays
emperors
know
they
are not
wearing
any clothes

but dont bother speaking up child

the weavers went to eton
with half the front bench





Tuesday 5 December 2023

WALKING ROUND BEECHCOMBE





chocka rentaskips
on stubby driveways
&
a loosened kerbstones
miniature rockfall
&
the leaves are golden shadows
spread under the naked trees
&
the lights on distant cranes
only white flares in the mist
&
a single bin is a dumb sentinel
at the edge
of the stretch
of wet field

~

i imagine a smudged murmuration
the wavy shape of a question mark

over the bowling green
i used to hop the fence to

to lay there
high on the best grass









Monday 4 December 2023

A NECESSARY FORT




morning me
will thank 
last night me
for the chores
he did compel 

& it is not pitiful
to fool & manufacture
such miniature peace
in the face of chaos
flaky meat puppetry

as clutter 
is often
anxiety now

when it used to be
a necessary fort








Saturday 2 December 2023

FENCED GLEN




the big tele
its violent stories
& repackaged myths

& when i step out
on the crunch of leaves
any legend is possible

i have food to scatter
for the wild animals
we know here

in our fenced glen
of central planning
carpenter forest











Thursday 30 November 2023

I DONT KNOW WHAT IM DOING, A DISCUSSION POP




it has a myriad 
of meanings
& intentions
but we all say it -

i dont know what im doing

its depreciating 
its disingenuous
its abdicating responsibility
its an embarrassment buffer
its a humble brag
its an admission of the disconnect
its panic & a call for help

but too i say it to myself 
in a very literal & true sense
acknowledging the channelling 
& duality of creativity

altho an essential caveat 
is appropriate -

when it is finished
i know what i have done

whether i want / deserve / own 
the credit or not
is a problem for another day






  

Wednesday 29 November 2023

NO & WTF




tea break
tennish
hospital
round the table
steaming mugs
crossword book open
radio two on

& rose pipes up
says
remember when you were at school
& theyd have a day
when theyd put electrodes on your head
& put on those weird films
before doing a quiz ?

no
we say
absolutely not at all

wtf ?








Tuesday 28 November 2023

FEW CHOSEN WORDS




dont complain
&
dont explain

react as water reacts
as much & no more
than physics decides

thatll keep the mob guessing
& add power
to your few chosen words

as the pixel crowd
turns blue
in kneejerk
meat fart
expression









Monday 27 November 2023

ON THE ROAD TO HOSPITAL




the red & amber lights
on the hospital lane
where
copper council brick
meets
death row bronze

blend & mate
their burnt palette 
like a painting
like 
a thought

not captured or frozen

only slowed








Sunday 26 November 2023

EMPTY AS A TYRE IS EMPTY




theres a moment after we wake

a glimpse out of time
empty as a tyre is empty

before we remember It All

& the day
never does
recover

from this absence 
we had 
no chance
to prod








Thursday 23 November 2023

NO BELL TO EVER RING




to be ill
all the time
an everyday sicknote

well its like 
being sent to the corner
to stare at the wall

no chair allowed
the world alive
behind you








Wednesday 22 November 2023

SOUVENIR RAM & NASCENT LDR




it takes so long

so far round the sun

to realise the old life is gone

~

& you tell its stories
in the lang syne forest
where memories camp
with souvenir RAM
in the sage shadow
of the khaki mist

~

& acceptance - 
well it feels traitorous  

like trading 
a last day with an old dog
in the park with his ball

for a nascent LDR
with the outer rim







Tuesday 21 November 2023

ONE MISSED FEED




the government talk about
the duty of the sick to work

casting first stones
out their teflon towers

& it makes me feel
like a panda

judged & monitored
& falling off logs

one missed feed
from extinction






Monday 20 November 2023

RETIRED GODS, A MOON WALLPAPER POP




 on the paved & indentured
    forest floors
         of 
    steel & glass
        we 
    fight ourselves
   to death & back
    with devil toys
   from the fire sale
         of 
      retired gods
    eager to boost
     their 
  diminishing  
    pension
        in their
      knee rug
        gin cafe
       twilight days









Friday 10 November 2023

OF GREYEST JURISDICTION




talking to myself
in my head at night
i stumble & lose 
every second word

the plans & the
 ideas
cool & crazy & bullshit
building there of mist 
bolt & dash & career 
away on sudden motorcycles
into
the
brain haze vanishing points 
of greyest jurisdiction

where the universal minds
sorting pools & pulleys & levers
select a more functional chancer 
to try on for size








Thursday 9 November 2023

MIXED MEDS & PHILIP K DICK




it was a night of dreams

identity drama
in 
the 
dull theft of night

i blame mixed meds
&
the 
philip k dick stories

that i absorb
more thru osmosis
than normal reading

he would approve

~

dreamed i was
squat & stocky
in boxy work clothes
of dusty prison blue
with a flat pan of face
all underground pale
in the morning mirror
eyes there 
the colour of sickly chocolate
taking it all in again
resigned & resilient

a short 
black fringe
straight & clumped & default
with solid white roots
showing underneath
when the train wind blew
& the black hair rose
like a rigid wing
on the commuter platform
among many heavy stares








Wednesday 8 November 2023

SCENE

 



with the 
opposite heel
he knocked 
a waffle
of bloody snow
off the bottom 
of his boot
in the 
farmhouse bedroom

the grip of meth 
weakening
& letting in the chill
of clothes 
wet from the river
as he packed bags
for the young sisters 
going away







Tuesday 7 November 2023

HOPE ON ICE




the sadness

is under the ice

i keep the hope on


as i play 

wait & see

in the mad dancing shadow

of the proverbial pan










Friday 3 November 2023

DOG BARKS IN A SILENT NEIGHBOURHOOD




the hoot of a train horn
funnelled down the grass banks
of litter & scrub & stubs 
&
the movie dialogue 
snappy & truncated 
by channel hoping hope
&
the dog that barks
in a silent neighbourhood
of a teenage sunday
&
the rave whistles 
shrill & bright
on the smoky festival wind
&
the cold hatchback motors 
turning over in coughs
on a frosty workaday dawn

remind me 
of the ambient album
found-sound collages
of the 90s

as opposed to
it working
the other way around







Thursday 2 November 2023

ANDROID TBD (A MOON WALLPAPER POP)




the 
straw man army
moved to basket
for 
same day delivery
is
shipped off-the-peg ready
at black friday prices
to 
pre-empt the peaceniks first cry


frequently bought together -

NoChat
the debate shutdown
flash card app

ios only
android tbd








Wednesday 1 November 2023

LUNCH CANNOT SWALLOW




stories
in
the
bones
worth
medals
tell themselves
in the cracks & lumps
of bad heals

& my muscles call for fuel
across the limbic telegraph

joints heavy
like lead
like gravity

in the bubblegum stretch
of a masticated morning
lunch cannot swallow








Tuesday 31 October 2023

FRAG 37



never has the past looked so rosy

thinks everyone

every time

the fan 
needs another 
deep clean


~


like the radar station
disguised as a water tower
from the last global war

looks
quaint & retro
these days
to me








Monday 30 October 2023

HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO




i have
to stop writing
to scratch the cat

he demands it
&
has taught me how

cats look like
they know poetry

but
have
been there / done that

understood it / mastered it

& moved on beyond it

hundreds or thousands
of years ago








Friday 27 October 2023

WINTER & THE CUP OF YEARS




running late
winter calls collect
&
the cold sun
so low
bites weakly

heavy with
plagiarised
melancholy
memories steeped
in
the
cup
of
years










Thursday 26 October 2023

HOSTILE MESH




its a loose weave safety net
the
sick & sad
get
tangled up in

calculated disrepair
adds
barbs
to
the hostile mesh

blow up 
what you like

is what i hear

as
long
as
'help'
DRIBBLES
thru

how to enjoy the orchards now
with all the soil has seen ?











Tuesday 24 October 2023

PLACE IS HEAVY NONSENSE




trembling at death
frying pan to fire ?

agog at the universe
the size of the thing ! 

& afraid of tomorrow
that regular unknown

~

this place is heavy nonsense
run by lightweights & lunatics

their teeth marks clear
on the seaside piers 

the dogs of circumstance
congregate to salivate 
in 
the 
truncated precinct

nangs candy plastic
on 
the 
betting slip ground 










Monday 23 October 2023

NEWS LIVER




the bad bad news

gets IN me

like i have an organ for it

like evolution grew receptors
for the 24/7 death deluge

& it taxes 
my practiced liver 
to overflow

& i am holed

skin tags atremble

& a bad light beams
out 
my colander trunk
like 
some 
dark screaming beacon of the wrong









Friday 20 October 2023

MOON WALLPAPER 3




we 
are  
cutlery monkeys
&
electric chimps
with
history chips
&
flipside chipsticks
on 
kevlar shoulders
&
worn canvas epaulettes
cheered & damned 
by
soft slugabeds
supine 
in clouds of vanilla mist
&
armchair generals
wild
in a chilli flake rain
all
empathy ducts clogged
&
sympathy holes healed
on
their food padded tv ribs 






 

Thursday 19 October 2023

YOU HAVE UNTIL THE BELL RINGS



if 
we discovered
sound & solid proof 
of eternal & rigid 
predestination

it would not
& could not

change anything at all

could it ?

~

please discuss
you have until the bell rings
& six foot of chalk for your slate







Wednesday 18 October 2023

BASKET ON THE STAIRS

 



progress travels a hard road
of hairpin turns & dead ends
in the
bad swamp
toll road
of unfriendly hands & siren song

its the basket on the stairs
baggage & reason 
in there with the ready washing

its destination 
as universally accepted
as its eventual arrival 
is assumed

too few hands tho
commit 
to handle grasp







Tuesday 17 October 2023

MOON WALLPAPER 2




cacophonous dusty vignettes
caught as testimony
stack themselves
in server farms
eating rivers
towns need

digital witness is a thirsty business

on the other side
of the newspaper world








Monday 16 October 2023

MOON WALLPAPER 1



when the dogs of war want walking
it is 
always 
only 
old men
far away who say aok

& loosed they go
playing drone fetch now
in the concrete parks
low-rise arenas

its hard to see
such carnivores
waste all
that young
fruit & veg








Friday 13 October 2023

HORRIBLE KNOT

 



we have made 
a horrible knot 
of it all

its
many loose ends
obscured

in
the 
unravelling tapestry of the land








Thursday 12 October 2023

MYTHICAL CHESTNUT




living 
in the moment

that mythical chestnut

is for kids & animals

got no money
got no politics
  
wonderfully ignorant 
of their skin in the game











Tuesday 10 October 2023

ANOTHER POETS POEM

 



the atrocious swan of love*
said the poem

published in landscape
in a book like a calendar

& i stop there
picturing it

a calm river
& brick arch bridge

the image halts 
my hospital rush







* from May, in Shia LaBeouf, by A K Blakemore



Monday 9 October 2023

LIKE A PHOTO NEGATIVE




the sunlight 
is invasive

is heavy 
as chefs knives

cutting thru
lime neon 
leaves

it makes me feel 
like a photo negative
like a hiroshima shadow

i hate how 
it gets inside 
of me
&
how sad it is
to be irritated
by a star








Friday 6 October 2023

COSY WARM IN DEFIANCE DESPITE IT




using your legally entitled
'help & assistance'
of the benefits system uk

is like a cold hug
from a creepy uncle
that chills
your wet bones numb

but who might you hope

hand you a folded ten
greasy strings attached
out from his cardigans
ratty detritus pockets

so you might you hope

attempt an almost life
tethered & dependent
to his fickle windsock
with grey workshed twine

cosy warm in defiance despite it





Thursday 5 October 2023

CLOCK IS A MONOGRAM




a mad sprint of abandon
down the bullet train aisle

chasing the quicksilver
in the hard colour fade

& still

its always the morning
of a funeral afternoon

in the go-fast
       sandglass
       update
       of the info-glut jamboree










Wednesday 4 October 2023

DULL ELECTRIC IN THE MORNING STREAK




theres doubt
dull electric
in the morning streak
of pencil lead cloud

i draw storms with it
in the comfy chair afternoon

thunderheads out the dog whistles
blown in dark opportunity
on the corruption stage

theres relief
approaching peace
in the pastel smear
of industry dusk

a bittersweet goodbye
projected on the painted sky

or pollution blood
& redacted black
phoning the headlines in








Tuesday 3 October 2023

REVERSED UP COMPASSION DRIVE




the permutation 
of the word narrative
he said
has an agenda 
that chaos wont stand

dont they know reasons are not answers ?

just enjoy the air 
i told him
its fresh like a clean blade
& clipped just so

i think youve 
reversed 
up compassion drive
he said to me shaking his head
when you missed 
the deathville turnoff

i
hope
at
least
you grabbed something good to read
at the junction multimart station ?